Volume 1: Farming Chapter 27 The Growth of the Tribe
If Xiao Yun had just returned to the tribe and boasted like this to the chief, then the chief would definitely think that he was crazy, and from then on his trust in what he said would naturally drop by 100%.
A veteran in the workplace like Xiao Yun would certainly not make such a mistake. If any newcomer enters a new department and starts bragging about his academic qualifications before he has achieved any results, believe me, this newcomer will probably still be bragging about his academic qualifications two years later, because there is nothing else to brag about except academic qualifications.
The first step to make others believe in you is to show the capital that can make people believe in you. If you are a reliable person, others will naturally believe in you; if you are a person who is not only reliable but also very motivated, who only says "tell me to do it" without saying anything in plain words and then sits back and enjoys it comfortably, then this belief will turn into trust.
Only when trust is established can others follow you...How did the revolutionary predecessors convince 100 million farmers to follow the party? It was because the revolutionary predecessors never said "come on, please." Otherwise, when it comes to speaking nice words, the revolutionary predecessors are not necessarily better at bragging than Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek...ahem.
After working for more than five months and enjoying the fruits of his labor to prove his credibility, Xiao Yun boasted that it was hard for the clan leader, who always believed in his own experience and eyes, not to be fooled by him. And when the clan leader looked at him affectionately with the eyes of a lover and fell completely into the pie he drew, Xiao Yun could not immediately use the same words to fool other clan members. The reason was simple. After all, the clan members' vision was not as good as the knowledgeable clan leader. Most people had no idea of life in a year or half a year, and had no imagination. If he drew this pie for them, it would probably be a waste of time and lower the quality of the pie... It would be better to stop talking nonsense and just catch the clan leader.
Well...if they are professional scammers or people doing pyramid schemes, they will keep repeating their big promises to brainwash people regardless of whether it is necessary or not. This is the biggest difference between people who started out by deceiving people and those who simply want to cheat people and run away.
During the long winter of four months, most tribes on the grassland will lose weight in the snowy days when food is hard to find, and will also develop various diseases due to warmth and lack of nutrition. However, the tribes do not have such concerns. Stewing, thoroughly cooked food, and improved hygiene can prevent most parasitic and bacterial infections. Dried plantain and purslane that are occasionally thrown into the pottery pot can prevent and treat the most common bacterial dysentery and diarrhea on the grassland during the change of seasons. Sufficient bean sprouts and enoki mushrooms can prevent the tribesmen from developing various diseases due to lack of vitamins, especially enoki mushrooms, which contain a lot of vegetarian fiber and can effectively solve the constipation problem caused by the decrease in water intake in winter.
When the tribe leader and Xiao Yun were discussing how many sheep to slaughter to overcome the food crisis, the tribesmen were quite carefree and heartless.
In the No. 1 large connecting room, Qingyan, who was sitting at the end of the kang, was being watched by the youngsters. A group of teenagers, big and small, were shouting and screaming in amazement at the knitting needles flying up and down in Qingyan's hands. Some of them kept poking at the half-knitted woolen vest that Qingyan had just finished.
Qingyan: “…” He silently turned his gaze to the adult snow werewolf on the other side of the kang.
The warrior Hongye, who was sharpening the bone arrows, shrugged at him, indicating that he could do nothing to help.
Qingyan felt pain in his balls.
It is undeniable that Green Grass, Big River and Wool are indeed the most dexterous among the Snow Werewolves...but this dexterity is relative. When it comes to knitting sweaters, none of these three can be used.
When Xiao Yun thought he was going to be immersed in the miserable time of knitting sweaters, Qingyan, a member of the cat tribe, stood out. His fingers, which were longer, more slender and more flexible than those of the snow werewolves, were simply the perfect aid for knitting sweaters, and he could learn it almost at a glance. What else was there to say? Xiao Yun immediately rescued him from the miserable days of rolling around with the cubs all day (?!) and put the heavy responsibility of knitting sweaters for the whole tribe, young and old, on his shoulders.
When Qingyan came to his senses... apart from hating his strong curiosity as a cat person and wanting to try everything he saw, he really had no other thoughts.
