Volume 1: Farming Chapter 50: Apple of Eden
In late autumn on the grassland, the temperature can drop to below zero at night. If you sleep in the wild, even if you are wrapped in thick fur like a dumpling, you will definitely have a runny nose, a sore and itchy throat after a night, and you will definitely catch a cold.
In such weather, it would be so comfortable to sleep on a warm kang wrapped in a thick blanket... The cold-resistant snow werewolves would even take off their shorts and roll around bare-buttocks on the kang, which was made of straw as a base, rattan mats, and a layer of animal skins. The blanket in their arms was only used to cover their faces, leaving their arms and lower body completely exposed.
Xiao Yun turned over and when he opened his eyes, he saw the little bird with its horns spread out sleeping on its back... He immediately became alert.
He sat up and pushed the ox horn towards Ah Shan, lifted the blanket, got off the kang and added some coal to the stove. The stove mouth was facing the door, and the loosely joined wooden door immediately let in a gust of cold wind, which made Xiao Yun's butt feel cold.
Burning coal inevitably produces an unpleasant smell of soot, and one must also prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Newly built collective bedrooms and family houses have ventilation holes at the beam positions, and the stoves are also placed as close to the main door as possible. Well, now it seems that this door is really useless. In winter, it will definitely not work without a layer of animal skin.
It was late at night, the autumn was chilly, the moon was dim and the stars were dim. Xiao Yun stood at the door for a while, then straightened the wooden door, slowly returned to the kang, lay down and stared at the beam above his head.
Stare.
Eye.
...turned over silently.
The Snow Wolf Man had no habit of lighting, so the house was pitch black, with only the moonlight coming in from the vents and the fire from the stove adding a little light to the house; this was enough, because the irises of the Snow Wolf Man's eyes were different from those of humans, and he could see things with only a tiny bit of light, which was convenient, but he could see things that he didn't want to see, and he could even see the hair on the cow's horns and testicles clearly, which was really eye-irritating...
Silently, he sat up, pulled the blanket off Niu Jiao Hu's face and covered his lower body. Then he didn't want to lie down anymore, so he sat cross-legged in the dark, thinking about life with his arms folded. The so-called power of habit is strong. Xiao Yun, who often got up in the middle of the night to urge others to go to work, suffered from the habit now. He was woken up by his biological clock at a certain time...
The high-intensity construction project in the previous month and a half had left the entire tribe on edge. Now that everyone was living in a warm, moisture-free concrete house, they felt a breath of relief, but the tension they had been holding back was also gone. Now they were being forced to uphold the supreme truth that life equals work. Xiao Yun felt that even someone as stupid as Niu Jiao would surely rebel... He was trying his best to tap everyone's potential in labor, and he wasn't the kind of person who couldn't bear to see others relax. When it comes to work, a sense of rhythm with both tension and relaxation is still important.
"First arrange some low-intensity work for them to rest and relieve the accumulated pressure, and then restore the work rhythm." In the darkness, Xiao Yun silently calculated with a blank expression, "Before moving Sar's mushroom house, go collect the acorns first. This time there are more people, so we can try to transplant some oak trees and plant them around. Yangmao will go back to be in charge of the bean sprout house. We have to pick someone from the cubs to replace her. Well, let Qingyan do it... Hongye can lead the team well. After some training, she should be able to take charge on her own. Put some pressure on her later so that she can't grow slower than Maomao... Dahe, alas, I don't think she can be trained in the short term. She is always a half-baked one."
If the tribe wants to expand, it will be impossible for Xiao Yun to be the only one in charge of all affairs. He must train a few assistants to replace him and become the new core in a certain direction. In this way, he will have more time and energy to take charge of the overall situation and steer the future development of the tribe.
To be honest, this is a very difficult task... Xiao Yun has experienced the test of building a team framework from scratch and starting from zero, but the working environment on the grassland is too weird - Xiao Yun is a person who understands the saying "the masses are the most fucked up". He has encountered some extremely stupid customers and new employees, but snow werewolves are really rare... Qingyan is so obedient, the caracals are so well-behaved, and the goblins are so honest, why are these people so difficult to deal with!
He has been working hard to train, brainwash and influence the family for almost a year, but among his family members, only Hongye can be saved. Dahe, who is obviously a smart man, would have given up on treatment long ago if he hadn't been keeping an eye on him all the time. Uncle Ashan, who is expected to have high hopes, is actually a cute guy under his cool face... What a waste of talent!
If Maomao and the grassroots chief hadn't given him a little surprise, he would have almost despaired about the future of the snow werewolves.
