Shi then explained, "The people of the Stone Tribe were originally captives, so they always want to make merit and change their situation. And you punished Zuo for the heavy snow this morning, and the people of the Stone Tribe are grateful to you. It's something you should be proud of that Lightning can do something for you. If you don't let him do it, he'll be sad."

"It's not that I don't want him to do it, but I'm worried that he might get into danger," Qiao Yu said.

If Lightning was bitten and poisoned to death by a snake because he caught a snake for her, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.

Shi looked at Qiao Yu and said with emotion: "Yu, you are such a really, really good person."

Being given a nice guy card, Qiao Yu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Without saying anything more, she asked Jian to bring in some large leaves and put the yellow stone on top. She asked Shi and Jian to step back a little, and she covered her mouth and nose with one hand, and with the other hand, she picked up the stone hammer and smashed it hard. Soon, the yellow stone turned into a pile of powder.

I don't know where Lightning found the snakes. Qiao Yu had just wrapped up what looked like realgar powder when Lightning came in with two still-squirming snakes.

Qiao Yu took a look and found that it was indeed a non-venomous rat snake, so she felt relieved.

After spreading what appeared to be realgar powder around the corner to form a semicircle, Qiao Yu said to Lightning, "Put them in there."

Lightning put the snake in as he was told.

Freed, the snakes tried to slither away. But when they reached the realgar powder, still some distance away, they quickly retreated, as if encountering some ferocious beast. Even though there was only a half-circle of powder sprinkled on the ground, the two snakes seemed trapped, unable to escape and acting extremely strangely.

Shi was surprised to see the snake like this, "What's the reason? Is it the yellow powder?"

"Yes," Qiao Yu said. She was certain that the yellow stone was definitely realgar.

Nowadays, people in the tribe no longer ask questions like "How do you know?"

So she spoke frankly: "This stone is called realgar, and it can repel snakes. But it's poisonous, so you can't eat it, or you'll die." She added, "Ask them where they found the realgar stone, and get some back. We can make it into snake-repellent bags. Wear them on your body to prevent snake bites. Sprinkle some around your house to keep snakes away."

Shi happily said, "Really? That's great." He turned to Jian and said, "Go ask who picked it up."

Jian responded and left.

Qiao Yu said to Lightning, "Okay, catch the snake and kill it. Be sure to wash your hands after killing it." He added, "Thank you, Lightning."

Lightning did something for Qiao Yu and received her thanks. He waved his hands excitedly: "No thanks, no thanks. We are all very grateful to you."

As he spoke, he bent down, grabbed the ground with his left and right hands, caught the two snakes, and went out with them.

When Qiao Yu saw this, he seemed to be thinking about something.

Although primitive people were ignorant and uneducated, they still had many talented individuals. Someone with special abilities like Lightning might be of great use in the future. Just as Mengchangjun was able to achieve great things through petty theft, she could certainly emulate that.

Qiao Yu took the packet of realgar and went to Wu Yu. She explained the realgar's effects to him and urged him to use it to make some snake repellent and test the dosage. As for where the realgar came from and how much was available, she left it to Wu Yu to discuss with Shi.

Every profession has its own specialization. Her main tasks are to manage the tribe's chores and work as a blacksmith.

Over the next three days, the elderly, women, and children in the collection team planted millet seedlings, various wild vegetables they liked to eat, and grass that goats and rabbits liked to eat. The men also dug fortifications and successfully diverted water into the river.

Seeing that Man, Liu Shui, and the team leaders had arranged things in an orderly manner and there was nothing for her to do, Qiao Yu picked two strong and smart people from the hunting team and took them with her to start the blacksmithing business.

People say: "There are three hard things in life: rowing a boat, forging iron, and selling tofu."

Summer had already arrived, and the heat was unimaginable as Qiao Yu worked by the fire, hammering away at the ironwork with a stone hammer. Fortunately, she felt a strong sense of accomplishment. Through her constant experimentation, she forged an axe, hoe, plowshare, and arrowheads, and also forged a plane, chisel, and saw for the carpentry team.

With these sharp tools made by Qiao Yu, everyone can work more efficiently, not to mention carpentry and planting. The hunting harvest is also greater than before. Everyone is so happy that they keep praising the good iron tools.

Unfortunately, the iron ore that Qiao Yu brought back was very limited. There was only one large ironware and only two or three small ironwares. The quantity was really not enough.

After using iron tools, people used stone and bone tools, just like people who had never eaten meat tasted meat, which was more painful than never eating it before. People were more and more eager to go to the northern tribe to transport iron ore back.

The busy yet peaceful days passed quickly. By the time autumn arrived, all the tribe's fortifications were complete, and the courtyard houses had been built. Qiao Yu had already moved into her bedroom, which had been partitioned off from the second floor. Meanwhile, several tribal offices and classrooms had been built on the other side of the elders' house. Wooden plaques hung on the walls of the offices, bearing the names of the team leaders and their assessments below.

Qiao Yu even brought people back to the valley tribe. While they had iron axes available, they cut down all the bamboo grown there and transported it back. They connected it to the water flow next to the waterfall near the tribe, took advantage of the drop, pieced together bamboo sections, and built a row of supporting wall piers with mud bricks to lead the water to the side of her house. They then used six bamboo pipes to connect the water all the way down. Each residential area had an outlet, and the water flowed into a small ditch dug on the side of the road until it reached a large pond dug near the foot of the mountain.

In addition to naturally grown aquatic plants, the pond also houses fish caught by the fishing team from the river.

In the evening, Qiao Yu stood near the planting area, looking at the thriving growth of sweet potatoes and ginger, the thriving millet, listening to the neighing of horses and the bleating of sheep coming from the breeding area, looking at the wisps of smoke rising from the kitchens in the distant residential area, and the children running happily on the open space. Her heart was filled with satisfaction.

If she had asked herself when she first came here, whether the apocalypse or primitive society was better, now she had the answer: primitive society was better.

The end of the world is filled with exhaustion and despair, like a long night with no light at all. But in primitive society, as long as you work hard to change your construction, your life will get better day by day.

And she personally created the Garden of Eden she wanted.

Perhaps this Garden of Eden still has many shortcomings, but as long as you keep working hard, you will eventually get what you want.

It represents infinite hope.