I am a Primitive Man

Chapter 330: Catching Loaches

How to dispel worries? Only with delicious food!

During this period, Han Cheng, thinking about metal ores so much that his head was spinning, decided to soothe his injured soul with a hearty meal.

He made this decision partly because he was feeling a bit down and partly because, while the group responsible for digging drainage ditches kept digging all the way to the riverbank, they spotted some loaches.

Upon hearing the news, Han Cheng decided he wanted to catch some loaches to eat.

Upon hearing the master's request, the person in charge of using fish traps to catch fish, along with the others digging the water channels, felt quite hesitant. This was because loaches were extremely slippery and difficult to catch. Sometimes, they could be caught by chance while fishing, but they would still slip out of the gaps in the fish traps. (The gaps between the fish traps of the Green Sparrow Tribe were relatively large, aiming to catch fewer small fish.)

Loaches were too slippery to catch?

After hearing what everyone said, Han Cheng chuckled. It seemed like he had to do it himself.

Before he could act, Lame patted his chest, saying he had a way and was guaranteed to catch loaches for the master.

Han Cheng was quite curious about what idea Lame had come up with.

Loaches spent most of their time hiding in the mud, making them difficult to catch. With Lame's confidence, could it be that he used conditioner?

Lame's method was simple: weaving a finer fish trap with thinner branches.

This way, once the loaches entered the fish trap, they could not escape.

After hearing this, Han Cheng shook his head. It was a method, but its efficiency would not be too high.

Because loaches, unlike fish, didn't like swimming in the water. It was not easy to get them into the fish trap.

Seeing his method rejected by the Divine Child, Lame scratched his head.

If this method didn't work, then he really couldn't think of a better one.

Should he use a bone shovel to dig by the river? That would be more trouble than using fish traps.

In his puzzlement, Han Cheng brought stone knives, bone knives, and the bamboo pole he had cut in the bamboo forest before, which he would use as a pole.

He used the stone knife and bone knife to split two sections of bamboo and carefully made some bamboo splints a few millimeters thick.

Making bamboo splints wasn't easy without sharp metal tools. Although Han Cheng was cautious, he couldn't make very thin and uniform bamboo splints.

Fortunately, he didn't need to weave anything, and the carved bamboo splints needed to be cut into extremely short pieces so they could be used reluctantly.

After making them, he brought some tree branches thinner than his fingers, flattened one end, drilled a small hole, and then threaded one of the previously cut bamboo splints, about two centimeters long, through it and secured it in place.

Lame looked at these half-meter-long sticks, unable to figure out how to use them to catch loaches.

In his opinion, this thing was not as reliable as his suggestion to reweave the fish trap.

But Han Cheng didn't share Lame's concerns. He knew best in his heart whether or not this thing was reliable.

Looking at the hundred or so of these things that had been made, and with the sun already leaning westward, according to the calculation from his past life, it was probably around five o'clock. The sun would set in about two hours, so Han Cheng stopped working.

Although some things were left, catching one or two bowls of loaches should not be a problem.

Han Cheng, with the bone shovel, Bai Xue, carrying the "cards," and some other spectators headed towards the small river.

Did they have to use a bone shovel to dig?

Watching the master calmly walk out with a bone shovel, Lame scratched his head in place before following along.

After arriving at the small river, Han Cheng started digging, not for loaches but earthworms.

The riverbank was damp, and after years of accumulation, it had decomposed grass, leaves, and other materials, making the soil fertile, which earthworms liked to inhabit.

Sure enough, in no time, many earthworms were dug up.

Primitive people were much braver than people from later generations and had no fear of various insects. Under Han Cheng's orders, Bai Xue and the others pinched the cool, sticky earthworms from the soil and placed them in a cracked pottery bowl.

Then, following Han Cheng's demonstration, they cut the earthworms into small pieces.

Han Cheng vaguely remembered that when an earthworm was cut in half, it wouldn't die and could turn into two. However, these earthworms dug up didn't have this opportunity because they were threaded onto the bamboo splints once they were cut.

Bai Xue pinched the bamboo splint threaded onto a small stick with her fingers and joined the two ends together. Due to its excellent flexibility, the bamboo splint didn't break. Then, she threaded the cut earthworm pieces onto it.

After releasing her hand, the bamboo splint, constrained by the earthworms, arched but didn't open up.

Because most of the "cards" had been threaded, Han Cheng picked up some of the finished ones and inserted them into the mud in the shallow water along the riverbank. They were inserted about ten centimeters deep, with one inserted every half meter.

The cards inserted into the water weren't very conspicuous. Without careful observation, they could easily be overlooked.

Time was tight today, so they hurriedly made the cards. Later, they could tie feathers to the tops of the cards so that when it was time to collect them, they could easily see where the cards were and avoid losing them.

Looking at the line of cards extending along the riverbank, a smile appeared on Han Cheng's face.

"Big Brother Cheng, are we going back now?"

Bai Xue looked at the cards in the river and asked with confusion.

The others also looked at Han Cheng with puzzlement.

Han Cheng reached out and twiddled Bai Xue's braids, smiling and nodding. "Let's go back to eat. We'll harvest a lot of loaches tomorrow morning."

Following Han Cheng, everyone walked back, occasionally looking back at the riverbank. They couldn't figure out how these simple sticks could catch the slippery loaches.

But Lame, who was walking behind, showed a thoughtful expression.

"Another one!"

The sun had not yet risen, and on the grass, with dewdrops and a light mist gently enveloping the riverbank, Bai Xue's cheerful voice rang out with surprise.

She was holding a card that had just been pulled out of the muddy water by the riverbank. At the bottom of the card hung a loach.

The usually slippery loach had become extremely docile now.

Its mucous couldn't save it from misfortune anymore because the stretched bamboo splint firmly held its mouth open, making it unable to escape.

"There's another one here!"

Xing also shouted happily. All the usually elusive loaches were now obediently caught, making them overjoyed.

For a moment, the riverbank was full of the joy of the harvest.

Watching this scene, Han Cheng also smiled, feeling as if he had returned to his childhood days of catching loaches under harvested rice fields...

" Brother Cheng, what's that?"