Traveling through the primitive world: I was a priest in the tribe

Xiaoman was so greedy that she wanted to drool. She wanted to go but was afraid of disturbing Jilang. In the end, her greed got the better of her and she ran to the kitchen door to look inside.

Ji Lang was stirring the chestnuts in the pot. There was still a little juice left, and he just had to wait for it to dry up slowly. Don't be impatient when frying the chestnuts, or they will get mushy if the fire is too high.

Seeing the little head poking out of the kitchen door, Ji Lang said, "It's almost done."

Xiaoman closed her eyes and sniffed hard, "What a nice smell."

Ceramic pots are not as good as modern non-stick pots. They require people to keep an eye on them and keep turning them, otherwise they will easily stick to the pot.

Ji Lang scooped out a roasted chestnut that had already opened up from the shovel and waved for Xiao Man to come over. "Let it air dry for a while before eating."

Xiaoman came in and stood obediently beside the stove, her eyes just able to see the chestnut that had been taken out and placed on the stove.

It's shiny and has traces of sugar on it, and the pale yellow chestnut kernels can be seen through the unique cross-shaped opening.

The child couldn't help but raise his hand to touch it. It was still a little hot. He licked his fingertips and waited eagerly. In addition to being sweet, it also had a very tempting special fragrance.

It smells delicious.

Soon, a large plate of sugar-roasted chestnuts was brought to the yard.

Everyone washed their hands and started eating without caring about the heat.

“It’s even more delicious than the last time I stewed it in chicken!”

“Even the shell smells good.”

"So sweet."

Ye couldn't help but eat two before curiously asking Ji Lang, "Did you add any seasoning? Why does it smell so good?"

Ji Lang shook his head and said, "No, this is the taste of the chestnuts themselves. It will be very fragrant after being fried." In fact, Ji Lang felt that this fragrance was far different from the candied chestnuts fried with stones that were sold on the streets in the past winter. That was really tempting.

Thinking of this, I can't help but think of the roasted sweet potatoes that I want to eat just by smelling them.

I don’t know if I can still eat it here.

"By the way, Ye, have you ever seen something similar to potatoes when you were collecting them before? It has a reddish skin and tastes sweeter than potatoes." Ji Lang was just asking without holding out much hope.

Ye shook his head and turned to ask Li. Li also shook his head and spoke as if he had thought of something, "I've never seen this kind, but there is one that is also dug out of the soil. It's a bit like a potato. You can eat it directly after peeling it. It's crispy, sweet, and very juicy."

Ji Lang seemed to have seen it when watching videos before. He didn’t know whether it was a fruit or a vegetable, but he didn’t know what it was called.

"But that's hard to come by. I only ate it when my father brought it back to me when I was a child. I don't even know what the leaves look like." Li said with some regret.

"I just asked casually." Ji Lang said. You just need to pay attention to this kind of thing in the future. If you can find it, that's even better. But if you can't find it, you can't force it.

The peeled flour beans have to be placed outside to dry. They want to dry more of them while there is still sunlight during the windy season. When the rainy season and cold season come, there is rarely sunlight outside, so they can only be placed on the kang or by the fire to dry before being ground into flour.

If I have the chance in the future, I can try raising other animals, such as cows or horses, which would be convenient for pulling the mill or riding when going out.

Although these people are strong, not afraid of hard work, and can walk fast when going out, they still need some external support if they want to develop faster and better.

The difference between humans and animals is that humans are better at using tools.

Speaking of this, Ji Lang wanted to ask Guo Qi to make him another stone mortar, specifically for pounding peppers and hemp fruits that can be eaten directly. The previous stone mortar was used to pound peppers and raw meat. Although it was washed clean every time, for someone who had been taught to separate raw and cooked food since childhood, it was still a little hard to accept.

He turned around and asked Lan, who was sitting next to Li, "Sister-in-law Lan, where is Guo Qi?"

