In the following few days, the tribe members who stayed in the tribe had almost no free time.
Hu Xue and She Li cooked breakfast before daybreak. At daybreak, everyone who had finished breakfast would carry their shoulder poles and go out to collect.
After the wooden rake made by Qi Bai was widely used by the collection team, everyone’s efficiency was greatly improved. Now it took less than half a day to collect a basket of sweet potatoes. Many people had started to go out with two rattan baskets.
However, two rattan baskets still weren’t very convenient to carry. Thus, Qi Bai split the bamboo pole in the middle. He carved two grooves on both sides of the bamboo pole, tied two straw ropes in each groove, and made a bamboo shoulder pole.
The rattan basket originally used for carrying had also been slightly modified. Just add two small handles on the top of the rattan basket and tie straw ropes to the handles to ensure that the rattan basket was stable and wouldn’t fall down.
It was just that such a simple shoulder pole was fixed once the straw rope was tied to it. It wasn’t like the modern shoulder pole with iron hooks, which allowed the rattan basket to be replaced at will. Fortunately, they didn’t have to replace it frequently now. Such a shoulder pole was enough.
The beastmen were all very strong, but what always limited them was their efficiency. Now with the help of shoulder poles and wooden rakes, the square was soon filled with red sweet potatoes drying in the sun.
Of course, the work of the few adult beastmen who stayed behind wasn’t easy either.
As the tribe’s wealth suddenly became abundant, there needed to be adult beastmen staying in the tribe at all times.
There was now a great demand for bamboo in the tribe. Everyone had discovered that bamboo with a smooth surface was more suitable for drying animal skins than branches. This was why the injured Xiong Feng and Hu Huo followed into the bamboo forest when their injuries were slightly better. They couldn’t cut down the bamboo, but they could use their intact arm to drag the bamboo back to the tribe. After all, not everyone could easily drag such big bamboo for dozens of minutes.
There was almost no open space in the square in front of the cave. It was covered with sweet potatoes and bamboo poles for drying animal skins.
Even at night, the beastmen with a regular schedule started to stay up late because they needed to make tools around the campfire.
Qi Bai had just split a bamboo with a stone axe when he yawned subconsciously. They had just finished dinner and he was too tired from the past few days. Qi Bai felt a bit sleepy after eating. However, he didn’t go back to the cave to sleep. He just planned to make two shoulder poles before going to sleep.
At this time, Hu Xue found Qi Bai and said, “Bao Bai, Priest Yang Luo is looking for you. You should go over quickly.”
Qi Bai stood up after hearing this. He patted his cheeks lightly with both hands, tried to sober himself up, and replied, “I got it. I’ll be there right away.”
Yang Luo’s location wasn’t difficult to find. Qi Bai saw him from a distance. He was holding his bear bone staff and standing between two large trees hung with pickled meat. Qi Bai walked up to him and gently called out, “Grandpa Priest.”
Yang Luo looked him over, pointed to the pickled meat in mid-air, and said, “Our pork is almost pickled. I plan to collect the meat tomorrow. You don’t need to go out gathering tomorrow. Stay in the tribe and calculate the amount of pickled meat with me.”
Qi Bai found that after seven or eight days, the pickled meat above his head had almost no moisture left. Its color had become darker, and there was a salty smell in the hair. It looked like it had indeed been pickled.
Before going to bed, Qi Bai went to find Tu Ya and told her about Yang Luo’s arrangement. Tu Ya naturally had no objection but asked Qi Bai to give her the shoulder pole and rattan baskets he usually used. This way, others could use it.
The next morning, the gathering team went out. Then two people, one old and one young, squatted in the middle of the square while looking up at the sky.
Beside them were Yang Luo’s treasures, which were stones of various sizes and colors. There were also carefully woven straw ropes specially for tying knots.
Yang Luo said, “In previous years, winter can be overcome in around ten ten days. But this year’s winter came particularly early. We must be prepared for a longer winter.”
Qi Bai nodded. It seemed that the tribe didn’t have the concept of one hundred. Therefore, Yang Luo used ten ten-day periods to represent one hundred days. However, Qi Bai didn’t expect that as the priest, Yang Luo wasn’t just a showman. He had a clear concept of time and had summed up the rules.
After all, from Mao Bai’s memory, it could be found that Mao Bai had no concept of time. More beastmen were confused about time and only knew that they experienced spring, summer, autumn, and winter in a year.
Qi Bai made a rough calculation and felt that a year on Beast Star was longer than that of Earth. He just didn’t know how much longer it was. However, since Qi Bai transmigrated to this world, he had been silently calculating the time every day. Everything would be clear as long as he waited until this time next year.
