Volume 6: Helping the World Chapter 191 Cat Farm
The Cat Farm was under construction for about two months and has completed six areas of collective dormitories and one area of public facilities such as warehouses, canteens, and bathrooms.
As the saying goes, if you haven't put in the work, you won't know how to cherish it. Except for the public facilities engineering team, the collective dormitory houses only had the foundations and walls built, and the rest of the roof, tile laying, kang, wall plastering, indoor cement flooring, doors and windows were left to the cats to do. When Xia and Qingyan took office, the finishing work of the four occupied areas had just been completed. When they were welcomed into the house where the chief of the Qingtian tribe lived, the big cats were very cautious even to open the door...
The hilly new district can even process silicon steel sheets, so there is naturally no problem in making door axles and lotus leaves. After the tribe replaced the door axles with lotus leaves, a batch of excess parts were sent to the snake tribe, and the cat farm also received a lot.
The door hinges and lotus leaves were given by the Snow Wolf Clan, but the door frames and door panels were slowly polished out by the cats themselves using the woodworking tools borrowed from the engineering team. Even if they didn't feel sorry for the door hinges and lotus leaves, the cats still had to cherish their own sweat...
The kang bed, which was arranged into a large bunk bed but with cement bricks to separate each bed, was covered with a single-person mat woven from cattail; white cotton pillows filled with reed fluff were neatly gathered against the wall, and a blanket woven from coarse wool was neatly folded into a small square and placed next to the pillows.
Sitting cross-legged on the round cushion made of two layers of animal skin, Qingyan and Xia both felt comfortable... The cat farm was not much different from the Fire Tribe, but the details were more in line with the cats' preferences. Especially the cement bricks used as bed partitions, which made the two of them feel very comfortable - cats instinctively value their personal space, and sleeping surrounded by partitions gives them a sense of security!
The surface of the partition is coated with a layer of cement, and some pebbles picked up from the river are embedded in the surface, and then a layer of animal skin cut into long strips is laid on it. It is very comfortable to rest your elbows on it while lying down and chatting~!
But apart from this, Qingyan and Xia were not satisfied with other places: in broad daylight, there were more than a dozen big cats idle in the dormitory area of the Sunny Tribe. When they came in, they saw several of them sleeping on the roof tiles, not afraid of damaging the tiles.
"Chief Arthur told me about you. I heard that you are here to organize our work?" Chief Sunny Sky sat cross-legged in front of two of his fellow tribesmen, with his hands on the kang table (made by the cat tribe), and a juice cup filled with hot water in his right hand, smiling.
The Fire Tribe's own orchard harvested a lot of fruits last summer and autumn, all of which were canned and sold mostly to the forest elves and Saint Bridger, with a small portion kept for their own consumption. In recent years, the tribe has had sufficient food and a wide variety of snacks, and the Snow Wolves are no longer greedy for canned fruits (except for a few particularly delicious ones). There was still a lot left from last year's canning, and the Snake Tribe and Cat Farms also benefited from it.
Qingyan didn't say anything. Xia smiled and said, "Yes, I'm Xia, and this is Qingyan. The land reclamation work on the farm has come to an end. The next work to be done will be carried out by Qingyan and I to assist Chief Arthur in the farm."
Chief Sunny nodded, revealing a puzzled expression: "We should work, but I remember that Chief Arthur invited us just to farm. We have already cleared the land and planted crops, what else do you want us to do?"
"It's like this, Chief Qingtian, farming is not just about clearing the land and sowing the seeds. Otherwise, how come there are so many large plains on the grassland, and only the Tauren can make a living by farming?" Xia said with a smile, "The black bean seeds given to us by the Tauren, if we just scatter them on the ground and leave them alone, it would be good if we can harvest a few dozen kilograms of black beans from a piece of land. To increase the yield, the work after sowing is the most important."
Qingyan agreed with a serious expression: "Irrigation, fertilizer storage, pest control and weed control, field management, if any of these tasks are not done well, the harvest in autumn will be affected. Xia and I are here for this. I hope that Chief Qingtian and the other three chiefs can work together and not make mistakes."
They can quarrel in private, but it can't affect the main business. The two quarreled all the way here, and the result was that Xia played the bad guy and Qingyan played the bad guy...
Qingyan's tone made Chief Qingtian a little unhappy, but he didn't want to get involved. He rolled his eyes and pretended to be helpless: "This matter... I can't make the decision. My people have been busy all day since they came to the farm. Everyone is exhausted. If I tell them that there is more work to do, many people will be dissatisfied. How about this, I will discuss it with the warriors and give you an answer later, how about it?"
