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The rainy season has officially arrived.
Occasionally, when it wasn't raining, people could still go out hunting or gathering to find some food. But once it rained, hunting became very difficult.
The ground was muddy and slippery, the rain blocked the view, and the animals also hid in places sheltered from the wind and rain, making it difficult to find any trace of them.
In the past, everyone would have been starving during this period, relying on a small amount of stored food to survive. However, this year it was not to this extent.
The sausages and dried meats he'd saved, along with the early-ripening pumpkins and sweet potatoes from Wu Yue's fields—all of these were food. The pumpkins and sweet potatoes were plentiful, and while they weren't enough to feed everyone in the Sharp Fang Tribe, they were still a significant help.
Especially sweet potatoes, Wu Yue has been transplanting lush vines these days. Now he owns a large sweet potato field, and the first batch he planted is ready to be harvested.
This thing is durable and can keep you full, and it tastes sweet. It tastes good whether eaten raw, cooked in soup, or simply roasted over a fire, and it quickly became a favorite among the tribesmen.
In order to save food, the tribe temporarily returned to one meal a day, but because there was no heavy work to do, no one felt very hungry.
Because the rain prevented hunting, gathering, salt making, and pottery-making, Wu Yue encouraged everyone to engage in crafts. For example, spinning—even without a spinning wheel—could be done with a simple tool like a spindle.
There was too much twine to weave, but it could be twisted into rope, which was very useful. Wu Yue planned to store some hay in the fall, build some barns, and then have the hunting team catch some docile animals to raise.
It would be great if you could raise the animals successfully, but even if you can't, you can slaughter the animals and eat fresh meat when you can't hunt in the winter. Why not?
Wu Yue had little to do. Besides tending to the plants and jungle fowl, he spent his days hunkered down in the house researching small things. Although Ma Hong had made straw sandals, they were useless in winter, and he had been thinking of taking advantage of the lack of work to go on a long journey, searching for bamboo and iron ore.
Won’t you freeze to death wearing straw sandals by then?
So he is now making leather shoes, preferably waterproof and warm boots that won't keep your feet cold even if you step on the snow.
There were plenty of furs, as he had taken out quite a few when he dismantled the tent. Wu Yue picked out some of the lesser-quality ones, cut them up, and glued them together with several sheets of resin to use as insoles. To make them more stable, he also planned to sew a circle around the edges with thread.
Without an awl, drilling holes becomes a very troublesome task. Fortunately, this kind of heavy work can be handed over to Xiao, and the tip of the Tang sword can also be used to drill holes.
After solving the problem of the insole, Wu Yue chose a piece of thick and warm sheepskin, cut it and drilled holes in it, sewed it into the shape of Martin boots on the insole, and used thin hemp rope as shoelaces.
The thick sheepskin covers the calf and is very warm when laced up. It is also waterproof. After Wu Yue made one pair, he tried it on and felt pretty good.
They are a bit ugly, but that is based on modern aesthetic standards. In the eyes of these primitive people, such shoes are already exquisite enough.
For example, Xiao, who usually doesn't like to wear straw sandals, is also very jealous at this moment.
"Do you want it?" Wu Yue took off his shoes and shook them at him.
Xiao nodded and shook his head. He thought the shoes looked good on Yuejiao, but he didn't want to wear them himself because it made him hot just by looking at them.
"It's uncomfortable and hot, I don't want it." He has been barefoot all year round and even straw sandals feel cumbersome and uncomfortable, let alone such thick leather shoes.
Wu Yue raised his eyebrows: "Really? Then wait until winter, I mean during the snowy season, will you go out barefoot with me?" He has shoes of his own, and he wears them very carefully. They shouldn't break in the winter. He made this thing mainly for Xiao and other people who want to go out with him.
Can you go barefoot in spring, summer, and autumn, and walk long distances barefoot in winter? You won’t be frozen to death.
Go out with him! Xiao immediately became excited: "I want it!"
After taking the shoes, he finally realized what was happening and frowned, asking, "You're going out for the snow season, where are you going?"
"To look for bamboo and iron ore," Wu Yue replied. "We're usually busy, so we can only go when the ice and snow season is over. I think the road north is difficult over the mountains and hills, so we'll go south. Even if we can't find what we want, there's a big tribe by the river to the south. We can stop by and see if they have anything good."
Xiao felt relieved and nodded, "Indeed, the ice and snow season is suitable for going out. I will go with you and protect you."
Wu Yue rolled his eyes at him and said, "Just the two of us won't do. I'm thinking of bringing some pottery and salt as trading items. If we have too few people and get targeted by bad guys, it'll be bad. It's better to bring a few more strong fighters."
Xiao paused, knowing that his fantasy of a world for two people would never come true, so he could only lower his head and sigh.
The rainy season lasted for more than forty days, soaking some houses to the point of leaking. After that, the rain finally subsided and the weather gradually returned to clear weather.
Wu Yue had been practically moldy from being cooped up all these days. Of course, the human body doesn't mold, but many of the things in his house, like the furs and wooden furniture, were truly moldy. Finally, a sunny day arrived, and he quickly moved everything to the front of the house to dry out in the sun.
