Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 100 Work is Eternal
The temperature during the melting period is lower than when it snows. The glass tube mercury thermometer produced by Balke Laboratory was taken outdoors at noon, and the scale was easily minus 30 degrees Celsius. At night, it would even reach minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Xiao Yun was not a devil after all. He did not force everyone to start working in such cold weather. Anyway, there was enough manpower this year, and it would be in time to start working after the snow melted...
Sit cross-legged on the warm kang, with a pot of sauerkraut stewed with pork, a pot of spicy mutton soup, a bowl of rice noodles with red oil residue on the kang table, a plate of pickled radish, and a bottle of thawed canned fruit on the edge of the table. This life is so beautiful - even the picky Green Dragon Balk, after slurping the rice noodles and then picking up a piece of sour radish with chopsticks and putting it in his mouth, his eyes would squint into half-moon shapes.
"Is your pot of stewed pork with sauerkraut the last one to come out of the pot or something? It's even softer and more flavorful than the one I just ate?" Xiao Yun snatched Balke's chopsticks, picked up a piece of pork belly and put it in his mouth. The fragrant and non-greasy taste made him tell the difference immediately.
Balk dipped the steamed bun into the spicy soup and ate it. Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows proudly: "I helped Dahe grind the rice flour, and she helped me to stew my portion for a longer time. The meat must be stewed until you can poke the skin with chopsticks to get the flavor~"
Xiao Yun was a little amused and a little relieved. He didn't know whether he should despise him for not making progress or be relieved that he had learned his lesson and even knew how to trade labor for the sake of his stutter: "I was wondering why the canteen had already prepared the rice noodles this morning. It turns out you went to help."
Rice noodles, also known as rice noodle skin, cold skin, and rice noodle rolls, are a traditional Chinese folk food. The production methods are similar in different places. After soaking the rice overnight, it is ground into rice slurry, scooped up and poured into a winnowing basket or a steamer made of any material with a little vegetable oil, spread out and shaken flat, put it in a boiling pot and steam for three minutes, then take it out and cool it. The thin rice noodle skin that is peeled off is the rice noodles.
Depending on the taste of different places, some people add salt to the rice paste, add flower juice for coloring, or even add sweet potato starch; the thickness of the rice and the way of eating are also slightly different. In the tribe, there are not many ways to eat this thing. After cutting it into two-finger-wide strips with scissors, it is treated the same as sweet potato noodles... except that it does not need to be boiled thoroughly like sweet potato noodles before being picked up. It can be eaten after blanching in hot water. It can also be eaten cold when the weather is hot.
This thing has a very short storage time, so it can only be made for self-consumption. Anyway, there is not much rice, so Xiao Yun has no intention of selling it. At this moment, Xiao Yun came to Balk to discuss the dry vermicelli business in the tribe.
"Sweet potatoes and potatoes have high yields and low prices. This year, the cultivated land area has been expanded, and the tribe will definitely not be able to eat up the output. Last year's output still has more than two million kilograms left. In the winter, the greenhouse produced another batch, about three hundred thousand kilograms." After returning the chopsticks to Balke, Xiao Yun moved the pot of vegetables away and began to persuade Balke... uh, to mobilize him. "My idea is to use two million kilograms of potatoes and sweet potatoes to test the waters, make them into dry vermicelli, and sell them to see how the market reacts... Now we have to set up a team for this vermicelli factory. I have taken a look and you are the most suitable person to do this. Balke, are you interested in taking on this responsibility?"
If goods are not circulated, they are just garbage that takes up space. There are rich arable resources to be mined on the grassland, but how to sell the crops is a problem. Considering the logistics level of garbage in this world, food products to be sold must have the advantage of a long shelf life. Xiao Yun, a southern Chinese and a fan of rice noodles, naturally thought of potato vermicelli and sweet potato vermicelli - these two things have a shelf life of one year after being dried and sealed. When you want to eat them, grab a ball (a handful) and throw it into boiling water to cook it soft and thoroughly. It is a must-have dry food for home and travel, and it can also help Carlisle's spice business.
Balk was stunned for a moment and pointed at his nose: "Me? I'm in charge of making powder?"
"Yes~" Xiao Yun nodded in affirmation, "I'll pick twenty people for you, five of them are veterans, and you have to lead the novices yourself. Do you have confidence?"
"This... can I do this?" Balk was a little excited and a little bit unbelieving. Having been in the tribe for so long, he knew Xiao Yun's character very well. On the surface, he said a lot of nice things, but if he didn't trust you and thought you were useless, then he would do nothing but say nice things... Now that Xiao Yun asked him to stand on his own, didn't it mean that his trust in him was at least at the same level as Qiuqiu's?
Well...it took Balk two years to see through Xiao Yun's true nature. No matter how you look at it, it's not easy...