Sighing, since he couldn't sleep anyway, Xiao Yun took the cloth roll beside the pillow and spread it out, pondering the densely packed charcoal characters on it. The names of all the Snow Werewolves were on it, and behind the names there were notes of varying lengths written by him... A good memory is not as good as a bad pen, this principle is true everywhere.
The personnel of the three work teams, Maomao, Dahe and Hongye, are not fixed. During this period, while carrying out high-intensity labor pressure, Xiao Yun observes the adaptability of the existing first-level labor force and adjusts and changes their jobs at any time according to their individual work performance. Up to now, Xiao Yun has a rough ability evaluation standard for all the adult snow wolves in the tribe.
How many people are hardworking enough to accept mechanical repetitive labor, how many people are a little flexible, how many people are not stress-resistant and will give up when the labor intensity exceeds a certain level... Xiao Yun must have a rough idea of these. For a small team in its early stages, the manager's understanding of his team and whether he has a clear idea of the team's upper limit determine the team's development limit. Those who talk about the team's development limit right away are either joking or engaging in pyramid selling. Throughout history, if the leader of any team is an idealist (in plain words, he has no idea), it is hard to say whether he can deceive outsiders, but he will definitely deceive the team...
As a pragmatist, Xiao Yun would definitely not think about conquering the grassland and sweeping the world without thinking too much. The small goal he set for himself was to feed all the snow wolves... Well, in fact, this goal is a bit unreasonable, but it is still possible to achieve it, and the possibility is still very high. Doing things is like climbing stairs. You have to climb the first step before you can reach the second step.
After calculating the human resources of the tribe, Xiao Yun got off the bed, put on his shoes, walked out the door, and headed for the warehouse area that stood quietly in the darkness.
The sixteen warehouses in the warehouse area are neatly arranged in four rows. Due to the lack of steel bars, the warehouses cannot be built very large. The capacity of each warehouse is about three to four containers. Soybeans are filled in one warehouse, wheat is filled in two warehouses, and miscellaneous materials such as salt, dried radish, pickles, animal skins, pottery, etc. occupy one warehouse. The remaining warehouses are filled with alfalfa.
After entering the sundry warehouse and taking a quick inventory, Xiao Yun unexpectedly discovered that... the thing the tribe was in short supply of was the animal skins, which were the least likely to be in short supply.
After thinking about it for a while, Xiao Yun was not too surprised. He had not hunted much this year, and most of the animal skins and sheepskins he had saved were used to make leather bags and clothes. The remaining ones were sewn together to make bed sheets for the kang. The remaining ones had to be kept to make the roof of the greenhouse - a movable roof made of reed stalks tied to wooden sticks and covered with animal skins. After all, there was no plastic film available... The vegetables in the greenhouse needed sunlight.
"It seems like it's time to send the warriors out for some fresh air... uh, patrol and hunt, and look for those gray dwarves while they're at it."
It turns out that the gray dwarves who took away two hundred rams have been looking for iron ore for nearly five months. Their food and the sheep they took away should not be able to sustain them for so long... It is not easy to find ore on the vast grassland. They don't have any scientific instruments to use. They all rely on the dwarves' talent in finding mineral veins. They have not returned for a long time, either because they didn't find anything and were too embarrassed to come to see the snow werewolves, or because they encountered an accident.
The latter possibility is unlikely. Xiao Yun believes that those cautious gray dwarves will not run around in dangerous places. There are no cat or tiger tribes around here. The nearest cat tribe to their tribe is three hundred kilometers away, in the upper reaches of the River of Earth. The tiger tribe is almost as far away as the Tauren tribe they have visited before. It is impossible for the gray dwarves to run so far.
When it was daybreak, although he did not create the brain-piercing magic sound, everyone woke up one after another due to inertia... The hardworking and virtuous caracal got up and immediately set up a pot to cook soup, washed vegetables and prepared noodles - the flour for the noodle soup did not need to be kneaded, just add water to make a paste, and then use a thin knife to cut it into slices like making knife-cut noodles, and put it into the pot to cook.
While everyone was having breakfast in the open space in front of the dormitory, Xiao Yun quickly arranged today's work. He first grabbed Dahe's shoulders and said seriously, "Dahe, do you want to be the chef of the tribe?"
Xiao Yun had already given up on the idea of training this guy into a qualified assistant, so he decided to make good use of the waste.
Before Da He could react, the grassroots chieftain who was slurping noodle soup next to him showed a look of surprise...
"...Ah?" Dahe showed a pure expression as if he didn't understand.
Xiao Yun thought to himself, "Haha", he had seen through this guy's habit of trying to act dumb when he didn't want to do something! Acting cute is useless!
