We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 29 The broth tastes really good!
Use this to cook?
The women looked at each other in bewilderment until Xia Minghao built a simple stove and placed the earthenware pot on it.

"You, pour the water from the animal hides into it?"

Once everything was finished, Xia Minghao looked at the women who were now motionless and spoke.

"Water, poured into the mud mold?"

Even just thinking about it, you know the mud will rot from being soaked in water!

But when Hima and several other women worked together to pour the water from the animal hide into the earthenware pot...

A magical scene unfolded for this group of primitive people.

This mud thing didn't rot!
Only then did they all gather around, starting to chatter amongst themselves, especially the newly joined women.

The reason, of course, is that this is the first time they have witnessed Xia Minghao creating a "miracle," and they have never experienced the shock of fish traps, lasso traps, and spear throwers before.

After spending these few days together, thanks to the efforts and caution of these women, they have gradually integrated into the Xi tribe community.

Seeing the surprised expressions on their faces, several women from the Xi tribe kindly offered an explanation.

"It's the chief's tribe. The chief's tribe has this kind of thing, so the chief can also make it."

The chieftain's tribe?
Isn't it the Xi tribe?

The women's eyes revealed endless doubt.

These kind-hearted women from the Xi tribe also made up for the lessons they had missed.

"The chief came to our tribe eleven days ago, one, two, three, four... eleven. Yes, he came eleven days ago."

"But the chief's original tribe was not like it is now. There was an endless supply of meat and fish, as well as clothes, namely the animal skins worn by the chief."

"It's so soft, even more comfortable to touch than the fur of a katydid in a cave!"

At this point, the woman couldn't help but recall the feeling of that one and only time she touched Xia Minghao's underwear.

Another woman immediately added.

“The chief said we can’t go to his tribe, but he can make this place as good as his tribe, as long as we listen to the chief.”

This scene description brought a hint of longing to the eyes of the five women who had once suffered from hunger and cold and had only recently enjoyed a few days of good life.

The fire was lit, the lid of the earthenware pot was put on, and soon the aroma wafted out irrepressibly.

This scent, which primitive people had never smelled before, instantly made everyone's eyes widen.

While the meat was cooking, Xia Ya snuggled up to Xia Minghao and whispered a question.

"Chief, why can't the things we made hold water, but this one can?"

Xia Minghao, captivated by the increasingly rich aroma of the meat broth, looked at Xia Ya.

Shea has performed exceptionally well since we started teaching her those basic math concepts.

This morning's lesson covered numbers above one hundred, and only Shia could count to nine hundred and ninety-nine; the others were far behind.

Furthermore, Shia often asks all sorts of questions, such as what comes after 99, and why the spear thrower can throw the wooden spear so far.

Xia Minghao was very happy to cultivate Xia's typical diligence and inquisitiveness.

After all, I only have a superficial understanding of many technologies, such as iron smelting and gunpowder, which I only have a vague impression of.

We will inevitably have to spend time exploring it at that time.

If Shia could be trained to be his assistant, it would definitely bring many conveniences, and she might even play an unexpected role at a crucial moment.

Upon hearing Xia Ya's question, Xia Minghao thought for a moment and gave a simple answer.

"It's fire. Fire heats up the mud and it hardens. Once it's hard, it won't get soggy from being soaked in water."

Upon hearing the answer, Xia immediately began to think wildly, but she couldn't come up with any answer.

Shaking her little head, Shia asked again.

"If roasting our food makes it hard and allows it to hold water, why did you keep it in the cave for so long, Chief, instead of roasting it like you are today?"

"Because you need to let it dry and harden first, and then bake it, just like drying meat, which also hardens. You need to let the clay dough harden first... the harder the better..."

He was just casually explaining to Xia Ya, but in an instant, Xia Minghao felt as if he had grasped something.

Seeing that the chief had not continued speaking, Shia assumed that he had lost patience and did not dare to ask any more questions. She returned to her mother Shifa's side, looking somewhat dejected.

Little did Xia Minghao know that this very question sparked some speculations about the pottery firing failure.

Could it be that the air-drying process went wrong, because of the humidity in this forest?

If it's just a humidity issue, letting it air dry for a few more days won't hurt.

But if the humidity is so high that the pottery cannot be air-dried to a suitable level, then it will be ruined.

More steps are needed to increase the degree of drying, but how exactly should this be done?

