Once you have a house, stocking up on food becomes a top priority.
It's autumn now. There are a lot of wild fruits and vegetables in the mountains, as well as a lot of prey. Naturally, there is no need to worry about food.
But Jiang Xuan learned from his memory that it would snow in the Southern Wilderness.
Once winter comes and the mountains are closed by heavy snow, it will be very difficult to find food.
If you do not prepare food for the winter in advance, you will face the risk of starving to death.
Therefore, it is necessary to reserve enough food in advance to cope with the coming cold winter.
Jiang Xuan thought for a long time and set his sights on digging plant roots and fishing.
Plant roots are durable in storage, and fish can be raised in a pond directly until winter. Once it snows, there is no need to worry about food spoilage.
The most important thing is that these two kinds of food are relatively easy to obtain and in large quantities.
If you want to dig plant roots and ponds, you must make a suitable digging tool. Otherwise, if you have to dig with sticks and hands, how long will it take to dig?
Jiang Xuan thought about it carefully and finally decided to make two bone blades (si).
The shape of the bone is similar to that of a shovel, and it is a tool specially used by tribal people to dig soil.
The materials needed to make the bone are: the shoulder blade of an artiodactyl, a sharp stone for drilling, a straight wooden pole, and rope for binding and fixing.
These materials are not difficult to obtain.
A few days ago, I caught a green muntjac that looked like a deer but had very short horns in a noose trap under Red Peony. The meat had been eaten, but the bones were left, including two very wide shoulder blades.
The scapula of artiodactyls is roughly triangular in shape and naturally looks like a shovel. It is the preferred animal bone for tribal people to make bones.
Jiang Xuan found the two shoulder blades, took them to the creek, and found a rough stone to smooth them.
"Chachacha..."
By the stream, Jiang Xuan worked hard to grind a shoulder blade, pouring some water on it from time to time with a bamboo tube to wash away the bone powder ground on the stone.
"Xuan, what are you doing grinding animal bones?"
Chi Shao came over curiously and asked Jiang Xuan.
"Make a bone."
"You know how to make bones?" Chi Shao looked at him in surprise.
"I've seen people in the tribe do it before, and I want to try it. If it succeeds, it will be much easier for us to dig traps and dig wild vegetables in the future."
Jiang Xuan continued to grind as he spoke. Animal bones are relatively hard. It would take a long time and a lot of effort to grind them flat.
Chi Shao saw a shoulder blade next to Jiang Xuan, so he stepped forward to pick up the shoulder blade and said, "Let me grind this one for you."
"Okay!"
Jiang Xuan didn't refuse. If he had to grind these two shoulder blades by himself, it would probably take him a whole day.
With the help of red peony root, the time can be shortened by more than half.
"Xuan, we are here to help too."
Uncaria, Stone Loach and Nanxing also came over, and everyone wanted to help.
Jiang Xuandao: "Nanxing, go and twist some ropes for me. They need to be woven from bark, thin and strong enough."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
Nanxing immediately ran to find a suitable thin bark to twist the rope. Children in the living tribe have been doing this since they were young, and it is not complicated.
A ten-year-old child is at his most expressive and is happy to help others.
Jiang Xuan then said to Uncaria and Stone Loach: "Go and help me cut down two small trees. Choose the kind of trees that can be used for stone spears. The trunks of the trees should be three fingers thick."
"Okay, let's go chop now."
There are many shrubs outside the bamboo forest, some of which are very tough and suitable for making spears and wooden handles for bones.
Uncaria and Stone Loach found a few sharp-edged gravels by the creek, and then cut down the trees.
With the efforts of five people, after half a day, all the materials for making two bone blades were ready.
The shoulder blade has been ground flat, and the wide end is ground very thin and sharp. Four holes are drilled in the middle with a sharp stone, two on each side, for threading ropes and fixing wooden poles.
Nanxing has already finished twisting the string woven from paper mulberry bark, and Jiang Xuan is very satisfied with the rope.