Lan turned around and looked at the yard. "Hey? He was busy in the yard just now. Did he go to the outer courtyard?"

Xiaoying, who was smashing noodles with a long knife, said, "Brother Guoqi and my brother went to the lake and pulled a cart of furs. They said they were going to tan them."

Lan slapped his forehead and said, "Yes, yes, yes, look at my memory. I told him this morning that since there is sunshine today, hurry up and tan the rabbit skins and sheepskins so that I can make shoes and gloves for you to wear in the winter. It's only been a while and I forgot."

Before, Ji Lang gave Lan a few pairs of gloves, wanting her to alter a pair for everyone, including the children. This way, everyone's hands wouldn't get frozen when they work in the cold season, and the children wouldn't have to stay in the cave every day. They could come out and play if they wore thicker clothes.

Lan thought about it for a few days and finally figured out some tricks. She modified the gloves that Jilang gave her for adults. They were warm and allowed to let in air. She just added a layer of trimmed fur inside. Lan lengthened the gloves at the arm position and added straps on the top so that she wouldn't have to worry about wind getting into her wrists or them falling off when she put them on.

Lan did not modify the gloves that Ji Lang had made for children, but sewed them directly with fur. The main purpose of the gloves for children was to keep them warm, so they did not need to be too light.

Lan also added thick rabbit fur to the outside of the sleeves of their gloves, which resulted in the fact that the little rabbit fur they had left was insufficient, so they had to tan some new ones.

Lan, who had finally had some free time after making winter clothes not long ago, was busy for a few days making clothes and bedding for Xiaoying and Azhou. These two days she started to work on shoes and gloves. Even Jilang's raincoat was changed to different sizes. In Lan's words, the rainy season is not just for one or two days, and both adults and children have raincoats, which makes it convenient to go to the toilet or walk around outside on rainy days.

The rain during the rainy season will get colder as time goes on. It’s okay for adults to get wet, but if children get wet, they are likely to get a fever.

As more and more people came, Lan could not handle it all by herself, so Li and Ye helped a lot, especially Ye. She did not have any of the machismo that was still left in Ji Lang's heart. She never thought that washing clothes, cooking, and sewing were nothing. She was also dexterous, and the things she made were no inferior to Lan's.

Ye stopped what he was doing and asked Ji Lang, "Did something go wrong with the mortar last time?" Otherwise, why would he get another one.

Ji Lang waved his hand, "No problem, no problem. I just wanted to get two, one for pounding meat and one for pounding seasonings and stuff."

Although he didn't understand why, Ye, who always supported Ji Lang unconditionally, nodded and said, "Then let Guo Qi and Qing Jiu help make another one later."

Making a stone mortar is not a difficult task, but it requires strength and patience. You have to choose a suitable stone, chisel a groove in the middle, and then polish it smooth. It only takes Guo Qi and Qing Jiu a day or two to make one. If it were Ye or Ji Lang, it would take at least seven days.

"It's okay, there's no rush. We can wait until the rainy season comes and do it slowly." The rainy season is the best time to store food, so it's better to spend more time stockpiling food.

Ji Lang had already finished making the shelves, tables and chairs for Xiaoying and Azhou's room. These past two days, he was busy making kitchen lids and steaming racks with straw and bamboo.

The steamed buns that I have been planning for a long time can now be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

The group of people worked quickly and soon the two moisture-proof mats beside the doorway were covered with flour beans of various sizes. After drying for a day or two, they could be crushed and ground into flour on a millstone.

There was movement in the outer courtyard as well. The two groups of people who had gone out came back. Qingjiu and Xishi were pulling a cart full of tree branches. Many of the branches were as thick as bowls, and their broken ends showed signs of being broken by the wind, which showed how strong the wind was.

The mountains were littered with broken branches, and even some young trees were uprooted. At this time, as long as the people working had enough strength, there was no need to worry about not being able to save enough firewood for the cold season.