That would be fine, but the snow werewolf cubs always treat him as a treasure... Look, in the morning they don't run out to play in the snow, but all circle around him.
“Oh, they’re all here.”
When Xiao Yun entered the room and saw that all the cubs were there, he was immediately delighted: "Come on, come here, I need your help with something——"
The cubs all cried out in pain...No! Ah Yun has given them another job to do!
Unfortunately, the protest was ineffective. Before we knew it, the person in charge of assigning work in the tribe had changed from the chief to Ayun. Whoever he caught had to work honestly, otherwise he would definitely not share the delicious food he occasionally took out with you - Ayun had an excellent memory in this regard, and even the most shameless and cheating cubs could not be fooled.
After calling all the cubs to work on the clay for him, Xiao Yun finally had time to check Qingyan's work progress.
"You don't need to knit it so densely. It doesn't matter if it's a little loose. It's for warmth anyway, worn between two layers of animal skins. Knitting too densely will waste thread." Picking up a straight woolen vest and shaking it, Xiao Yun was quite satisfied with Qingyan's needlework. "This one is good. Just knit it like this. Knit the cub's first and then the adult's. Yours will be counted in the cub's batch."
The biggest use of a woolen vest is to provide warmth to the torso. After all, the most vulnerable part of the human body is the internal organs, so it doesn't matter if your hands and feet are a little cold.
After flipping through the finished product woven by Qingyan, Xiao Yun sat down opposite Qingyan, pretending to have a heart-to-heart talk with a kind look of a neighborhood auntie: "Qingyan, you have been separated from your tribe for a whole winter. Have you missed your tribe members? Your good friends, the girls and guys you like, etc. , sometimes I miss them a lot."
Qingyan: “?!”
"Don't be nervous. It's human nature to miss your relatives and friends." Xiao Yun smiled very gently. "Everyone has relatives and friends with whom they get along well. Even if you are exiled, it doesn't mean that you have to completely cut off all ties with your relatives and friends. That would be too inhumane, don't you think?"
"..." Qingyan turned his head away silently and glanced at Xiao Yun with suspicion. He was not as simple as the snow werewolf. He had seen through him after getting along with him this winter. When this guy gets very close to someone, that's when he wants you to do something very troublesome.
His resistance made Xiao Yun feel very sorry... After all, Xiao Yun was not a devil, and he did not say that he had any bad intentions towards him. Since he was so defensive, Xiao Yun had to tell him the truth: "Qingyan, do you think the sweater you knitted and the wool carpet I showed you last time are better than animal skins?"
Qingyan nodded. There was nothing to say about this. Animal skins were stuffy and not breathable, and their warmth retention properties were just so-so. In comparison, soft sweaters and blankets were much less irritating to the skin, and they were comfortable to wear or sleep on.
"Then I plan to use sweaters and blankets as foreign trade items of our tribe. Will there be a market for them?" Xiao Yun persuaded.
Qingyan hesitated, then nodded slowly. The sweater made from the long wool of long-wool sheep was indeed more comfortable to wear. When he knitted it and tried it on, he didn't want to take it off... The cloth clothes he exchanged from the caravan were not as warm as the sweater, and not as strong as the sweater - the long wool was so thick and tough, how could ordinary cloth compare to it.
The main products Xiao Yun was going to sell were actually pottery and blankets, but since the person he wanted to convince was Qingyan, who was in charge of knitting sweaters, then of course he had to put sweaters first... Now the pottery was ready, but the blankets still needed manpower to process. If he just relied on himself to weave them slowly, it would take him forever, so... Xiao Yun set his sights on Qingyan, or rather, on the Qingyan people.
Seeing Qingyan approaching the bait, Xiao Yun narrowed his eyes and smiled: "This is what's going on. I'll wait for ten days or half a month until the snow melts. I'm going to take the pottery to exchange with the Tauren tribe. By then, I'll be close to your cat tribe, and you can go back and take a look..."
Qingyan interrupted with a wry smile, "No, Ayun, the exiled people cannot return to the tribe... they will be expelled by force."
