A Guide to Building Avian Civilization

Blurb: Also known as Zhao Feiyu's Drifting Adventure in the Northeast and Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness After dying in a car accident, Zhao Feiyu transmigrates to an ancient continent in its primitive age and becomes a birdman. No, a member of the Featherfolk. His sex is that of a rare pseudo-hermaphrodite in the Haast Eagle tribe. An oddity among birds, pseudo-hermaphrodites always use their female-like appearance to pass themselves off as females during breeding season, scamming others for food, drink, and affection. Winter is coming, and injured Zhao Feiyu can't fly south to spend it. Freezing to death, he's forced to start his con early, keep his cross-dressing secret identity under wraps, and cling to the strong leg of his savior, his unlucky husband. "Good brother, could you start a fire for me?" "Brother, could you fire this bowl for me?" "Help me plant some garlic!" "Come raise some sheep!" "Make some salt!" After working himself to the point of questioning his life, Chu Ying wonders: is he Zhao Feiyu's good husband or his good laborer? Let's get cooking, farming, pottery, sugar-making, and house-building! Zhao Feiyu, who's been eating raw meat, refuses to believe that a botany student who has read Hybrid Breeding Techniques can't change their primitive, blood-and-guts lifestyle! But as the top predator on this continent, the Haast Eagle seems to be a carnivore... Zhao Feiyu sinks into thought. Maybe what he really needs is a copy of Postpartum Care for Sows? Winter passes, and the annual breeding season returns. Zhao Feiyu, whose white plumage makes him the Xi Shi of the bird world, stands coolly in the middle of a flock as the males fight over him. A "female bird" who looks unmistakably like one of his kind sneaks up beside him and whispers, "Hey, pretty lady, wanna hook up?" Zhao Feiyu chuckles and lifts his feather skirt... unaware that his good brother is watching from afar. 1. The Haast Eagle's breeding habits are based on the ruff, with traits borrowed from other birds as well. 2. Beautiful, fair-skinned, theoretically unbeatable but all thumbs bottom x wild, dark-skinned, outrageously powerful top. 3. An ancient featherfolk story. All birds can transform between human and bird forms; mammals are just animals. 4. Not a traditional cross-dressing story. 5. The author is in poor health, but promises not to abandon the story unless prevented by circumstances beyond their control. Below is the blurb for an upcoming story, Reviewing Funeral Supplies Made Me Famous Nian Ruixue stares at his increasingly haggard face in the mirror, feeling a pang of worry. Last night, his ghost husband came to him again for a passionate tryst. At this rate, he'll be drained dry sooner or later. Boo-hoo. As a celebrity, he should have enough popularity to fend off the corrosive effects of Yin energy. Unfortunately, he's a has-been C-list star, and the industry has blacklisted him... Since he can't make it as a celebrity, he can only become an online influencer! Nian Ruixue starts a livestream and gives it a catchy title: Live Funeral Supply Reviews! "Hello, everyone! Today we're looking at the spirit money this blogger can't stop recommending! Whose money is worth the most in the underworld? Stay tuned for my best and worst picks." "A big review of paper-mache phones! I've spent a fortune on more than twenty models. I'll test them live to see which ones can stream without losing connection and which have the best selection of apps." Random viewers who stumble in: What kind of lunatic is this?! As the crowd mocks him, more and more ghosts become Nian Ruixue's fans. "Oh, I bought the Rolls-Royce and paper-mache chauffeur you recommended. I got to enjoy being a rich wife for once. The review was spot-on. Five stars!" Nian Ruixue's human fans also multiply at lightning speed. "It's incredible! Six months ago, I dreamed my grandpa told me ghosts had taken over his grave. He asked me to burn him the paper-mache legal team and Underworld Code from your livestream. Recently, I dreamed of him again... He said he's about to win his case!" With humans and ghosts alike backing him, Nian Ruixue becomes an online sensation and dominates both the living and the dead! A struggling incense and candle maker gets a second chance at success thanks to him; a coffin shop on the verge of closing comes back to life; the lifeless underworld, thanks to him... One netizen curses him out: "A C-list has-been who couldn't make it in showbiz, doing sensational livestreams, nothing but a publicity stunt to grab attention!" That night, the netizen gets beaten up by eighteen generations of ancestors. The next day, they swallow their pride, make an alternate account, and buy paper-mache thermal underwear. Online debate: Just how many paid trolls has Nian Ruixue hired for his livestream? It's like an army of ghost soldiers marching through! Looking at the ghosts who make up more than half of his viewers, Nian Ruixue answers honestly: "Thanks for asking. I haven't hired any trolls, but most of them are probably ghost soldiers." Theme: Farming solves the conflict between the protagonist's growing material and cultural needs and the backward productive forces of primitive society.