But as he said, savages were savages at the end of the day. Why would they listen to him? After a few tries at convincing them, he felt as though he was playing music to an ox. The savages didn’t listen. They feasted and celebrated and even began hunting less. The store of food was being depleted, and fast.
In his stress, Zhang Peng hauled at his hair every day, until he was nearly bald. There wasn’t any room left for him to doubt Shi Jia’s prediction—the remaining food would last them a month, no more.
“We might have to start saving food.”
Shi Jia gathered the group together, including Tarzan, who had taken to following Shi Jia wherever she went. Shi Jia glanced at Tarzan’s short hair. It had been her work. She made sure to include Tarzan in the council because he was different from the other savages. He wasn’t very strong, and thus wasn’t very respected in the tribe, but he was an agile and efficient hunter. He also enjoyed thinking, so he often hung out with Zhang Peng for the past few years. As a result, he had become a good deal more intelligent.
A few strands of hair were sprouting on the bald head Shi Jia had left him. Even so, he didn’t look weird because his features were rather handsome,
“I agree,” said Yao Xiaoyu. She had been high-strung lately, worried about whether there would be a next meal. And what do they do when they run out of food a month later? Starve to death? “I have stocked up on wild greens, which no one seems to be interested in. It could last us for a few days if need be.”
She had intended to use them as flavoring at first, but now it seems like their lives might have to depend on them.
From that day onwards, they only ate half the meat they were given every day, wrapping up the other half in leaves and leaving them in the room to dry. In that weather, the shelf life of the jerkies was considerably long.
A few days later, almost to their surprise, they had saved up a lot of food. Every once in awhile, Shi Jia would transport the food to their hidden storage.
Everyone is selfish when it comes to life and death. If they couldn’t convince the others, they could only try to keep themselves alive. And don’t expect them to share their hard-saved food with the others. They weren’t saints.
As time went on, the tribe members began putting on weight. Every day they crowded around the bonfire, capering around in merriment. What was there to celebrate? Funny how they had such bright smiles when food was running out.
After moving some food to their hidden storage, Shi Jia returned to the settlement. But Tarzan was nowhere to be seen. Not even during dinner.
“Where’s Tarzan?” she asked Zhang Peng.
Zhang Peng shook his head. “Haven’t seen him since he went hunting this morning.”
“Where’s the others?” asked Shi Jia, bits of snowflakes shining on her. Yes, it had begun to snow. The snow was good for their food supply, however. The colder it was, the longer the food will last.
“The others?” Zhang Peng frowned. “I’m pretty sure they came back already. I’ll go ask.”
He shuffled out, and soon returned with greater haste.
“They told me Tarzan had bled a lot after a beast clawed him.”
“Where is he?” asked Shi Jia, impatient. “Where is he then? Isn’t he bleeding? We have a doctor here.
Zhang Peng stood there and said nothing.
“I get it,” said Shi Jia, heading out to look for Tarzan. That was how the savages were. It wasn’t the first time they had abandoned an injured companion either. There was selfishness in their blood, selfishness that could be found in any humans, even modern-day ones.
Wind blustered against her face as Shi Jia left the settlement. Suddenly, she clamped a hand over her stomach.
The staff quickly ran up to her to support her.
“What’s wrong? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” said Yan Huan, straightening. “My tummy hurts a little. Might have been something I ate yesterday.”
The staff carefully supported her into the tent where the wind and snow had been blocked off. It was warm inside.
She still had her hand on her tummy. It hurt so much that her heart was aching too.
The nanny passed her a hot-water bottle.
“It’s been getting colder lately, so something like this is bound to happen. This is the result of not taking care of your body in your youth.”
“Thank you,” said Yan Huan as she took the hot-water bottle and placed it on top of her stomach. She felt her heart tighten. Lu Yi had done the same for her back then. Knowing that she couldn’t sleep during her bouts of pain, he always made sure that the water inside the bottle was hot. That had made her tummy feel a lot better.
He remembered it even more clearly than she herself did, so he prepared everything beforehand.
But now he was gone. No one would worry about her anymore. He had spoiled her so much that she had become useless, too weak to even twist the cap off a bottle.
She held the bottle tightly and felt a tingling within her nose. Then she cried silently, afraid that she might lose control if she cried loudly.
She knew she had to get used to the days without Lu Yi, and live like how she did in the past, persevering and living and also learning about life itself.
The nanny put a bowl of soup before her.
Yan Huan took it with her head dipped low. She only wiped the tears away and began drinking when the nanny had left.
She rested a little longer before getting ready.
Everyone was waiting for her, ready to shoot the next scene. She didn’t want to waste their time by making them wait.
She finished the soup and headed out again. Like always, she told anyone who was concerned that she was fine. Truth was, her tummy was hurting again.
Was she used to pain? Or did she just choose to ignore it? It made no matter. What mattered was that the pain was always there, torturing her.
She only learned later that there wasn’t a single person in this world who could ever get used to pain.