Qingjiu and Xishi were outside sorting out the firewood they had brought back. Guoqi came into the inner yard carrying a basket and put the things he was carrying in the yard.

The ducks that were originally held by the neck and unable to make any sound started quacking as soon as they landed. Fortunately, their legs and feet were tied up, so they could only move their mouths.

I don’t know if the duck’s cry was originally like this, or if its throat was injured when it was strangled and carried back, but this was the ugliest duck cry Ji Lang had ever heard, no doubt about it.

Guo Qi and A Zhou carefully placed the backpack on the ground and called to Ji Lang, "Xiao Lang, come and take a look."

Ji Lang leaned over to take a look and saw two and a half baskets of duck eggs.

Ji Lang was surprised and asked, "Why are there so many?" He reached out and took one to look at it.

Ah Zhou smiled as he took out the eggs from the basket one by one. "We found a flock of wild ducks on the side of the lake that we had never been to before. Unfortunately, when we went over there, we made a lot of noise and many ducks ran away. We only found the eggs when we accidentally stepped on a few of them while chasing them. We didn't have time to tan the fur. We searched the dry grass by the lake for several times before we found these eggs.

"It's strange. All the ducks ran away, but these few were very aggressive. They wouldn't let us pick up the eggs and wouldn't leave." Zhou said casually.

Ji Lang didn't take it seriously at first and was busy counting duck eggs. It took him a while to react.

!!!

It can't be what he thought!

I quickly asked Zhou, "Do you remember where these duck eggs are?"

Ah Zhou was also a little confused when he heard this, but he still pointed at the ones he had just taken out and said, "It might be these."

At that time, Guo Qi was busy catching these ducks, and he picked up the eggs in the nest himself.

Ji Lang quickly went over to pick up one and held it in his hand. There was no response. He put it close to his ear and listened. There was still no response. He changed to another one.

Finally, when I picked up the third one, I heard a faint heartbeat. I picked it up and looked at it towards the sun. Sure enough, there was a small black ball inside.

It really is a hatching duck egg.

Ji Lang listened and looked again, and picked out nearly twenty such duck eggs.

Guo Qi and Zhou were confused. "Is there something wrong with these eggs?"

Ji Lang shook his head, his tone somewhat excited, "These eggs are incubating eggs, they can hatch ducklings, we can raise ducks!"

After he finished speaking, he thought about the cold weather and finding food for the ducks, so his voice gradually became smaller.

Forget it, never mind. Even if I really can’t support it later, I’ll just treat it as a snack for Miaozi and Liefeng.

Ji Lang went to find a few bamboo baskets that he had woven before and put some dry grass and old clothes underneath.

I originally wanted to find a corner in the woodshed to put them, but I was afraid that Miaozai would come back and bite all the ducks to death.

Later, we couldn't find a suitable place, so we simply placed it directly in the small doorway of the toilet. We blocked the door with a half-person-high moisture-proof mat, which people could lift up or step over when passing by, but the duck could not get out.

At first, the ducks looked at the eggs in the basket for a while. Soon, they each chose a basket, jumped in, and squatted on it to continue incubating the eggs.

Seeing these, Ji Lang felt relieved.

I started to think about what to feed these ducks, and I also had to build a new nest for them. They couldn't live in the doorway all the time, and they would be scared when I went to the toilet or something.

Jilang had never made a duck nest before, but he remembered the chicken coop his grandfather made when he was a child.

The upper layer is made larger, and the separating baffles are made of narrower wooden boards with a gap in the middle. A drawer-like wooden frame is made at the bottom and soil is added inside. In this way, the duck droppings on the upper layer will fall to the bottom and be easier to clean up.

After lunch, Ji Lang wanted to take advantage of his nap to think about how to build the duck coop and where to place it.

But he saw Qing Jiu carrying a hoe and about to go out, and asked, "Where are you going? Aren't you going to stay for a while?" He must be very tired after going out in the morning and pulling back so much firewood.