Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, Jiang Xue said, "Here's how, have someone dig a hole next to your pigpen. Make it a little bigger and deeper, and then block it with something to prevent the children from falling in. We can deal with the rest when we have more free time."

She didn't forget that they still needed to stock up on food and exchange it for salt, herbs and other things at the flea market.

If she hadn't been worried that the ground would freeze and be difficult to dig during the cold season, she wouldn't have bothered to say this.

Mu Feng agreed and immediately arranged for people to dig.

They had almost dug up all the lotus roots in the shallows of the lotus pond, and the lotus roots in the tribe had piled up into small hills.

Jiang Xue had no experience preserving lotus roots. As soon as they came out of the ground and came into contact with oxygen, they quickly oxidized, forming dark spots on the surface that greatly affected her appetite. These days, she barely ate any lotus roots.

However, although she didn't like to eat it very much, the other people in the tribe didn't mind it at all. They just washed it and ate it as fruit, and didn't care at all whether there were any black spots on it that couldn't be washed off.

When she had nothing to do, Jiang Xue started to study how to weave a backpack using the bamboo left over from thatching the roof.

Compared with a basket, a backpack is larger and longer, and bamboo is more resilient and lighter. If the backpack is used normally, it can be used for three to five years without any problem.

She had never done this before, so she could only explore it step by step.

The first step is naturally to find a way to break the bamboo.

Breaking bamboo is a strenuous job, so she went straight to the big tree for the job.

According to her instructions, Mu Feng first used a stone knife to cut the bottom of the bamboo neatly. Then, he placed the big end of the bamboo on the chevaux de frise with the stone knife, directly broke the bottom with the stone knife, and then lifted it up, and the bamboo was split into two.

Mu Feng looked at the bamboo in surprise, patted his head and grinned, revealing his white teeth: "Bamboo is so easy to break?"

It is certainly not enough to split a big bamboo into two. Even a basket can be made of four, eight, sixteen, etc. strands depending on the size. Only when it is split into two halves, it is enough to use it to divert water, but it is definitely not good enough to use it to weave things.

"Use the same method as before to divide it again. The more pieces the better, and the thinner the better."

Mu Feng had experience, so he was naturally adept at it. He readily replied, "Okay!"

After saying that, he chopped the bottom of the bamboo with the stone knife again, and with a strong pull, the bamboo split into two halves again.

"Go on, I'm going to weave a backpack out of bamboo. The thinner the better."

After Jiang Xue finished speaking, Mu Feng had an idea. He raised his knife and cut the bamboo into four pieces.

Mu Feng was having a great time, and everyone else couldn't contain their excitement. Without waiting for Jiang Xue's instructions, they each found the remaining bamboo, and the sound of bamboo breaking suddenly rang out in the tribe.

With the concerted efforts of everyone, it didn't take long for the open space of the tribe to be scattered with bamboo pieces of various sizes.

Everyone was having a great time and would burst into laughter from time to time.

The laughter was so contagious that even the big tree, who had just returned from hunting, didn't even have time to put down the prey before shouting, "I can hear your laughter from a long way away. What are you laughing at?"

It would have been fine if he hadn't asked, but once he did, everyone laughed even more happily.

Xiaohua picked up a piece of bamboo and said, "We are all splitting bamboo. Sister Xue said she wants to use this to make a backpack."

Dashu took the bamboo from her hand and said, "How heavy would it be to use this as a backpack?"

Jiang Xue said, "The one in your hand is a little thick, but we can split it a little thinner until it's the right size and we can use it. Once it's made, you'll know if it's heavy or not."

Jiang Xue said this, but she was already ready to get started.

Find a few thin bamboo strips two fingers wide, spread them flat on the ground and start weaving.

As soon as she started weaving, people from the tribe gathered around to see the wonder.

Jiang Xue was already used to being stared at, and didn't mind at all. Her deft hands flew up and down, quickly weaving a bottom. After the bottom was finished, she began weaving the inside of the backpack.

She didn't know if it was her illusion, but it seemed that since she had woven a basket with rattan last time, she had become more adept at weaving a backpack.

When the braid was about half a meter high, she started to tidy up the edges.

A backpack is different from a basket. A basket can use rattan as handles, but a backpack can only use old animal skins as straps.

At first, when they saw her taking out the animal skins that the tribe was about to discard, everyone was just curious about what she was going to do. But when they saw her put the straps into the backpack and try it on herself first, everyone became eager to try it.

Before she could speak, the old people who had woven baskets before began to follow her example and looked for thin bamboo strips to start weaving.

But it was already late at this time, so grandma, who was preparing to eat, prepared the ingredients and started to roast them over the fire.

Mu Feng saw that Jiang Xue had nothing to do, so he came to her side and asked her, "Xue, there is something I want to ask you for help."

Mu Feng rarely spoke to her in such a serious tone. Jiang Xue nodded and said, "Go ahead."

"I see you're quite skilled. How about you help me train them? Now is a critical time to store food. If we can't get more food now, we really won't be able to survive the cold season."

Jiang Xue looked at him and confirmed with him: "Are you kidding me?"

It wasn't difficult for him to help train his tribesmen. But he had gone through rigorous and devilish training to reach his current level of skill. Could they handle it?

"Of course. As you can see, there are too few people in our tribe. If each of us had skills like yours, why would we be afraid of the Eagle Tribe?"

When Mu Feng mentioned the Eagle Tribe, Jiang Xue asked, "By the way, were the former tribe leader and Ashan taken away by the Eagle Tribe?"

"I don't think so." Mu Feng shook his head. "They are no longer of any use to the Eagle Tribe. Besides, if we take them back, we have to provide them with medical treatment. The Eagle Tribe won't do such a thankless task."

"So you hate me for kicking them out?"

"That was the path they chose. If you hadn't said you wouldn't kill them, we would have burned them to death as traitors."

Jiang Xue stared at him with wide eyes: "How are you going to burn it?"

"Why can't we just build a wooden rack and tie them to it and burn them to death?"

So, am I still too kind?

Jiang Xue smiled awkwardly and changed the subject: "By the way, you just said that you wanted me to train the tribesmen. I have a rough idea here, but I need your help."

"Of course. Since you are willing to help me train them, it is a blessing for them."

Look at what he said. Although it was not sweet talk, Jiang Xue enjoyed it very much.