Xia and Qingyan said nothing. They chatted with Chief Qingtian about life on the farm and then said goodbye and left. They then went to visit the other three chiefs one after another.
The chiefs of the Xiu tribe and the Amber tribe were both at the farm and could be found at their doors; there were also some idle big cats in their respective dormitory areas, but not as many as in the Sunny Day tribe.
The style of the Kong tribe was very different. Xia and Qingyan went to their dormitory area but found no one there. They then ran to the Kong tribe’s farm and found Chief Kong among the big cats who were applying base fertilizer.
After hearing Xia and Qingyan's words, the leopard, who did not make excuses to shirk his responsibilities, wiped his sweat with the towel on his shoulders and nodded, saying, "We in the tribe don't know how to farm, so we'll follow your instructions."
Qingyan, who was so easy to talk to and played the good guy, didn't have much chance to speak. Xia smiled and walked up to Chief Kong and talked to him before saying goodbye and leaving, going back to the farm to meet Chief Arthur.
The farm also needed fertilizer to be self-sufficient, and Chief Arthur was leading the Sunny Sky tribe to dig a big pit for fertilizer. The working atmosphere on the scene was very bad. Qingyan and Xia found at least five or six of their fellow tribesmen who had escaped and hid in the bushes to sleep, which made them frown.
Chief Arthur asked the engineering team to stay and help organize the work on the farm, and asked Big Cat to keep an eye on it, while he walked away to talk with the two men.
"The Sky Tribe came last, they are far away." Chief Arthur looked worried, "Currently, the Sunny Sky Tribe has completed the sowing work, and the Amber Tribe of the Repair Tribe is still a little short, but their chiefs were also influenced by Chief Sunny Sky and began to slack off... The four tribes have different progress in land reclamation, and they are nitpicking about how much others have done and how much they have done. Now I can no longer persuade Chief Sunny Sky, and even the composting work that I explained to them very clearly is progressing slowly."
Xia's expression changed slightly and he turned his head subconsciously, just as Qingyan was looking over at him.
The two looked at each other, each with an expressionless look on his face.
Patriarch Arthur: “???”
"Well... the three clan leaders are older, so I don't think we need to force them to participate in the work." Xia said slowly.
"But this will lead to a bad atmosphere." Chief Arthur frowned. "Some people are getting something for nothing. Those who work will inevitably feel unbalanced. They are not worried about the lack of money, but the imbalance of the people. The bad examples set by the three chiefs have already made people's hearts uneasy. How can we continue to indulge them?"
Xia smiled and lowered his voice and said, "Chief Arthur, do we trust the people who lead us to work, or do we trust those who only know how to give orders and hide in the house to enjoy leisure while others are sweating?"
"Hmm?" Chief Arthur didn't understand what was going on for a moment.
Qingyan also said, "Chief Arthur, isn't there already a chief who is willing to work with us? He will be enough." After a pause, Qingyan hinted, "We do not intend to compete for power with their chief, but we have no need to help their chief maintain his authority."
Patriarch Arthur: “…”
It's not that she couldn't understand it, it was just a little awkward... The decline of the authority of the chief in the cat tribe is often a sign of tribal division. Although she was very angry with Chief Sunny Sky who only said nice things but refused to do his job properly, she still felt a little guilty if it really came to this.
After hesitating for a while, Chief Arthur sighed and nodded: "For the sake of work... let's do it this way. Just do it, and I'll take care of anything that happens."
Qingyan and Xia Qiqi smiled and said to Chief Arthur: "We are relieved when you say that. Now the most troublesome task of stabilizing Chief Qingtian will be left to you."
After speaking in unison, both of them were stunned and looked at each other expressionlessly again.
The corner of Chief Arthur's mouth twitched slightly: "...Are you two in a good relationship or a bad relationship?"
Qingyan & Xia: "Hehe."
Once again, they stared at each other expressionlessly.
Chief Arthur: “…” It’s up to you.
In the evening, after dinner, Chief Arthur organized four production teams from four tribes to gather for a meeting in the square in front of the canteen.
Each of the four cat tribes that are relatively close to the Fire Tribe came with more than a hundred people, adding up to nearly 500 people. In addition to the adult tribesmen, some big cat cubs also came to make up the numbers - those over 20 years old and under adulthood - but the number of warriors was relatively small, only about 20 people all together.
