Amid the reluctant gazes of the others, Clara returned home. A pile of bamboo was stacked at the entrance, and Mateo stood there, looking around. As soon as he saw Clara, he rushed forward, helping her with the basket filled with many fruits. "Cla! From now on, I'll go pick fruits." The thought of Clara climbing trees to pick fruits made Mateo feel a bit distressed.
"All these were gifts from others. Let's go back, cook, and in the afternoon, we'll think about how to fix the house."
Gifts from others. Mateo thoughtfully looked at the basket full of fruits, many of which were hard to come by. Generally, when females express admiration towards males, they gift fruits, and vice versa. Clara seemed quite popular.
Outside, Clara hung the marinated rabbit on a high rack over the stove, smoking it with wood. She also washed wood ear mushrooms, wild mushrooms, and stewed them with a wild chicken. She skewered some meat and vegetables with bamboo sticks.
Deciding to have a barbecue today, Clara took out a mat and laid it under a peach tree near the house. There were other flowering trees nearby, their blossoms vivid and beautiful. Today was truly rare, with good weather, and Mateo was at home.
"Mateo, come help!" Mateo watched Clara's busy figure, somewhat mesmerized. When Clara called him, he quickly approached and offered to help. He said to Clara, "You relax on the mat; I'll set up the stove."
Clara was happy to comply. She took out a notebook from the house, attempting to find information about building a house. These past few days, she hadn't had the chance to study it properly. She tapped the search icon, tapped the search box, but why couldn't she type? Where did the typing interface go? Did she do something wrong?
She went back and tried again, but it still didn't work. This thing was useless! It could recognize and locate, but it had no other functions? "Clara! What are you doing?" Mateo, seeing Clara getting frustrated with the strange device, couldn't help but keep a close eye on the notebook in her hands.
"I'm looking for houses!" Clara tried to handwrite on the screen, and the screen flashed, showing a lot of information, all about houses.
There were pictures, spatial structure diagrams, ranging from ancient to ones she had never seen before. She selected a house with a unique design, and immediately, a text description and spatial structure diagram appeared. What! The year 4012! It's even a competition entry! The new coordinates of the Water Tower Planet, where the heck is the Water Tower Planet! This is clearly in English! Earth's writing, why is there a Water Tower Planet! In the year 4012! What a distant number.
Clara found it hard to accept. She clicked on several buildings, all from a thousand years later. She chose ones from ancient civilizations, similar to those in her world, ranging from ancient caves to tiled houses. She specifically looked for a bamboo-structured house.
Here, the only material available was bamboo, and it was the most convenient.
"Mateo! Come and see." Clara called Mateo to come and look. She saw many bamboo houses, all so beautiful! She wanted to build a bamboo house like that, with flowers, trees, and a large terrace by the water.
Mateo came over to look, initially not understanding. But when Clara explained, he was extremely shocked. There were so many houses inside this thing, and looking at their small, low, and rundown adobe house, it couldn't compare. "Cla! Why are all these houses in here? Let's pick one; this one looks good, very spacious. We can live together when we have a baby."
Pick one out? Baby? Clara blushed, and Mateo seemed very pleased with the bamboo house. He poked the screen excitedly. Suddenly, the spatial interface opened, a three-dimensional model appearing in the air like a small model, rotating in front of Clara and Mateo's eyes – a door, corridor, staircase.
Mateo was so shocked that his mouth hung open, staring at the model in the air, exclaiming and reaching out to embrace it, but only holding air. The bamboo house was beautiful, but for now, it was impractical without tools or structural engineers.
.
Clara closed the interface with a sigh, and Mateo excitedly shouted, "Where did the house go? Why can't I grab it?"
Speechless! "This is fake; a house has to be built with our own hands. The one just now was difficult to build. Let's find a simpler one." Clara found a simple bamboo house that could be built with just a few bamboo poles. The roof could be laid with bamboo and covered with dry straw. Now they could build two next to their original thatched hut—one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom in the future.
Mateo watched as Clara closed the notebook, the house disappearing. He had never seen such a house before—large and beautiful. He looked at Clara's calm expression and felt a surge of determination. Full of unreleased emotions, he hugged Clara tightly. "Cla! In the future, I'll build one exactly like that."
Clara nodded happily, her eyes sparkling. She noticed that Mateo looked especially handsome when he said those words. Mateo, seeing Clara's joyful expression, was also pleased. He was determined to fulfill this promise. The two of them hugged for a while, then started preparing food.
Meanwhile, the rabbit was almost done smoking. Clara skewered some wild deer and a piece of wild boar leg to smoke as well. The aroma of the chicken soup in the stone pot wafted outside, and the stone slab was heated. There were pork skewers, as well as shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, shepherd's purse, and some other wild vegetables—all tested and edible by Clara.
Perhaps the aroma was too enticing, attracting nearby beasts. Some male beast people boldly approached. "Mateo! Why didn't you go hunting today?" Rowan returned early today, coming to the forest to find Gloria. On his way, he passed by Mateo's house and caught a whiff of the delicious smell.
The words were directed at Mateo, but their eyes were fixed on the delicious food. Clara noticed Rowan and a few others whom she didn't recognize. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she politely greeted them to join the meal.
Everyone was delighted, and Gloria and the others also came over from the forest, catching the scent from afar. With so many people today, Rowan and the others brought hunted prey, while Gloria and her group brought fruits, turning it into an impromptu feast.
Initially, Mateo was happy, but he gradually noticed that some males were paying too much attention to Clara. He felt that Clara's attire seemed too revealing, even though the females were dressed similarly. But why did he feel that Clara was dressed exceptionally scantily, with her arms and legs exposed?
While others were enjoying themselves, Mateo remained sulky, sticking close to Clara. Everyone thought they were a loving couple, unaware of Mateo's inner torment and anger.
As the gathering became lively, Mateo's mood improved, thinking about repairing the house in the afternoon. Seeing this group of guests, he felt much better. After they finished eating, he didn't let anyone leave, enlisting their help in fixing their house.
During the meal, Mateo brought up the house repair, and everyone unanimously agreed. With good food, they were willing to help with anything. Female beast people surrounded Clara, asking about the chicken soup's recipe, what made it so delicious, what ingredients were used, and how the stone pot was obtained. They bombarded Clara with questions, leaving her a bit dizzy.
Clara patiently answered each question, explaining how to make the stone pot, barbecue meat, identify mushrooms, and use salt fruit. She shared all the practical knowledge she had gained with the female beast people. The females were both bewildered and curious, but their impressions of Clara changed significantly. They realized she wasn't as fragile as she looked and found her quite powerful and knowledgeable.
The males chatted among themselves, with some even pulling down Mateo's large trousers. Rowan called Gloria to take a look, planning to make one for himself when he got back. Other males also encouraged their females to learn from Clara, and those who didn't bring their mates promised to bring them next time for lessons.
Clara became the center of attention for more and more people. Mateo looked at Clara among the female beast people, her smile brighter than the sun, making him involuntarily stare. His Clara was becoming more and more powerful.
After finishing the meal, the females packed up, while the males went to help repair the house. Looking at the abundance of bamboo, everyone was unsure how to proceed. They were only familiar with building using mud, not bamboo.