"Don't be so rigid. I didn't ask you to go back openly. Ahem, you can go to see your relatives and friends secretly!" Xiao Yun smiled. "Your tribe is a big tribe with more than 300 people. Yes, I heard that there are big differences in size and strength between different tribes in your cat tribe. So there will always be small tribes that are not in harmony with the main race and are relatively weak. Maybe they don't get along well in your big cat tribe and are bullied. If you have such relatives and friends, you can provide them with more ways and more choices, such as bringing them to live in our tribe!"
Qingyan: “Uh (ΩДΩ)?!”
Xiao Yun raised his hand and put it on Qing Yan's shoulder: "You have been with us for such a long time and you can see that we Snow Werewolves are very hospitable and kind to the weak. Yes, for example, Thrall, he is weaker than the weakest member of your cat tribe, but he still lives a very comfortable life here. We Snow Werewolves have nothing but a sincere heart that sympathizes with the weak. The weaker the person, the more protected they are here..."
Soldier Hongye, who was sitting on the other side of the big bunk bed, looked at Xiao Yun who was talking nonstop with a dull look on his face... Ah Yun, is he openly poaching people from another tribe? ! And he's doing it so confidently? !
Hongye felt that if Qingyan was angry, he might violently beat Ayun, so she quickly put down the bone arrow and prepared to sit closer... Then she found that Qingyan was not angry at all, but instead showed a look of struggle.
Hongye: “?!”
In the tribal concept of the Snow Wolf people, tribesmen are very important, and the development of this concept is based on a premise: the Snow Wolf people are very good at eating, so each tribe can only feed a few tribesmen. The largest Snow Wolf tribe has less than a hundred people. Of course, it is difficult for such a small number of people to generate too much internal friction and competition in long-term common life.
But it is different for the cat tribe. Even the stronger black panthers eat less than the cubs of the snow werewolves... not to mention the other smaller cat races, so a large cat tribe often has three to five hundred people - although this number is not large, it is enough to produce discordant voices within the tribe. For example, it is difficult for small cat subfamily races to have the same status as large cat members.
On the grassland, taking away members of another tribe without the permission of both tribes is enough to cause a war. The tribes that have the spare capacity to accept new members can only accept exiled people or the remnants of the original tribe that have suffered a tragic disaster and cannot survive independently. Qingyan was not sure whether Xiao Yun knew this common sense, but... Xiao Yun's words moved him.
The phenomenon Xiao Yun guessed was indeed happening in his tribe. The caracal tribe, with only 18 members left, had become less and less valued in the tribe in recent years, to the point where they were even pushed into a corner when it came to sharing meals.
No matter how weak the smaller cat tribes are, they still have fighting power that exceeds that of humans. However, when the population within the tribe is too small, it is difficult for them to give birth to offspring, and they cannot expand the tribe, the smaller cat tribes are destined to be neglected - after all, they cannot protect the grasslands they need for survival like the tiger tribe, with a smaller tribe.
"... Ah Yun, I think what you said is very good, but..." After thinking it over, Qing Yan decided to make it clear to Xiao Yun, "After the Tiger Tribe left the tribe, the Cat Tribe has never allowed any tribe to leave the tribe... Even the weakest and smallest tribe is not allowed."
"Oh, so your tribe really has this kind of unwelcome minority race?" Xiao Yun rubbed his hands.
"Ayun, can you understand what I mean?" Qingyan was so angry that he didn't know how to laugh.
"Of course I understand, I understand. Stealing someone else's girlfriend is definitely not a good thing~" Xiao Yun still smiled, "What race is he? Is he handy?"
"They are from the caracal tribe. They are all very agile, but..."
"Don't worry, I told you!" Xiao Yun patted Qingyan's shoulder. "It is true that there will be conflicts if we snatch people from other tribes, but what if it is not a forced snatch? For example, if the caracals you mentioned did something bad, and were exiled or driven away by the original tribe, in short, they no longer wanted them, then there will be no problem for us to pick them up?"
"...Huh?" Qingyan couldn't recover from his shock.
