Chapter 141 Learning to Build a House
Yuanyuan nodded, keeping her tutor's words in mind. She even drew a simple structure of a house in her notebook. Although it wasn't very well drawn, at least she could understand it herself.
"But there's no rice straw or wheat stalks in the beast world, what should we do?"
"Straw and wheat straw are used to make the clay bricks stick together and prevent them from cracking. We can find other tough materials to replace them."
"Something resilient?" Yuanyuan tilted her head, trying to think.
"There are many long vines in the Beast World that you can't break by pulling them, and there are also many kinds of grass. Can we use those instead?"
"It should be feasible."
The mentor smiled and nodded, "If you cut the vines short or crush the dry grass and mix it into the soil, it can serve the same purpose as straw."
Yuanyuan squatted down again to write and draw.
"Yuanyuan, remember to dig deeper when laying the foundation and tamp the soil down, just like when you build a sandcastle. The more firmly you tamp it down, the less likely it is to collapse."
Yuanyuan nodded vigorously, her little head bobbing up and down. "I remember!"
Also, the bricks in the walls must be aligned one by one, and the roof must be tiled, otherwise it will leak when it rains.
"What do we do when there are no tiles in the Beast World?"
The tutor picked up a picture of a thatched roof and showed it to her, saying, "You can also use thick thatch to cover the roof, and if you cover it densely, it won't leak when it rains."
I saw that she had made a note of it.
Her mentor then taught her how to lay the foundation: "When building a house, you must first find a flat place, not on a hillside, otherwise the house will collapse."
Before building, dig a large pit, fill it with stones, and tamp them down firmly with your feet. A solid foundation ensures a stable house.
"Also, when building walls, you need to leave doors and windows, otherwise it will be dark inside and there will be no ventilation."
"I understand!"
...
The little wolf and the little snake had no interest in what Yuanyuan was learning. They did nothing but eat and sleep all day. Occasionally, when they went to the fields with Yuanyuan, they would find a shady spot to stay.
Xiao Bai wanted to learn, but he couldn't understand it.
I can barely understand the design drawings.
"Little White, study hard. When we return to the Beast World, we'll help your tribe build houses together. Once the houses are built, you won't be afraid of wild beasts attacking you during the cold season, and you won't be afraid of the cold either."
Xiao Bai nodded vigorously, "I know."
Yu Na quietly stayed with Yuan Yuan, whether she was observing the wheat growth in the field or looking at materials and listening to her tutor's lectures in the room.
Yu Na sat beside her and watched, following her wherever she went.
A few more days passed.
As the wheat sprouted, Yuanyuan excitedly circled around the wheat field.
These were seeds she planted herself.
"Yuanyuan is really amazing."
Gu Zheng was generous with his praise, and Yuanyuan was very excited.
I came here every day after that, and I never got tired of it.
That day, as she was observing the growth of the wheat as usual, she suddenly noticed that there were gaps in the wheat leaves.
Remembering what our mentor had said about insects eating the wheat leaves, the three of us—Little White Fish, Little White Fish, and I—searched for a long time before finally finding the insects at the base of the plant.
Before she could even see what kind of insect it was, Xiaobai crushed it.
"Xiaobai, I wanted to show Dad what kind of bug it was, why did you kill it?"
Xiao Bai wiped her hands clean, then lowered her head a little embarrassedly. "I... I'm afraid it will run away."
"..."
Just then, Gu Zheng came to pick her up for dinner.
"What's wrong?"
"Dad, there are bugs eating my wheat seedlings."
Will my wheat seedlings be alright?
Gu Zheng walked over to her and squatted down, carefully examining the half-eaten wheat leaf.
"Don't worry, these are common wheat aphids. The number is small and it won't have much of an impact. If the number increases, we'll need to spray pesticides..."
"pesticide?"
What are pesticides?
"Pesticides are drugs used to kill pests and protect crops."
Gu Zheng explained, "However, pesticides are toxic and cannot be used casually. They must be used in appropriate doses, otherwise they will harm crops and the environment."
"Furthermore, pesticides are not edible; they can kill people if ingested. Care must be taken to prevent poisoning during spraying."
"Oh? Is it that dangerous?"
Then, remembering that there were no pesticides in the Beast World, Yuanyuan became even more troubled. "Dad, if there are no pesticides in the Beast World, can we use something else instead?"
Gu Zheng shook his head, "There is no substitute medicine, but we can let the birds eat the insects."
Yuanyuan's eyes lit up. Yes!
There are many small birds in the Beast World. They like to eat insects. If we let them help, would we not need pesticides?
"There are also some insects that specifically eat pests."
"Insects eat insects?"
Seeing her confusion, Gu Zheng gave her an example, "For example, ladybugs, which specialize in eating pests."
"Dad, is the ladybug that's red with black spots and that flies?"
"That's right, Yuanyuan is really smart. Ladybugs are beneficial insects that eat aphids and the like."
Yuanyuan wrote Gu Zheng's words in her notebook and drew a simplified version of a ladybug and a bird, labeling it "Pest Control" next to it.
Gu Zheng was very pleased to see her serious expression; Yuanyuan had always been a sensible and well-behaved child.
...
After finishing her work in the fields, she began learning how to build houses.
"What's wrong, Yuanyuan? You seem downcast." Lu Yuan came over to play with her after finishing his experiment, and found her frowning and sighing, which he found a little strange.
"Uncle Lu Yuan, you've arrived?"
His voice was weak and feeble.
"What's wrong? Have you run into a problem?"
"Uncle Lu Yuan, building houses is so difficult! I'm afraid I won't be able to learn it, and then I won't be able to teach the orc uncles!"
Lu Yuan sat down next to her. "What's so difficult about this? Uncle will teach you."
"Uncle, you can do that too?"
"No, but Uncle plays in the mud."
"..."
"Okay, stop making that face. You've already done a great job learning so much in such a short time."
Lu Yuan patted her head. "Learning is a long process, you can't rush it. You don't need to remember so many details. Orcs aren't stupid. Just tell them the methods and processes, and they'll figure out the rest themselves."
"Really?"
"Of course, you also said that there are wooden houses in the Beast World. All you have to do is tell them how to build adobe houses. You don't have to do it yourself."
That seems to be true.
"How do you build a house in the desert when there's no soil?"
“You don’t necessarily have to build houses in the desert. In fact, they are safer living in sand caves. If you want to help them, you can teach them how to reinforce the sand caves to prevent them from collapsing.”
"Not everything needs to be built. For example, the wolf tribe lives in rocky mountains, and they are safer living in caves than in houses..."
Yuanyuan was stunned. She hadn't been inside the Rock Tribe and didn't know if they lived in caves.
"If you want to help them, take some of our construction tools back with you and teach them how to use them."
And I heard you're going to teach them how to farm?
"yes!"
"Then you should prepare more farm tools, and you don't need to give them away for free. Let them exchange them with other things."
"Yuanyuan, remember this: kindness is a good thing, but being too kind will make you vulnerable to being bullied, you know?"
"I see."
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