The round body of the worm was as big as a basketball in diameter, and Chen Ke estimated it to be at least a meter long. Its plump body was segmented, like an oversized soft-bodied worm wearing brownish-yellow armor.

That little bug was quite strong; it took three or four children all their strength to pin it to the ground.

"Haha, well done, lads! You've caught the cricket!"

"Great, we'll add some dishes for you tonight!"

"Buku, come get the stone axe and clean it up," the men shouted as they sharpened their weapons.

After Chen Ke and the other children, including the one named Buku, ran off, they quickly filled the empty space and placed their hands on it.

Information about the lily-like insect appeared in my mind: the lily-like insect is a soft-bodied myriapod that feeds on fruits and leaves, is nocturnal, prefers shade, lives in the soil one meter below the ground, is rich in nutrients, and has few edible parts.

Just as Chen Ke was wondering what the last sentence meant, he saw Buku run over with his father's stone axe and chop it down on Liuliu Chong's head.

With a "plop!" sound, the head of the slippery bug separated from its body.

Then Chen Ke saw the other three children quickly get up and stomp on the body of the worm, and then "gurgle gurgle..." yellow and green liquid was stomped out.

The plump little bugs immediately shrank, and the children quickly picked them up and ran into the cave.

"Mommy, Mommy, we want to eat crickets!"

Chen Ke: ""

After all that work, is that skin even edible? There's really not much edible part there.

No wonder men would rather sit there sharpening their knives than catch this thing; the physical exertion is disproportionate to the food gained. It's only suitable for children who have nowhere to release their energy right now.

Chen Ke stood at the cave entrance and looked out. The cave was halfway up the mountain, and below it was a vast grassland with low shrubs. The sky was dark, and through the rain, the shrubs looked like wild beasts crawling on the grassland, exuding a rugged and primitive atmosphere.

Chen Ke found a rock to sit on and pondered how to fulfill the wish of the Youqi tribe to ensure that the people would not go hungry.

They couldn't keep migrating forever. First, they needed to find a suitable place to build houses that could shelter them from the wind and rain. Then they could start raising livestock and growing crops. Next, they could make ceramics and weave clothes. This is how human civilization gradually formed.

By then, we should be able to ensure that no one goes hungry.

Chen Ke was engrossed in planning step by step. The women had already prepared the food in the cave. Buku ran over and called Chen Ke.

"The wise man Lacha said you should go and distribute the food!"

Chen Ke: ""

Is he really going to be given a spoon to share?

Fortunately, it was the wise man Racha who held the spoon; he only needed to explain how to distribute it.

The food was being cooked in a huge stone pot. Looking at the stone pot, which was made of the same material as the stone bowl, Chen Ke began to wonder how these barbarians, who had no tools, had managed to make granite into such a form.

Looking at the steaming food in the pot, with a few pieces of dried meat floating in the yellowish broth, Chen Ke was able to clearly distinguish the taste of Lili fruit and Liuli worm from the mixed flavors.

Although the food was ready, not many people gathered around. Apart from the hunters and some children who were drooling, the women who had cooked the food had moved to another spot, and the group of people in the sheltered part of the cave did not seem to be coming closer.

It was obvious that none of them intended to divide the food in the pot.

Lacha the wise man scooped a spoonful of meat soup into a bowl next to him, which turned out to be a rough earthenware bowl. Before Chen Ke could even express his surprise that there was now a ceramic bowl, Lacha the wise man scooped another spoonful into a stone bowl and then asked, "Chief Bu Ke, how should we divide this meal tonight?"

Chen Ke paused for a moment and asked, "Wisdom Lacha, how many people are there in our tribe now? How many are the hunting team warriors, adult women, children, the elderly, and the disabled?"

"There were 48 soldiers in total, 20 women, 7 children who were only five or six years old, 2 of whom were newborns before the migration but did not survive the journey, and 32 of whom were old, weak, sick and disabled."

After the wise man Lacha finished speaking, Chen Ke realized that it was really too difficult for the Youqi tribe to survive.

There were only 107 people in total, plus Chen Ke and Lacha Zhizhe, making 109. The proportion of warriors among the 109 people was not bad, but there were only 20 women. Didn't that mean that there were still more than 20 warriors who were single?

But if it's a polyandrous system, then disregard what I said.

What worries Chen Ke the most is the "old, weak, sick and disabled" group. There is no need to worry about the small number of children now, as the number will naturally increase in the spring. However, if these "old, weak, sick and disabled" people cannot survive the winter migration, the population of Youqi tribe will be reduced by about half.

"Chief Buko?" Hunting captain Karuru called out in confusion.

Chen Ke suddenly came to his senses. "Distribute them. Let the soldiers eat their fill and get a good night's rest. We'll try to bring back more game tomorrow."

Given the current situation, Chen Ke couldn't possibly distribute food to everyone; he could only prioritize the soldiers.

Following Chen Ke's advice, the wise man Lacha immediately served a full spoonful of dried meat and lili fruit to the hunting captain, Karulu. Then, the warriors from the other hunting teams lined up in an orderly fashion to receive their food.

Chen Ke observed from the side and found that they were lining up according to their merits during the hunt, with those who had made great contributions at the front and those who had made small contributions at the back.

The children waited eagerly on the sidelines, and finally, after all the hunting party warriors had finished distributing their food, they noisily gathered around with their own "meal bowls."

Chen Ke glanced at the pot and saw that there was only a little broth left at the bottom, along with some chopped pieces of Lili fruit. The soft, somewhat translucent flesh must have been the crickets that the children had caught, which the wise man Lacha had left at the bottom of the pot for them.

The seven children held their bowls high, and the wise man Lacha scooped half a spoonful for each of them. He scraped the soup from the bottom of the pot again and again until he could barely fill the last child's bowl halfway.

The soldiers began to devour the food with great anticipation, and the children eagerly slurped it down.

The aroma of broth filled the small cave. Accompanied by the sounds of chewing and swallowing, Chen Ke saw that the women were all looking down and pretending to be busy with their tasks, while those at the cave entrance had their eyes closed and looked as if they had already fallen asleep, if one ignored the faint sounds of swallowing saliva.

The wise man Lacha picked up the food from the stone bowl and handed it to Chen Ke, saying, "Chief Bu Ke, please fill your stomach first."

Chen Ke's stomach was indeed growling with hunger, because the original owner hadn't eaten anything for several days. In order to have the strength to think of a solution later, Chen Ke took the stone bowl without hesitation and started eating heartily.