I am a Primitive Man

Chapter 324: Stone Flint and Shu Pi

The people of the Green Sparrow Tribe stared wide-eyed, closely watching Han Cheng's every move, especially those who had personally pressed the drills against the stones, refusing even to blink.

They wanted to see how the Divine Child would manage to drill out the eyes from the stones, a method they had already tested and confirmed to be unfeasible.

On one side of the ground lay a groove previously carved by Mu Tou.

Han Cheng placed the well-adjusted hand-powered drill bit into this shallow groove.

Instead of drilling directly, he took a small handful of something from his pocket and placed it into the groove.

It was sand.

Han Cheng didn't possess the magical ability to turn stones into gold. Like the other tribesmen who had tried drilling with wooden sticks, he couldn't accomplish it either.

But adding some fine sand into the mix changed everything.

This idea wasn't something he came up with on the spot. When he was young, his family had two stone mills used to grind sesame oil to sell in nearby villages. He often played around those oil mills and heard about this method from the idle chatter of the older generation.

Of course, Han Cheng didn't know whether they used hand-powered drills.

Even stone mills with about ten centimeters could be drilled through, let alone these thin stone strips only three centimeters thick.

This was also why Han Cheng dared to boast confidently even without conducting a half-real experiment.

"Chirp chirp~"

"Chirp chirp~"

With Han Cheng's up and down movements, the wooden drill began to rotate back and forth, squeezing the sand inside the stone groove and rubbing against the stone strip, emitting a slightly grating sound.

The river pebbles lose all their edges and become smooth due to the erosion of the river.

In addition to water, rivers also carry fine sediments, key elements.

Watching all of this, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe showed a sudden realization, not that they understood the principle behind it, but they had a similar revelation, "The Divine Child indeed doesn't rely solely on hand-powered drills."

Drilling through stone was much slower compared to drilling through wood.

They could finally see the effect after replacing the ground-up sand three times in a row.

The pit became a bit deeper, and the surrounding walls, initially uneven from Mu Tou's chiseling, appeared much smoother.

Mu Tou, squatting on the side, watched with shining eyes. The method the Divine Child had just devised progressed much faster than he had been using before!

When chiseling with stones, the speed is initially faster, but as the pit deepens, the speed decreases rapidly. Moreover, one must be constantly vigilant to avoid damaging the tool.

However, this method was different. The deeper the pit, the faster the drilling, and there was no need to worry about the stones below breaking apart. Plus, using a hand-powered drill was much more convenient than holding a stone to chisel.

Don't doubt why Mu Tou knows so much because the hand-powered drill is in his hands at this moment...

With these initial results, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe completely believed what Han Cheng had said about drilling holes in stones with wood.

The next day, the holes in the stone strips were thoroughly drilled through, forming very round holes.

A prepared wooden handle was inserted into the hole, and wooden wedges were tightly inserted around it, finally completing the pickaxe!

The angle between the wooden handle and the stone pickaxe was about seventy degrees, which was conducive to the leverage principle. This allowed the pickaxe to "catch" more soil and be more labor-saving.

After Han Cheng had personally demonstrated it, the pickaxe ended up in the hands of the Eldest Senior Brother.

"Splish!"

Under the crowd's gaze, the pickaxe lifted by the Eldest Senior Brother fell directly into the soil, penetrating more than ten centimeters deep.

The Eldest Senior Brother lifted the pickaxe's handle upwards, and the pickaxe embedded in the mud lifted a large chunk of soil.

With this action, it was almost equivalent to digging three times with a bone shovel!

Witnessing the usefulness of the pickaxe, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe were very excited.

The Divine Child had described the golden dream of millet to them more than once, and they were deeply fascinated by it.

Now, with the pickaxe as a tool for turning the soil, they had more confidence in planting tempting grains around the tribe...

Starting things is always tricky, but with the first successful manufacturing of the pickaxe, expanding production became much easier.

Three people who were skilled in making bone tools were selected from among the people of the original Bone Tribe to join Mu Tou in chiseling stones.

They chiseled stone strips about five units wide, three units thick, and twenty units long.

Several people were also assigned to use specially made hand-powered drills to drill holes in the stones and sharpen one end.

To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools. Allocating manpower and manufacturing tools conducive to cultivation was necessary to carry out large-scale land cultivation.

While the Green Sparrow Tribe was bustling with single-minded efforts to seek development and pursue a better life, things were happening in places unseen.

"Splash!"

The sound of breaking water echoed as a rudimentary fish cage woven from tree branches burst out of the water, tilting onto the grassy bank. A half-jumping, half-falling fish escaped from the cage, eager to return to the water to enjoy the legendary aquatic bliss.

"Slap!"

Two large hands suddenly appeared, catching the fish and slamming it hard onto the ground. It struggled for a moment before lying still, unable to return to the water, its eyes wide open in death.

A primitive man, wearing animal skins and leaves, picked up the fish that could no longer enjoy the water's embrace. He threaded a twig through its gills and strung it with three or four other fish.

After finishing this task, he tossed the rudimentary fish cage back into the water and began to wait.

Not far behind him, there was a pile of slowly extinguishing fires with some fish bones beside it.

The primitive man stood there for a while, watching the fish cage sinking into the riverbed, then squatted down and used his hands to scoop up water to wash his face.

This was a habit he had developed in the tribe that had given him countless beautiful memories.

The cool river water washed away the dust from his face. Through the slightly rippling reflection, one could see his appearance. Although his beard and hair had grown, he was still recognizable.

This man was none other than Shu Pi, who had been expelled from the Green Sparrow Tribe and was believed to be long dead.

Having washed his face, Shu Pi squatted by the river, gazing at his reflection in the water, and began to recall his experiences during this period.

At first, he thought he was going to die. Homeless, he lingered in the Green Sparrow Tribe for a while before finally leaving that dreamlike tribe people longed for. He didn't know where to go, wandering until he eventually returned to his original tribe.