Yang Luo continued, “Preparing enough food for the tribe for the entire winter is the most important job of every priest. If the food we store isn’t enough for the entire tribe to consume in winter, the tribe members will starve and even have to risk going out hunting in the winter. No matter which of the above happens, this person is no longer qualified to serve as the priest of the tribe.”
Qi Bai felt that Yang Luo was putting too much pressure on him, so he said in a comforting manner, “Grandpa Priest, we can definitely gather enough food to survive in the winter. Even if the food isn’t enough, we will find other ways. How can this be your responsibility alone?”
But Yang Luo didn’t appreciate it and instead hit Qi Bai’s back heavily with the bear bone stick in his hand. “How can you have such an idea? The tribe members will be expelled from the tribe if they make mistakes. As a priest, how can I avoid punishment for making such a big mistake? Do you know how many outsider priests have been expelled from the tribe because of mistakes in the Beastman Continent? For such a big thing as food, you must use your greatest energy at all times to complete it. There is no room for any mistakes!”
Qi Bai was beaten for no reason and was a bit confused. He thought to himself, ‘You are still very fair at this time. So why do you have to withhold the slaves’ rations during meals?’ This made him always feel embarrassed when eating with Lang Ze.
Qi Bai had no idea that Yang Luo was explaining to him the work and survival skills of a priest. After all, in the large tribe where Yang Luo was born, the current priest would choose some children as students and raise them from childhood. However, these children weren’t just classmates, but competitors for several years or more than ten years.
Only the student who won the competition and became the next candidate could stay. All other students would be expelled after they reached adulthood. They needed to go out and join tribes without priests.
During these days of wandering, countless beastmen died. So once a tribe kept them, they would work for the tribe wholeheartedly. No one wanted to be exiled again.
This was how Yang Luo felt now. He had been wandering for 30 years. More than anyone else, he hoped that this small Black Mountain Tribe could prosper. Similarly, he hoped that the next priest he had chosen could shoulder such responsibility.
Of course, even if he didn’t know this, Qi Bai still knew how to read people’s faces. He saw Yang Luo puffing and glaring and felt that Yang Luo was like some stubborn elder. He might have different ideas from young people, but his heart was always with his children. Of course, these children of his definitely didn’t include slaves. Qi Bai quickly smiled and said, “You are right. I believe you won’t make such a mistake.”
He looked up at the meat hanging on the branches and asked, “How are you going to calculate this much meat?”
Qi Bai wasn’t a science student in his previous life, but he had at least experienced the college entrance examination. He was confident that he could do these simple addition and subtraction better than the beastmen living in the primitive tribe.
Qi Bai had long wanted to help when he saw how hard Yang Luo was struggling to calculate the numbers. It was just that food was the most important commodity in the tribe. Without Yang Luo mentioning it, Qi Bai didn’t dare to actively ask to participate. He just showed off his ability in math, hoping Yang Luo would remember him when needed.
Sure enough, today he received Yang Luo’s call. However, reality was completely different from what he expected.
Qi Bai stayed beside Yang Luo, watching him muttering to himself while constantly moving the stones on the ground. After a while, Yang Luo tied a knot. Qi Bai was completely stunned.
Since Yang Luo only knew how to use ‘ten’ to represent numbers, Qi Bai always thought that the tribe used the decimal system. Then he realized he was wrong after seeing Yang Luo’s calculation method.
He saw Yang Luo use a stone to represent one and another stone to represent five. Even the knots on the same rope had different meanings.
Qi Bai’s eyes couldn’t help becoming empty. He watched the little ants on the ground holding pieces of white food high, passing in front of him, turning over the pebbles on the ground, and stopping next to Yang Luo’s rough toes. The two antennae on the leading ant’s head moved. It turned around as if communicating with the companions behind it. Then it changed its route with a grunt. Finally, the line of ants neatly bypassed the ‘mountain’ and walked towards the forest.
Suddenly, Yang Luo’s voice ran in his ears. “Have you learned my way of counting?”
Qi Bai turned his head drowsily and asked in confusion, “Huh?”
Yang Luo sighed. Counting with stones and knots might be difficult, but he still hoped that Qi Bai could learn it quickly. It seemed that he was too impatient.
Qi Bai saw Yang Luo’s expression and knew that he must be complaining about Qi Bai’s stupidity in his heart. Never mind, he was indeed stupid. Qi Bai said, “Grandpa Priest, your counting method is too difficult. I can’t learn it in a short time. But if we just want to calculate whether this meat is enough for our tribe to survive the winter, there is actually a simpler way.”
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