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

Chapter 10 Stone Age, Tree Cutting, and Women

Back in the cave, Xia Minghao had the pheasants placed inside for the children to look after.

Although this group of children had seen pheasants before, which they called "chaka," it was the first time they had seen live pheasants.

Curious eyes were fixed on the pheasant, and everyone wanted to touch its bright feathers.

Xia Minghao quickly stepped forward to stop him.

One reason why pheasants are difficult to tame is that they are too easily stressed.

If each of those kids went up and touched it, they could probably kill this "legendary longevity king" with their touch.

He instructed Shia to stay in the cave and watch over the children, making sure they stayed away from the lone pheasant.

As long as the pheasant doesn't leave its burrow, don't interfere in any way.

This was the first time Xia Minghao had given her a task directly, and she was very excited, nodding to him repeatedly.

Raising pheasants requires wood to build their coops, roasting such a large wild boar requires a lot of wood, and making spears and javelins also requires wood.

Cutting down trees is a must.

Xia Minghao picked up a stone tool and showed it to the woman.

"Everyone else, take this and come with me to cut down trees."

This is a flat, irregularly shaped oval stone with a sharp edge on one side, indicating that it has been shaped.

This is the most suitable stone tool Xia Minghao could find for cutting down trees.

Cutting down trees is yet another new term.

The pronunciation was completely different from the original language, but that didn't stop the women from reciting the word several times and memorizing it firmly.

"Man, what does it mean to cut down a tree?"

A woman picked up the stone and asked a question.

"Cut down a tree is just knocking it down. Forget it, come with me and watch me do it."

Seeing the women's confused expressions, Xia Minghao simply led them out of the cave and into the woods outside.

"That's it, knock the tree down."

Finding a tree as thick as a neck, Xia Minghao pulled out his survival knife and chopped at it a few times in a cool and stylish manner.

The tree trunk was cut deep, about half a finger's width into it.

"That's it, use your stone tools to cut down trees."

Turning around, Xia Minghao looked at the crowd, speaking as he spoke, but the expressions on their faces were rather strange…

The women standing nearby were completely dumbfounded.

They were already surprised when they saw Xia Minghao chop down tree branches with an entrenching tool in just a few strokes.

Seeing Xia Minghao wield a survival knife and make such a large cut in the tree in just a few strokes, they were even more shocked.

They have never cut down any trees; even cutting branches was something they did out of necessity.

Normally, you only need to collect branches or climb trees to break off very thin branches to meet your timber needs.

They were simply used for firewood. If they happened to find a rare, thick, and long branch, they would give it to the men so they could forge spears or clubs.

This was the survival situation of primitive people, who relied entirely on the gifts of nature.

Xia Minghao is different; his fundamental way of thinking surpasses that of these primitive people by thousands of years.

The main idea is: if nature gives it to me, I'll take it; if it doesn't, I'll snatch it!
"Okay, you go quickly."

Because of the limited number of stone tools, Xia Minghao only brought a dozen or so women, while the rest of the people dealt with the half-wild boar.

There were exactly a dozen or so people, divided into two groups, and Xia Minghao chose two trees.

After making arrangements for the two groups of women, Xia Minghao returned to the tree he had chopped a few times and continued to wield his survival knife.

Cutting down trees is physically demanding work; with each strike, the force diminishes and the frequency decreases.

Previously, I had only done light physical labor, so I didn't feel too tired after a full meal.

But at times like these, Xia Minghao's lack of exercise from sitting in the office becomes apparent.

After working for an unknown amount of time, the tree was finally cut down.

After resting against the tree stump for a while, Xia Minghao looked at the two groups of women again.

But the two trees hadn't changed at all.

Xia Minghao walked over and glanced at one of the trees.

However, it could be seen that the top of the tree had suffered some superficial injuries.

"This……"

Looking at the women, who were covered in sweat, it was clear they hadn't been slacking off.

Could the problem be the Stone Age?
Xia Minghao took the stone tool from the woman's hand and examined it. He saw that the blade had long been worn smooth, and some of it had been broken.

It seems I overestimated the durability of the stone tools.

I never imagined stone tools were so unreliable...

No wonder bronze artifacts are one of the three essential elements in archaeology for determining whether a human settlement has developed into a civilization.

