Beastman Forcefully Raising a Wife

Baobao’s suggested chapter name: Today We Learn About Pottery (Wrongly)

The current weather was still a little cold in the morning, but it was sizzling hot like a summer’s day at noon, almost like the alternation of two seasons.

The weather now wasn’t cold anymore. Shu Jintian put away most of the animal hide and changed to a vine-weaved singlet, only putting on his original jacket if it got cold.

Shu Jintian rested for two days and he was almost fully recovered, becoming lively again. This slightly lessened the guilt in Shu Hanyu’s heart.

Without the thick overcoat on him, his body became much lighter. Shu Jintian also couldn’t stay still in the cave anymore, and continued trying to bake pottery during the afternoon. Shu Hanyu hung on a large tree at the side, lazily watching Shu Jintian bustle around.

With his pottery baking experience gained during winter, Shu Jintian already thought about which colour of mud was good and suitable for fire, and which mud would break once it was baked, which was then permanently included on the porcelain-baking blacklist by him.

This time, Shu Jintian mainly kneaded some red silt and black silt. He had already kneaded the size and shape he wanted in the morning. There were cups, bowls, plates, and other things. Then, he placed them under the tree shade to dry. By noon, he moved the half-dried mud pots to scorch under the blazing sun. Now, the pots had dried out and taken shape, and just needed to be fired.

Shu Jintian had designed a stove during the winter that was suitable for firing pottery, whereby the inside was able to retain heat. But he kept putting his pottery making aside because of the little snakes, and now he began using it.

Shu Jintian stacked the already formed mud jars at the hollow centre of the tower, lit a fire inside and around the ‘stove’, and started firing the pottery. The high temperature within the sealed stove couldn’t be compared with exposed flames during winter. The clay jars in the stove were covered by the red light of the fire. After half an hour, the mud jars were burnt thoroughly red by the large fire, switching between bright and dark, glinting along with the size of the blaze until later, where they became penetratingly red, like a boiling hot iron.

From his past few failures, Shu Jintian also thought through a few methods, and the mud this time was selected very carefully. Moreover, the arrangement of the clay jars had the hardest-to-fail black clay jars cushioning the bottom. For each red, the more upwards, the more likely it would explode. This way, even if a clay jar at the top suddenly shattered, it wouldn’t affect the bottom. Fortunately, there still wasn’t a single jar that had exploded even after firing until now.

In the entire stove, there was only an air outlet at the top, as well as a large hole to add firewood. Shu Jintian added a handful of dry and hard firewood, then blocked the stove opening with a stone to increase the temperature in the stove. Then, he laid under the tree Shu Hanyu was at and rested.

Shu Hanyu’s tail was candidly hanging down the tree, occasionally swinging gently in satisfaction, intentionally or otherwise brushing past Shu Jintian’s body, the tip of his tail transmitting a burning hot sensation.

The clay jars this time kept burning until evening, which was also his dinnertime.

Shu Hanyu got down from the tree and turned into a human, stickily picking Shu Jintian up and burying his head against Shu Jintian’s neck and gently rubbing against it. Because of him tending to the fire, Shu Jintian’s body was very hot, and he seemed to be burning his hands when hugging him.

“Tiantian is hungry ba, I’ll go get food for you to eat. Do you still want to continue adding firewood outside? Or wait for me in the cave?” Shu Hanyu fiddled with Shu Jintian’s much longer hair and casually curled it in his finger. His fair and long fingers formed a stark contrast against his dark black hair, and further accentuated his jade-like delicate fingers and his inky hair was like dye. The two sides collided together and were extremely good-looking.

“Mn. In any case, I have nothing to do, so I’ll just burn here a little longer ba. I’ll stop when you return.” Shu Jintian’s back pressed against Shu Hanyu’s chest and he looked at the messy wood. In his heart, he thought that the little snakes might be hiding at that nook or corner. When the big snake leaves, he’ll look around in the vicinity.

“Alright, just wait here for me.” Shu Hanyu said, then went down to the cave and came out with a vine.

When Shu Jintian saw the green vine, his heart jolted, and he spoke up before he could think about it. “Wait a second, it’s better if I go with you ba!”

“This is used to tie up the food ba. I’ll just hold it, you can concentrate on hunting.” Shu Jintian chuckled and revealed a row of tidy white teeth.

Shu Hanyu looked at Shu Jintian with a raised brow, seemingly smiling but not, then nodded in assent.

“Okay, you can also come out and see which one you like to eat, so I can plan better next time.”

“Mn, I’ll see whether there’s anything new to eat.” This forest truly had a few vegetables that were roughly similar to those in modern times. Shu Jintian would often be pleasantly surprised when he went out, but winter and the little snakes’ arrival stopped his plans to go out and treasure hunt.

Shu Jintian added another handful of firewood in the stove again, then held Shu Hanyu’s hand and walked into the forest.

Everywhere in the forest was excessively lush, with various plants having abundant branches and leaves crisscrossing with each other. There were plump, flamboyant, and shaggy ones. In the darkness, there could be many things hidden.

Shu Jintian consciously examined those shadowy places, hoping that a little snake would be hidden inside. But the little snakes were also green, while it could act as camouflage in the forest, it also needed more effort for them to be found.

