Volume 6: Helping the World Chapter 186 Ambitious Cat Tribe
Before plowing the land, it is necessary to clear away stones and larger bushes. This is not a difficult task. The big cats in the engineering team pulled baskets, shoulder poles and carts. More than a hundred big cats worked together and cleared a large area of space during the time it took to digest their food after a meal.
In addition to the fact that the big cats have three times the physical strength of humans, this wilderness is also rich in soil and water, and there are basically not many rocks. This is why Chief Arthur, who occasionally came here to pick wild fruits, was thinking about it...
After clearing away the debris on the ground and digging up the larger bushes, they officially began to cultivate the land - the snow wolves had already helped the big cats do the burning work two days before when it was relatively cool.
The triangular plowshare plow "developed by the Fire Department" is a special plow developed based on the design prototype of the tractor plow (Xiao Yun: cough!), suitable for the Snow Werewolves. The longest horizontal bar is solid, and three heavy plowshares are directly welded to the horizontal bar; the two vertical bars are also solid, and the plow blades are locked with screws - in short, this thing is very heavy! It is completely different from the plow that can be pulled by an old cow or even by manpower!
Of course, this heavy plow weighing less than a ton is not without its advantages. First, the tripod design is easy to turn and relatively flexible. Secondly, the three huge and thick plowshares and coulters at the rear can be firmly inserted into the soil. As long as it can be towed, the land can be plowed.
The big cat of the engineering team and Chief Arthur personally demonstrated how to pull the plow. They each transformed into a leopard and a snow leopard with a body length of about three meters (excluding the tail length). They put the lasso on their shoulders, shouted and exerted force simultaneously:
"roar--!!"
“Meow——!!”
Well... Snow leopards are indeed big cats. Their size, lethality and deterrence are unquestionable, but their calls are rather awkward...
Fortunately, there are no outsiders here, so Chief Arthur won’t feel embarrassed... or ashamed.
Two big cats pulled the plow forward, and the sound of grass leaves and vine roots being cut continued. Insect eggs, broken grass vine roots, slightly moist soil and other things under the surface were constantly turned out. Another big cat from the engineering team followed behind with a pickaxe, and quickly broke up larger pieces of soil, and dug out the priest's grass vine roots and piled them aside.
"Break up the soil clods as much as possible, and remove the grass roots as much as possible. Plow back and forth three times to loosen the soil thoroughly. Then you can spray the insecticide once, and then spray the herbicide once..."
Before joining the engineering team, this big cat worked in the Qingcao work team for a few months. He also participated in land reclamation work during the spring plowing in the past two years and is very familiar with this process.
Chief Sunny Sky had a lot of questions in his mind, but the two big cats from the engineering team and Chief Arthur did not give him the chance to ask questions and kept urging them to start work; thinking that this was their own land to be reclaimed (the bulk of the harvest would belong to them), Chief Sunny Sky could not say anything to blame others for being too proactive, and could only ask his fellow tribesmen to quickly follow suit.
The triangular plow is steady and worthy of its reputation. As long as it can be pulled and moves in a straight line, the tillage work can be completed without any difficulty. The big cats watched carefully and those who were curious tried to pull the plow, while those who didn't get the plow took out a pickaxe or hoe and learned to break up the lumps of soil that were turned out.
An hour before they started plowing the land, the big cats still treated it as a game and were very excited. However, as their strength decreased and their fatigue increased, there was no end to the wasteland to be reclaimed. The big cats, whose interest came and went quickly, became impatient, threw away the plow harness, found a random place to lie down and refused to move.
Chief Arthur and the two big cats from the engineering team had been prepared for this situation. They were all cats, so who didn't know each other's habits? The three of them exchanged glances, and one of the big cats stepped forward and said, "It's too inefficient to plow the land together like this. If we don't finish the work by dark, we'll go hungry. How about this? We have 20 plows. We can divide them into 10 groups, with two plows in each group. Then we can divide the land into 10 parts. The group that finishes the work will rest first. How do you think?"
The big cats who had just arrived were too embarrassed to complain of being tired, but they also didn't want to continue working, so they all turned their eyes to the tribe leader Qingtian.
