Chapter 247: Canoe, arrows of various kinds, and Old Li from the Independent Battalion.
Chapter 247: Canoe, arrows of various kinds, and Old Li from the Independent Battalion.
With the expedition planned for next year, Han Cheng's anticipation gradually eased, but some anxiety still lingered.
The next step was to prepare for this journey in advance.
The most important thing was constructing boats capable of navigating the river.
Of course, these boats were not Noah's Ark; Han Cheng couldn't build such large ships.
Regarding boat-making, Han Cheng's idea was to burn some large tree trunks, which were too big for several people to embrace, lying around the vicinity of the Green Sparrow Tribe and then chisel a shallow groove on top with stones.
Then, by burning holes, the trunk's interior would be hollowed out to create a suitable canoe for sailing.
However, after actually doing this, it was found that this operation was not easy.
Leaving aside other difficulties, burning such thick tree trunks was challenging.
It took more than half a month to try this once.
However, considering that rafts were prone to leakage and not conducive to long-term stay on them, and now it was winter, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe didn't have much else to do besides practicing archery and slingshots every day. Spending a little more time didn't matter.
It's worth mentioning that after this seemingly neglectful practice for some time, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe gradually became familiar with archery and slingshot use.
Their accuracy had improved a lot compared to when they first started.
After Third Senior Brother initiated the groundbreaking move of installing sharpened bones on arrowheads, the feather arrows that the Green Sparrow Tribe now possessed were quite different from before.
They could be described as diverse.
Some were made with bone arrowheads, some with stone arrowheads, some with suitable wild animal teeth as arrowheads, and even one or two had the sudden idea of wanting to have Hei Wa burn a batch of pottery arrowheads…
Regardless of the type of arrowhead used, they were much more potent than the wooden arrowheads polished from branches.
For archery, this was a significant leap forward.
Significant progress was also made in terms of slingshots. Although the accuracy was not as good as with bows and arrows, at a distance of thirty to forty meters, quite a few people could still hit two or three out of ten shots.
For Second Senior Brother, who was already proficient in slingshots, hitting seven or eight times at this distance was normal.
Given this, Han Cheng began organizing the teams after discussing with Shaman and Eldest Senior Brother.
The specific scene was as follows.
Lazy sunlight scattered from the sky, and snow was white in the distance. In the courtyard of the Green Sparrow Tribe, piles of snow were estimated not to completely melt until spring.
Some of the Green Sparrow Tribe members were basking in the sun doing some miscellaneous chores at the base of the wall, while more were practicing using both bows and slingshots at the archery and slingshot ranges.
Under such circumstances, prompted by Shaman and Eldest Senior Brother, Divine Child, who had ultimately come back to his senses after being stimulated by the prospect of being paired with a spouse, directed people to carry out the large pot used for cooking from the cave and place it in the space in the courtyard.
In addition to the large pot being used, wooden racks were used for placing food ingredients, a not-too-large pot was used for cooking, and a rarely used flat-bottomed pottery pot was also present.
With the hustle and bustle of Fire One, Fire Two, Xing, Xiao Mei, and Xiao Li, the wooden rack for placing food ingredients had already been filled with quite a lot of food, with the large piece of pork that had been cooked and salt-pickled being the most eye-catching.
Of course, after that small jar of yellowish stuff appeared, the grade of the pork immediately plummeted.
The Green Sparrow Tribe members who witnessed this scene were shocked. What day was it today? The Divine Child brought out the precious millet.
And it seemed that he was going to cook it himself!
Han Cheng instructed Xing to use a stone knife to cut the cooked wild boar meat into slices as best as possible for later use.
This point needs to be specially mentioned: the straightforward nature of primitive people was indeed excellent at this time. At least, after Han Cheng explicitly expressed that Xing should not sleep, Xing did not make much trouble. Apart from occasionally glancing at Han Cheng, she did not harbor any grudges and remained the same.
At first, Han Cheng felt somewhat guilty about this and didn't know how to face Xing, who was always around. After discovering this situation, his somewhat unnatural feeling slowly subsided.
He chuckled self-deprecatingly, realizing that even after staying here for so long, he still involuntarily viewed things from the perspective of modern times. This matter would indeed be embarrassing from a modern perspective, but in this highly straightforward tribe, it was not a big deal.
Agreeing to be a spouse meant sleeping with you; disagreeing meant fighting and sleeping with you.
Of course, as a Divine Child, Han Cheng still had certain privileges. If he hadn't demonstrated various miraculous abilities to become a significant figure in the Green Sparrow Tribe and was just a small, ordinary primitive person, Han Cheng didn't dare to imagine such a pleasant scenario.
Under Han Cheng's arrangement, Xiao Mei and Xiao Li went out to the vegetable field with baskets to pick rapeseed.
When they left, Han Cheng specifically instructed them only to pick ordinary rapeseed and not to touch the two patches of rapeseed deliberately separated.
This time, they didn't need to pick too much rapeseed; two not-too-large baskets filled with it would be enough.
There wasn't much cooking for today's meal.
After arranging these matters, Han Cheng added an appropriate amount of water to the cleaned millet and placed it on the fire, instructing Fire One to use a low flame to cook it slowly and occasionally lift the lid and stir to prevent burning. Then, he walked towards the eagerly curious crowd.
Shaman and Eldest Senior Brother had already gone over there and summoned all the adults of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
The people didn't know what this grand occasion meant today, and each of them was very curious.
Han Cheng arrived in front of the gathering crowd and raised his voice. "Over there, I'm steaming millet rice. Later, I will personally stir-fry some vegetables. Do you want to eat this kind of food?"
Because millet rice is scarce, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe have only eaten it once so far, so it seems even more precious.
Many people had forgotten the exact taste of millet rice, but their vivid memories of its deliciousness became clearer.
The consensus in the Green Sparrow Tribe was that if the Divine Child made it, it must be exquisite.
Upon hearing that the Divine Child would steam millet rice and cook it himself and then stir-fry some vegetables, many people couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
"Want!"
These people, who were usually messy and unorganized actually answered in unison, this time without deliberate arrangement.
Recalling the appearance of Captain Li Da Tuan, Han Cheng also waved his hand and chuckled, "Want to eat? No way!"
"There's only that half-jar of millet rice. With so many of us, who will get to eat it?"
The excited members of the Green Sparrow Tribe were puzzled by Han Cheng's sudden question and looked at each other for a while. Yes, there was only that much millet rice. Who would get to eat it?
Han Cheng thought to himself that Captain Li's method was indeed suitable, but these primitive people lacked the cleverness of the Independent Regiment members, and no one chimed in with questions.
He waited a while, thinking like this, then raised his voice again. "This time's millet rice and stir-fried vegetables are only for those who shoot arrows accurately and throw slingshots accurately to eat!"