"It's not that hard to cook for everyone. The horns can be allocated to you, and you can also find two cubs to help you, such as Ah Zi and Er Shui who play well with you. It will be much easier if the four of you do it." Xiao Yun smiled, "I don't have much time now, but when it snows and I have more time, I can teach you how to cook a lot of delicious food. You who are responsible for cooking can taste it first~"
While Da He was still weighing the pros and cons, Niu Jiao appeared out of nowhere, put his arm around Da He's shoulders intimately, gave Xiao Yun a thumbs up, and showed his big white teeth: "Leave it to us!"
Dahe: “???”
Xiao Yun nodded to Niu Jiao with satisfaction. Interest is the best motivation. Letting Niu Jiao be the cook might help develop his solidified brain.
Then he turned around... and looked at Qingyan: "Qingyan, Yangmao has gone to take care of the bean sprouts. Do you think you can take care of the sheepfold with the cubs?"
Qingyan, who was slurping noodle soup among a bunch of werewolf cubs, nodded silently. It was okay to be with the cubs, and the black panther warrior had let it go.
"If there's anything else... flood!" Xiao Yun looked around and waved to an adult snow werewolf.
The adult snow werewolf had a very stiff expression.
"Dashui, it's your turn to lead your team from today to dig the fermentation tank behind the warehouse area. We are not in a hurry now, so you can dig slowly. Shamen, your people should cooperate with Dashui's team and finish the digging within five days. Is there any problem?"
The old monk nodded quickly, while Dashui looked constipated... His original name was Ashui, the same name as a cub. It was common for snow wolves to have the same name, but Ayun felt it was difficult to distinguish them, so he changed their names.
"Qingcao, you should also lead the work team you are in like Dashui and build a mill. The specifications should refer to the bean sprout house for wool. After it is built, install the stone mill in it."
"Lan Guo, the same goes for you. Your team should level the ground in front of us. Shovel out the uneven areas and fill in the potholes."
"After the three teams finish their tasks, they can go to the forest to haul acorns. We will bring oxen with us like last year, but it will be easier. The warriors can go with us. Before that , we haven't been on patrol and hunting for a long time, so we will let the warriors take a break for a while... relax for a while, and go around the places they need to patrol. What do you think, Chief?"
The Fire Clan leader's square face was as serious as ever. After a brief pause, he nodded steadily, "Let's do it."
The soldiers were surprised that they hadn't heard of any arrangements for their families, but when they heard that they were actually asked to go on patrol and hunting, they were immediately quite excited... Patrolling was also a job before, but now, patrolling is really a way to relax!
Qingyan had a blank expression on his face, so he, a Black Panther warrior, was only a warrior when he was just making up the numbers at meetings... It was really infuriating!
"We still don't have enough pottery. I want to make some larger pottery, such as a large vat for pickling Chinese cabbage. We should also add a batch of pottery bowls and plates for daily use in the tribe." Xiao Yun looked at the two clan leaders. "You two clan leaders have been very busy recently. Why don't you join me in making some pottery these days?"
Huo Yan nodded hurriedly. Making pottery is much easier than doing other things, and you can also "collect" the most beautiful pottery!
Cao Gen was also very excited. She had been extremely curious about how A Yun made pottery!
This time, Xiao Yun arranged a very easy job with a long deadline, which made everyone happy. Everyone felt that the noodle soup tasted sweeter and they all liked Ah Yun a lot more... Ah Yun was really great! He was not a devil at all~
Xiao Yun's smile is very pure. Of course I am a good person~
Temporarily stripping the warriors of their leadership rights and letting adult tribesmen take charge of things is to weaken the existing phenomenon of specialization of warriors... It will be considered a success when adult tribesmen who have the ability to lead a team can participate in work meetings. Originally, Xiao Yun had high hopes for Dahe, but this guy is a mess (no typo) and is not up to the task, so he had to find someone else.
If a group wants to develop, it is definitely unhealthy to use force to determine the right to speak. Although Xiao Yun also thinks that Hongye and Maomao are useful talents, he must separate their personal abilities from their identities as warriors when using and training them. The sooner this kind of thing is done, the better. He doesn't want to end up having to learn from Zhu Baba and Zhao Kuangyin in the later stage, which would be too painful.
As for the tribe leader... she would of course be held in high esteem. The tribe leader Huoyan seemed smart but was actually slow-witted and easy to fool. She had been successfully tamed so far. As for the grassroots tribe leader, if she were not the tribe leader, Xiao Yun would have trained her and utilized her as quickly as she did with Maomao. Now, Xiao Yun did not intend to give up such a rare and useful (smart) talent, but she must be thoroughly tamed before training, otherwise her status as the tribe leader would be in big trouble.
