The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 9

Chapter 9

“Come on, pull! Steady, steady, lift!”

The long, trough-shaped stone pot was large and heavy. Two beastmen worked together to lift it, carefully moving it to the side, and finally placing it on the fire pit built of stacked stones.

As soon as the stone pot was stable, four sub-beastmen hurried forward. They were holding bamboo tubes thicker than their calves, filled with saltwater drawn from the nearby salt spring.

Another group of people came down the slope, carrying withered branches and rotten wood. They shuttled back and forth between the forest and the rocky beach like ants moving house, and soon a pile of dry firewood taller than a person was stacked on the rocks.

Everything was ready, but the east wind… the east wind wouldn’t light.

On a smooth stone beside the stone pot, Hua Shi’an was vigorously rubbing a sharpened wooden stick. His arms were sore from rubbing, but the fireboard made of withered wood on the stone didn’t change color at all, not even a wisp of smoke appeared.

When he used to watch people drill wood for fire in documentaries, Hua Shi’an had thought it was simple, something anyone with hands could do. When it was his turn to do it himself, forget it. Wilderness survival was really not that simple.

“How is it, An? Is it lit?”

A clear female voice came from not far away. Lan, who had returned from gathering firewood, didn’t rest and walked briskly toward him.

He had volunteered to start the fire, but after struggling for a long time, he hadn’t even produced a spark. Hua Shi’an awkwardly touched the tip of his nose and frankly admitted his failure to Lan, “No, it’s not lit. I don’t know what went wrong, there’s no sign of it lighting at all.”

“So there’s something you don’t know how to do! Let me see.” Lan smiled as if she had discovered a new continent, a friendly and teasing smile.

Hua Shi’an chuckled lightly. “Of course, I’m just an ordinary sub-beastman.”

“No, you’re not! You’re not ordinary at all. You know so much. You’re the most capable sub-beastman I’ve ever seen, even more capable than a beastman.” Lan praised him unstintingly, making no secret of her admiration and appreciation for Hua Shi’an.

Goodness, that was quite the praise. Hua Shi’an felt embarrassed by the high praise.

Lan didn’t notice Hua Shi’an’s embarrassment. She squatted down and picked up the fire drill and fireboard that Hua Shi’an had made.

It only took a few seconds for her to find the problem. She pinched the fireboard with her fingernail and looked at Hua Shi’an, shaking her head. “Your method is correct, but you didn’t choose the right wood. You probably rarely started fires in the tribe before, right? The elders taught us that the drill must be hard and the board must be soft, so that you can create sparks better and faster.”

“The board has to be soft? How soft?” Hua Shi’an looked at Lan with a thirst for knowledge.

“Look.” Lan held the fireboard up to Hua Shi’an and pinched it again with her fingernail to demonstrate. “If you can leave a mark with a pinch, it’s just right. The one you chose is too hard. I can’t even leave a mark with all my strength.”

“So that’s how it is.” Hua Shi’an was back in business. He quickly got up from the stone and was about to run to the nearby firewood pile to find wood.

Lan grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Don’t be in such a hurry, I’m not finished yet.”

“Huh?” Hua Shi’an stopped in his tracks.

At this moment, An was like a sub-beastman who hadn’t grown up. Lan shook the fire drill in her hand and said to him with a smile, “The drill must be hard. You should choose a branch that is thinner than your thumb but thicker than your little finger.”

“I see. Thank you, Lan.”

Thanks to Lan’s friendly guidance and the stone knife painstakingly polished by the tribe members, after the two stone pots were filled with saltwater, the sparks that Hua Shi’an produced finally ignited the tinder.

Start the fire, add firewood, and begin boiling the salt!

Having never heard that salt could be boiled out, the beastmen were very curious and all gathered around the stone pot, watching intently. But as time passed, the withered branches and rotten wood crackled and burned for a long time, but the water in the stone pot remained motionless, without any change in temperature.

The reason was none other than the pot being too thick.