"Why not? I've considered everyone in the tribe, and the only one who is most suitable to take on this important task is you, Balke." Xiao Yun smiled warmly, showing his big white teeth and showing his sincerity. "We have the manpower to expand the planting area this year. I calculated that we can take care of the sweet potato and potato cultivation by increasing the scale tenfold. Then the first batch will be harvested in the middle of the year, and the yield will not be small. We can't eat so many sweet potatoes and potatoes. If we don't find a way to process them into vermicelli and sell them, then wouldn't the hard work we put into farming be in vain? So much food, it would be a pity to waste it, so we must build this flour mill. If you are willing to lead this team, it will be a great help to me and the tribe."
Balk was so moved that his chest straightened up: "Okay, Ayun, leave this matter to me!"
Xiao Yun's smile is warmer and kinder...
Choosing Balk is actually a helpless choice. Yu is the core of the warrior team and cannot be moved. Hongye and Languo are being trained as all-round talents who can take charge of the overall situation. Their time is not wide enough to be tied up in physical work like making powder. Caogen, Qiu, Qingyan, Qingcao, and Dashui are all busy with their own things and cannot be spared.
Apart from the current batch, Wool is too young, and although he is sensible, he is not mature enough after all; Fishbone is steady, but unfortunately he is too stubborn and needs to be taught more; as for Rosemary... Xiao Yun was a little angry when he spoke of this guy. This guy has good qualities, but unfortunately he has the same problem as Dahai. He is a bit lazy about things that he is not interested in. He is not much better than Dahai... After counting, isn't the only one left Balk, whose "scientific research" work has come to a temporary end and who is just living a life of idleness?
This guy wants to eat well for every meal, and the portion size is comparable to that of an adult snow werewolf. Can Xiao Yun tolerate letting him eat plain rice?
The Balke Flour Mill project was approved, and personnel were assigned to form a team for it, and all auxiliary equipment had to be prepared. After a few days of hard work, when the snow had almost melted, the flour mill, which was located next to the woolen mill and temporarily used the woolen mill's warehouse as a factory building, started construction.
The production process Xiao Yun chose was a colander-type process. The first steps were assisted by simple instruments, while the following steps, such as condensation and freeze-drying, relied on Balk's magic. Extracting the moisture from vermicelli noodles was something any magic apprentice could do. The only problem was that magic apprentices didn't have that much mental power. For the dragon clan, could the amount of mental power be considered a problem? Not a problem!
The dragon race is unique in terms of consumption. Although Xiao Yun doesn't know how much energy Balk can consume in battle, he is indeed very capable of being exploited in "scientific research"...
This is to make the best use of everything and the best use of dragon's talent~
After a few days of work, Balk felt that he had fallen into a trap. He had to drain thousands of kilograms of vermicelli in one go without damaging them. This job was fine at first, but after a few batches, he was exhausted. So he ran back with a dark face to settle accounts with Xiao Yun, but... he found that Xiao Yun was not in the tribe at all. He left Qingcao's work team to plow the cultivated fields, and led the engineering team, Dashui's work team, Yu's warrior team and the dwarves and goblins to open up the wasteland.
Balke thought seriously for a few minutes, weighing his chances of winning if he went to Ayun to reason with him when the stacking of loads delayed the production progress of the flour mill... Then he went back to work in shame.
I can't win in argument. I will never be able to win in argument against Ayun in this life.
Not only will he not win the argument, but he might even scold him and ridicule him so much that he can't even raise his head. Balk is a smart man and won't do such a stupid thing...
This year's spring plowing work involved 436 more people than last year, 225 of whom were from the Snow Wolf tribe, and most of them were adult laborers. It should have been easier than last year... but this was obviously impossible, because Xiao Yun had to reclaim more than 24,000 acres of land on top of the original 6,000 acres of land, and opened up 1,600 hectares, or 16 square kilometers, of wasteland along both sides of the river.
It would take the Snow Wolf Tribe half an hour to walk across such a large area. You can imagine how much work it took... The new farm tools that the Gray Dwarves had added in the winter were almost not enough. During the reclamation period, they brought in hundreds of strong curved-horn cattle to provide labor because the plows could not be pulled by humans. In order to ensure that the cultivated land was connected for easy cultivation and sowing, they also flattened two low hills...
Such labor intensity would undoubtedly drive a person crazy, and even if the Snow Wolf Man was extremely strong, he would not be able to endure such abuse.
Fortunately, not long after the snow melted, the two tribes that had not made up their minds to migrate last year shyly came over with their families. There were more than 160 people in total, and the majority of them were able-bodied laborers (adults).
Xiao Yun rushed back to meet the chiefs of the two tribes, and without stopping... he threw the oldest and youngest twenty or so newcomers into Dahe's canteen, and took all the others, even the cubs, to open up wasteland.