Chief Sunny Day: "..."
I came here excitedly to work in exchange for food, and it was a bit hard to say that I was so reluctant to do the easy work on the first day; but Chief Sunny had just pulled the plow and his shoulders were a bit sore, so I was thinking whether I should use the excuse that everyone was too tired from traveling to get by today...
"I think, let's do this." Seeing that Chief Qingtian's eyes were darting around and he was obviously trying to back off, Chief Arthur said before Chief Qingtian could speak, "A Leng, what delicious food do the engineering team have tonight?"
"I saw A Yue stewed a pot of pork elbows, four in total." The big cat A Leng understood and cooperated.
"Elbow! Is it the braised elbow?" Chief Qingtian's eyes immediately widened.
"Of course, there are only four elbows in a pig. It would be a waste if we don't braise them." Chief Arthur said with a smile, "Let's ask A Yue for an elbow. It will be given to the group that finishes the allocated farmland first. What do you think, Chief Sunny?"
Not only Chief Sunny Sky, many big cats couldn't help but sit up... Every year when they went to the Fire Tribe to trade spices, they could eat good food for a few days, and they almost had a fight every time to grab this spot; some people were lucky enough to have eaten the braised pork elbow with the chief, and some people who were less lucky had at least eaten the braised pork; but no matter whether they had eaten it or not, as long as they heard Chief Arthur mention that there were only four snow wolves in total, they knew it was a good thing.
"Okay!" Chief Sunny Sky knew that this was the bait Arthur had hung in front of them, but having eaten the braised pork elbow, he really couldn't resist taking the bait. He immediately and actively organized the tribesmen into groups, and was particularly cunning... he assigned the most hardworking young men in the tribe to his own group.
Chief Arthur and the two big cats of the engineering team did not give the other big cats a chance to react and refuse. They immediately divided the wasteland to be reclaimed today into ten pieces...
"Come on! Finish it early and rest early!"
"Try harder, try harder! Try harder, break the clods of earth into smaller pieces!"
In addition to constant encouragement, Chief Arthur and the two big cats from the engineering team would loudly praise the team that did the best job:
"Wow, there's almost no dirt to be seen at this part. You guys did a great job. This is the level of the Fire Department's farming veterans!"
The big cats who were caught and praised scratched their heads and laughed in embarrassment...
In addition to encouragement and praise, not too harsh criticism can also motivate cats:
"Oh, the area in front was fine, but how come it's so bad here? There's such a big clod of soil, and the roots haven't been dug up cleanly. Look at the area next to it, and the area the team next door has worked on. It doesn't look good in comparison~"
Several typical cats were caught and were embarrassed and tortured again...
Chief Arthur and the two big cats of the engineering team ran around. In addition to taking turns pulling the plow, they also checked the land that others had prepared. After a few hours, the gap became apparent - the young and strong men of the Sunny Sky Tribe were all panting, but Chief Arthur, whose workload was no less than that of others, looked normal.
The big cats had been tempted by the braised pork elbow and motivated by the group competition, and their enthusiasm had almost worn out. But when they noticed the gap, the generally arrogant cats suppressed their resentment... Chief Arthur is so old, it's embarrassing to be outdone!
When it was dark, the engineering team finished their work and started to cook their own food. A few snow wolves came over to take a look at the situation, and ran back to report the news. Then A Yue arranged for people to come and set up tents for the big cats. More than a hundred cat-like beast-like humanoids collapsed on the ground, and they definitely had no energy to do anything else.
Forget about doing anything else. When Chief Arthur brought a pot of braised pork elbows to the winning group with a smile, Chief Sunny, whose stomach was rumbling, didn't even have the energy to grab another piece of meat...
According to the custom of his tribe, Chief Sunny Sky would have to sit back and watch his people work. However, Chief Arthur, who obviously had nothing to do with their tribe, was still so active in helping them open up wasteland. Chief Sunny Sky really didn't have the nerve to show off his privileges...
