Chapter 47 Aluminum Tools - The Ducks Fly Out

The onlookers stared at the iron knife in Yu Yan's hand, their eyes practically spitting fire with excitement.

When Yu Yan first invented paper, many of them didn't pay much attention to it. It was only gradually that they discovered the wonders of paper, and now they can't live without it.

Metal knives—everyone in the tribe, from orcs to sub-orcs, from the oldest to the youngest, knows how good these things are!

Metal is far stronger and sharper than seashells and animal bones!

The leg bone, cut in two, is the best proof!

The crowd erupted in commotion, and several young sub-orcs excitedly hugged each other.

"Was it successful?"

"I think so!"

"Ahhh, we have a metal knife! We have a metal knife!"

"Pinch me again, or I feel like I'm dreaming again!"

Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, Cangfeng walked over, staring intently at the knife, and exclaimed, "What a fine knife!"

He asked somewhat nervously, "Yu Yan, can I try it?"

Yu Yan turned the knife around so the hilt was facing Cang Feng, and said with a smile, "Try it without worry."

Cang Feng smiled brightly, gripped his knife, and after Yu Yan stepped back, he tightened his jaw, swung his arm, and chopped down on the beast's leg.

Yu Yan's idea was correct. Cang Feng chopped off the beast's leg with just one stroke, and the cut was even smoother.

Cangfeng gasped, his eyes brightening. He tried cutting the stems and chopping the branches, and they worked perfectly!

"These are sharper than our claws, and they're so easy to use!" His face showed undisguised delight.

Seeing him get started, the others eagerly rushed over, vying to say, "Let me try it too!"

"Let me touch it!"

Cangfeng reluctantly handed over the iron knife, then picked up the aluminum knife and tried it out.

"Hmm... this knife is much lighter. It's not as good as the previous one for chopping things, but it's enough for cutting stems and fruits."

Xin Yu leaned closer: "I'll give it a try."

Cangfeng handed him the knife, and Xinyu tried it a couple of times before immediately calling Xuefei and Yinqing over to take a look.

"...If we made it into a knife, it would be very convenient for us to take out when we're gathering things, like peeling mushrooms or digging for wild vegetables."

Several sub-orcs nodded repeatedly: "That's right! With the daggers, why would we need claws anymore!"

The two knives were passed around among the crowd, and everyone who tried them was completely captivated by them.

Yin Qing stamped her feet anxiously: "I remember this was made from the ore found in our tribe, right? Then what are we waiting for? Quickly gather more! I really want to have my own knife!"

Someone came up to Yu Yan and asked, "Can we go mining tonight?"

Yu Yan laughed and said, "The sun is about to set. Do you want to work in the dark without eating or sleeping?"

Everyone said, "I'm not hungry or sleepy! I have inexhaustible energy!"

Yu Yan shrugged: "It's still not working. We can't smelt the charcoal we've collected. We've basically used up all the white charcoal we've saved."

"Sigh! Then let's go chop wood and make charcoal!"

"Yes, yes! I know a particularly lush elm forest!"

Yu Yan had originally said that she would smelt metals in the morning and lead people to burn charcoal in the afternoon.

Metallurgy is no easy task; they've been busy ever since. And they're still making the simplest tools.

Inspired by everyone's positive attitude, Yu Yan thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go chop wood in a little while, and I'll take some people to make charcoal first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes!!" The response was deafening.

Yu Yan rubbed her ears, turned her head, and met Lan Xiu's icy blue eyes.

The young, handsome orc walked straight through the crowd and stood before him, his lowered eyes full of smiles.

Yu Yan's smile deepened as she asked him, "Did you try out those two knives?"

Lanxiu nodded: "I tried the knife made of gray stone, and it works well. It's a pity that neither we nor the nearby tribes have found any gray stone."

Yu Yan: "No rush, at worst we can go to the Highland Tribe later."

Lan Xiu: "Can I come with you?"

Yu Yan: "If you want to."

Lan Xiu replied without hesitation, "I want to."

Yu Yan met his gaze and couldn't help but smile again.

"Alright, everyone's seen enough, it's time to head out and chop wood," Yu Yan said loudly.

"Mmm." The two knives were handed back to Yu Yan from the crowd.

Yu Yan thought for a moment, then held up the knife and said, "From now on, let's not call them 'knives made of gray stone' or 'knives made of earth-colored stone' anymore, it's too tongue-twisting."

Xuefei: "Then what should I call you?"