"For this kind of thing, we just need to communicate internally and externally and work out a solution. It's not easy to please people, but it's not easy to dislike people either." Xiao Yun laughed and said calmly, "Come on, tell me in detail what the situation of the caracal tribe was before you left, so that we can prepare a plan in advance."
Qingyan: "..." I always feel like something is wrong, but it seems like I can't refuse Ayun...? !
Hongye quietly packed up her things and went out. She didn't want to sit in any more.
Time passed slowly under Xiao Yun's various deceptions and covert trainings. Half a month later, the heavy snow stopped falling from the sky, and the snowfield that had been frozen for several months gradually showed signs of blooming.
"Huh... As expected, the coldest time is when the snow melts." Xiao Yun came out of the firewood room and exhaled large clouds of white mist. "It's several degrees below zero now. Even such a small breeze stings my cheeks. Fortunately, I have my wool vests, otherwise I would be freezing and in big trouble."
The clouds in the sky seemed to have thinned a little, but the sun was still not visible. I stepped on the thick snow, and the coldness penetrated through the gaps in my rattan sandals. Even though I was wrapped in a layer of animal skin, I still felt a little cold.
"No wonder those kids didn't come out to play in the snow this morning. It's so quiet." Xiao Yun stretched his body and his raised arm accidentally touched his ear... Then he subconsciously shrank his neck, "——Fuck!"
This is probably the thing Xiao Yun is most dissatisfied with after becoming a snow wolf. The human-shaped snow wolf still has animal ears on both sides of its head... I don't think it's cute at all. If someone can say that Dwayne Johnson with animal ears is cute, he must be an extraordinary person. Xiao Yun is definitely not one of them. The hair on the auricle of this ear is not afraid of freezing, but it is afraid of being touched. It seems that there are more nerves on the auricle, just like putting the weak point on the head.
Well... Anyway, there's no mirror to see my own image, so other than being annoyed when I encounter it occasionally, I don't have any other feelings.
"I'm afraid my ears will freeze off, so I don't have fleshy ears like humans." Xiao Yun shook his head and turned to walk towards the No. 1 connecting room.
The temperature is lower during the melting period than when it snows. Ashan, who had gotten up early in the morning to clear the snow from the roof, is still lying on the kang, sleeping soundly with her arms around Yangmao... Xiao Yun saw that Yangmao was not being hugged very tightly, so he ignored her and walked inside to wake Niujiao up.
Niu Jiao opened his sleepy eyes and looked at Xiao Yun clearly. He suddenly shuddered and hugged the animal skin blanket tightly: "You promised to let me rest for two days. The frostbite on my feet is not healed yet!"
"Tsk..." Xiao Yun shook his head. The world is getting worse and worse, and even the most foolish Niu Jiao has started to be petty after being cheated so many times. "How could it be? When did I change my promise? You said you would never forget me when there's anything delicious. Yes, I'm going to stir-fry pork floss today. Will you come?"
The cow jumped off the kang with a rubbing of its horns... As long as the method is correct, it is quite easy to fool the coolies.
It is not difficult to deal with the Holy Mother Minotaur of the grassland, but it requires some skills to seduce Ke Ke and save the suffering caracals. Xiao Yun thought that it is better to give delicious food than to say nice words, so he prepared some meat floss as a gift.
In terms of raw materials, Xiao Yun chose fresh beef... He would take the sickly-headed curved-horn cattle out of the pen by their horns, slaughter them, bleed them, and skin them, then cut the lean meat into thin slices, add water and dried cheese, and cook them in a pot - there were no other seasonings, only the cheese to increase the milky flavor.
Take out the cooked beef, drain the water, and place it outside to cool. Then use a round piece of wood to flatten the meat, tear it into small pieces with your hands, flatten it again, and tear it again until all the meat slices are torn into shreds.
Put the clay pot on the fire again, add the previously stored fish oil and stir-fry quickly on low heat until the shredded pork is fluffy. This process takes about half an hour... It takes physical strength to stir-fry a large pot of shredded pork at one time, but it is no difficulty with the bull horn.
