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

Chapter 3 Going against the ancestor’s decision

The first rays of morning sunlight shone into the cave through the narrow opening.

The women gradually awoke, and under the guidance of Mother Hima, some picked up simple baskets woven from tree bark, while others picked up wooden sticks.

The former is responsible for collecting, while the latter is responsible for finding places where they can collect.

Shea also picked up her stick, but instead of joining the gathering team, she stood and looked at the tent.

Last night, Shia, like the other women, kept an eye on the tent until Hima covered the campfire with ashes.

Now that the cave was bright again, Shia began to look around curiously once more.

The Great Mother Hima also looked at the tent, not out of curiosity, but because she wanted to call the new man out to go hunting.

But she was hesitant to approach, because the tent frightened her; it was a completely unknown "strange thing."

Just then, under everyone's gaze, the "strange thing" opened its mouth, and the only man of the Xi tribe was "spit out".

Xia Minghao stepped out of the tent and, enduring the tingling sensation on his scalp, shook off the small insects clinging to the tent.

He gripped the zipper tightly, then stood up and looked at the women preparing to emerge from the cave, a hint of eagerness showing on his face.

In one night, he not only pieced together the details of fish trap making and fishing with fish traps by recalling those scattered pieces of knowledge.

They racked their brains to piece together a route!
The route from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, from primitive society to agricultural society.

It could take as little as one year, or as long as three years!
Xia Minghao was confident that he could at least move into a clean and comfortable house and eat food that would not only fill his stomach but also satisfy his taste buds.

Now is the time to take the first step and carry out the first "five-day plan"!
Within five days, we'll have enough to eat and free up our labor force!

After clearing his throat twice and attracting everyone's attention, Xia Minghao began to use body language to painstakingly announce a decision that, for this group of primitive people, went against their ancestors' wishes.

Today, instead of gathering resources, we'll focus on one thing: weaving baskets.

Of course, this is just to make it easier for primitive people to understand. In reality, Xia Minghao wanted them to make an upside-down fish trap!

After the group of primitive people roughly understood Xia Minghao's meaning, they all showed displeasure and confusion on their faces.

Great Mother Hima came out and expressed strong opposition to this.

The reason for their opposition was simple: they didn't understand why they should do it, and it would also waste valuable collection time.

The shorter the gathering time, the less food they obtain. Although they are used to not having enough to eat, they still cannot accept going hungry.

Moreover, they were supposed to collect the samples during the designated collection time; they never did anything else.

Her Majesty the Great Mother did not do it, nor did Her Majesty the Great Mother do it.

Xia Minghao, however, was not going to explain, not only because of the language barrier, which made explaining too troublesome, but also because how could they possibly understand even if he did explain?

When you see the fish, everything you need to say will be "in the fish."

Seeing Xia Minghao's resolute attitude, the voices of opposition grew louder and louder.

Everyone had been hoping since last night that the new man who had joined the tribe would hunt something; in fact, this was something they looked forward to every day.

After all, meat is far more than just dug-up tubers and gathered berries.

Not only does it taste delicious, but it also gives you energy after eating it!

Now it seems that this man not only has no intention of hunting, but also forbids them from gathering!

Xia Minghao just stared at the women who were expressing strong dissatisfaction without saying a word, until... the voices of opposition grew quieter and quieter.

Sure enough, I guessed right.

Xia Minghao had some guesses based on their performance last night.

Although it was a matriarchal society, as the only man in the tribe, he held an extremely special position.

His special status gave him the right to be capricious.

Of course, Xia Minghao was also very self-aware.

This does not mean he can do whatever he wants, and this status will disappear after a second man arrives in the tribe, or after trust is completely exhausted.

However, he was not worried at all. As long as everyone could eat fish today, the prestige brought by this position would snowball and grow bigger and bigger.

Once the women had stopped talking and all their objections had disappeared, Xia Minghao naturally led the worried and reluctant primitive people out of the cave.

……

……

……

The forest outside the cave wasn't too dense, and sunlight filtered through the broad leaves, creating dappled patterns of light.

