Today is a good day. The hunters who just went out before the sun could even rise just came back in a good mood. They are celebrating something.
The elder who is teaching Huli Jing stops for a while and laughs happily, you're in for a treat," he said.
"What treat?" Huli Jing tilts her head in confusion.
The elder shakes his head and says, "Now taste this, that is spicy. Say, spicy." They are now having a lesson about taste. Yesterday's lesson was about the sense of touch.
Huli Jing nodded, and the elder gave her a fruit that is indeed spicy. But the spicy food is too spicy for her. Huli Jing drank some water before saying, "Shpicy." She repeated, "Spicy." Huli Jing has been good at speaking their language. If there is an S in the word, she would make one or two mistakes and will just repeat them.
"Good! Now you have tasted all of it. Make sure to remember the taste. I will give you a test tomorrow." Elder patted her head and stood up.
"Okay!" Huli Jing also stood up with the help of her Daddy. Sometimes she couldn't balance well, so someone will always hold her when walking.
"Be careful Hu'er. I will be leaving. See you tomorrow." The elder waved at her and she waved back.
When the elder left the room, her Daddy guided her to the stairs. He lifted her and went to Huli Jing's room. Sitting down on her fur blankets, she waited for her other Daddy to do the review.
But no one came. "Well, it seems like I will be reviewing Hu'er first then." Even her Daddy didn't know why no one came. Anyway, he likes to be with Hu'er.
"Can I review it later?" Huli Jing yawned. She is indeed feeling sleepy. It might be because Huli Jing is too full from all the fruits she ate.
"Do you want to eat first then?" He showed her some fruits but Huli Jing closed his hand.
"Don't want to. Too full." Huli Jing rubs her stomach.
"Alright, sleep well. I will guard you here." Her Daddy arranges the blankets and she lays down.
"Daddy… sleep too," Huli Jing muttered as she pats the blanket. But before she could even hear his response her eyes were already shut.
"Have a good dream Hu'er," he whispered.
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A smell of the fragrance of meat spreads around the room. Huli Jing unconsciously sniffed in her sleep, making the Daddies inside the room smile. All of Huli Jing's Daddies are in the room right now, waiting for her to wake up.
The males just got meat from a wild animal. This animal only eats herbs. The meat is full of nutrients that can help females to grow stronger. It's hard to hunt for it though. They are fast and can drill into the ground as an escape. This time they got lucky.
The animal is small, it's only as big as an adult beastmen's hand. That's why the only ones who got to eat it more are the 5 female babies. The old females can only get 2 dice of meat. The dice of meat is only a mouthful in size and when cooked it shrinks a bit. They got 4 dice of meat and they cooked it with different spices, to let her try what taste she wanted. After all, it's Huli Jing's first time eating meat.
Huli Jing sniffed again and slowly opened her eyes. "Daddies?"
They helped Huli Jing to sit up and straighten her hair. When Huli Jing saw a bowl, she knew where the smell was coming from. 'What's that smell?' She thought, salivating.
She sniffs again and looks at whoever holds the bowl. "Dada!" Huli Jing is calling the physician. Huli Jing changed the way she called the physician.
Huli Jing didn't even take notice of how jealous the others were when she called the physician Dada. The physician felt their glare but didn't care. Why would he? Right now he feels good, so special.
He chuckled and sat down at her level, "Do you want meat?"
"Yes!" Huli Jing stretches her hands to reach the bowl. She is very much sure that the smell is coming from that bowl.
He let her take a look at the meat that was in the bowl. Huli Jing saw four dice of violet meat. It also smells good. She took a couple of sniffs and felt drooling.
The physician picks up the stick and starts feeding her meat that has less seasoning. "How's the taste?" They are all looking at her waiting for the response.
She feels fortunate that the elder just taught her about taste and how to say it. Huli Jing slowly chews the meat to make sure she got the taste right. When the meat was gone, she shook her head. "No taste."
They did put some seasoning in it but it seems like Huli Jing has a heavy taste for food. Because of that, the physician gave her the next meat, "Next, one. Ah.." He looks so mischievous.
Huli Jing suspiciously looks at him. Seeing everyone expecting her to eat it, she opens her mouth. "Sour!" Huli Jing's face crumpled as soon as she bit the meat. They laughed at her. "Daddies!" She puffed her cheeks.
"Drink this first then taste the next meat." One of Huli Jing's Daddies gave her water and smiled at her.
She drank and ate her next meat. "Sweet!"
"Do you like it?" Huli Jing nodded, she likes it. It might also be because Huli Jing can taste the berries on the meat.
Her Dada gave her the last meat. "Yummy!" Huli Jing immediately said.
"That's the salty one. In Summer, make sure to prepare dried fruits and dried fish, so Hu'er can taste it," The hunk muttered.
"Good idea! The wild fruits will bloom soon." Everyone agreed to make it for Huli Jing.
The beastmen are already planning and dividing the work when the fruits are not even blooming yet.
Huli Jing finally realizes something, "Why is the meat's color violet?"
They all stop discussing and the physician starts explaining, "It is the color of a wild animal. Wild animals are colored violet, their eyes are red. They are very ugly and some are disgusting so never go to the forest, Okay?"
Huli Jing's eyes widened and nodded her head. For some reason, she feels like she heard such a thing, but couldn't remember where.