Yu Yan: "A knife made of gray stone is called an iron knife, and a knife made of earth-colored stone is called an aluminum knife. Correspondingly, gray stone can be called iron ore, and earth-colored stone can be called aluminum ore."

They accepted these new titles in zero seconds.

Yu Yan pointed out that some people should go with her, while others should stay at the pottery kiln to handle the aftermath.

The felled timber was piled up near the charcoal kiln.

Many people, wanting metal tools so badly, suggested, "Let's work late and cut down the branches and peel off the bark first, shall we?"

Yu Yan was busy from morning till night. She talked so much that her throat hurt and she was starving.

Before he could speak, Lan Xiu said calmly, "Let's do it tomorrow morning. Let's go back to the tribe for a meal and rest first."

Only then did everyone realize how tired and hungry they were, and they said apologetically, "Look at us, we were so excited that we forgot to eat."

"Then come again tomorrow morning."

"Yu Yan, you must be exhausted today."

"Everyone has worked hard!"

"Let's go back to the tribe."

Yu Yan looked at Lan Xiu and gave him a knowing smile, and Lan Xiu returned a handsome smile.

Because the ducks and sheep at home needed to be fed, Feng Gui went back first.

Once Lanxiu transformed into a tiger, Yu Yan skillfully climbed onto his back, lay down on his warm fur, and let out a satisfied sigh.

He unfastened the iron knife from his waist, examined it carefully for a moment in the dim light, and then brandished it twice.

The sound of something cutting through the air reached Lan Xiu's ears, and he asked in a low voice, "Are you very happy?"

Yu Yan smiled and said, "Hmm! Shall we stew pork ribs tonight? I'll chop the bones into small pieces with a knife!"

He was really fed up with the large pieces of bone sticking out of the pot, making them difficult to stir-fry.

A smile flickered in Lan Xiu's eyes: "Okay."

For the next period of time, Yu Yan was extremely busy.

He led people to cut down trees and burn charcoal, summarized the best conditions for burning white charcoal, and also modified the tools used in metallurgy.

For example, the crucible used to be a bare, vertical barrel. He used a metal sheet to tightly surround the crucible, then fixed a metal rod to the metal sheet and tied a wooden handle to the front end.

This makes it convenient to transport and handle ore during metallurgy, and you don't have to worry about getting burned.

For example, the metal hammerhead has a wooden handle, so when forging metal, you can use the hammer directly, which is easier and safer than using a stone.

For example, he had a metal forging table built for him...

Once the handy tools were ready, they had also accumulated a considerable amount of charcoal, which allowed them to smelt metal ores again, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

From top to bottom, the peninsula tribes have devoted themselves to metal smelting, and many people wish they could live by the alchemy furnace every day.

Oh, the alchemy furnace was also newly built by Yu Yan and her team.

Because the pottery they made with white charcoal was of better quality than that made with black charcoal, but not by a huge margin.

Such a small difference wasn't worth using precious white charcoal to fire pottery, so they simply separated metallurgy and pottery firing.

While Yu Yan and her people were burning charcoal, news of them forging metal tools spread rapidly throughout the nearby tribes, causing a great stir.

People from the Mingyuan, Qingqing, and Shenhu tribes all came to see their metal tools.

Yu Yan was too busy, so it was the other people from the peninsula tribe who hosted them.

By the time the first batch of aluminum tools was successfully manufactured, early summer had already quietly passed.

As a major contributor, Yu Yan received a set of aluminum basins, bowls, plates, and knives...

There are no aluminum pots because aluminum ions are easily released during cooking. Excessive aluminum intake can damage the nerves, so Yu Yan didn't have the tribe make aluminum pots.

Considering they couldn't understand the technical terms, Yu Yan only said that heating food with aluminum utensils would harm their health. Fortunately, everyone listened to him and said they wouldn't use aluminum utensils to cook.

At night, a sudden rainstorm washed away the summer heat.

By morning, it had turned into a light drizzle.

Rain makes it unsuitable to go out gathering or hunting, and the work of charcoal burning and metallurgy has also come to a temporary halt, so none of the three of them, including Yu Yan, went out today.

They sorted through their recent acquisitions and then sat down to rest in the thatched hut.

Feng Gui was quite fond of that set of aluminum tools, and would touch and tap them from time to time.

Yu Yan held the ceramic bowl, which contained freshly boiled goat milk from this morning, and drank it contentedly, accompanied by the sound of rain.

Lan Xiu sat beside him, holding a small hammer in his hand, cracking nuts for him.

With a "snap," the nut shell was easily cracked open, and Lanxiu used his slender fingers to take out the kernel and put it in the small ceramic bowl next to him.

