Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off

Not far away, Hu Yan, Shi Feng, Han Jue, and Rong Ye had been quietly listening to the entire conversation between Su Qinglan and Elder Bao.

As soon as Su Qinglan mentioned building houses with cut stone blocks and a special plant-based cement, their eyes lit up with delight.

If their female was the one suggesting it, then it was definitely a good idea!

And if anyone dared to show dissatisfaction, then they should be ready to meet their fists, the men waved their hands in the air.

Elder Bao: "..."

He was not against it at all, could he not even raise his questions? He ignored them and continued listening to this little female’s idea, whose mind was always full of wonder.

Her husbands and the other beastmen could already imagine how strong and warm those stone houses would be, no more freezing winds sneaking through gaps, no more worrying about females and cubs suffering through the harsh winters.

The four of them exchanged excited glances, their tails swishing behind them.

Without hesitation, they crowded around Su Qinglan, towering over her with eager expressions.

"Lan Lan, is this really possible?" Hu Yan asked first, his voice full of anticipation.

Shi Feng nodded vigorously beside him. "If you say we can do it, then we can definitely do it!"

Han Jue’s eyes sparkled. "You don’t have to worry about anything. We can shape the rocks easily. We can even carve bowls and plates out of stone, cutting big blocks for houses is nothing!"

Rong Ye crossed his arms, grinning confidently. "Leave the stone carving to us and the other males. We’ll make them as neat as you want."

The surrounding fox tribesmen who had also been listening in immediately chimed in with enthusiasm.

"Yes, Sister Qinglan! We can definitely do it!"

"We males are strong. Carving stones won’t be a problem at all!"

Su Qinglan looked at their excited faces and smiled gently.

She nodded, her voice calm and reassuring. "Yes. If everyone works together, it will be much faster. I will just leave the stone cutting to the males and will handle finding the other materials for the cement myself."

She paused for a moment, then pointed at a large, relatively flat rock nearby and said to Hu Yan, "Hu Yan, why don’t you try carving one brick from this rock first? So the others can see the shape and size we need while I go search for the materials."

Hu Yan nodded without any hesitation. "Alright, Lan Lan. Watch me."

Su Qinglan gave him a brief but clear explanation.

"It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just make the sides smooth and straight. The cuts should be even so the blocks can stack nicely against each other. Make them quite large, about a foot high."

She did not ask him to make smaller ones. There was no need to make small bricks. Smaller ones would only create more work, and most importantly, males had no problem carrying bigger ones.

Hu Yan listened carefully, then immediately got to work. His sharp claws and powerful strength made quick work of the stone.

With focused, steady movements, he sliced and smoothed the rock into a large, rectangular block with clean, straight sides.

The surface was surprisingly even for a first attempt.

When he finished, he lifted the heavy stone brick effortlessly and placed it in front of Su Qinglan for inspection.

Su Qinglan walked around it, running her fingers over the smooth sides. She nodded with satisfaction and gave Hu Yan a bright thumbs up.

"It’s really good! The sides are straight and smooth. This is exactly the right size and shape."

Everyone around them nodded in approval, their confidence growing even higher.

"See? We can really do this!"

"If Brother Hu Yan can make one so quickly, the rest of us can make many more!"

Without wasting another moment, the males scattered with renewed energy. Some rushed to find more suitable stones nearby, while others began imitating Hu Yan’s technique, carefully carving their own large rectangular bricks.

The sound of claws scraping against stone soon filled the area as the tribe threw themselves into the new project with excitement.

Su Qinglan watched them for a moment, a soft smile on her lips. She then turned to Elder Bao.

"Elder, I’ll go look for the plants and other materials needed for the cement now. Once we have enough stone bricks and the binding paste is ready, we can start building the first test house."

Elder Bao stroked his beard, his earlier doubt slowly turning into cautious hope. "Go on, child. We’ll prepare the stones here."

As Su Qinglan prepared to head toward the forest with her mates, in the distance, Xuan Long and An Mo were still happily playing with the three babies together with Su Mingxuan.

Laughter and cheerful cub noises drifted over, but they were completely unaware of the new construction revolution that had just begun in the tribe.

Su Qinglan didn’t waste any time. After giving the young beastmen instructions on carving the stone bricks, she immediately turned to her four husbands.

"Hu Yan, Shi Feng, Han Jue, Rong Ye, come with me. We need to gather the plants and materials for the cement right away."

The four beastmen nodded eagerly and followed her into the nearby forest without hesitation.

With the system’s guidance quietly directing her, Su Qinglan led them deeper into the woods, her steps confident.

The strange plant she was looking for grew abundantly in shaded, slightly damp areas near the riverbank.

Before long, her eyes lit up. "There it is!"

The plant looked surprisingly similar to wild lime in both shape and texture. Its leaves were thick and fleshy, and the stems had a pale, almost chalky appearance.

Su Qinglan realized why the system had recommended it, the natural compounds inside mimicked the binding properties of lime when processed correctly.

She quickly explained to her mates how to harvest it without damaging the roots so more would grow back next season.

While they were in the forest, Su Qinglan decided to test a small batch.

She had Shi Feng peel a handful of the stems, boil them, then mix them with fine river sand and a bit of sticky clay they found nearby, and boil the mixture into a thick paste using a large stone bowl as a container over a small fire.

At first, the paste was soft and muddy, sticking to their fingers like wet clay. "It doesn’t look very strong yet," Shi Feng muttered, poking at it doubtfully.

Su Qinglan smiled. "It needs time to dry and harden. Let’s gather enough plants first. We’ll check it when we get back."

They spent more than two hours collecting a large pile of the strange lime like plants, along with extra clay and sand.

The moment they came back, Su Qinglan went straight to the small test patch of paste they had left earlier on a flat rock, mixed with a few small stones. She touched it gently and her eyes widened.

It had become incredibly hard.

She tried to pull one of the small stones away from the hardened material. It wouldn’t budge. No matter how much she tugged, the paste had bonded the stones together like a single solid rock.

"Wow... it really worked," she whispered, delighted.