The stone pot was found by the tribe in the forest, a naturally concave stone. The depression was then enlarged by chiseling, barely giving it the shape of a pot.

This was not a technologically advanced modern society with complete tools. The tools for chiseling stone were also stone. It was already extremely difficult to enlarge the depression to make a stone pot. To make it as thin, light, smooth, and flat as a modern pot was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Being thick had its advantages. It wasn’t easy to crack from the heat and had a long lifespan.

Of course, the disadvantages were also obvious, such as slow heat conduction, very, very slow.

It would just take a little more time, and Hua Shi’an had plenty of patience. But the tribe members beside him were like they had lice, restless and scratching their heads, with no patience at all.

It wasn’t right for a group of people to just wait. Hua Shi’an thought for a moment, patted the anxiously waiting Chief Mu beside him, and suggested in a gentle voice, “It will still take a long time to boil the salt out. We have enough firewood. I think it’s better for the others to go find food. Just leave a few people here to help.”

Everyone wanted to know how salt was boiled out, and no one was willing to leave. As soon as Hua Shi’an said this, the beastmen and sub-beastmen all raised their hands and eagerly volunteered:

“Me, I’ll stay and help!”

“An, I’m strong, I’ll stay.”

“Me, me, me!”

“Alright, alright, stop arguing.” Chief Mu waved his hand. When the crowd quieted down again, he glanced at the motionless stone and confirmed with Hua Shi’an, “About how much longer? Will it be done once the water boils?”

Hua Shi’an smiled and shook his head. “It’s still early. Boiling is just the beginning. We need to keep the water boiling until—the water boils dry.”

The last glimmer of hope was shattered. Chief Mu, who had been waiting to see the salt, sighed heavily. “Forget it, finding food is more important.”

“Then should we still cut the bamboo?” asked Yong, who had just been assigned to cut bamboo.

They needed containers to scoop water, and there was no better choice than bamboo. On their way here, they had passed through the bamboo forest, so Hua Shi’an had asked Yong to take a few beastmen to cut bamboo.

With brand new stone knives in hand, the beastmen were cutting with great enthusiasm. In just a short while, more than twenty bamboo stalks of varying thickness were already piled up behind the firewood pile.

Hua Shi’an looked back and quickly shook his head. “Not for now.”

Chief Mu asked again, “Then how many people should stay here? Who should stay? Why don’t you pick them yourself?”

“Sure.”

Hua Shi’an agreed quickly, but when he turned his head, he was dumbfounded.

A group of people were staring straight at him, like kindergarten children waiting for candy, their bright eyes filled with anticipation, hoping to be the chosen one.

He hadn’t expected the allure of salt to be so great. Hua Shi’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but after only a moment’s hesitation, he casually called out the names of a few acquaintances, “Lan and Jian, and… Shan.”

“Shan?” Chief Mu raised an eyebrow in surprise, clearly finding it inappropriate. He made his own arrangements, “It’s better to leave such an important matter as boiling salt to others. Lang, you stay and help—”

“Chief,” Hua Shi’an interrupted Chief Mu, his tone still calm and gentle. “Watching the fire and adding firewood is not a big deal. It’s mainly because I’m familiar with Shan, and we can talk.”

Chief Mu didn’t speak. He turned to look at Shan. At that one glance, Shan, who was standing bewildered at the edge of the crowd, lowered his head and stammered, “I-It’s better to let Lang stay. I, I can’t be of much help.”

“Haha, look at this…” Chief Mu laughed, trying to gloss it over.

The person in question had already declined. A smart person would have taken the opportunity to switch to someone else, but Hua Shi’an smiled and said, “It’s okay. If he doesn’t know, I can teach him.”

Chief Mu no longer insisted. He turned and beckoned to the side. “Alright then. Shan, Lan, and Jian will stay. The rest of you, follow me. Let’s go find food!”

The tribe members reluctantly followed Chief Mu and left, climbing the slope and gradually disappearing into the distance.

