Su Bai looked at the very excited Mai Mang, inexplicably reminded of the orphanage director’s constant words to him, ‘You must study! If you don’t study, your life is over! Study desperately. Since you are all orphans, without parents to support you, you can only find your own way in life. You can’t be old man who has no skills. I didn’t study back then. When my first step is slow, every step afterwards gets slower. The more you know, the more choices you have in life…’
Before, Su Bai thought the director was being too long-winded. However, after he went out to work, he began to understand the director’s words.
In the few days since he had transmigrated here, looking at the people of the Tribe, he truly understood the feelings and emotions behind the director’s words back then.
“Shaman, how do we build a classroom? I’ll start right away,” Mai Mang hurriedly said.
“The most important thing is to set up the pillars. They will be the foundation that supports the entire classroom.” Su Bai crouched down, broke off a tree branch and began drawing on the ground.
“Set up a wooden pillar every four steps. Five pillars on each side. The most important part is the roof of the classroom. Use more grass ropes to make an ‘A’-shaped roof supported with wood. You can cover it with wild grass once the structure is set.”
According to his drawing, the classroom would be a large room ten metres long and ten metres wide. It would not just be used for teaching; with some modifications, it could also serve as a house for the orphans to live in.
“The toilet and bathing area will have the same structure, just scale it down by a few factors. It will be surrounded by branches and dry grass,” Su Bai drew another diagram next to it.
The classroom itself was special. The openings would not be surrounded by branches and dry grass. He decided to use animal hides to enclose it, making it easy to dismantle. During the day, the animal hides around the classroom could be removed, creating a bright, open classroom on all sides. At night, it could be enclosed to serve as a room for the orphans.
“I’ll go get more wood and wild grass,” Yan Hua said, having heard the explanation and knowing that they would need a lot of wood and wild grass.
“Then, let’s begin,” Su Bai softly said.
“Alright,” Mai Mang got up and walked towards the pile of wood. He picked up a log as thick as a thigh, pulled out the Stone Knife from behind his waist, and quickly sharpened the wood.
*Ha!* He let out a low shout, and the Totem Mark on his chest appeared. The veins in his arms bulged. After building up strength for three seconds, he hugged the log and thrust it into the ground.
*Bang!* At least half a metre of the log was driven into the ground, with the end of the log still vibrating. This showed how much force Mai Mang had used.
*Huff huff…* Mai Mang was heavily panting, looking at the log with some dissatisfaction. The length he had driven into the ground was still too short.
“…” Su Bai looked at Mai Mang with a forehead full of black lines. [What kind of brute operation is this? Does he think he is a ‘Human pile driver’?]
He stepped forward and criticised, “Mai Mang, just dig the holes first. You’re wasting too much energy doing it .”
“Let me try again,” Mai Mang said reluctantly, thinking he could set up the wooden pillar in one go, not expecting his strength to still be lacking.
“No need to try again. The ground here has been trampled on for a long time. It’s tougher than the usual ground out in the wild,” Su Bai calmly explained. [Moreover, the location I chose for the classroom is close to the centre of the Tribe. It’s an area frequently trampled on by people.]
“Hmmm…” Mai Mang paused for two seconds, suddenly feeling what the Shaman said to make a lot of sense.
“Do you hunt so recklessly too?” Su Bai asked curiously.
“Huh?” Mai Mang was stunned for a moment, then reacted, saying irritably, “How is that possible? Ferocious Beasts aren’t idiots, how could they just stand there letting us hit them?”
“Perhaps?” Su Bai shrugged. [Brutes don’t realise they’re being reckless when they act. They typically call it bravery.]
“Shaman, the ditch has been dug,” Mai Mao came running over.
“Go help dig holes,” Su Bai ordered.
“Yes,” Mai Mao quickly responded and went to help dig holes.
Time slowly passed, the sun gradually tilted towards the west, and the changes in the Tribe became more and more apparent. The toilet and bathing area were being built by several Warrior Trainees, while the classroom was the responsibility of Mai Mang, his Son, and Yan Hua.
One of the good things about primitive society was the physical fitness of the Totem Warriors. Even the Warrior Trainees had strong Physiques. They worked at an incredibly fast pace. Work that would take ordinary people half an hour, they could finish in just a few minutes.
The wooden structure of the completed classroom stood erect, with Mai Mang throwing bundles of grass from the ground onto the classroom’s wooden roof frame.
Mai Mao and Yan Hua were on top of the classroom, one on each side. They were thatching the roof with dry grass. They would definitely be able to finish before dark.
Yu Ying came over carrying water, exclaiming in admiration when she saw the classroom, “What a big house!”
“Is this the first time you’ve seen such a big house?” Su Bai raised an eyebrow as he asked.
“En-hmm, this is the first time,” Yu Ying nodded and softly said, “Before, in the Ancestral Land, we all lived in caves. Only large tribes had houses .”
“Don’t worry. In the future, we’ll live in even better houses than this,” Su Bai said confidently. [Given the chance, I will definitely build brick and tile houses!]
“En, I believe in you, Shaman,” Yu Ying said softly, handing over a cup of water.
She could feel that ever since the new Shaman had arrived, the Tribe had changed. It was not as oppressive and frightening as before. It was as if life had been injected into it, bringing it new vitality.
“It won’t be long,” Su Bai said with a smile, taking the water from the fox eared girl.
Silavin: Congratulations! For the voting poll, this has won 2nd place with 119 votes out of 500! Let’s go!
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