There were more than 760 people feeding three times a day, and working in the canteen had become hard labor. If no more people were added, Xiao Yun estimated that Dahe would come to the door and make a scene...
At this time, the weather was gradually getting warmer, and Xiao Yun was anxious that he could not make it in time for sowing, so he simply pulled out half of Qingyan's secondary labor force and rushed to the reclamation site. No matter if you are a snow wolf cub or a cute cat, if you can't pull the plow, burn the weeds, hold the plow and pick up stones, who can't you?
They drove at full speed and stayed up all night to open up the wasteland on both sides of the river. No matter whether they were newcomers who came last fall or this spring, they were all exhausted...If they hadn't been provided with a full meal every time, some of them might have regretted it and wanted to run away.
Of course, we can't rest. No one can rest until the busy farming season is over. Turning the land is only the first step. The next steps are fertilizing, watering, sowing and digging canals, all of which are big projects - the daytime temperature is around 15 or 16 degrees Celsius. If we don't plant the seeds, so many mouths will have to starve in the second half of the year!
Xiao Yun held a one-hour mobilization meeting using a loudspeaker cast by the gray dwarves out of molten copper, and then mercilessly drove all the furry creatures lying on the river bank to work... Life is not eternal, but work must be eternal!
Life lies in creation, and farming is the creation with the lowest threshold!
The wasteland would not be used to grow crops in the first year, and Xiao Yun would definitely not waste it by planting rice and wheat seeds. He didn't care about alfalfa, soybeans, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Opposite the tribe, on the south bank, the "cultivated land" that had been cultivated for two years, wheat and rice could be planted without worry - this land of more than 3,600 acres was surrounded by rivers on both sides, the soil was good, and it was all irrigated land. Xiao Yun would feel guilty if he didn't use it to grow crops.
During the long winter on the grassland, the forest elves would naturally not be so foolish as to guard the port where they would freeze into idiots just by standing guard. Before it snows, they will pack up and go back to the forest to spend the winter.
Now that the weather is getting warmer, the elf general Crest, who has enjoyed a leisurely winter, is selecting people to return to their posts. Before leaving, he summons his two good friends Kai and Hailin and assigns them a task.
"You go to the Fire Tribe and confirm the number of canned sauces and porcelain they have prepared." General Crest was sitting in the warm reception room with a constant temperature array in his home clothes. His long golden hair, which was a little untidy, was curled a little bit, and his originally pointed chin became a little rounder... You could tell at a glance that he had spent a very comfortable winter.
"Yes, General."
"Hmm... ask the Fire Tribe if they have other goods for trade. We forest elves don't mind expanding the scale of trade." General Crest thought for a moment and said.
"Yes, General." Hailin and Kai's eyes were a little subtle, but they didn't dare to show it and answered respectfully.
The straight-line distance from Ananas City to the Fire Tribe is about two hundred and sixty to two hundred kilometers. With only two people traveling light and without carrying any living trees that cannot be placed in the space props, Hailin and Kai do not have to leave the forest first and then take a detour through the grassland. They can just go in a straight line.
Two agile figures shuttled and jumped in the forest, and they covered one-third of the distance in the morning. In the afternoon, the two hungry people found a place with a stream to rest, caught two rabbits, skinned them and roasted them, brushed them with the sauce bought from the Fire Tribe, sprinkled them with spices, and each of them ate one until his mouth was full of oil.
She dug a hole to bury the leftover bones and put out the fire with water. Hailin took out the canned food she had not finished from her backpack, poured half of it out and gave it to Kai, then sat on a rock and burped comfortably.
"Kai, what do you mean by the general's words? How can the Snow Wolf tribe sell us so many goods?" Hailin asked, "Could it be that the sauces we bought last year have all been used up? That's unlikely. I see that there aren't many soy sauces and vinegars sold in the city's stores, and we can't eat that much sauce... Could it be that the rumors we heard last time are true, and the Council of Elders has sold most of the soy sauce and vinegar to other cities?"
Kai's mind immediately flashed to the cunning snow wolf cub. The corner of his mouth twitched and he said stiffly: "How should I know?"
Hailin turned her head away and said dissatisfiedly: "Why is your personality so weird? You used to talk a lot of nonsense, but now you ignore me."
Kai snorted and ignored him arrogantly... He also said that people were not allowed to have a little emotion.
Hailin blinked and moved closer to Kai: "Kai, my friend, I did think you were very noisy and boastful before, but compared to you now, I think you were better before. You should change back. I prefer the energetic Kai before."
Kai was stunned for a moment and turned his face away silently... Helin's sudden words made him feel a little shy.
Hailin bumped him with her shoulder: "Okay, Kai, at least tell me why you suddenly become uncomfortable. Even if I can't help you solve the problem, at least I can help you share the burden."
Kai...Kai silently drank the can of food Hailin gave him and stood up: "Let's go!"