Two straight small trees have also been cut back, and the bark of Uncaria and Lithospermum has been peeled off, and the surface has been planed with stones to make wooden poles.
Everything is ready, now it’s up to Jiang Xuan.
Can he succeed? Chi Shao and the three teenagers are looking forward to it.
"Let's get started!"
Jiang Xuan took all the materials into the bamboo house, rubbed his hands excitedly, and then began to make the bones.
In fact, it is best to dry the two wooden poles in the shade before using them, so that they are less likely to crack and deform. However, they must be dried in the shade for at least a month, and Jiang Xuan cannot wait that long.
He placed the wooden pole on the fire pit and let it bake quickly with the flames.
After the wood pole is burned by fire, the water on the surface quickly evaporates and then carbonizes.
After the surface of the wooden pole was slightly charred, Jiang Xuan moved the wooden pole away from the fire pit, took a look, and straightened the slightly bent place while it was hot.
After the wooden pole cools, it will basically be in shape and will not be easily deformed.
Then, Jiang Xuan cut one side of the bottom of the wooden pole into a flat surface with sharp-edged gravel so that it could fit better with the smoothed shoulder blades. On the other side, he cut two grooves for fixing the rope.<
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If there are no grooves and the rope is used with a little force, the rope will easily shift and become loose.
After handling the wooden pole, Jiang Xuan placed the flattened side of the wooden pole against his shoulder blades and continued to shave the uneven areas until it fit perfectly.
Then, he used a twisted string, passed it through the hole drilled in the shoulder blade, wrapped it around the groove on the wooden pole, and then wrapped it layer by layer.
Every time he wrapped it around, the two ropes crossed once. When he finished wrapping the rope and tied the knot, the wooden pole and the shoulder blades were tightly tied together.
"Okay!"
Jiang Xuan held the bone in his hands and tried waving it a few times. It felt very smooth and he felt full of accomplishment.
"Xuan, you are so amazing, you can do anything!"
Uncaria, Stone Loach, and Nan Xing, the three young men cast admiring glances at Jiang Xuan.
Jiang Xuan built a bamboo house, made a bamboo bed, and now he has made a bone bamboo, which is really amazing.
Jiang Xuan was also quite proud, and said modestly: "It all depends on everyone's help, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it alone."
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"That's not right..."
Chi Shao frowned slightly. She looked at the bone cake made by Jiang Xuan and felt that there was something missing.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Xuan put away his pride and asked in shock.
Chi Shao pointed to the position a few inches above the connection between the shoulder blade and the wooden pole: "Here, there is still a short horizontal wooden pole missing. I remember that it is a bone that can be stepped on with your feet, which saves effort."
When Jiang Xuan thought about it, it seemed to be the case. He said with shame, "I forgot about the crossbar. Thanks to my sister for reminding me, I will add it right now."
The ends of the small trees cut down by Uncaria and Stone Loach were still there. Jiang Xuan used a sharp stone to cut two sections, each section about 20 centimeters long.
He peeled off the skin of the two short poles, baked them, then flattened the contact side of the long pole and the short pole to fit them together, cut out grooves on the other side, and then used a string to tightly connect the long pole and the short pole.
Bundle together.
After finishing it, Jiang Xuan checked it first, and then handed the bone to Chi Shao: "Sister, do you see any flaws?"
Chi Shao placed Gu Da on the ground and stepped on the short pole with her foot. With the power of her foot, Gu Da's shovel quickly sank into the soil. She pressed the long pole and a piece of soil was easily pried up.<
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Chi Shao smiled with satisfaction and said: "Xuan, you did a good job, as good as the bone grass I used in the tribe before."
After receiving his sister's approval, Jiang Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, with a happy smile on his face.
The three teenagers also took turns trying out the use of bone tools, and they admired Jiang Xuan even more, because in the tribe, the people who can make these tools are often adult warriors.
After learning from the experience of the first bone sword, Jiang Xuan successfully completed the second bone sword.
With these two bones, Jiang Xuan can finally carry out his next plan - fishing.