The shortest of these big cats had eaten together in the same cafeteria for nearly half a month, but when they gathered for a meeting, they were clearly separated and did not touch each other, and were neatly divided into four groups... The cat tribe that had not encountered any misfortune was so unabashedly xenophobic.
Engineering Team 2 left six big cats to assist Chief Arthur. Qingyan and Xia sat with them, and Chief Arthur stood up and spoke first.
After all, Chief Arthur had been in charge of the work for such a long time, the big cats were quite convinced of her. After she repeated to the big cats the importance of the following composting, water conservancy and other work, Xia Cai stood up and explained to the big cats the next work arrangements in the farm:
Now that summer has arrived and the weather has started to dry up, other work can be put on hold, but water conservancy work must be stepped up. Each family should send people to build drainage canals for each farm to relieve drought, starting with the Sunny Day Tribe, which was the first to complete land reclamation and sowing...
There was a hint of commotion in the Sunny Sky Tribe, and the one with the ugliest look was that of Chief Sunny Sky. He had clearly said that he would discuss this with the warriors first before making any decision, but he didn't expect that his fellow tribesmen from the Fire Flame Tribe would be so impatient.
After Xia finished explaining the work arrangements, Qingyan stood up and selected people from the Sunny Sky Tribe. Regardless of other people's expressions, he would ask for the names of strong men and register them in the book on the spot.
"Don't feel that you are at a disadvantage for doing more work. Good water conservancy facilities can greatly increase the output of farmland. The credit for the tribe's share of the output during the autumn harvest should go largely to the people who built the water conservancy." Qingyan said with a stern face, then narrowed his eyes and looked at the people of the Sunny Sky Tribe, "I will come to pick up the people tomorrow morning. Those who have registered should follow me, and the rest of you can continue to work with Chief Arthur."
Without waiting for Chief Qingtian to stand up and speak, Xia smiled at the Xiu Tribe and the Amber Tribe, asking them when they would be able to complete the land reclamation and planting...
Chief Arthur saw that Chief Qingtian looked unhappy, so he stood up and walked over to sit beside him, and chatted with him with a smile to distract him. He also made his position : opposing Qingyan and Xia is just not giving me face, so you can do whatever you want.
After fighting and beating the Sunny Sky tribe leader, Qingyan, accompanied by leader Arthur and two big cats from the engineering team, went to the dormitory area of the Sunny Sky tribe to conscript able-bodied men the next morning...Except for leader Sunny Sky himself, all the warriors and adult big cats, totaling more than sixty people, were brought out for him. They were given tools such as hoes, pickaxes, shovels, baskets, etc., and they quickly dragged them to the east side of the river mudflat, at the location selected the day before, to start digging the canal.
When the Fire Tribe first started to build the canal, there were less than a hundred people in all the villages, but they were able to build a canal that could irrigate tens of thousands of acres of land, even though they did not have enough tools. Now they have the handy tools produced by the Hilly New District, and they are digging the soft soil next to the tidal flat, which makes it naturally easier to dig.
Well... this ease is only relative to Qingyan and the two big cats in the engineering team. They have done harder work before, so digging a canal is nothing. But for the people of the Sunny Sky Tribe, it was like the nightmare of the land reclamation came back again...
Qingyan has a lot of experience in keeping naughty snow wolf cubs under control, and he knows the big cats' resistance very well. He divides the workload to be completed that day into several sections, and the big cats are divided into groups of five, each group is responsible for a section. After digging, they check the depth and width. The group that finishes first will be sent back to eat first - finish digging early and rest? Not possible. If you are not quick, you will not only have to eat cold food, but you may also miss the daily reserved program, the storytelling by the canteen chef (snow wolf man).
Chief Arthur quickly followed suit...
After forcing the big cats to dig the canal for three days, Qingyan saw that the big cats' anger points were almost accumulated, so he quickly took over the incentive materials (canned fruit, fish meat floss, maltose, soap, towels, toothbrushes, cups, cotton cloth, clothes, etc.) that Chief Arthur had previously given to Chief Qingtian for distribution and provided by the Fire Department; Chief Qingtian's management share was still given directly to Chief Qingtian, and the remaining distribution mechanism was re-delineated. Only those who performed well in composting and can motivate others in the work of repairing the canal can be given management shares. Otherwise, even if you are a cat warrior, you can only get the share of ordinary people...
Xiao Yun mentioned more than once in his lectures that "power abhors a vacuum". If public power cannot reach the local level, private power will surely intervene. After all, Chief Arthur has never been to St. Bridget and does not have a deep understanding of this aspect. Qingyan, as an eyewitness, will not ignore this point. The grassroots managers of human cities only need to hold a little power to commit shocking dereliction of duty and corruption. How can Chief Qingtian, who holds the power of distribution within the tribe, be without any selfish motives?
