Chapter 455: Busy Spring!
Chapter 455: Busy Spring!
The weather has warmed up, and the Green Sparrow Tribe has become more lively. This year is undoubtedly busier than previous years, with so many more people living here.
Gu woke up early, and his first tasks after going to the bathroom were brushing his teeth and washing up. He had long since developed a habit of feeling uncomfortable without brushing his teeth in the morning. He now enjoyed using slightly bitter twigs dipped in salt to brush his teeth. However, unlike before, he no longer swallowed the salty water but spat it out.
After brushing, he noticed someone coming out of the bathroom and immediately put down his teacup, rushing to the bathroom. Unfortunately, someone else had already gone in before he could reach it. Frustrated, Gu had no choice but to wait outside the bathroom, pacing and looking distressed. This was one of the few things he disliked about life in the tribe: too many rules and too few bathroom stalls.
In the past, he might have sought out a scenic spot to relieve himself, but now he refrained from doing so due to the rules set by the Divine Child.
As the sun rose, the Green Sparrow Tribe fully awoke. After taking care of personal matters, everyone started their work. The former Green Tribe members, now scattered and integrated into the Green Sparrow Tribe, were divided into groups to learn new tasks they had never encountered.
The area around the Green Sparrow Tribe was bustling with people. Quarry sites, the courtyard bathroom area, and the vast fields outside were all filled with activity. The difference from the previous leisurely pace was striking.
Among the activities, farming was the most prominent, with half of the adults working with bone shovels and stone hoes. As the Green Sparrow Tribe developed, the crucial role of land became increasingly apparent. Han Cheng paid more and more attention to it, understanding that food and sustenance were fundamental. Solving this issue was crucial for the tribe to focus on other matters and to advance at a pace far beyond that of surrounding tribes.
Without plows or draft animals like oxen and horses, the farming efforts of the Green Sparrow Tribe, which were getting on track, relied on bone shovels and stone hoes, making progress slow. This was why Han Cheng had arranged for a large workforce to start turning the soil as soon as spring began. It was no small task, with hundreds of acres needing to be turned.
Farming depends on the weather; the land must be prepared for the right conditions to sow seeds. Waiting to turn the soil and sow seeds until the conditions are correct would be too late.
Additionally, preparing the land early allowed for the quick development of new land. As the population of the Green Sparrow Tribe grew, so did the need for more food. With only about eight hundred acres of land, the existing land wasn't enough to meet the needs of the increasing population.The former Green Tribe leader, Gu, now part of the Green Sparrow Tribe, was also hard at work, using a stone hoe more diligently than most.
Because the Divine Child had announced that a new large toilet, with fifteen male stalls, would be built next to the old one, Gu felt deeply moved by the prospect. He had suffered from the shortage of toilets and was determined to work hard.
After Han Cheng and a few experienced hands marked out the foundation for the new toilet, Gu enthusiastically threw himself into the work, putting in more effort than even the older members of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
In addition to his eagerness to build the new toilet, Gu was also motivated by the desire to improve his own status and upgrade his "identity" from a simple laborer to someone with a higher status in the tribe, symbolized by the transition from using basic tools to more refined ones like ceramic implements.
Although early spring temperatures were still cool, Gu was already sweating profusely, and steam rose from his head as if he had mastered a legendary technique. He leaned on his hoe with one hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the other.
Exhausted and with aching hands, Gu realized this was harder than hunting. Looking at the blisters on his palms from the hoe and the others working tirelessly, he suddenly understood why the tribe had achieved so much.
After a brief rest, Gu resumed digging, and others used bone shovels to move the dirt he had excavated. Due to the toilet construction, the pig pen project was delayed again.
Fortunately, the seven pigs in the small pig pen were still young and not yet mature, so they weren’t producing piglets. They had also been eating poorly over the winter, so their growth was slow, which made managing them less of an issue.
However, the castrated wild boar was growing faster than the others. It had been smaller than another male wild boar before the castration but was now more prominent. Perhaps it was channeling its distress into appetite.
Compared to when they were first captured, the wild boars had become much tamer, especially the injured ones. They were less wild, and the young wild boars, including Fu Jiang, Da Fu, and San Fu, were relaxing in the sunny, sheltered spots, enjoying themselves.
During the winter, Fu Jiang, Da Fu, and San Fu had all gone into heat, causing howls from wolves around the tribe, especially at night. Cheng, who had lost half an ear to a wolf, played with the pigs happily but harbored a deep hatred for the wolves. He suggested killing them to prevent them from harming the tribe.
With the new bows, slings, and traps, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe were no longer afraid of wolves. Han Cheng considered the situation and decided not to agree to Chen's suggestion immediately, as these wolves were part of the ecosystem that brought in new wolf cubs for the tribe.
Instead, Fu Jiang, Da Fu, and San Fu were released and, after a few days, returned successfully, with their bellies slightly enlarged, indicating that more wolf cubs would soon join the tribe.
Just then, people from the Donkey Tribe arrived, carrying various furs.