There are still not many seasonings, so at this step, the only things that can be added to the meat floss are salt, pine nut powder and dried mushroom powder - the dried mushroom powder was saved from the tribe leader's mouth, and I was reluctant to use it before, but it came in handy this time.
The beef floss with a rich milky aroma comes out of the pot, grab a handful of beaten ox horns, and put the rest into a ceramic pot, cover it, and you’re done!
There was a lack of seasoning, and no matter how capable Xiao Yun was, he couldn't make any more snacks. After packing the meat floss, the next thing to do was to open the kiln and prepare the pottery that would be used to exchange for seeds from the minotaur.
"Eh? Eh hey hey?" Niu Jiao carefully held a uniquely shaped, smooth and shiny pottery, and his mouth turned into an O shape. "Ayun, what is this? Ayun, Ayun?"
"A ceramic ornament made with colored glaze made from four kinds of natural pigments. It's okay. Isn't it beautiful?" Xiao Yun looked back and saw that Niu Jiao really had good taste. He immediately took a liking to the pottery that he had spent the most time making.
"It looks great!" Niu Jiao held the exquisite colored pottery that he had never seen before with great care, his eyes sparkling, "What is this used for, Ayun?"
"It's useless, just put it here for viewing." Xiao Yun said casually while arranging the ceramic bowls, cups and plates in his hands.
"Ah?" Niu Jiao looked shocked.
"Don't tell me you want it. This thing is really useless. It's just for show. I want to exchange it for seeds." Xiao Yun said. He had no idea what the tauren, who were good at farming and vegetarian, liked. Since these grassland saints had no worries about food and clothing, he would get some ornamental things besides cups, bowls and plates to make up for it.
"Oh..." Niu Jiao's ears drooped and he carefully put down the pottery.
Xiao Yun looked back at Niu Jiao's reluctant expression again and touched his chin... If a thick-skinned snow werewolf like Niu Jiao can like this useless ornament, then the minotaur who has no worries about food and clothing and has the energy and leisure to cultivate aesthetic taste should also like it?
——This so-called pottery ornament is a Q-version statue of a fat seated flower spirit... A flower spirit is an image of a little girl with a wreath on her head, a leaf-shaped skirt on her body, and an exaggerated smile drawn on her chubby face with simple lines.
The black swamp mud was used to carefully paint the facial features and the leaf patterns on the skirt, the light green juice extracted from boiled leaves was added to the glaze for the skin (it was impossible to find white natural plant pigments, nor was there any porcelain clay that could bring its own holy light). The juice was then boiled dry to make a dark green leaf skirt, and the brown extracted from the bark and the purple extracted from inedible purple berries were added to the colorless glaze to leave white for the wreath - Xiao Yun also wanted to make the wreath pink, but he had nowhere to find petals in this weather - there were only four colors, so Xiao Yun had the nerve to call it painted pottery.
But... no matter how rough the color is, it is still color. After all, several colors appear together on a small pottery ornament, and the use of glaze makes its surface particularly smooth and bright. Even if it is taken to a street stall in modern society as a handicraft, it can be sold for more than ten or twenty yuan... ahem.
When the clan leader saw the flower fairy statue that Xiao Yun had spent more than an hour to sculpt, his reaction made Xiao Yun more confident in selling this ornament - after all, the clan leader, who was already old, actually picked up the ornament and observed it for a few seconds before looking up at Xiao Yun, as if he wanted to rush out, snatch it back and hide it. It was really... so direct and obvious that Xiao Yun was too lazy to complain.
"This is to be exchanged for seeds." Xiao Yun quickly spoke up to dispel the patriarch's idea without waiting for him to speak.
Patriarch: “…”
Xiao Yun stretched out his hand: "Hmm?"
The clan leader... the clan leader still didn't let go: "...it would be better for me, the clan leader, to take out this precious pottery statue myself, Ayun, what do you think?"
"What the hell?!" Xiao Yun felt as if he was struck by lightning. Even the clan leader had learned to use his status to pressure others... er, he used his net worth to hype up products? !