Why do I say that? Because the identity of the clan leader naturally has the right to allocate tribal resources...
Objectively speaking, there is actually no oppression or power feudalism among the snow wolves under the tribal system. Rather, it is more like a utopian communism - the productivity and production resources of the entire tribe are shared, everyone is equal, and everyone eats and wears, which seems perfect.
But if you peel off this seemingly perfect equality, you will find the problem... This tribal system of equality is based on low productivity and difficult living conditions. If productivity improves and can generate surplus value that is not needed for survival, then the existence of this surplus value is likely to become the "Garden of Eden Apple" that causes the Snow Wolf People's equality system to be unbalanced.
This is a very cold question, and it is also a question that cannot be avoided. Why is it that the successful rebel teams in Chinese history were always unable to achieve harmony in the later period? It is too superficial to describe it simply as "we can share adversity but not wealth".
In a nutshell - don't bet on the greed in human nature! Don't think that human nature can be tested! Don't selfishly think that others are not selfish!
In the eyes of Xiao Yun, who believes that "human nature is evil", he is not naive enough to think that anyone whose moral level has been tested will never breed greed. As an adult with normal IQ, preparing a response plan before a problem occurs is the most basic quality... This is not groundless worry. The current situation is that the "Apple of the Garden of Eden" and surplus value already exist in the tribe!
The wealth created by the collective, the part that exceeds the need for survival, is the surplus value! Those things piled in the warehouse are the apple that caused Adam and Eve to fall!
At present, this apple is still very dry and not sweet enough, but does Xiao Yun want to bet that this apple will not become poisonous when it matures? Definitely not.
So it is not easy for Xiao Yun... Everyone in the tribe can be heartless, but he cannot. He has to always be ahead of the tribe's development in terms of what he has to consider and take into account. He cannot be too ahead, as taking too big a step will lead to bad results, nor can he be too behind, as being confused by problems before considering solutions will only waste precious time for the tribe's development.
Well... Fortunately, the people of all races who were having breakfast in a lively atmosphere did not have the ability to read minds, so they could not see what Ah Yun, who had a calm smile on her face, was thinking in her heart, otherwise, mental stimulation would be the least of it...
When sixteen snow werewolf warriors were running towards the vast world outside the tribe in groups of two or three, carrying weapons, in the northwest, at the junction of grassland and jungle, two gray dwarves came out of the forest one after another, looking around in panic, and after taking a few steps, they hid in the bushes like frightened birds.
"Huh...Huh...We finally escaped, Elba."
The gray dwarf, the snow wolf friend, Charles, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. His childish face was filled with shock and a little joy. He lowered his voice and said excitedly, "We must quickly find our snow wolf friends... Only they can help us save our people."
Elba was a decade older than Ciel, but because of the special characteristics of the gray dwarves, he looked like Ciel's age. Unlike Ciel, he seemed very pessimistic. He shook his head and said in despair, "The Snow Werewolves can't help us... Have you forgotten, Ciel, that the Snow Werewolves are a forbidden race, a race not favored by magic, and they can't help us."
Charles slowly lowered his hand that was wiping his sweat, and the joy of surviving the disaster disappeared from his brows: "What should we do then? Who else can we ask for help?"
"I don't know... Or, should we go back to the underground world to find the dark elves?" Alba said painfully, "Being a slave to the dark elves can at least save our lives, right?"
"No, no, we escaped to the ground with great difficulty." Charles said in surprise.
"What's the point of escaping? The people on the ground still treat us as slaves." Elba was desperate. "If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have thought of escaping... At least the most terrifying people in the underground world are the dark elves. As long as we can forge the iron tools they require..."
" Calm down, Alba. At least the Snow Wolf people treat us as friends. They also gave us so many sheep."
"So what, Charles? Don't forget that the Snow Wolf People also want us to make iron tools for them. Now it's just you and me who have to figure out how to satisfy the Snow Wolf People's demands. They might think that we cheated them of their sheep and didn't do what we promised them, so they might kill us..."
"Alba, don't you want to save Baru and the others anymore?" Charles was very angry and his voice unconsciously rose a little.
The two gray dwarves were frightened. After looking at each other for a few seconds, they jumped out of the bushes at the same time and ran towards the grassland.
The autumn wind rustled the leaves in the area, and the yellow leaves floated down in the wind, slowly landing on the short footprints left by the two gray dwarves.
A foot stepped on the ground near the gray dwarf's footprint, and a half-finger-deep pit was trampled in the thick humus layer. The insects hiding among the fallen leaves and rotten leaves were startled and crawled out in panic, twisting their bodies.
"Have you escaped here?"
The tracker's sight fell on the two rows of small footprints and then moved deeper into the grassland.
