I've been transported to the orc continent.

The Longhorn Tribe had plenty of sorghum, so Bai Ling exchanged the meat, hides, and dried fish he brought for sorghum. There was so much sorghum that Bai Ling and his group couldn't fit it all in their baskets.

The sorghum was piled up in the square of the Longhorn Tribe. Bai Ling left two orcs to guard the sorghum and then led the other tribesmen to dig up bamboo.

His two main goals for this trip were to exchange sorghum and dig up bamboo. He has already achieved the first goal, and now he is going to do the second.

The Longhorn Tribe had plenty of bamboo. The orcs in the tribe led Bai Ling and his group to the foot of a mountain. Bai Ling's eyes lit up. The bamboo in the Longhorn Tribe was actually moso bamboo.

Moso bamboo grows quickly, has a strong reproductive capacity, and is more useful than other bamboo species. But he remembered that moso bamboo grows in relatively warm places, while the winters here are extremely cold. How does moso bamboo grow?

Bai Ling couldn't quite understand it, but this was a different planet now, and many things that were impossible on Earth were happening here, so it wasn't surprising that there was one more bamboo.

The bamboo is tall and straight, reaching into the sky, and looks much larger than bamboo on Earth. It is already autumn, and other plants are starting to turn from green to yellow, but these bamboos are still green. Even before entering the bamboo forest, you can smell the fragrance of bamboo.

As Bai Ling got closer, she noticed that the bamboo was about the thickness of a ceramic basin, with smooth, glossy joints.

The longhorn tribesman who brought them here said, "Every spring, many pointed roots grow on this mountain. The pointed roots are very delicious, but they only grow in spring and not at other times."

"These hollow trees grow very fast; they can cover an entire hillside in just one spring. Ling, the pointed roots are only edible for a few days; you can't eat them at other times. What do you need them for?"

Bai Ling smiled and said, "This plant is very useful. It can't be eaten, but it can be used to make many things."

The orcs from the Longhorn tribe became interested: "It can make many things? Besides baskets and crates, what else can a hollow tree be used for?"

“It can be used to make bowls and chopsticks, to make paper, to build houses and make furniture,” Bai Ling replied.

These were things the orcs of the Longhorn Tribe didn't know. With bright eyes, he asked Bai Ling, "Ling, I know what a bowl is, but what are chopsticks? What is paper? I know what a house is, but what are furniture?"

All the beastmen present looked at Bai Ling, eager to know what those things were.

Yue also looked at Bai Ling, but his gaze was not one of doubt, but rather one of understanding, with a hint of smugness that he knew something others didn't.

Bai Ling and Yue exchanged a glance before looking away. He explained, "Bowls and chopsticks are for eating, paper is for writing, and furniture is for placing in the room."

This explanation did not satisfy everyone, and the orc from the Longhorn tribe did not press further. He simply asked Bai Ling, "Ling, if you have made these things, could you teach them to our tribe?"

Bai Ling nodded and said, "Of course."

*

Bai Ling dug up many small bamboo shoots, which were in clumps. She carefully dug them out with a bone knife, trying to keep the soil around the roots of the shoots. After digging them out, she wrapped the roots with large leaves and finally tied them with rope.

Bai Ling demonstrated twice, and the tribesmen who came with him all learned it. They also searched for suitable bamboo shoots and began to dig.

The dug bamboo shoots were placed in baskets on their backs. These people were all skilled workers, and their baskets were already full of bamboo shoots as soon as it got dark.

Yue asked, "Ling, we've dug up so much bamboo, how are we going to bring all that red rice back?"

Bai Ling: "We can only ask the orcs of the Longhorn Tribe for help. Besides animal hides, we only have some decorations. I don't know if that will be enough."

The beastmen loved beautiful ornaments, and the other tribes gave Bai Ling exquisite ornaments, such as necklaces made of beautiful seashells, headdresses made of colorful jade, and some animal teeth that Bai Ling did not recognize, which were carefully strung together to make a large chest ornament, as well as a crown made of beautiful seven-colored feathers.

The gifts Bai Ling brought were the more ordinary ones among the gifts he had received; he had kept the prettiest ones carefully.

Xiao chimed in, "Of course it's enough. Those are treasures. Just by helping to deliver some goods, you can get beautiful decorations in return. The orcs of the Longhorn Tribe will definitely be more than willing."

Liang said from the side, "Ling, you don't actually need those ornaments. Animal hides will suffice. You should keep those ornaments. When you find a female you like, you can give them to her."

Chen also said, "Yes, brother, you should keep those things. If you don't have enough animal hides, you can give them some more animal meat when you get home. Those ornaments are very valuable; you can keep them to exchange for other things."

The other tribesmen also said not to use ornaments to exchange for the orcs of the Longhorn Tribe to help, because it was really not worth it.

Bai Ling listened to advice and, after returning to the Longhorn Tribe, found the old beastman who had hosted them and offered to use animal hides and meat to ask the beastmen of the Long River Tribe for help in sending the red rice and bamboo back.

The old orc agreed. At this time, most of the orcs in the Longhorn tribe were eating. The old orc took Bai Ling to visit several households and soon found orcs who were willing to help.

It takes three days to travel from the Longhorn Tribe to the Tall Tree Tribe, and Bai Ling has to give each of the orcs who helps her half a basket of smoked meat as payment.

The payment to the Longhorn Tribe orcs, plus the payment to the tribesmen, would be a huge expense for an ordinary orc family. However, Bai Ling is now a small-time tycoon, so the amount of meat is nothing to him.

*

The journey was smooth, and Bai Ling returned to the tribe at noon, just in time for the tribe's lunch.

When Cai Jianbai and her group returned, she waved to them and said, "You've come back just in time for lunch at the tribe. Come and eat quickly."

The tribespeople helped unload the baskets from Bai Ling and the others' backs. They were very curious about the bamboo in the baskets and asked Bai Ling what it was.

Xiao Congyue jumped down and said loudly, "Ling said this is called bamboo, and it can be used to make many useful things."

The tribespeople didn't know what bamboo was, but they all trusted Bai Ling.

Since Ling said these things are very useful, they must be very useful. But these bamboos are all very small and thin. How can they be made into something useful?

The first step to making these bamboos useful is to plant them.

Bai Ling chose a sunny spot that was close to a water source and had relatively flat terrain, and dug a hole to start planting bamboo.

Bai Ling brought back too many bamboo shoots to plant by herself. Many tribesmen who were curious about what "planting" meant volunteered to help. With everyone working together, all the bamboo shoots were planted while the sun was still high in the sky.

Looking at the planted bamboo shoots, Bai Ling could almost imagine the scene of green bamboo covering the fields in the future. A smile appeared on his lips, and the fatigue of the past few days was swept away.