Chapter 198

Baifeng, having nothing to do, had no choice but to go to the construction site to supervise them building houses, and while he was at it, he checked on the Tea Trees in his tea garden; they currently looked like they were doing just fine, and the temperature inside the Glass greenhouse was also quite acceptable, making Baifeng feel that he could even sit inside during Winter, basking in the sun and drinking Wine.

Sui and Chinv were also gradually building a good relationship; after all, they would be sleeping on the same kang in the future, and the two of them also had some common topics, namely that in their respective tribes, and even in the current Baifeng tribe, neither of them could be considered beauties.

It was just that now, because Sui ate well and did not have to do too much work, her skin had become increasingly fair and delicate, and her figure had become better and better; placed in later generations, she would be a genuine beauty, and now no tribesmen said Sui was an ugly woman, but in their eyes, it was just a feeling of being relatively balanced, and they couldn't say where she was beautiful, as they essentially still preferred that kind of sturdy woman.

After waiting for several days, the tools Baifeng needed were finally prepared, and only then did Baifeng begin papermaking; they put the various Grass and wood they had collected into a large pot to boil, needing to boil it until it felt mushy, and although Baifeng didn't know when it would be ready, he could only estimate it roughly, and after scooping it out and putting it into a large wooden bucket, he used a Stone Pestle to pound it vigorously until it had completely disintegrated into dregs, at which point Baifeng felt it could be used to scoop paper.

Scooping paper also required a very large container, but fortunately, Baifeng had already told the Carpenter about this matter in advance; after finishing the wooden bucket, Ben hurried to build that large wooden trough, and because there was no suitable large log to dig out directly, they used the same method they used for building a Boat to nail together a large, square wooden trough.

Baifeng remembered that scooping paper required something that looked very finely woven, like a mat, so that the paper pulp could be scooped up, and Baifeng had also arranged this early on, letting those tribesmen who made bamboo ware split bamboo strips into extremely fine threads, and then weave such a bamboo screen.

When Baifeng threw the paper pulp he thought was well-beaten into the wooden trough and prepared to scoop the paper, he already vaguely felt that something was wrong in his heart, because the fibers floating inside were truly too thick and too long, and there were many impurities; he felt that under these circumstances, paper could not be made, but he still held onto a fluke mentality and tried to scoop it, only to find in the end that what he scooped up were pieces of wood dregs, and even if it could stick together into a sheet of paper, it would be the kind that wasn't even good enough for wiping one's butt.

It felt just like the so-called papyrus unearthed in the ancient West, a joke, and Baifeng finally understood that whether it was Grass or bamboo, it all needed to go through the step of retting before it was finally possible to break down the fibers.

Thus, Baifeng's great papermaking enterprise was once again indefinitely shelved; they had to spend a few months waiting for the materials to be retted, by which time it would already be Spring, so Baifeng's papermaking could not be done, and his large firecrackers could not be made either; it seemed that everything he wanted to do was currently not working, which made Baifeng extremely depressed.

The tribesmen also saw that the Tribal Chief hadn't made anything, so they knew they might have been busy for nothing during this time, but none of them had any complaints, and the tools that had been made were placed into the warehouse to see if there would be a chance to use them next Spring.

Baifeng hadn't been depressed for many days before it started to Snow, and Winter descended completely after this snowfall, with the temperature never rising again.

The Slaves also got some rest time, because they couldn't do anything when it Snowed, and they all lay one by one in rooms where the sun couldn't reach; if anyone went in, they would feel the air in the entire room was suffocating, foul, and stinking.

The Slaves' houses didn't have anything to keep warm, and there was no kang, but fortunately they had enough Wild Rice straw to lie on, and with so many people huddled together, they wouldn't freeze to death, and the temperature was even quite acceptable; Baifeng didn't dare to set up fires for them, because if even a tiny spark flew out onto the straw-covered floor, the whole room of people might be burned to death inside.

The Free Persons were much more comfortable; at least they had large shared beds to sleep on, and with the sufficient kang-filling materials and large stoves collected earlier, they passed the first warm Winter of their lives that they would never forget; in the past, during Winter, they had to throw firewood into their campfires all night long to ensure their chests were warm, while their backs would constantly be blown by the cold wind.

But this year they didn't have to worry at all about freezing to death, and the same went for the Slaves; the Winters they spent when they were in their own tribes were not as comfortable as the Baifeng tribe this year, and what's more, even if they didn't work, the Baifeng tribe would provide them with one meal a day, and although it didn't reach the level of letting them fatten up, they were completely unafraid of starving to death during Winter.

They had previously worried about what would happen if it Snowed in Winter, because they felt that if they didn't work, the Baifeng tribe wouldn't provide food, but they really didn't expect the Baifeng tribe to be so good, and they all had the thought of wanting to worship Baifeng as a deity.

Now that the Soldiers of the Baifeng tribe had no work to do, they continued their drills, for the training of a Soldier could not stop for a moment, and this year their ranks had increased by some people, because some thin and weak tribesmen had gradually become robust, and some teenagers had truly grown into strong men, so the main force of the Baifeng tribe had grown a bit stronger once again.

The other tribesmen had nothing to do and were bored, so countless tic-tac-toe grids appeared on the snowy ground, with crosses and circles drawn inside, all traces left by their entertainment; Baifeng thought that instead of this, it would be better to come up with something more fun.

Thus, the Carpenters of the Baifeng tribe suffered once again; they made many skis according to Baifeng's requirements, and then Baifeng experienced them himself first; the skis felt very difficult to control, and of course, he couldn't be the only one to make a fool of himself, so Baifeng also arranged for the strongest Soldiers like Xiong and the others to use skis to exercise together.

In this way, it was more fun and could pass the time, and secondly, skis could also be used in war; for example, if a war occurred in Winter, they could easily and perfectly strike other tribes who could only walk while sinking into the Snow.

This thing could also be used on ice; the Dahe had also frozen over, and one could go up and slide on it wantonly; besides skis, Baifeng also drew sketches of a Sled and had the Carpenters make them.