Chapter 47: If you want to build a wall, you must first find food
The recent incident sounded the alarm for Han Cheng. Previously, he had been focused on development but had overlooked the safety issues of the tribe. The tribe's safety was the most important, as they undertook more tasks only when it was secure.
Now that the salt problem was solved and pottery was mostly sufficient, they could simply burn a couple of makeshift clay kilns even if more was needed. There was no rush to experiment with new pottery techniques. Han Cheng decided to shift all the focus to building the wall. Otherwise, going out even to relieve oneself at night would be nerve-wracking, fearing a wolf might suddenly attack.
While the idea of building the wall was set, the question of how to build it became a problem. Ideally, bricks would make the sturdiest wall, but given the current conditions in the tribe, mass brick production was unrealistic.
Bricks were not an option, leaving them to use simple clay bricks for construction. However, clay walls were not strong, and making simple clay bricks required much effort. Without the main force of the tribe, relying only on the elderly and women, it was uncertain whether they could build the wall within two years.
Labor was a bottleneck for the tribe. What seemed simple in the modern world had become a colossal project here. To solve the problem fundamentally, Han Cheng needed to consider the root cause.
He was confident that, with his prestige in the tribe, suggesting the construction of the wall would not be opposed by the Shaman and the Eldest Senior Brother. They would likely support it willingly. However, they were willing but incapable, as the Eldest Senior Brother's team needed to hunt to find enough food for the tribe.
To have enough manpower, Han Cheng needed to pull the Senior Eldest brother's team out of the heavy task of daily food search. To do that, he needed to solve the food problem.
However, the key issue was that the food problem was difficult to solve. The only crop that could barely be considered food was the wild rapeseed, and they hadn't even found a suitable place to plant it yet.
As for animal husbandry, they only had two rabbits and five still-blind rabbit pups. The group of deer was not yet at the point where they could be domesticated, but they could be slaughtered for meat. However, Han Cheng was reluctant to do that. This was a good group of deer, and slaughtering them would plunge their animal husbandry into a low point.
Planting and animal husbandry, up to now, were not even in the sapling stage. Relying on these two things to solve the urgent issue was impossible.
Han Cheng was feeling quite frustrated now. It seemed like they had nothing.
Han Cheng had trouble sleeping again during the night, only falling asleep in the latter half of the night.
In the morning, Han Cheng, accompanied by the Eldest Senior Brother and the others, went to the salt mountain.
Coincidentally, Deer Lord was also there today, leading his little followers. Deer Lord seemed a bit anxious seeing the two-legged creatures he hadn't seen for a few days. He actively approached Han Cheng and then directly pressed his mouth onto the clay jug tied around his waist.
Okay, Deer Lord wasn't interested in Han Cheng. He wanted the saltwater Han Cheng brought.
These days, Deer Lord's mouth had become accustomed to the purified saltwater brought by Han Cheng. It felt a bit uncomfortable when facing the rough and all-tasting stone wall again. After all, Deer Lord was an elegant and dignified creature.
Han Cheng habitually reached out and gently touched Deer Lord's radiant face and antlers while he was busy drinking water. Deer Lord's tail wagged happily, indicating how pleased it was. As for being touched on the face and whether the other deer would accuse it of living off someone, Deer Lord wasn't afraid at all. Under its leadership, all its little followers had joined the ranks of those who relied on selling their faces to drink saltwater.
After finishing the saltwater, Deer Lord habitually moved its mouth toward Han Cheng's body. This time, Han Cheng didn't dodge. He allowed Deer Lord's wet mouth to rub against his half-drenched clothes.
Han Cheng gently touched Deer Lord's face and smiled, saying, "Let's go."
He then called Eldest Senior Brother and others who had finished feeding the other deer to return.
After thinking it over, Han Cheng decided not to act against this deer group, at least not now.
Today, Han Cheng taught the group of people new characters, and one of them was called "" (wall).
Stone, who found it easiest to learn characters, raised his hand and asked, "Divine Son, what is a wall?"
"A wall is built using wood, soil, or stones. It can isolate wild beasts from the outside, protecting us and preventing us from being attacked by wild beasts," Han Cheng explained the definition of a wall as he had thought earlier.
"With a wall, you don't have to worry about being bitten by wolves when you go out to pee at night," he added.
Xing, who still felt a lingering fear for her little brother Cheng being attacked by wolves, immediately raised her hand to speak upon hearing Han Cheng explaining the concept of a wall.
Her words didn't prompt laughter from the other children. This matter was not a laughing one for them because they always had to be on guard against beasts who saw them as food. Especially for the children, the threat of wild beasts was no less than that of diseases.
Han Cheng nodded seriously. "Divine Son, lead us in building the wall. We're not afraid of hard work."
After receiving Han Cheng's affirmation, the eyes of these children, looking at Han Cheng, sparkled with hope.
"We will build the wall," Han Cheng nodded and solemnly said to these children.
In front of Han Cheng were several sticks, each over a meter long with a diameter of about two centimeters. He had asked the Eldest Senior Brother and others to bring them back on the way from the salt mountain.
Now that the Eldest Senior Brother and others had gone out hunting again, the tribe was quieter.
Surrounded by the children he had taught, Han Cheng took these sticks and said, "I want to show you how to make a wall that can keep wild beasts out."
These sticks couldn't be easily broken by Han Cheng now, but there were others in the cave who could do such things.
Because of better food, increased salt intake, and more physical activity, Lames strength had improved significantly, especially in his two arms, which looked particularly strong due to the increased use caused by the inconvenience of his legs.
Han Cheng chose half of these sticks. He made a mark every twenty-five centimeters and let Lame break them from the marked places.
This wasn't difficult for Lame, who took the sticks, exerted force with both hands, and with a cracking sound, the stick broke from the mark.
The break was relatively neat because before Lame broke it, Han Cheng had someone use a stone knife to cut a shallow groove.
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