The winning group forced themselves to eat pork elbows and noodles with a grimace in their mouths despite feeling sore all over. The other groups had no pork elbows to eat , so they slurped spicy, rich and chewy sweet potato noodles and grabbed sweet and sour pickled radish and cabbage to relieve the greasiness, while silently glaring at the leader of the Sunny Sky tribe - any secret manipulation was just too much!
After dinner, the clean-loving big cats recovered their breath and went in groups to the nearby river to fetch water for a bath. When they came back, they were greeted by the helpless face of Chief Arthur.
"Before the Snow Wolf started work, they built a temporary canteen, which has hot water all day long. The bathroom was also built first... Don't take a cold shower next time." Chief Arthur said awkwardly, "It's also my fault. I rushed to wash the dishes after collecting them, and didn't remind everyone."
"Uh..." Chief Qingtian didn't know what to say. What made him uncomfortable was that the Fire Tribe was even more comprehensive.
"When we are not too busy here, we have bedtime stories. Come and join us. You will sleep better after listening to the stories, and you will have more energy to work tomorrow." Chief Arthur extended a warm invitation.
Chief Sunny Day: “…” For a moment he was a little confused as to whether Chief Arthur was being sarcastic… but when he thought about it carefully, he realized that Chief Arthur and the other two big cats who helped didn’t show any signs of fatigue, so he felt it was quite boring.
Chief Arthur naturally would not bring the big cats to mix with the snow werewolves, but arranged them to sit in the tent. Then he ran to the engineering team and mentioned it to A Yue, who then arranged for a snow werewolf to come over.
The Snow Wolf tribe's literacy classes will be expanded to recitation in the middle stage, requiring the ability to tell stories to others using bark paper and to tell them vividly. The tribesmen trained in this way will be able to speak and act in a more organized manner, and will know how to express their opinions clearly when dealing with others, and will not have any shortcomings in their negotiation skills.
The snow wolf who came with the bark paper was called Jinniao. He was stuck at the intermediate level in literacy class because he couldn't write a 200-word composition with content... He had no problem telling stories. After all, he came to the Fire Tribe at the same time as the Chestnut Tribe, and he was forced to learn for several years. No matter how silly and cute he was, he had to learn it.
"Hello everyone, my name is Golden Bird." The Golden Bird politely bowed slightly to the big cats, stood up straight, held a stack of bark paper and began to tell a story, "The story I want to tell you is called "Snow White". Once upon a time, there was a human kingdom..."
This "Snow White" has evolved into a more entertaining 2.0 version just like Cinderella. In addition to the main plot of the power struggle between Snow White, the queen and the seven noble families, a palace fighting plot has been added in - yes, it is a palace fighting plot like "Palace XX" and "Legend of XX". The villain queen does not want to kill Snow White because she is jealous of her beauty, but because her child was aborted by Snow White's mother when she was a concubine; after killing the original queen and concubine, she killed the old king, but ended up running into a snag with Snow White, and kept sending him trouble... and so on.
It is said that fighting with others is endless fun. In the modern society with information explosion, the three major arenas of palace fighting, family fighting and official fighting can all be enjoyed with relish by people on earth. Transplanting them to this world where there is basically no spiritual entertainment, the rhythm can make even the tired and sleepy big cats tremble and stare at the rhythm.
Jin Wu finished telling the story of the palace-fighting version of "Snow White" which was madly expanded to 50,000 words with ups and downs in rhythm and excellent singing and recitation. Nearly two hours had passed. When the big cats, who had been forcing themselves to stay awake, heard the end of the story, they let out a long breath, relaxed their tense nerves, and fell to the ground in an instant - they were tired and sleepy and could not bear it any longer.
Jinwu looked at Chief Arthur in astonishment.
Chief Arthur didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I fell asleep, it's okay, you spoke very well..."
The next morning, Chief Sunny did not wake up naturally, but was awakened by pain in his muscles all over his body.
He struggled to get up and walked out of the tent trembling. Just as Chief Sunny was about to call for help, Chief Arthur came over with a big face and said with a smile: "Ah, you are worthy of being Chief Sunny. You got up so early. It's just right. I was worried that I would disturb you when I woke up others."