The effect is obvious. With just a small change of redistributing the incentive materials, the big cats of the Sunny Sky Tribe, who were originally full of dissatisfaction, calmed down again...
Chief Qingtian was extremely dissatisfied with this, but there was no point in him being angry, at least the tribesmen would not support him in this matter - Qingyan did not hold the right of distribution in the hands of an "outsider" like himself and distribute it according to his own preferences, but instead formulated a system of more pay for more work, and incentive materials were distributed every three days according to the little red flowers representing excellence on the attendance list; compared with the previous distribution mode in which Chief Qingtian enjoyed it at will, the warriors gnawed bones, and others drank soup, it would be strange if the cats, who had absolutely no problems with their IQ, did not know what to choose.
While Qingyan was severely undermining the authority of Chief Qingtian, Xia was not idle either... He was running back and forth between the farms of the other three tribes all day long, organizing and promoting the work while broadcasting Qingyan's actions to the other three tribes live broadcast to the other three tribes; the two chiefs of Xiu Tribe and Amber Tribe were idle for a walk every day, while the other tribes were tired like dogs, and the people in the tribes suddenly became furious... As the saying goes, it is not the lack of food that is worrying, but the inequality of distribution. The Qingtian Tribe distributes according to work, but they distribute according to need. It would be strange if those who work hard are not jealous!
Xia comforted the two tribes with a smile, and talked with Chief Kong, who had the most unique painting style, for a long time. Chief Kong then took the initiative to propose at the evening meeting that the distribution of incentive materials for the Kong tribe should learn from Qingyan's management model, and in front of more than 500 big cats, he suggested that Chief Xiu and Chief Amber follow suit and treat their people fairly and justly.
Patriarch Xiu and Patriarch Amber were both confused...
The members of the two tribes, whose anger had accumulated during the day, responded in unison without waiting for their own clan leader to speak, and their voices became loud and noisy.
Patriarch Xiu and Patriarch Amber were even more confused... No, what on earth had happened in the past few days? Why were their own people so willing to listen to outsiders? !
The big cats from the Fire Tribe sat quietly on the side, eating melons with smiles on their faces.
"You really managed to convince Chief Kong to take the lead." Chief Arthur secretly gave Xia a thumbs up.
Xia smiled slightly, "It's not all my credit. Chief Kong knows it very well. It's better for him to propose it himself than for us to force them. After all, we are the ones who advance the supplies to them." After a pause, Xia glanced at Qingyan, "It's not a big deal now. Incentive supplies are a small matter after all. When the autumn harvest comes and we give each family a share, the disputes will be even bigger when we take those supplies back."
Chief Arthur and the six big cats from the engineering team nodded in unison. Isn't it true? The four tribes "contracted" more than 40,000 acres of land in total, and 60% of the output belonged to them. The converted vermicelli was not a small number. With so much profit to bring back, if the chief wanted to distribute it according to his own preferences, it would be strange if the others who had worked hard on the farm for more than half a year would agree to it.
Qingyan turned his head and glared at Xia unhappily: "What's wrong with you? Did you do this by yourself? Who are you proud of?"
"Am I complacent? Your eyesight is too poor." Xia sneered.
"Okay, let's get down to business." Chief Arthur said, "The Xiu Tribe and the Amber Tribe will soon finish sowing in the next two days, so we have to hurry up and organize the water conservancy work. We don't have enough manpower, so each family will do their own work on water conservancy, and I will be in charge of composting. Let's first assign who will lead which family."
"Let me lead the repair tribe. I've been leading them since the beginning of the land reclamation, so I'm quite familiar with them." said one of the big cats.
"Qingyan, the Sunny Sky tribe is on the right track. I'll go help A Leng." said the other big cat.
"Okay." Qingyan nodded.
"In that case, I'll lead the Amber Tribe." Xia said, "Who will come with me?"
"I'll do it. I'll lead the Amber Tribe to open up new land." A big cat raised his hand.
"You should ask who you are with and how long they have been here. Why do you want to be the center of attention as soon as you get here?" Qingyan said with disdain.
"Don't you know how to talk to others properly?" Xia was a little annoyed.
"..." Chief Arthur was too lazy to persuade them. He stood up and walked away from the two of them and sat with the other big cats.
When the snow werewolves, who delivered food and building materials to the cat farm every six or seven days, came again, they were surprised to find that there were no big cats wandering around in broad daylight.
