014 Twisting Hemp Rope

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Lin Yan explained as she wrote, telling them why each mark was made and why lines connected one person to another. These indicated direct blood relations.

The tribe revered women above all else. A mother was certain, but a father was not.

In the second generation of A Lan’s family, only one man’s identity was certain. After confirming it repeatedly, Lin Yan wrote him beside A Hong, then placed their children beneath them.

More than a dozen stone tablets were filled to the brim.

A Lan’s family returned home completely satisfied.

There were many people in the tribe. Lin Yan did not leave the house for three days, remaining there to help most of the families record their lineages. She sent them home to practice writing their names and to learn Arabic numerals.

The Yellow Leaf family was the largest. They brought Lin Yan an entire pika, still whole and not yet cleaned. It temporarily solved the Red Flower family’s shortage of meat.

At the same time, Lin Yan led a group of children in learning to count.

Once the children had learned, they went home and taught their families.

The adults busied themselves during the day. When night fell, they gathered around the fire to practice writing their names and counting.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Yan also dug a pit with several children. Fearing that the pikas might burrow out and escape, they lined it with stones and laid stone slabs across the bottom. The two young pikas were raised there, fed with handfuls of weeds plucked and tossed into the pit.

With the matter of names temporarily settled, Lin Yan prepared to harvest the ramie growing in that area.

She deliberately found several strong men to help, Black Earth among them. The ramie stalks had grown thick and sturdy, and only people with great strength could break them by hand.

She had Mother, Leaf, and several other women spread a small patch of river sand in front of the cave entrance, covering as much of it as possible with stone slabs before laying large leaves on top.

This would be used to pile up the ramie and process its seeds afterward.

Lin Yan had helped everyone write their names and taught them to count, and her standing in their hearts had changed completely. Everyone was eager to come and help her work.

With so many hands, the entire ramie harvest was brought back in just one morning.

The people were all curious about what Lin Yan wanted the ramie for. She picked a cluster of seeds and peeled away the outer husk, revealing the seeds inside.

The seeds were larger than those shown in the book, about the size of peanuts. They were round and could be eaten raw.

Lin Yan demonstrated herself, biting open a seed to reveal the white kernel within. It had a pleasant texture and was rich in oil.

The others imitated her and began cracking the seeds.

So they could be eaten after all. Unlike the sweet-and-sour taste of wild fruit, they offered an entirely new sensation. So this was the oily flavor Lin Yan had mentioned.

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After the ramie had been left in the sun for several days, the husks surrounding the seeds loosened. A light beating against the stone slabs made the seeds fall away at once.

With help from the others, Lin Yan removed all the seeds in a single day and piled them together. Fearing rain, they covered them with large leaves.

The ramie yielded abundantly. That small patch produced a huge pile of seeds. Even after distributing some to everyone who had helped, a great deal remained.

Once the seeds had been gathered, the adults turned their attention to hunting. The hot season was already more than halfway over, and they had to begin storing food for the cold season.

More people began going out, but Lin Yan still could not leave herself. She asked the adults to bring back anything they considered unusual.

She gave them no specific instructions. Anything unfamiliar or novel would do, whether a stone or a piece of grass or wood.

By now, everyone knew that Lin Yan could identify all kinds of things. Since they had also begun learning to read, their curiosity was at its height. They eagerly agreed to her request and promised to bring things back for her.

Without the adults’ help, Lin Yan asked Wood and Stone to find more than a dozen elderly people who could no longer travel outside the tribe, along with a group of children. Together, they began stripping the bark from the ramie stalks.

They worked for three full days before all the stalks had been stripped. After drying, the bark was a dull gray, some pieces thick and others thin, some long and others short.

They selected the thin, soft inner fibers and twisted them into fine strands. The coarse, stiff outer fibers were twisted into somewhat thicker strands.

Next, they twisted two or three of the coarse strands together. Repeating the process again and again, they eventually produced a thin hemp rope about a meter long. Its resilience was extraordinary, and its strength far surpassed that of ordinary tree bark or grass rope.

After witnessing the process firsthand, the elders immediately understood and began twisting hemp rope themselves.

The work was time-consuming and laborious, but these people were usually bored in their daily lives. Everything seemed novel and exciting to them, and they had no trouble enduring the tedium.

In two days, more than a dozen elders had each twisted several hemp ropes of varying lengths. The length could be adjusted freely; they could make them as long as they wished.

When the coarse outer fibers had all been used, the result was several hemp ropes, and everyone was tremendously excited.

Every day, they could see the fruits of their own labor. The sense of accomplishment was extraordinary, and everyone involved felt deeply satisfied.

Water Life had been twisting hemp rope alongside them these past few days. He found it far more interesting than going outside.

When the coarse fibers were gone, he looked at the fine fibers and asked, “What are these for?” They certainly were not meant for twisting rope, or Lin Yan would have had everyone use them together.

Lin Yan smiled. “You’ll know tomorrow. Go home and prepare some smooth branches. We’ll need them tomorrow.”

She found a branch nearby, buried it in the fire for a while, then quickly took it out and pressed it beneath a stone to shape it. Once it had cooled completely, she stripped off the bark and obtained a smooth, hard branch.

She then polished it against a stone, sharpening both ends. A wooden skewer was complete.

The entire process was very quick. The children cried out in astonishment and immediately hurried home to try making one themselves.

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After everyone had left, Wild Sprout came up to Lin Yan and said, “Someone took away the hemp rope. Aren’t you going to stop them?”

“Let them take it. It was only an experiment. As long as everyone learns how to make it, they’ll be able to produce their own from now on.”

“All right.” Wild Sprout was somewhat unhappy. It belonged to Lin Yan, yet they had taken it without asking. He felt that this was wrong, but he did not know how to put it into words.

After plucking grass to feed the young pikas, Lin Yan began setting up a pot to cook meat broth.

Their food was far too monotonous. Every day brought either roasted meat or meat soup, and the flavor was nothing special—not exactly delicious. Only occasionally did they have wild fruit.

Apparently, wild fruit grew in places where savage beasts were plentiful. The tribespeople did not dare venture too far, so they remained in the surrounding area, mainly hunting pikas.

This was wisdom passed down through generations. Pikas were the safest prey; even if one failed to catch them, there was little risk of injury. Other beasts were different. Their attacks were powerful, and hunting them was far more difficult.

When Red Flower returned, Lin Yan immediately said, “Mother, we had a good harvest today.”

“Yes.” Red Flower raised the whole pika in her hand. “We ran into a hunting party today, and they gave us one.”

So that was how it had happened.

Red Flower smiled. “It was for you. You’ve helped everyone so much, so they gave you food in return. Favors should be returned.”

“Heh heh, Mother is amazing too.” Smiling, Lin Yan picked up the hemp rope. “Mother, look! This hemp rope is much stronger than grass rope or tree bark. Take a length with you tomorrow and use it to tie up firewood.”

After they had built fires, the people began gathering dead branches for fuel, making further preparations for the cold season.

Red Flower smiled and agreed, then began roasting the meat.

Unlike her daughter, she preferred roasted meat. Soup never seemed filling enough.

After eating and cleaning up, it was time to sleep.

The tribespeople never went outside at night. They said the darkness was extremely dangerous, for all kinds of beasts came out to forage. It was best to stay tucked inside the caves and sleep.

Lin Yan began training her mental power. She spent more than two hours practicing every day, and it had already become a habit.

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