Once the main group left, the rocky beach instantly became quiet.

Two people watching one pot was just right. Lan pulled her brother Jian to the other stone pot to watch the fire and add firewood. The big fellow Shan didn’t know whether to stand or sit, standing next to Hua Shi’an like a statue.

No one spoke, and the atmosphere suddenly became a bit strange.

Shan realized something and wanted to speak, but after opening his mouth several times, he couldn’t get a single word out. He stood there scratching his head, looking helpless.

After stuffing a piece of rotten wood into the fire pit, Hua Shi’an sighed helplessly and turned to look at him. “You clearly wanted to stay and boil salt too. Why did you refuse just now?”

This question made Shan even more flustered. Fearing that Hua Shi’an would get angry, he stammered an explanation, “The chief said, said that boiling salt is a big deal. I was afraid I wouldn’t do it well and would mess things up.”

“You haven’t even tried. How do you know you won’t do it well?” Hua Shi’an asked.

“My head is slow, not as smart as Lang’s.” Shan belittled himself very naturally, then grinned and added, “Besides, the chief also wanted Lang to stay. I, I was also afraid he would be unhappy.”

He could even see Chief Mu’s intentions, and he still calls himself slow?

Hua Shi’an snorted lightly and said slowly with a cold face, “You’re afraid the chief will be unhappy, but you’re not afraid that I’ll be unhappy? I consider you a friend, and I asked you to stay because I saw you wanted to boil salt. But you refused me because you were afraid the chief would be unhappy. This makes me very embarrassed. Even if I’m not angry, the next time something like this happens, I definitely won’t ask you again.”

Shan was visibly flustered. The smile instantly froze in his eyes, and the rosy color drained from his cheeks, leaving them pale.

Barely regaining his composure from his panic, he squatted down beside Hua Shi’an, his lips trembling slightly as he gestured and explained, “S-Sorry, An. I’m too stupid. I didn’t think of that. I, I…”

Seeing his red eyes on the verge of tears, Hua Shi’an finally couldn’t bear it and patted his shoulder. “Alright, alright, I’m not unhappy. I was just teasing you.”

“R-Really?” Shan stared blankly at Hua Shi’an, seeking confirmation. After two seconds, he belatedly looked at the hand on his shoulder and suddenly froze, a strange blush creeping up his pale cheeks.

There was a distinction between sub-beasts. A scorned beastman rarely had the chance to speak to a sub-beastman, let alone touch a sub-beastman’s hand.

So this is what a sub-beastman’s hand is like, white and soft… His mind uncontrollably wandered. Shan knew this was not right but couldn’t stop it, his ears filled with the thunderous beating of his own heart.

“Ahem.”

Looking at the beastman’s increasingly red face, the slow-witted Hua Shi’an finally reacted. He promptly withdrew his hand and coughed lightly into his fist. “Alright, I’m really not unhappy. Go and do your work. You and Jian take the stone knives and go chop up the bamboo behind the firewood pile.”

“Oh, oh, okay.”

Shan agreed verbally but still showed no intention of getting up. When Hua Shi’an added some more firewood and turned back, Shan was still staring at him intently.

“Is there anything else—”

“Can you forgive me? I, my head wasn’t working right then. I’ll change in the future.” The beastman’s tone was sincere and earnest, his eyes full of apology and a hint of caution.

Even if he had been angry, it would have dissipated. Hua Shi’an smiled at him. “Mm, I forgive you.”

“Then, then will you still ask me in the future?” the beastman persisted.

“Sure, if you’re willing,” Hua Shi’an said without turning his head, continuing to add firewood to the pit.

The heart that had been in his throat fell back into his chest. Shan grinned happily and stood up, picking up the stone knife that was on a rock. Just as he was about to go and chop the bamboo, the clear and melodious male voice sounded again:

“Shan, you have to learn to fight for what you want. Don’t be a foolishly nice guy. Being polite and yielding is indeed a good thing, but you can’t compromise your principles and wrong yourself.”