Chief Sunny Day: “Uh…”
"I'll wake up the others first. Chief Sunny, you plug your ears." Chief Arthur laughed and showed the tools in his hand - the gong, drum and mallet set that Xiao Yun handed to her personally, which made all the members of the Fire Tribe tremble in their souls and they would never forget it for the rest of their lives.
Before the Sunny Sky Clan leader could euphemistically express his inability to work, the brain-piercing demonic sound resounded throughout the sky...
“Bang! Bang ...
"Get up! Get up! Work!!"
Chief Arthur's snow leopard voice roared as loud as a tiger's, and the rhythmic beating of the gong was combined into a duet of magic sounds that could make even the most unruly people hold their heads and scream...
Chief Qingtian covered his ears in fear, but he could not block the piercing sound waves that struck his soul...
The big cats, who were either awakened from their sleep or failed to stay in bed, crawled out of the tents like unearthed zombies, stretching their arms and legs, baring their teeth and uttering loser groans such as "Stop knocking", "My head hurts", and "Help me!"
Chief Arthur inspected the cat tents and confirmed that everyone had come out before he put away the mallet. He smiled warmly and said, "Good morning, everyone. You all look very energetic! Come on, everyone, hurry up and wash up and get ready for breakfast. Today we have Qingming cakes. Qingming cakes are filled with peanuts and red bean paste. They are delicious~!"
Well... Qingmingba is glutinous rice cake made with Qingming vegetables and rice flour. Except for the required rice flour, the other proportions and fillings are free. After kneading and baking, it is delicious.
A group of cats: "..."
What makes us look energetic? Tell me, we will change it!
Chief Arthur seemed to be unable to read the air, and enthusiastically helped Chief Sunny, who was older than her, up: "Come this way, Chief Sunny, go to the sink to wash up and have breakfast. Should we arrange our work today like yesterday? Do we need to transfer personnel from each group?"
“……” Chief Qingtian hesitated, struggling whether to shamelessly pull himself away from the hard farm work.
"Now that you're here, the tribe should send you some snacks as a work incentive. You know, those are the candies and meat floss produced by our Welfare Department. You don't have to spend any money on them, they're all counted towards the 40% output of the Fire Division. Do you think we should revise the reward mechanism so that the first five groups that participate in the work and complete it first will get a share?" Chief Arthur said again.
“……” Patriarch Qingtian couldn’t say the words to ask for privileges, and nodded reluctantly.
——It’s not that he is greedy for food, but Arthur has bluntly said the word "joining the work", and he can’t afford to lose face!
The leader of the Sunny Sky tribe was dragged away forcefully. The other big cats looked at each other in bewilderment, then stood up one after another and followed silently...
The work on the second day was the same as the day before. They picked up stones, dug away brambles, and plowed the land to prepare it. The big cats were still divided into ten groups to work together from morning to night, and were so tired that they could not even straighten their backs.
While everyone was exhausted, the treatment provided by the Snow Wolf Tribe did not disappoint them. For lunch and dinner, they were provided with sweet potato noodles with different flavors + various cold dishes, stir-fries and stews. Even if the snacks as an incentive mechanism were not counted, it was enough for the big cats to eat with happiness and pain - they really wanted to sneak away and return to the tribe to live a comfortable life, but they really couldn't bear to give up such a good life treatment~!
Of course... not all big cats can't give up the enjoyment of food. When taking a bath after dinner, a black panther rubbed mud in hot water and gnashed his teeth while whispering to his friend: "I can't stand it anymore. I must go back to the tribe tonight. Will you come with me?"
Friend: “Uh…”
"You're reluctant to give up the snow werewolves' food? Stop it. When the tribe leaders grow the sweet potatoes and turn them into vermicelli seasonings to bring back, won't we be able to eat them too?" The rebellious black panther bared his teeth.
Friend: “Hmm…”
"Okay, I knew you didn't have much ambition. I'll go by myself." Black Panther said resolutely.
After the big cats took a bath and changed into the sun cloth suits provided by the Snow Wolf Tribe (the bill was still included in the share of the harvest), Chief Arthur came to invite them to listen to stories.
