Chapter 48: The Inescapable Fish Cage
While Lame was breaking the sticks, Han Cheng marked another section, approximately half a meter long, on the remaining sticks.
He arranged these sticks side by side, using a straight stick as a ruler. Aligning it with the half-meter mark on the outermost stick, he laid the ruler horizontally, holding it in place with one hand while using a small sharp stone knife to cut along the ruler with the other.
After removing the ruler, a neat mark appeared at the same position on each stick.
Han Cheng didn't let anyone move these sticks. Instead, he picked up the stick used as a ruler and aligned its end close to half a meter with the mark on the second stick. Then, comparing it with the mark at the half-meter distance on the first stick, he made a second half-meter mark on the second stick.
He placed the first stick back in its original position, aligning it with the other arranged sticks.
Han Cheng picked up the ruler again, laying it horizontally on the sticks at the second half-meter mark. Following the same method as before, he cut horizontally along the ruler after finding the level.
This way, each stick had two half-meter marks.
Regardless of whether Han Cheng's estimation of half a meter was accurate, the distances marked this way would be consistent.
This ensured that they would all be the same length after cutting these tree sticks.
After marking, the children gathered around and began to follow suit. Each took a marked trunk, and using the method taught by the Divine Child, they cut a shallow circle around the marked area with a sharp stone knife. This ensured that the cut would be relatively neat.
Once the sticks were cut, some long and some short, including the curious Shaman who came over upon hearing the commotion, everyone wondered what the Divine Child planned to do with these little sticks.
Could these small sticks build a wall to keep wild beasts outside?
Han Cheng didn't say much. Instead, he started picking up four short wooden sticks, forming them into a square with sides approximately 25 centimeters long. The junctions were tightly bound with straw rope.
He made two such square frames.
After creating the two frames, he took out four long wooden sticks connecting them to the two frames. After securely tying the four sticks, a rectangular frame made of wooden sticks appeared.
Several female primitive people sitting not far away had a pile of sun-dried straw next to them. Following the method taught by the Divine Child, they twisted three strands of straw together to make a rope.
Straw was inherently tough, and after twisting three strands into a thin rope, it became even more robust.
Such a rope could hold more than ten catties of salted meat.
Han Cheng had instructed them to make ropes in the morning, so by now, they had already made a lot.
Han Cheng picked up one of the well-twisted straw ropes and began weaving it back and forth at one end of the rectangular frame. After a while, a large opening at the front and a smaller, inward-sloping opening appeared on this end of the frame.
This opening ensured that fish could swim in but couldn't swim out.
That's right. Han Cheng was now making a fish cage.
This compact device couldn't build walls but could provide a strong guarantee for constructing the wall.
With dozens of these fish cages, considering the abundance of fish in the nearby river, the people in the tribe wouldn't have to worry about food for a long time.
With the food issue resolved, there would naturally be manpower available to build walls.
After completing the mechanism inside the fish cage that allowed fish to enter but not leave, Han Cheng started weaving the other five sides of the fish cage, one after the other.
The mesh size was determined by the span of Han Cheng's entire palm, ensuring that the fish caught in the fish cage would weigh at least 300 grams.
Small fish were not worth catching for Han Cheng. After all, just like humans, a fish only has one life, and its value should be maximized.
One pound could only feed a child for the same fish, while five pounds would be enough for two adults.
Han Cheng considered this to be the value of life.
Weaving the outer layer of the fish cage was a somewhat strenuous activity. Fortunately, during this period, Han Cheng had been quite active, so he had some stamina to spare. Otherwise, he would have had blisters on his hands after completing one fish cage.
The fish cage was completed when the sun had moved approximately halfway to the west in the afternoon.
Han Cheng pressed on it forcefully from all sides, ensuring the fish cage was sturdy and had no flaws. He then picked up a thicker rope than the usual straw rope, tying one end securely to a wooden stick at the mouth of the fish cage.
This rope was twisted using the same method as the straw rope used to weave the fish cage, making it extremely strong. With it the fish cage breaking halfway while being lifted from the water, losing both the fish and the cage was nearly impossible.
The final step was also completed. Han Cheng, while sighing in relief, felt a subtle excitement. It was almost time to catch fish.
Unlike Han Cheng's excitement, the Shaman and the children were puzzled and did not understand. They couldn't comprehend why this easily liftable thing was supposed to defend against wild beasts. The so-called wall, from their perspective, seemed unreliable.
Seeing their confusion, Han Cheng understood that they had misunderstood. He smiled and shook his head, saying, "This is not a wall. It is a fish cage used for catching fish."
Everyone was dumbfounded. The result was truly unexpected.
"You were just talking about building a wall, and after all this work, you've made something unrelated to building walls."
They didn't understand how catching fish was related to building walls.
The Shaman's eyes were thoughtful, and he vaguely understood Han Cheng's idea.
However, if it was as he thought, this peculiar thing, which he had never heard of and was referred to by the Divine Child as a fish cage, had to be capable of catching a lot of fish. A fish cage should catch at least as many fish as two people using fish spears in a day.
Han Cheng handed the fish cage to Hei Wa, asking him to hold it. Then, holding the Shaman's hand, he led the people towards the edge of the small river.
Due to the presence of wolves, everyone carried weapons.
The Eldest Senior Brother even selected two women from the hunting team to stay in the tribe, strengthening the daytime defense to ensure everyone's safety.
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