It goes without saying that the flavor of what they made upon returning could never compare to hers.
But she couldn’t keep it a secret forever. This year was because they produced a small amount and it was also a year of experintation. Next year, she planned to take them gathering with her.
In the future, she intended to do more than gather; she wanted to find a plot of land to cultivate. Haste wouldn’t get her hot tofu; slow and steady was the way to go.
Moreover, she hadn’t forgotten her mission. Her very purpose for being here was to earn rit by helping others. The more people she helped, the higher her rit Value would be and the more benefits she would gain. Only in this way could she hope to see her parents sooner. She missed them, really missed them, but mory often played tricks on her because gradually, she began to blur their images in her mind. So whenever she had a mont, she would sit down and draw their outlines in the dirt with a stick to strengthen her mory.
This year, everyone had harvested grain fruit regardless of the amount. Now, they were proficient in using fire and had also learned pottery with her. Although the pottery they made wasn’t pretty, it would get better as they beca more skilled.
Stone troughs, stone knives, and stone pots were certainly good, but they heated slowly, were too heavy, and food wasn’t easy to transfer once it was cooked. However, they did have the benefit of slightly better heat retention.
When she arrived, this place was stuck in the Stone Age. Now that she was here, she wanted to teach them not only pottery but agriculture, too. Of course, if by chance she discovered iron ore, that would be the best, but if not, at the very least she needed to teach them how to count.
That was the only plan Tangtang could think of right now.
Last year, during the Wanshou City gathering, they were busy harvesting sweet potatoes, potatoes, and lotus roots, so they didn’t participate. Each year, after the rainy season and before the Cold Season, there was a two-month period where everyone t up, and it took at least half a month of travel from their village to Wanshou City. The round trip would take more than a month, which she considered a wasteful use of ti, so she didn’t go.
But she knew that each year the Wanshou City gathering revealed many new and exciting things. The females at ho pined for many fruits she had never heard of, which other tribes had but theirs did not. If they wanted to trade, they could exchange for pelts or pretty stones— whatever the other party was willing to accept. This was much like the rural market gatherings of her previous world.
Every year, everyone would carry bags of goods in groups, organized by tribe.
At that ti, they hadn’t learned to use horses, oxen, or donkeys for labor, nor how to make wooden vehicles that could carry live goods. They also didn’t have her miraculous Golden Finger that could transport things instantly, so was it any wonder the round trip took half a month? They had to walk, rest, and stop to hunt for food; of course, it took so much ti!
Tangtang pondered seriously about what kind of preparations she’d have to make if she went next year—how to save ti and spare their strength.
Tangtang also knew that the Beast World, like her forr world, was divided into five regions: east, south, west, north, and central. The expanse was so vast that even Jin Han couldn’t describe it, let alone her.
However, even if she compared it to the size of Great China, she may not be able to traverse it in her lifeti. So perhaps what they couldn’t find here could be found elsewhere?
Hence, a trip to Wanshou City was a must, but to make it worthwhile and to save effort and ti, before departing, she needed to develop sothing like a handcart or a horse carriage. She was already working on dosticating livestock, and after half a year of caring for them, their wildness had greatly diminished. If she could give them another half year to enjoy the good life without fear of hunger or cold, and without having to search for food, they would likely not run even if asked to.
At this ti, the livestock had no idea what kind of life awaited them; thus, she had the potential to dosticate them.
Since using these animals for labor wasn’t a problem, then creating the cart itself was a big challenge.
Tangtang sketched a cart on the ground, similar to what she had seen in rural areas in her past life, showing the Beastn its prototype. Then she pondered how to make the cart function without iron nails.
She drew many designs: ancient horse carriages, handcarts, pushcarts, all sorts. Actually, the hardest part was making the wheels. The shape of the cart itself was more or less the sa. So, in the days that followed, they pooled their ideas and experinted with small wooden toys, aiming to create a small cart that could move and adapt to various terrains.
Believe it or not, many hands make light work. With a prototype available, they actually managed to co up with the simplest of handcarts. This cart could be pulled or pushed by people and could even be harnessed to oxen.
Thus, Jin Han, Yin Ye, and Lang Sen excitedly went to chop wood. After hauling the wood back, they eagerly began to work.
Without nails or any tools, they could only use their hands and stones to polish and carve, experinting and finding round logs of the right size, digging grooves into thick planks, and fitting the ends of the logs into them so they could rotate.
What she rembered most vividly in her mory was the wooden ox and horse invented by Zhuge Liang. Unfortunately, she had only heard of the theory and never seen the prototype. Descriptions of the prototype’s look were varied and fantastical; she admitted she didn’t have the ability to create it. So being able to make a cart that could be pushed or pulled by oxen was already quite an accomplishnt.
Fortunately, human ingenuity is endless. With her casting a stone to ask for directions and offering a brick to attract jade, surely soone more ingenious would develop sothing more practical in the future.
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