He knew about a thing called a hot air circulating drying oven. The young lady at the pottery workshop said it could quickly dry the ceramic cups he made and fire them the next day, but it would cost extra.

Apart from that, they knew no other methods to help the pottery blanks dry.

"Let's set this as our research direction for now. We'll think of a solution tonight. If all else fails, we'll have to build a bellows." But bellows are quite difficult to manufacture, and they require a lot of manpower, time, and effort.

What I fear most is that I won't be able to mass-produce pottery before the rainy season arrives. If it rains then, the pottery will definitely not be able to dry properly.

While Xia Minghao was deep in thought, he was completely unaware that Ye Zi, who was not far away, was also deep in thought after overhearing his conversation with Xia Ya...

A whimpering sound interrupted his thoughts. Xia Minghao looked down and saw that Wangcai, the dog beside him, was drooling all over the floor.

The aroma of meat filled the air again, even more intensely than before. Looking around at the women and children sitting around, every single one of them was swallowing hard as they stared at the steaming pot lid.

Lost in thought, I forgot it was time to enjoy the cooked meat.

Upon opening the lid, I saw that the broth had become quite concentrated, and the meat was already thoroughly cooked.

"Wait, take this and eat it."

This boiled meat can no longer be eaten like roasted meat, skewered with branches or even spears.

It's even more impossible to eat with your hands like an Indian, otherwise you'd definitely get burned.

After searching through the dry branches for a while, I broke off two thin forks, no thicker than a finger.

Chopsticks!

In this Stone Age, when everyone was white, chopsticks were born!

Then, Xia Minghao demonstrated how to use chopsticks, picked up a small piece of meat, and put it in his mouth.

It's delicious...

Boiled meat, like roasted meat, still has no seasoning, but the flavor is unparalleled!
The women also started to learn from Xia Minghao and created the most primitive chopsticks, but they couldn't pick anything up no matter how they tried.

Seeing this, Xia Minghao simply lowered his requirements and directly found a branch from a fresh tree that hadn't been dried yet.

After being split in half, it still retains some resilience because it is not completely dry.

Rather than calling it a beginner-friendly "chopstick," it's more accurate to call it a "tweezers."

With this thing, I can finally eat hot, boiled meat.

The women shared the meat bite by bite, and soon it was all gone.

Everyone's face showed unprecedented satisfaction.

After finishing one pot, they immediately cooked a second pot, and after finishing that, they cooked a third pot of meat, until all the women were full.

The earthenware pot was filled with a rich broth, which was the "essence" of several pots of meat!
Naturally, no one wanted to leave the broth in the pot untouched.

After the fire on the stove was extinguished, the earthenware pot gradually cooled down.

Xia Minghao was the first to pick it up and try it.

It actually has a subtle salty taste, and the texture is incredibly delicious.

It's likely that when the meat was cooked, the salt and various flavor compounds from the meat were retained in the broth.

It takes several rounds of concentration before you can taste the difference.

The broth tastes really good...

Naturally, Xia Minghao didn't covet the delicious food and quickly passed it on to the next person.

Everyone was quite considerate, taking only a small sip before passing it to the next person, and then closing their eyes to savor the taste.

When they opened their eyes again, they all looked at Xia Minghao in unison, their eyes filled with indescribable emotions.

If Ye Zi had seen the look in the eyes of the women of the Xi tribe at that moment, she would have been surprised to find that it was almost exactly the same look her mother had when she talked about the totem god...

But she had no time to observe the other women, because the broth had already been passed to her.

The moment her tongue touched this delicious flavor, Ye Zi's eyes welled up with tears.

She once again reminisced about her Wind Tribe and the carefree days she spent with the abilities granted by the totem.

How wonderful it would be if my own people could also drink this meat soup.

After the large pot of meat soup was completely shared, the women began to chat happily.

The core topic, of course, was the feeling while eating meat and drinking soup.

"I'll put out more lassos tomorrow, so there'll be more meat to cook!"

"How would it taste if you cooked the snakehead fish here?"

"Better than barbecue, warm and comforting, it warms you up inside."

"I've tasted this before. Water in the Wa tribe tastes like this. Having this taste gives you strength!"

"What did you say!?"

Xia Minghao, who was enjoying the moment in silence, suddenly heard something and his eyes widened instantly.

He looked at Wamu, who had spoken!

The taste, the strength, could it be that faint salty taste?
Could it be that the Wa tribe has salt?!
(End of this chapter)