I Became The Chief of A Primitive Village

[Ding! Congratulations Host had received Low Grade Assistance: one bottle of floral water.]

Su Bai rolled his eyes and complained, [Seriously? Just a bottle of floral water? That’s the worst one yet.]

It had been several days since returning from the Spotted Deer Tribe. Besides the eight Assistance Packages opened on the first night, he had opened two more Assistance Packages. One was an umbrella, and the other was a packet of lettuce seeds.

[Fine. Fine. I guess floral water is fine too. There are many mosquitoes in the Tribe. Applying some at night might help me sleep better…] Su Bai tried to convince himself.

He placed the floral water on one side of the table and began to ponder how to develop the Tribe.

[Papermaking will have to wait until we find the raw materials, and Grandfather Gu Mu’s stone mill can’t be rushed] Su Bai frowned and continued to think about the next on the list, [As for quill pens, we haven’t found suitable materials for it yet, so that would have to be put on hold as well.]

He sighed. He realised that many things just were not ready yet and had to be on hold, hindering progress.

[Well, the lettuce seeds have not been planted yet. I also haven’t checked on the chilli peppers. They might actually grow faster in this era. Their growth rate still needs to be confirmed so that we can estimate if they can be harvested before the rainy season arrives.] [For now, we can only have the people produce large quantities of linen to trade with. We need to increase the trading volume to exchange for more things, to develop faster…] He tapped his index finger lightly on the table, thinking about the next thing: animal husbandry. [Animal husbandry would be a major pillar of the Tribe’s economy, so it needs to be quickly implemented.]

Su Bai picked up the charcoal and started writing on the Animal Hide, [The first step is to build an enclosure, and the second step is to capture some wild animals…]

Soon, the Animal Hide was covered with drawings of rabbits, sheep, cattle, and other animals, along with a rough sketch of a farm. [At this point, we can only raise herbivores. After all, we are already having a challenge feeding our people with meat.]

In this era, the best way to convey orders was through drawings, since most could not read. Thus, any writing was useless at this point in time.

Drawing for them what to find would be more efficient and increase the chances of finding the right things.

[It’s good that I learned the basics of drawing back then. Otherwise, I really would not have been able to draw these.] Su Bai smiled.

“Shaman, may I come in?” Yan Hua asked from outside the Teepee.

Su Bai put down the Animal Hide and looked up, “Come in.”

Yan Hua lifted the door flap and entered, saying, “Shaman, I’ve given the Animal Hide to Uncle Cang Shi, and I’ve also told Uncle Mai Mang about exchanging for Black Stone Nuts.”

“Good. Ah’Hua, I want to ask, when the Hunting Team goes hunting, do they ever bring back smaller wild animals?” Su Bai asked.

“They do, but rarely. The Hunting Team has rules. They don’t capture very small wild animals, only larger ones,” Yan Hua blinked her red eyes and continued, “They wait for the small animals to grow bigger before capturing them.”

Su Bai’s guess was correct. [People in this era really have no concept of animal husbandry.]

He shook his head with a smile and said, “If you don’t capture them now, you won’t see them when they grow up.”

“I’ve wondered about that too, but we can’t just capture these small wild animals, can we?” Yan Hua pursed her lips and continued, “Father says small wild animals don’t have much meat. We only eat them if absolutely necessary. So, we usually let them grow bigger.”

“Well, your Father is right. There’s not much meat on small wild animals,” Su Bai nodded.

“Yes, it’s better to let small wild animals grow up in the wild then get them when they are big.” Yan Hua smiled.

“Starting tomorrow, have the Hunting Team capture some small wild animals and bring them back,” Su Bai said.

“Shaman, why are we suddenly capturing small wild animals?” Yan Hua asked curiously.

“To raise them! We can’t always go out to hunt. If we raise our own, we can be self-sufficient.” Su Bai took a sip of water and continued, “If we raise enough, we won’t need to hunt as often in the future.”

Yan Hua widened her red eyes in surprise, “Raise them? But Shaman, we can barely feed ourselves, how can we feed them?”

“They don’t eat meat, just grass. They’re really easy to raise.” Su Bai shrugged.

“Really? Shaman, are they really easy to raise? We don’t need to do anything else?” Yan Hua asked three questions in a row.

Su Bai nodded seriously, “Of course. Just cut some grass around the Tribe to feed them. It won’t be that difficult.”

“If it’s really like that, that would be great. We won’t have to risk our lives to go out hunting so often,” Yan Hua said happily.

Su Bai raised an eyebrow and asked with pursed lips, “Didn’t you always want to become a Totem Warrior and go out to hunt? Didn’t you say it was an honour?”

“Uh…” Yan Hua paused for a moment, then explained, “Shaman, you said reduce hunting, not stop hunting completely. I can still go out to hunt and still gain honour in doing so.”

“I’ve been completely defeated by your thinking, hahaha…” Su Bai laughed heartily.

Yan Hua scratched the back of her head and said with a smile, “Shaman, don’t laugh at me. I haven’t given up on becoming a Totem Warrior.”

“It’s good not to give up. Keep at it.” Su Bai smiled.

Yan Hua pointed at a bottle on the table and curiously asked, “Hey, Shaman, what’s that?”

Su Bai looked at the floral water, picked it up and explained, “This is used to repel mosquitoes.”

“Repel mosquitoes? Just with this strange-coloured water?” Yan Hua seemed a bit sceptical.

“Yes, if you don’t believe me, you can try it when you sleep tonight. I guarantee you’ll have a peaceful night’s sleep,” Su Bai confidently said.

“That’s amazing! I must try it,” Yan Hua started to look forward to it.

“What’s so amazing?” Yu Ying’s voice came from outside the Teepee as she lifted the door flap and entered.

Su Bai handed over the floral water and said, “Apply this before we sleep at night, and mosquitoes won’t bite us.”

Yu Ying took the floral water with delight and said, “This is really amazing.”

[noscript][/noscript]