Thinking of this, Qiao Yu sighed.

The Dragon Tribe had gained a large population and a salt mine, and was thriving, ready to be rebuilt. She only needed a few years to build the tribe into a respectable place.

Now that the population has grown and the tribe's territory has shrunk, she will expand outwards. Outside the tribe is a large plateau, and she can easily build more walls and expand the tribe several times.

But now, against her will, a flood had struck. Following a major flood, a drought would inevitably follow. The mountains were starving of water, and the wild animals would die one after another. The yield of her tribe's crops would also be affected, and the animals on the farm would struggle to survive due to a lack of feed.

Now that the tribe has such a large population, it is unable to sustain its food supply and is facing famine.

Thinking of this, Qiao Yu felt heavy in his heart.

Next, the Dragon Tribe followed Qiao Yu's instructions and killed some of the animals on the farm.

According to the tribe's previous custom, after these animals were killed, the meat would be distributed to each person according to the rules, and they would then take the time and energy to make the dried meat. This dried meat became their private property.

But with a major disaster imminent, Qiao Yu did not do so. Instead, he convened a meeting. Not only the team leader but also the director of the neighborhood committee of the residential area attended the meeting.

When selecting the director of the neighborhood committee, Qiao Yu urged that middle-aged or elderly women who were capable, reputable, fair, and kind should be chosen.

Qiao Yu told everyone about the difficulties the tribe would face due to the flood and the drought that might happen next.

"Although this is just my guess and the situation may not be that serious, we still need to prepare early. Don't waste all the food now. If we find out later that there is nothing to eat and people starve to death, that would be a mistake in our decision-making."

Primitive people had short lifespans. The oldest person present was in his fifties, considered a long lifespan in the tribe. But this once-in-a-century flood was something none of them had ever experienced. Faced with this unprecedented disaster, everyone was overwhelmed with fear.

When Qiao Yu mentioned that even if the rainstorm stopped and the flood receded, it was not the end of the story, and there might still be a drought in the future, everyone's face changed.

"Then what should we do?" Everyone was panicking and had no idea what to do.

"Yu, you are the smartest. We will do whatever you say." Lu said.

Everyone turned their eyes to Qiao Yu, their eyes full of hope.

Qiao Yu smiled bitterly and said, "No matter how smart I am, I can't come up with more food. There are only so many ways. One person's plan is limited, but two people's plan is long. Only when we work together can we come up with more and better solutions."

Seeing that no one was talking, she said, "Okay, let me start. First, everyone needs to control the amount of food they eat each day and be frugal. They can't eat as freely as before. Next, all the animals we kill will be made into jerky and kept by the tribe. It will be distributed according to the situation."

"Secondly, as soon as the rain stops, everyone will go up to the mountains. The men will hunt, and the women will gather, looking for food. We'll also catch as much fish and shrimp as possible from the river and make dried fish. The children will go up the mountains to dig up wild vegetables, dry them, and store them. Anyway, the next step is to find ways to store as much food as possible in preparation for further disasters."

"Third, every household will need to dig a cellar under their yard. This cellar will not only help store food, preventing it from spoiling, but it will also store snow in the winter, as a precaution against water shortages."

"Fourth, when the river freezes during the snowy season, we can build a dam upstream and downstream, and dig a storage pond next to it. We can then store as much water as possible when the ice and snow thaw in the spring."

"All of the above points need to be done during your time outside of hunting or gathering in the mountains. Everyone will have to work harder and go to bed later at night."

No one expected Qiao Yu to come up with so many solutions. Especially the cellar and dam, they had no idea what they were, but the very mention of them sounded incredibly impressive, and everyone felt reassured.

When they heard that things would be a bit more difficult, everyone quickly said, "What's the big deal about a bit of hardship? As long as we don't starve to death, anything is fine."

Nowadays, everyone works from sunrise to sunset. Take summer for example, people wake up around five in the morning and go to bed around seven or eight at night, sleeping for nine or ten hours. Sleeping is even longer in other seasons.

So it’s totally fine to sleep in a couple of hours later.

Qiao Yu said, "Tell us what you think. Then go back and divide into teams and settlements, call everyone to a meeting, convey the content of today's meeting, and ask them for any good ideas. Only by working together to find solutions and overcome difficulties can we overcome this hurdle."

Everyone looked at each other, and no one could think of a better way.

Shu scratched his head and said, "Let's go back and think about it. When we come up with something, we'll tell you together."

"Okay, let's adjourn the meeting."

When the tribesmen heard the leadership's message, they panicked. They no longer had time to dwell on any conflicts they had previously felt due to belonging to different tribes, or on the resentment of former leaders becoming commoners.

As primitive people, even those in large tribes often face crises like hunger. They only consider how to deal with crises when they're right in front of them. Even now, with the floods still lingering, Qiao Yu reminds everyone to prepare for the coming drought. Everyone is hesitant and deeply uneasy.

"Really? No way?"

"Why not? Didn't you hear what they said? Qiao Yu is the smartest person in the tribe. She said it exists. Can you be smarter than Qiao Yu?"

"Then what should we do?"

"Of course I'll listen to Qiao Yu. It's always right to listen to smart people."

So everyone started killing animals, roasting the meat until dry as required, and storing it in clay pots.

Someone saw the women putting something wrapped in dry leaves at the bottom of a clay pot and asked curiously, "What is this? It's white."

"Qiao Yu said it's lime. It can keep out moisture and prevent the jerky from turning rancid so quickly."

"Oh, this rain, please stop soon. Don't let the drought happen after the rain stops, as Qiao Yu said. We have finally lived a good life, God, please let us live well."

It seemed that God had finally heard everyone's prayers. After more than twenty days of heavy rain, it gradually subsided. After a few days of drizzling, it finally stopped.

"Ah, the rain has finally stopped. That's great."

After a month, the dark clouds in the sky finally dispersed and people danced with joy.

"Yu, can we go up the mountain tomorrow?" Man came over and asked.

Qiao Yu stood on the city wall, looking at the surging river, and said, "The day after tomorrow. The water will recede a bit the day after tomorrow, and it will be safer."