The bark of many trees has been peeled off, presumably by primitive people.

He pointed to the tree, then to the basket, and then Xia Minghao started counting on his fingers at Xima, meaning he wanted to make six baskets of this kind of tree bark.

To make sure Hima understood, Xia Minghao counted on his fingers four or five times.

Seeing that Hima's brows furrowed even deeper, Xia Minghao finally relaxed, assuming she understood. Although still reluctant, Hima began to organize everyone, starting with peeling the bark from the trees.

Seeing the primitive people start to move, Xia Minghao didn't stay idle either.

He took out an entrenching tool and began preparing the cage frame.

Find a branch that isn't too thin, muster all your strength, and swing your entrenching tool; it'll be chopped down in just a few strokes.

Then, based on arm span and height, the branches were cut into two lengths.

This is the main structure of the conical frame of the inverted whisker fish trap.

Many women were filled with astonishment when they saw Xia Minghao chop down the thick tree branch so easily.

Even the strongest man in the tribe, wielding the sharpest stone axe, could not do this.

In their minds, weapons couldn't be that sharp, so they naturally assumed that Xia Minghao was powerful enough.

Seeing how powerful the only man in the tribe was, Hima felt a pang of bitterness in her heart.

Such a powerful man, it would be wonderful if he could go hunting.

Now she only hopes to satisfy Xia Minghao as soon as possible so that he can hunt like the men in his tribe.

After a flurry of activity, until he had enough materials to make six sets of fish trap frames, Xia Minghao finally stopped what he was doing, panting heavily.

Last night I only ate a little bit of tuber, and my stomach acid was churning inside, making it feel like my stomach was going to be digested.

But the thought of being able to enjoy a grilled fish feast soon is just too good to pass the time.

The dopamine release brought about by this "anticipation of happiness" made Xia Minghao feel for a moment that he wasn't so hungry anymore.

Six fish traps might not be enough to feed the twenty-odd women and a dozen-odd children in the tribe, but they certainly wouldn't let them go hungry.

Throwing them into a river that has never been touched by humans would definitely be a devastating blow to river fish.

A large amount of bark was collected and torn into thin strips.

Seeing Xia Minghao return to the group, Xima stepped forward and began to gesture as well.

Xia Minghao finally understood after looking at it for a long time: it was Hima who wanted her to go hunting.

Hunting is out of the question.

I will never hunt in my life.

But... sometimes it's necessary to tell a little white lie or something.

If we refuse them now, they might go on strike and refuse to work, which would be terrible.

Seeing the women's worried faces, Xia Minghao nodded while thinking to himself.

When you catch the fish and grill it over a fire, you'll all be grinning from ear to ear.

The women were happy when they saw Xia Minghao nod.

Once these six strange baskets are woven, the men of their tribe will be willing to go hunting!

Everyone started collecting tree bark with great enthusiasm, tearing it into strips.

Xia Minghao watched from the sidelines and provided guidance.

After all, it was a fish trap, which was quite difficult for these primitive people who had only ever woven baskets.

It took from early morning until nearly noon to finish making these six upside-down fish traps.

They were all very distressed because they had wasted an entire morning on things that seemed meaningless to the primitive people.

This means there's only half a day to gather resources, which will significantly reduce the amount of food you can obtain.

When they saw Xia Minghao carrying the baskets they had woven without looking back, heading away from the cave, smiles returned to everyone's faces.

Some women seemed lost in thought...

Such a big basket, we'll weave it and take it hunting!

Could it be that this new man is able to catch prey that fills the basket?
With this guess in mind, the women's smiles became even brighter.

Xia Minghao never expected that he had unintentionally "drew a pie in the sky" for these women.

The women finally split into groups again and set off into the forest.

But Xia Ya in the group kept turning back to look at Xia Minghao's back. Suddenly, she realized something...

It seems like I'm going to mate with this man...

Yesterday's unexpected situation made her forget about this "important matter".

But looking back now, a clear smile returned to Shia's face, and her steps gradually shifted in a different direction...

(End of this chapter)