After saying that, without waiting for Hailin to react, he jumped out...
"You are such an unlikable guy!" Hailin cursed angrily behind him.
Kai didn't say a word, just kept his head down and ran wildly... What could he say? That he realized belatedly that he had been fooled by the snow wolf cub Ayun and that the cunning cub had treated him like a fool, so his thoughts were not clear?
Kai was sure and certain that if he really told it, Hailin would laugh at him for decades...
The two elves spent the night on a big tree in the forest, and only arrived at the edge of the forest near the Fire Tribe in the afternoon of the next day.
Before leaving the forest, the two elves were a little dazed... and kept looking at the ground beneath their feet and the surrounding surface.
"How come...it looks like a layer of the ground has been scraped away?" Hailin was completely confused, with her ears perked up.
Kai also looked puzzled and looked around blankly.
It's no wonder they were confused. No one was more familiar with the forest floor than the forest elves. In places where no one cleaned up fallen leaves, the humus layer would cover the instep of the foot, or even the calf. But in this area... it was as if a layer of the ground had been neatly shoveled away. Under the shoes was mud, and the ground was fresh, even the old mud was gone.
The two elf warriors were completely confused. In fact, the forest elves did not care much about logging and reducing the forest area. The elven forest was so large that no matter how hard the manpower of this era tried, it would not destroy much. But in the current situation... the trees were still there, and the forest coverage area had not decreased, but a layer of the land had been cleared away. This was very strange.
The two looked at each other for a while, and didn't rush out of the forest. They turned around and found that not only the place they came out of, but also the surrounding land had been shoveled clean and fresh...
"The closest tribe is the Fire Tribe. Could they have done this?" Hailin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What's wrong with these Snow Werewolves? They came to the forest to tidy up the land. But I haven't seen them move into the forest to live!"
After discussing for a long time without reaching a conclusion, the two had to suppress their curiosity and continue on their way. After walking for about an hour, they saw rows and rows of neatly dug pits in front of ...
It is not accurate to call them sinkholes, because these large pits seem to be filled with things inside, and the surface is covered with a lid that is probably made of reed stalks, and stones are pressed on the grass cover. No matter how you look at it, it is impossible that they are traps dug to trap people.
Hailin walked up to one of the big holes in confusion, lifted the grass cover and looked inside... Then he knew where the land that was removed from the forest went.
The two elves: "..." What's wrong with you Snow Wolf Tribe? !
Before they could get out of this weird pit area, a group of people pushing carts to transport soil and fertilizer ran into them.
"Hey, Hailin? And Kai?"
A black-skinned cat recognized the two elves and waved to them in surprise, "Why are you here? Are you two the only ones here?"
"Qingyan." Hailin also waved her hand. "Kai and I are here to carry out the mission. What are you doing...?"
"We have just reclaimed the land and are applying basal fertilizer to the soil." Qingyan wiped his sweat, "I have to get busy. Time waits for no one. Ayun is now... he should be in the tribe. When he comes back to distribute seeds, you can go find him yourself."
"Uh... okay." Hailin had a lot of questions, but seeing that Qingyan seemed to be in a hurry after stopping to say a few words, she didn't want to pull him aside to ask.
Then they watched in silence as Qingyan led the men to lift the grass cover on the top of a large pit, and used a shovel and a grass fork to shovel the black humus and soil in the pit onto a wheelbarrow, and then pushed it away without touching the ground...
Hailin & Kai: "..." What's wrong with you Snow Wolf Tribe? !
When they came to the Fire Tribe last year, there was only a single-plank bridge built with wood across the artificial river channel and the river. Less than half a year later, when they came to the same place again, the two elves were surprised to find that there was an arch bridge made of stones across the river channel.
"Hey, this doesn't seem to be stone..." Walking onto the arch bridge, Hailin squatted down and touched the bridge surface. "This texture feels like the houses and squares they build. Can that kind of building material be used to build bridges?"
"Could it be that this bridge only looks presentable but is not actually solid?" Kai frowned and stepped hard on the bridge surface. He didn't have a good impression of Xiao Yun, and as a result, he didn't trust the Snow Wolf Clan very much.
Not long after Kai finished speaking, when they walked through the fields on the south bank that had not yet been planted and reached the river, they saw... two giant white wolves carrying huge triangular steel plows that looked heavy, at least tons, running across the river through the bridge over the river, turning north and galloping away...
"Hmm... this bridge seems to be very solid." Hailin squinted.
Kai: “…”
After crossing the bridge over the river and walking a little further, more people started to appear. However, these grassland people seemed to be very busy, some were running with big bags on their shoulders, while others were walking briskly with full baskets. Even the cubs and cats did not slow down and walked quickly as if their butts were on fire.
In addition, the two elves also found that the Fire Tribe Square was wider, the smooth road surface was longer, and there were more buildings...