After accumulating a small half bowl, it was naturally poured into Yu Yan's hands.

After finishing her milk, Yu Yan burped, waved her hand, and said, "I'm not eating anymore, I'm too full. There's still a lot of animal milk left, aren't you going to drink it?"

Feng Gui was peeling the stem tuber with an aluminum knife, laughing as he said, "I'm not drinking anymore, I'm a bit tired of it these past few days."

He was stunned for a moment after saying that. Life must be so good that he's even tired of drinking such a good thing as animal milk.

But it's really not his fault.

Yu Yan and Lan Xiu were busy working and mostly forgot to drink the animal milk.

The sheep needs to be milked twice a day, and now that the weather is hot, the milk will spoil if it's not finished on the same day.

In the end, only Feng Gui could solve the problem of these beast milks, and he even exchanged quite a few for other things.

After thinking it through, Yu Yan didn't force Feng Gui and said with a smile, "Then Father-in-law, you shouldn't drink anymore. Lan Xiu, what about you?"

Lan Xiu looked up and said, "I'll have a bowl."

"There's still a lot left..." Yu Yan muttered as she got up and pulled out an unused ceramic jar.

The earthenware jar has a groove at the mouth, which he prepared for pickling vegetables.

A few days ago, they went to the Mingyuan tribe and brought back a lot of lotus root shoots.

He couldn't finish them all, so he exchanged many baskets of them. He pickled some of the remaining food and dried the rest.

He thoroughly scalded the earthenware pot with boiling water, let it dry completely, skimmed off the skin from the goat's milk, and poured it in.

Then, water was poured into the groove at the mouth of the jar, and a bowl was placed on top to seal it.

Finally, the pottery jar was moved to a corner of the thatched shed and placed there.

Seeing this, the other two asked, "Can animal milk be pickled?"

Yu Yan: "Um... to be precise, I'm fermenting yogurt."

Feng Gui was taken aback: "Yogurt? Won't it spoil? Can we still eat it?"

"It's not bad... Anyway, I'll give it a try first, even if it doesn't work."

In modern times, making your own yogurt is simple: just mix milk and yogurt, pour it into a clean container, and keep it at the right temperature.

Since he has no yogurt, he can only hope for bacteria in the air.

Hearing him say that, Feng Gui also stared at the pottery jar curiously: "I hope it will be successful."

Lan Xiu, who was standing next to him, suddenly stood up and ran outside.

Yu Yan: "What's wrong?"

"There's some movement over there at the green-headed bird's place."

"Huh?" How come he didn't notice?

"You all wait in the thatched hut, I'll go take a look."

Lan Xiu quickly ran to the outside of the duck pen, walked half a circle around the wooden fence, and stretched out his hand swiftly and decisively.

When he got up again, Yu Yan saw that he was holding a squawking duck in his hand.

The ducks are fed and cared for well every day, and they have grown quite a bit since they were first brought here.

Lan Xiu carried it over and showed Yu Yanfeng the feathers on its wings.

"Its feathers have grown long and are popping out. It will probably be able to fly in a while."

Yu Yan: "That won't do!" They raised them with so much care!

He took the duck and looked at it: "I was too busy before and didn't notice how much they've grown. I'll get the knife and cut off its wings."

The reason we don't use scissors is that the tribe's forging technology is still in its infancy and they haven't mastered it yet.

Fortunately, Yu Yan's iron knife was quite sharp.

Feng Gui and Lan Xiu assisted him. One went into the pen to catch ducks and brought them over, while the other helped him catch them.

Yu Yan cut off all the wing and tail feathers of the fifteen ducks before throwing them back.

The duck that initially tried to escape flapped its wings, attempting to fly out, but it fell back halfway down the fence.

Yu Yan looked away and said to the other two, "This should hold out for a while. When we can't hold them any longer, I'll think of something else."

Feng Gui hummed in agreement and looked towards the horizon. "The rain is about to stop. What are you planning to do this afternoon?"

Yu Yan: "Let's go check how the charcoal is burning first, and then we'll set up the cucumber racks."

Feng Gui: "You'll need tree branches to build the scaffold, right? I'll go cut some down."

Lan Xiu: "I'll go with you and cut some grass for the sheep beast and the green-headed bird."

Soon, the sky cleared, and the three proceeded with their agreed-upon plan.

Yu Yan briefly visited the charcoal kiln and didn't stay long.

Because now many people in the tribe, such as Cangfeng, Xinyu, and Moye, have gained experience in charcoal burning and are already capable of handling things on their own.