"Thank the gods, the rainy season is short this year." Xia was also drying her herbs, feeling the warm sunshine and sighed.
That's still short!? Wu Yue gasped, thinking he'd have to make more preparations for next year. He'd have to close the doors and windows and put some quicklime in the house to dehumidify.
Taking advantage of the sunny weather, the leaking house was repaired and the moldy things were hung out to dry. The horses and the jungle fowl could finally come out to move around and bask in the sun. Some of the nine chicks that had been hatched earlier died one after another, and only five survived. They have now grown up.
After two days of simple rest, the tribesmen returned to their usual work, swapping their animal skins for breathable, cool linen clothing. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed that this clothing, so similar to the one worn by the divine messenger, was actually made from plants.
Although it's a hassle to make, it's much more comfortable to wear than fur. Just as the angel said, the fruits of labor are the best!
The hunting teams resumed their hunts, and the gathering teams went out to gather food as usual. After the rainy season, the wild vegetables were no longer fresh and tender and were no longer suitable for eating. However, the fruits on the trees were gradually ripening.
Wu Yue has eaten a lot of fruits these days, most of which are wild fruits that he can't recognize. Some are sweet and some are sour, and they all taste good.
He would mix the overly sour fruits with chili powder and salt and share them with everyone. Everyone fell madly in love with the taste. If the peppers he planted had not ripened a little, the chili powder would have been almost out of supply.
He had harvested some of these peppers during the rainy season and stored them. Now that the weather had finally cleared up, he planned to get some chili powder to supplement his supply. He dried the ripe peppers on a large piece of fur, then removed the seeds for future planting and pounded the rest into powder in a stone mortar.
The chili powder he brought was probably a blend of Erjingtiao and Xiaomi Chili, and Wu Yue was very pleased that he had grown both varieties. Erjingtiao was large and high-yielding, while Xiaomi Chili had a strong flavor, and he liked both.
Later, there were so many peppers that they could not be used to make chili powder, so he distributed some to everyone, especially those who were making kimchi. By throwing fresh peppers into the kimchi jar and soaking them for a while, they could make sour and spicy pickled peppers that tasted quite good.
Just when everyone in the Sharp Tooth Tribe was busy and living happily, guests came to the tribe.
Tribal people in primitive society generally did not travel far, but sometimes they had to go out, for example, when there was no salt.
Salt is a very important commodity. If the tribe does not produce it, it can only exchange it with other tribes. As the only tribe that produces salt in this area, the Liya tribe is naturally accustomed to seeing people from other tribes coming to exchange salt.
The tribes in this area have developed at a similar level, so when other tribes come to the Sharp Tooth Tribe, they at most envy them for having salt, and do not feel proud or inferior.
But that was in the past, things are different now.
The two brothers Dahei and Xiaohei from the Gaoshan tribe set out to the Liya tribe to exchange salt after the rainy season. Their tribe is called Gaoshan, but in fact, like the Liya tribe, it is located at the foot of the long mountain range. You can reach the Liya tribe by following the mountains.
The mountain tribe had a small population and only came to exchange salt once a year. The two brothers were used to this job, so without saying a word, they carried a lot of furs and dried meat and set off.
After walking for ten days, they saw the Sharp Tooth Tribe in the distance, but they did not dare to move forward.
If for no other reason, it is simply too different from what I remember.
The last time they came, the people of the Sharp Tooth Tribe were just like them, wearing animal skins, living in tents, thin and dark-skinned, with unkempt hair and dirty faces.
But this time, not only did he see many unfamiliar faces in the Sharp Tooth Tribe, but what they wore didn't seem to be animal skins. Instead, they looked thin and soft, and their faces and bodies were extremely clean. The men had their hair cut very short, and the women had their long hair carefully braided and thrown behind their heads, which looked so energetic and beautiful.
Not only did the people look different, but the originally disorganized tents were also gone. People were coming in and out of some very tall cave-like places, but it was obvious that these things neatly arranged in rows were definitely not naturally formed, but looked like they were made of stone.
Can people make tents out of stones? The two brothers were full of doubts.
Dahei and Xiaohei, who had been there several times before, hesitated this time, wondering if they had come to the wrong place, or if the Sharp Fang Tribe had been invaded by someone else.
Although the two men were standing far away, their curious look naturally attracted the attention of the people from the Sharp Teeth Tribe. Soon someone recognized them and greeted them with a smile: "Big Black and Little Black from the Gaoshan Tribe? Are you here to exchange salt?"
It took the two brothers a long time to recognize each other. Yes, although they looked a lot cleaner and more energetic, they were indeed from the Sharp Tooth Tribe, Shan.
"Shan, you, you guys, what are you doing..." My younger brother Xiao Hei widened his eyes, pointed at the mountain and then at the house, and suddenly he couldn't speak clearly.
Shan smiled proudly and showed off to his acquaintances from other tribes: "You haven't seen it before, right? What I'm wearing is called linen clothes, and what's on my feet are straw sandals, and that is the house. All the tribesmen made them under the guidance of the divine messenger."
"God's messenger?" The two brothers were even more surprised.
Shan nodded proudly: "Yes, God's messenger!"
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