[Ding! Congratulations Host had received Low Grade Assistance: one bottle of floral water.]
Su Bai rolled his eyes and complained, [Seriously? Just a bottle of floral water? Thatâs the worst one yet.]
It had been several days since returning from the Spotted Deer Tribe. Besides the eight Assistance Packages opened on the first night, he had opened two more Assistance Packages. One was an umbrella, and the other was a packet of lettuce seeds.
[Fine. Fine. I guess floral water is fine too. There are many mosquitoes in the Tribe. Applying some at night might help me sleep betterâŠ] Su Bai tried to convince himself.
He placed the floral water on one side of the table and began to ponder how to develop the Tribe.
[Papermaking will have to wait until we find the raw materials, and Grandfather Gu Muâs stone mill canât be rushed] Su Bai frowned and continued to think about the next on the list, [As for quill pens, we havenât found suitable materials for it yet, so that would have to be put on hold as well.]
He sighed. He realised that many things just were not ready yet and had to be on hold, hindering progress.
[Well, the lettuce seeds have not been planted yet. I also havenât checked on the chilli peppers. They might actually grow faster in this era. Their growth rate still needs to be confirmed so that we can estimate if they can be harvested before the rainy season arrives.] [For now, we can only have the people produce large quantities of linen to trade with. We need to increase the trading volume to exchange for more things, to develop fasterâŠ] He tapped his index finger lightly on the table, thinking about the next thing: animal husbandry. [Animal husbandry would be a major pillar of the Tribeâs economy, so it needs to be quickly implemented.]
Su Bai picked up the charcoal and started writing on the Animal Hide, [The first step is to build an enclosure, and the second step is to capture some wild animalsâŠ]
Soon, the Animal Hide was covered with drawings of rabbits, sheep, cattle, and other animals, along with a rough sketch of a farm. [At this point, we can only raise herbivores. After all, we are already having a challenge feeding our people with meat.]
In this era, the best way to convey orders was through drawings, since most could not read. Thus, any writing was useless at this point in time.
Drawing for them what to find would be more efficient and increase the chances of finding the right things.
[Itâs good that I learned the basics of drawing back then. Otherwise, I really would not have been able to draw these.] Su Bai smiled. âShaman, may I come in?â Yan Hua asked from outside the Teepee.
Su Bai put down the Animal Hide and looked up, âCome in.â
Yan Hua lifted the door flap and entered, saying, âShaman, Iâve given the Animal Hide to Uncle Cang Shi, and Iâve also told Uncle Mai Mang about exchanging for Black Stone Nuts.â
âGood. AhâHua, I want to ask, when the Hunting Team goes hunting, do they ever bring back smaller wild animals?â Su Bai asked.
âThey do, but rarely. The Hunting Team has rules. They donât capture very small wild animals, only larger ones,â Yan Hua blinked her red eyes and continued, âThey wait for the small animals to grow bigger before capturing them.â
Su Baiâs guess was correct. [People in this era really have no concept of animal husbandry.]
He shook his head with a smile and said, âIf you donât capture them now, you wonât see them when they grow up.â
âIâve wondered about that too, but we canât just capture these small wild animals, can we?â Yan Hua pursed her lips and continued, âFather says small wild animals donât have much meat. We only eat them if absolutely necessary. So, we usually let them grow bigger.â
âWell, your Father is right. Thereâs not much meat on small wild animals,â Su Bai nodded.
âYes, itâs better to let small wild animals grow up in the wild then get them when they are big.â Yan Hua smiled.
âStarting tomorrow, have the Hunting Team capture some small wild animals and bring them back,â Su Bai said.
âShaman, why are we suddenly capturing small wild animals?â Yan Hua asked curiously.
âTo raise them! We canât always go out to hunt. If we raise our own, we can be self-sufficient.â Su Bai took a sip of water and continued, âIf we raise enough, we wonât need to hunt as often in the future.â
Yan Hua widened her red eyes in surprise, âRaise them? But Shaman, we can barely feed ourselves, how can we feed them?â
âThey donât eat meat, just grass. Theyâre really easy to raise.â Su Bai shrugged.
âReally? Shaman, are they really easy to raise? We donât need to do anything else?â Yan Hua asked three questions in a row.
Su Bai nodded seriously, âOf course. Just cut some grass around the Tribe to feed them. It wonât be that difficult.â
âIf itâs really like that, that would be great. We wonât have to risk our lives to go out hunting so often,â Yan Hua said happily.
Su Bai raised an eyebrow and asked with pursed lips, âDidnât you always want to become a Totem Warrior and go out to hunt? Didnât you say it was an honour?â
âUhâŠâ Yan Hua paused for a moment, then explained, âShaman, you said reduce hunting, not stop hunting completely. I can still go out to hunt and still gain honour in doing so.â
âIâve been completely defeated by your thinking, hahahaâŠâ Su Bai laughed heartily.
Yan Hua scratched the back of her head and said with a smile, âShaman, donât laugh at me. I havenât given up on becoming a Totem Warrior.â
âItâs good not to give up. Keep at it.â Su Bai smiled.
Yan Hua pointed at a bottle on the table and curiously asked, âHey, Shaman, whatâs that?â
Su Bai looked at the floral water, picked it up and explained, âThis is used to repel mosquitoes.â
âRepel mosquitoes? Just with this strange-coloured water?â Yan Hua seemed a bit sceptical.
âYes, if you donât believe me, you can try it when you sleep tonight. I guarantee youâll have a peaceful nightâs sleep,â Su Bai confidently said.
âThatâs amazing! I must try it,â Yan Hua started to look forward to it.
âWhatâs so amazing?â Yu Yingâs voice came from outside the Teepee as she lifted the door flap and entered.
Su Bai handed over the floral water and said, âApply this before we sleep at night, and mosquitoes wonât bite us.â
Yu Ying took the floral water with delight and said, âThis is really amazing.â
[noscript][/noscript]