The food was delivered to the canteen and handed over to the canteen staff who came to cook. The transporter was very curious: "Weren't there always cats wandering around the farm before? Why can't we see them now? Are they even busier than before after the land reclamation?"
The chef of the Snow Wolf Clan's cafeteria also ate a lot of melons and laughed: "Those cat clan leaders have also gone to work. I heard from Xia and the others that it seems that if they stay in the farm and play around with the clan leaders, they won't be able to be the clan leaders anymore."
"Is that so? If you are lazy in the cat tribe, you can't be the leader." The transporting snow wolf said suddenly, "But you shouldn't be lazy. Everyone else is working, so it would be weird if you are idle."
The daily necessities needed by the Snake Tribe, the Cat Tribe’s farm and the new hilly district all had to be transported from the Fire Tribe, so Xiao Yun took the opportunity to get the tribe members accustomed to running errands for transportation... In case there was a war on the grassland in the future, the logistics transportation would also be useful.
The people in charge of transportation were rotated from the twenty-six production teams of the Fire Department. The people who came back brought the news back. Xiao Yun laughed and no longer cared about the things on the farm. Qingyan and Xia were still reliable, and there was also the chief Arthur to keep the place in check. So the affairs of the cat tribe were simply left to them.
This summer was a bit dry, and the cat farm repaired the canals in time to ensure the irrigation of the farmland, which made the big cats who watched the river water decrease and expose a large area of the riverbed all breathe a sigh of relief; but they did not relax for long, because Chief Arthur, Qingyan and Xia organized a vigorous beach reconstruction work again...
A tributary of the River of the Earth flows to the farm area. The shallow riverbed cannot hold water, and during drier times the water level drops and the riverbed is exposed. When it rains, the river water submerges the riverbank and overflows the tidal flats, posing a threat to the farm. To prevent drought and flooding, the three decided to rebuild the tidal flats covering several kilometers... let's start with the reservoir and the artificial drainage river!
The situation at the cat farm is special. Unlike the snake tribe, they don't have to work and study at the same time. But it's impossible for the big cats to just sit back and relax~!
As summer turns to autumn and the vegetation on the grassland turns yellow, the cat farm, which has been thoroughly soaked in the sweat of the big cats, welcomes the cat tribe from all over the southwestern corner of the grassland to visit.
In the spring, there were more than twenty cat tribes that came to the Fire Tribe to exchange spice vermicelli. Although only four tribes agreed to cooperate, the other tribes were not unintentional. It was just that due to the cat tribe's natural vigilance and xenophobia, the big cats would not easily give in before seeing a successful example.
Chief Yongzhen is a representative figure among them. When he arrived at the Fire Tribe at the same time as the Amber Tribe, he almost nodded when Chief Amber agreed. Only after he realized what was going on did he quickly stop... His tribe is very small, with only more than 200 people. If he really sent out the number of people required by the Fire Tribe, it would be difficult for others to maintain the operation of the tribe.
At that time, the people of the Fire Tribe didn't say anything, and they smiled and invited Chief Yongzhen to come in the autumn to visit the operation of the cat farm. Chief Yongzhen was vague and didn't give a reply; but in the autumn, thinking about this, Chief Yongzhen began to worry again... The farmlands of the Fire Tribe are countless times more spectacular than those of the Minotaur Hall Tribe, which shows that they are extremely good at farming. If they had agreed at that time, would their own tribe also be able to gain a lot of benefits?
Well... cats are such complex creatures.
The itchy chief Yongzhen thought about it and picked a few warriors to accompany him to the Fire Tribe. When they arrived, they found that there were also people from other tribes, and there were quite a few of them. The scene suddenly became a bit awkward...
Qiu, who was in charge of receiving the cats, said nothing. He arranged for his fellow tribesmen to stay in the Fire Tribe for two days. When almost everyone was gathered, he went out personally and led the guests to the cat farm.
Qiu is a straightforward person, but that doesn't mean he won't hold a grudge... At the beginning of the year, he had to talk a lot to convince the three companies, and he was already holding a grudge in his heart; when he was about to reach the cat farm, he turned around and headed straight for the farm reclaimed by the four partners.
From afar, he saw farmlands bustling with harvest, sweet potatoes piled up like hills beside the farmlands, and alfalfa tied into bundles all over the hills. Hearing the rhythmic breathing of the hundreds of big cats behind him, Qiu suddenly felt that the anger that had been accumulated in his stomach for half a year had finally disappeared, and he felt refreshed!