The big cats each found a clean place to sit down. Black Panther's friend looked at Black Panther who had mixed into the crowd for several times and said nothing.
"Listen to the story before you leave." Black Panther whispered.
The storyteller tonight was still the Golden Bird who had failed the literacy course. He brought a stack of bark paper and greeted the big cats before starting to read: "A human couple joined an adventurer team and went on an adventure to the underground world—"
Yes, that's right, it's the three-combo ghost story that the Fire Department uses to prevent people from running around at night.
After telling three unique ghost stories, the big cats, who had rested for a day, did not fall asleep instantly. They were still able to walk back to the tent in groups to sleep.
Black Panther's friend turned his head again and looked at Black Panther who was standing close to him.
"I, I'll leave tomorrow." Black Panther's face still showed some fear, and his voice was a little trembling.
On the third night, when it was time to tell stories, Black Panther sat down quietly next to his friend.
The friend looked over silently, and Black Panther looked into the distance silently .
The friend kept staring at Black Panther, which made Black Panther feel embarrassed. He defended himself with a drooping face: "If Chief Sunny Sky can hold on, why can't I?"
Friend: "..." babble~
Chief Arthur led the Sunny Sky Tribe to reclaim nearly one square kilometer, or about ten thousand acres, of land. He took the opportunity of organizing the transportation of fertilizers to meet with Xiao Yun and report on the farm's reclamation progress.
"Did anyone escape?" Xiao Yun asked jokingly.
"How could that be possible? We cats are very ambitious. We can get through this little bit of work with just a little grit." Chief Arthur said proudly.
Xiao Yun smiled and nodded, and then said, "We were busy planting sweet potatoes when we reclaimed the land last year, and didn't plant alfalfa and soybeans to maintain the land. The harvest depends on how well we take care of it. I borrowed two people from Dashui, you can take them over later... We have been working with Ayue and his engineering team until now, so the Sunny Sky Tribe should not be so hostile to the Snow Wolf Tribe, right?"
"Well... it's much better than before. Chief Sunny Sky even invited the golden bird that tells them stories to eat noodles with him." Chief Arthur scratched his head.
"That is to say, you are still not very close to other people, right?" Xiao Yun said with a smile, "It's okay, as long as you are willing to get in touch with them, it will be fine after a while."
"I'll try harder." Patriarch Arthur said embarrassedly.
"Don't worry, take your time." Xiao Yun was not in a hurry at all. Instead, he comforted Chief Arthur... In his previous life, Xiao Yun had a neighbor's tabby cat and fed it for several months but he still couldn't pet it. He could understand the tsundere nature of cats.
Qingyan was so honest and behaved well before. He knew how much he was valued, but he still gave Xiao Yun the cold shoulder again.
After seeing off Chief Arthur, Xiao Yun returned to the room and took out a ball... There is also a proud ancestor here.
Chief Arthur’s slogan, “The Fire Tribe doesn’t have enough sweet potatoes,” is both right and wrong.
Balk's flour mill has indeed reached its productivity limit. If the workload is increased, this green dragon will probably go berserk no matter how easy it is to fool. This year, the tribe's own sweet potatoes are not enough for consumption - but if Balk's father, Lord Austin who is sealed in a crystal ball, is included, this sign can be established.
The Austin ball, which was treated as a toy by Xiao Ruhua and kept by Qingcao for more than a month, returned to Balk's hands after the tribe carried out internal reforms and Qingcao became busy.
With his father living a miserable life in the sealed ball, Balke's temper had almost calmed down. He was no longer in the mood to argue with Austin. He casually picked up a net bag to catch Austin's ball and left it in the flour mill, where it gathered dust for half a month... It was not until Xiao Yun went to the flour mill to check the production progress that he picked up this old dragon who was crying for help but to no avail.
Then Lord Austin lived an even more miserable life with no one to turn to for help.
Putting the crystal ball on the table, Xiao Yun smiled and looked at Austin, who was lying listlessly in the ball: "Lord Austin, are you feeling better? If you have any ideas, you can always tell me (*￣︶￣). There is no deep hatred between us, and I am not a devil. We can communicate in a friendly manner~"