Shu Hanyu usually wouldn’t be at ease with Shu Jintian being at home alone, and had always hunted for food in the shortest time possible. It had been a very long time since he had unhurriedly strolled in the forest like this. Especially now that he was also with his female; his mood was even better.

Shu Hanyu held Shu Jintian’s smaller hand, his lips curving slightly.

It was said that rabbits didn’t eat grass near their burrows, and Shu Hanyu was the same. This place was near his cave and had fewer prey. Because of this, he never hunted here. But Tiantian liked it, so he accompanied him.

Suddenly, Shu Hanyu’s footsteps paused and he uncertainly spat his forked tongue out. Upon withdrawing it, he sensed an indistinct flavour, so weak it was like a mist which disappeared in the blink of an eye. Shu Hanyu didn’t dare affirm it, and when he spat it out again to sense the area, it was still like this. Shu Hanyu’s face turned extremely ugly.

Shu Jintian sensed Shu Hanyu’s peculiarity and suspiciously said, “What’s wrong, Hanyu?”

Shu Jintian’s heart rose slightly. Looking at Shu Hanyu’s face that had clearly turned grim, he guessed that there was probably something Shu Hanyu didn’t like here? Did the little snakes secretly return?

Shu Jintian was delighted in his heart, and had more confidence in looking for the little snakes.

Shu Hanyu saw the female looking at him in concern and his complexion alleviated slightly, sizing up his surroundings. “It’s nothing. Does Tiantian still have something you want to eat? Hurry up and gather them so we can go hunting. You can’t just eat grass and leaves.”

“What ah? This is green vegetables ah, old snake!” Shu Jintian raised a bundle of fresh vegetables and rolled his eyes at Shu Hanyu.

After Shu Hanyu said this, he didn’t pay attention to whether Shu Jintian still wanted to pick grass and leaves, pulling along his hands and walking off. His overly quick pace forced Shu Jintian to jog from time to time so that he could keep up with Shu Hanyu.

Shu Jintian walked jerkily, but was secretly pleased. Great, looks like the little snakes were possibly near this place, and were very close to their home. The little snakes were probably scared that Hanyu would chase them away again, which was why they didn’t dare to go home ba.

When he thought of this, Shu Jintian fiercely glared at Shu Hanyu’s back, wishing he could glare a hole into it.

Shu Hanyu sensed something and turned his head back to look at Shu Jintian. Thinking of something, he shot a warning glance at Shu Jintian.

What’s with the look on the big snake’s face ah? Even if he knew the little snakes were here, he didn’t have to glare at him like this ba! These are his children, not his lover; why use an expression like doubting laozi was having an affair?

“Mn. What does Tiantian want to eat?” Shu Hanyu held Shu Jintian’s hand, his speed not slowing.

“Anything ba. Just grab whatever you see ba.” Ever since Shu Jintian gave birth, he didn’t exercise much and was already a little winded after a short run. He thought to himself that he should exercise a bit more and train back his six pack figure as soon as possible, so that he could find the little snakes easier.

Ever since he birthed snake eggs, there were few days his stomach was completely flat, but some slightly visible abs had already completely vanished. This still dismayed Shu Jintian for a long time.

Upon returning home, the firing pottery stove had already been snuffed. There was still some red and grey firewood giving off heat. They flickered after Shu Jintian lifted up the slab and the wind fanned in. The red firewood’s frail appearance was also a little cracked, with bright red light appearing from within.

Shu Jintian took out some red firewood from inside and moved it to the kitchen to start a fire, making a green vegetable dish roasted with meat, and a roasted meat dish. After living in this strange world for so long, the great young master who led a pampered life was now experienced in the kitchen. He cooked methodically, and it wasn’t long before a dinner that smelled, looked, and tasted great emerged fresh out of the oven.

Ever since returning, Shu Hanyu’s expression had always been rather bad, following behind Shu Jintian without saying anything and just acting upset behind him.

Shu Jintian gobbled up his dinner, endured it, and still didn’t talk about looking for the little snakes.

The sky wasn’t dusky anymore, the bright, starry skies like a large pancake. The gentle starlight shone on the spacious ground, so bright it was like daytime.

Shu Jintian made use of the starlight filling the skies and took out the fired clay jar.

Some jars didn’t explode, but had a crack. There was even one crack that was like a spiderweb, the thin cracks excessively spreading out. He didn’t know whether some impurity had been mixed in.

What was worth being gratified for was that Shu Jintian discovered the black pot seemed very suitable for pottery. None of the five at the bottom-most layer were ruined. What made Shu Jintian even more pleased and surprised was that the appearances of these pots were glossy and exquisite. Even the edges of the jars had shrunk slightly, forming a smooth jar mouth.

It turned out that the overly high temperature would slightly melt the mud and form a glaze on the pottery’s surface.

Shu Jintian was incredibly delighted, and put all these jars in the kitchen to fill them with either food or seasonings.

Only, this time, Shu Jintian’s kitchen didn’t lack tableware. Perhaps in the future, he could fire even more experiments, and fill them with cured meat, boiled water or something.