She explained, "We still don't have enough experience with animal husbandry. What if the livestock get sick and die? The more we have, the more susceptible they are to disease. But you reminded me. We can build more breeding areas and keep the different animals separate. They won't be crowded together, so there might be fewer problems." She thought, "We can also grow grass in the tribe, so we don't have to go all over the mountains to cut grass."
As soon as she said that, she decided to do it: "How about this, you go and keep everyone in the gathering team, and we won't go out gathering today. I'll go to the planting area and look around, and choose a place to plant wild vegetables and grasses."
"Will you give them some meat tonight?" Liushui asked a little embarrassedly.
He was thinking of his mother, so he made that suggestion to Qiao Yu. Now that he thought about assigning these people tribal tasks, he would have to give them meat, which would increase the burden on the tribe.
You have to understand that hunting men only make up 30% to 40% of the tribe's total population. The people in the breeding teams, stone workshops, and fire halls only make up 10%. The majority of the people are in the gathering teams. And among these gathering teams, 20% to 30% are children. They follow their mothers out to gather, and whether they find anything or not is their own business. But now that they are under the tribe's management, shouldn't the tribe also provide them with some rations? By that calculation, even just one day's supply would be a significant sum.
Liushui couldn't help but feel frustrated about his reckless nature.
"Send it out," Qiao Yu said. "The tribe already has some dried meat, so we'll give it all to them. If all else fails, we can kill a dozen more rabbits at the farm and send two more teams out hunting tomorrow. Also, if anyone doesn't want meat, we can get some more dried meat in exchange for pottery jars, bowls, stone tools, and furniture. With the dried meat they bring in, we'll have a place to go for the meat we'll give out."
"Three days at most. After three days, once the wild vegetables and grass are planted in the planting area and fertilized, there won't be much work to do. After that, I'll have Yun and Hongye water the plants every day and just take care of them."
Yun and Hongye were two women in their fifties from the tribe. Their husbands had died only two years earlier, but their children had died long before. It was difficult for them to remarry at their age, and if an elderly widower like Lu and Huo took them home, their children and grandchildren would object, as one more person meant one more mouth to feed. So they lived alone.
In modern times, women in their sixties and seventies, let alone their fifties, still enjoy square dancing. However, in this era, women work constantly, and after having children, they lack proper nutrition and care, which can lead to poor health. They simply cannot bear to follow others into the mountains to gather.
So Qiao Yu took care of them. Every night, the meat the hunting team handed in was distributed to the people in the breeding team, and the rest was dried and stored by the two old women. The meat distributed to them by the tribe every day, plus the small amount of wild vegetables they picked in the tribe during the day, was enough for the two of them to chew.
Liushui saw that Qiao Yu had a clear mind and had arranged everything. Besides admiring him, he also secretly made up his mind to learn more from Qiao Yu.
After Liushui gathered the collection team and arrived at the planting area, Qiao Yu gave them some instructions, and then he couldn't wait to go to the stone area and took out a small pile of yellow stones to study.
Shi had been curious about this yellow stone for a long time, especially when Qiao Yu discovered iron ore, a valuable substance, among a pile of stones that he thought were useless. He studied all the stones in the room.
Unfortunately, he was completely ignorant and had no idea what these stones were used for.
Seeing Qiao Yu running over hurriedly and heading straight for the small pile of yellow stones, he couldn't help but feel excited and expectant, hoping that Qiao Yu could make some good tools with this kind of stone.
Seeing Qiao Yu looking at it for a long time and even putting it to his nose to smell it, he couldn't help but ask: "Yu, what is this for?"
Qiao Yu smiled at him and called out outside, "Jian."
When Qiao Yu came over, Jian had already taken his tools to the door and was waiting with his ears perked up for Qiao Yu to call him.
As soon as Qiao Yu finished speaking, his figure appeared at the door, looking at Qiao Yu with shining eyes: "Yu, what's the matter?"
"Do you know where they are hunting?" Qiao Yu gave up his original plan as soon as he finished speaking. He stood up and said, "Forget it, I'll go by myself."
"Yu, tell me what you want to do and let us see if we can do it. If we can't, you can go by yourself." Jian said.
Shi Ye said from the side: "That's right. Yu, you are a man of great importance. There are so many things in the tribe waiting for you to worry about. As long as they can do it, let them do it. Whatever you want to ask the hunting team for, just tell them."
Qiao Yu had nothing to hide: "I want to catch two snakes and try this." She raised the stone in her hand, "But it's too dangerous. I'll do it myself."
Shi waved his hand towards Qiao Yu and shouted outside, "Lightning, come in for a moment."
A tall and thin man came in from outside, glanced at Qiao Yu, smiled shyly at her, and looked at Shi, waiting for him to speak.
Shi explained to Qiao Yu, "This is Lightning, originally from the Stone Tribe. He's good at forging stone tools and is also very skilled at catching snakes." He turned and instructed Lightning, "Yu wants two snakes. Catch them for her."
Lightning looked reserved and seemed a little afraid of Qiao Yu.
But he still mustered up the courage to ask Qiao Yu: "Yu, what kind of snake do you want?"
"Any snake will do." Qiao Yu said, then doubted, "Can you really catch a snake? Don't try to be brave. If you get bitten by a snake, it's no joke."
She waved her hand and said, "Forget it, I'll go by myself." She was about to explain the reason when she heard Lightning hurriedly say, "I can do it, I really can do it. I know where to catch a snake. I've caught many, many snakes since I was a child."
Qiao Yu saw his anxious face, sweat on his forehead, and seemed very excited and a little panicked. She quickly said, "It's not that I don't want you to go, but I'm afraid you might be in danger."
"No, no," Lightning said quickly, "I'm very good at catching snakes. There's absolutely no danger."
"Just let him go." Shi said to Qiao Yu and winked at her again.
Seeing Lightning's expression, Qiao Yu knew what Lightning would think if she refused again. Furthermore, these primitive people had lived in the mountains and forests for years, so they had their own unique skills in catching snakes.
She nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead. But be careful. It's best to catch a non-venomous snake. I want a non-venomous snake; venomous ones are too dangerous, I don't want them."
"Okay, okay." Lightning said, and turned around and ran away quickly, as if he was afraid that Qiao Yu would go back on his word.
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