Returning to the ginkgo tree, he packed his tools in a basket and flew towards the fields by the river.

After a rain, the scarecrow stood wet in the field.

Yu Yan inspected the plants and found that the beet, sweet potato, and cucumber seedlings had all grown much taller.

Before long, he will be able to try planting beets and sweet potatoes.

Soon, Feng Gui flew over, carrying a bundle of long tree branches on his back.

Yin Qingjinxia and the others, who hadn't gone out to collect materials or been assigned to work in the pottery kiln, charcoal kiln, or alchemy furnace, excitedly followed along to watch the excitement.

"Yu Yan!" They waved to Yu Yan.

Yu Yan immediately noticed what they were wearing on their waists—newly made aluminum knives from the tribe.

Yin Qing also wore two shimmering silver leaf-shaped earrings.

As he spoke, his earrings swayed slightly, reflecting a beautiful light.

Yu Yan smiled and said, "What brings you all here?"

Yin Qing walked over quickly and said, "I've come to help you with the work and also to hang out with you!"

He tilted his head and said, "Look, aren't my earrings beautiful? I specially asked Senbo to make them for me."

Yu Yan sincerely praised, "It looks beautiful!"

Yin Qing was overjoyed: "Hahaha, I think so too!"

Yu Yan described to Yin Qing the Miao ethnic jewelry he had seen online before, such as silver necklaces, silver pendants, and silver bracelets, which would jingle when moved.

Not only Yin Qing, but the other sub-orcs were also captivated by the music.

"...Although the aluminum ones aren't as shiny, they're still quite pretty. Why don't you have a whole set made? Wearing them to the Autumn Harvest Festival will make you the most dazzling sub-beastman on the entire grassland!"

Yin Qing shouted excitedly, "Yes, yes, yes! Yu Yan, can you draw it on paper for me? I need to ask someone to make it for me right away!"

Jin Xia and the others, afraid of being left behind, said, "We want to too!"

"Yu Yan, why didn't you tell us about these beautiful pieces of jewelry sooner!"

Yu Yan laughed and said, "I only remembered it when I saw Yin Qing wearing earrings. Don't worry, I'll draw for you after I set up the frame."

Yin Qing: "Mmm!"

Feng Gui, who was a few steps away, heard them discussing the matter enthusiastically. He shook his head with a smile and said, "Other tribes haven't even used their own metal knives yet, and you're already going to wear all kinds of metal jewelry? I can't imagine how conspicuous you'll be."

Yin Qing and the others looked extremely proud: "Who says our tribe doesn't have Yu Yan? It's because our tribe has Yu Yan, while other tribes don't."

"That's right, other tribes don't need to be too envious of us. If they want metal tools, they can trade them with us for supplies!"

"Haha, yes, our tribe has been quite lively lately."

...

While chatting, everyone easily set up the frame.

With trellises to climb, cucumber vines will soon experience a period of rapid growth.

Yu Yan, with her hands behind her back, looked around with satisfaction and announced that they could go back.

The young and handsome sub-beastmen cheered and followed him back to the ginkgo tree.

Yu Yan sat on a rock, took out a notebook and charcoal pencil, and began to draw the jewelry styles she knew for them.

Everyone listened with great enthusiasm, and each drawing received high praise.

"This bracelet is so beautiful, I want to have one made!"

"My God, is that a headdress? It's so exquisite!"

"By the Beast God, how beautiful it would be to wear such a large piece of metal ornament on your chest!"

They chattered on and on until evening before reluctantly leaving.

Before long, they all came back, bringing Yu Yan stems, fruits, fresh meat, and fish.

Everyone said gratefully, "Yu Yan, thank you for drawing the jewelry designs for us!"

"This is river fish. The meat is very tender and there are hardly any bones. Try it. I think it tastes better than sea fish."

"My fruit is also very sweet."

Their enthusiasm made Yu Yan very happy.

Although he had plenty of food at home, he accepted the gifts with a smile, and everyone was happy.

Before leaving again, Yin Qing asked, "Yu Yan, it rained for so long today, there should be black ears growing in the wild. Do you want to come with us to collect them tomorrow?"

Yu Yan knew that the black ears were wood ear mushrooms. People in the tribe had traded dried wood ear mushrooms for things with him, so his family didn't lack them.

So Yu Yan said, "I won't go. Tomorrow is a sunny day, and I want to go to the beach."

Jinxia asked curiously, "Hmm? Are you going to go beachcombing?"

Yu Yan shook her head: "No, I'm going to collect limestone."

Or rather, the limestone by the sea.