Without breakthroughs in materials science that led from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, there's very little that can be done.

The women also saw the felled tree and looked back at Xia Minghao. Some looked guilty, while others looked worried, as if afraid of being scolded by Xia Minghao. Xia Minghao looked at the stone tools, then at the tree, and finally at the women, and smiled.

It seems that cutting down trees will ultimately fall on my own shoulders.

If you really want these primitive people to cut down trees, of course you can.

While thinking, Xia Minghao came up with many ideas: burning with fire, cutting with stones.

But the problem is, it's too inefficient!

Even collecting tree branches is better than cutting down trees.

There is a severe labor shortage right now, and there are so many things that can be done.

Since I happen to have a survival knife, I might as well let the women do some things they are capable of.

"You don't need to cut down trees, go dig the soil."

"Digging?"

"Okay, I'll cut down the trees, and you guys dig the soil and collect the stones."

The women looked at each other, puzzled as to why they had to dig, as they had never done it before.

But what has happened in the last two days has taught women to be compliant.

Don't ask why, just do it.

I don't know why they wove tree bark into those strange baskets, but it was those baskets that allowed them to eat the big black fish.

I don't know why the fish were put in the forest, nor do I know why the vines were tied in knots.

But they brought back "Chika" and wild boars that they had never eaten before and would only run away from if they encountered them.

The reason the women were made to dig the soil was, of course, to build earthen kilns for roasting meat.

This can save firewood to some extent when roasting wild boar.

Of course, it's not just for grilling meat; there's something even more important: burning charcoal!

Since cutting down trees is so difficult and there's no way to "increase revenue," then let's "reduce expenditure."

Xia Minghao was cutting down trees, while the women were digging in the soil with simple stone tools for digging tubers.

They piled up the soil on an open space not far from the cave.

When the sun had moved to the middle of the sky, Xia Minghao chopped down another tree.

There's no way to cut it any further now.

Although a survival knife can be used to cut down trees, it is not a professional tool for actually cutting down trees, and it is not very convenient to use.

In addition, his physical condition wasn't very good, and after cutting down two trees, Xia Minghao felt like his hands weren't his own anymore.

"It feels about right. Build a chicken coop, use an earthen kiln to roast that half-wild boar, and we can probably make four or five spears and spear throwers."

After making a rough estimate in his mind, Xia Minghao turned his head to look.

Seeing that the women had dug enough soil to make a small earthen kiln, they decided not to cut down a third tree.

"You! Take the tree back into the cave!"

Xia Minghao said, pointing to the two trees.

Although there was nothing covering her upper body, it was already early summer, and she was constantly busy.

The women were already drenched in sweat, the sweat trickling down their wheat-colored skin and pooling at their breasts before finally dripping to the ground.

But upon hearing Xia Minghao's order, they did not hesitate at all and immediately began moving the trees back into the cave.

After resting on the ground for a while, seeing that the thick timber had been transported back to the cave, Xia Minghao got up and walked back into the cave.

Just as he was pondering this, a scream suddenly came from outside the cave.

This was the first time Xia Minghao had heard women scream in such terror; something serious must have happened.

Could it be that the saber-toothed tiger has come looking for us?
Or some other wild beast?

The women who were resting inside the cave immediately stood up, and Xia Minghao rushed out with his survival knife, bumping right into the women who were running back into the cave.

They were disposing of a wild boar carcass.

"Yes! Yes!"

Oh?

This is yet another new primitive noun for Xia Minghao.

Oh, what is that?
Xia Minghao did not stop there, and chose to hide in a cave.

Let's take a look first. If all else fails, we can always run back to the cave.

The women, seeing that the woman outside had returned, had originally decided not to go out anymore.

But seeing Xia Minghao walk out, he eventually followed him.

Holding the survival knife tightly in his hand, Xia Minghao had barely peeked out when he saw the woman's voice, "Oh Fu."

But then they saw "Ooh-fu" trying to snatch away the wild boar entrails that the women had cleaned up but hadn't had time to bury.

When Xia Minghao came out, he looked very timid.

Is this what Oofu is?
Isn't that a dog?
No, the tail is pointing downwards and standing upright. Besides, where would a dog come from in this primitive era?

Is this what a wolf is?!
(End of this chapter)