The fire in the fireplace was burning, making the house extremely warm.
It was already late autumn. During the day, with the sun out, the temperature was still fairly high, around twenty degrees or so. But once night fell, it would drop straight down to around zero.
Once it rained, the chill became even damper and harsher, making people clearly feel that winter was about to arrive.
Inside the house, Yang Yi was flipping through the data and materials submitted by various departments. The tribe had just welcomed its second great harvest. This time, the scale was much larger than before.
Although the yield of the second-generation seeds had somewhat decreased, because of the expansion in scale and the fact that a large portion of the seeds still came from the space Yang Yi brought them out of, the overall output had still doubled.
“It’s still very dangerous.”
Yang Yi’s brows were tightly furrowed. The sudden surge in population had brought tremendous pressure to the tribe.
“Your expectations are too high. This speed of progress is already something no one would have even dared to imagine.” Hei Lie, who had entered at some unknown point, spoke.
“Now we have powerful weapons. We can hunt far more prey than before, many times more than in the past. What’s more, we also raise so many animals ourselves, and have grown this much grain. This winter will be a prosperity no one had ever thought possible.”
Yang Yi smiled, understanding this reasoning in his heart. But after living on Earth for so many years, his standards were completely different.
“We don’t know how cold the winter here gets. Is the cotton enough?”
“This year, no one will freeze to death,” Hei Lie said with certainty, but he did not directly answer Yang Yi’s question.
“Looks like the cotton is still not enough.” Yang Yi understood the meaning hidden in his words.
Hei Lie disagreed, saying, “Even without cotton, there’s still wool and animal hides. Why be so delicate?”
“Is this a matter of being delicate? This is a livelihood issue, my dear chief,” Yang Yi rolled his eyes.
“I was just joking, no need to be so serious.” Hei Lie scratched his head with a silly, flattering grin.
“Indeed, we can’t guarantee that every single person will have a set of thick clothes suitable for going outside, but it’s already enough. The houses are very warm. Coal mining has gone extremely smoothly. It can provide sufficient heat.”
Hei Lie instinctively glanced at the fireplace. Everyone already felt that the current dormitories were nearly perfect, but only when winter came would they truly realize what was so good about the tribe’s houses.
Even before building the houses, Yang Yi had already considered the issue of heating in winter.
According to the people of the Green Python Tribe, winters here were extremely harsh. Daytime was still manageable, but at night, the weak often, in the depths of midnight, would unknowingly lose their lives.
Therefore, when planning the houses, he thought about how to balance insulation.
The common metal-based heat conduction methods used on Earth were not feasible here, but it was possible to construct kangs[mfn]heated brick beds[/mfn] and heating systems in another way.
After countless experiments, and ultimately with the collective wisdom of the people, they designed a method where fire could be burned to transfer heat.
As houses continued to be built, this method was also continuously improved.
Although the effect was far inferior to the heat transmission methods of metal radiators, the first floor was still alright. It was like stepping on a heated brick bed. But on the upper floors, the heat that could reach was very little. Heating couldn’t really be relied on. It only made the temperature less freezing.
Therefore, when assigning dormitories, those with stronger constitutions would be deliberately placed on the upper floors, and those weaker in constitution would be arranged below.
In fact, those who got houses earlier weren’t necessarily better off, because the technology was still immature. Even now, the method remained very crude, so Yang Yi still relied on a fireplace for heating.
When the distribution was made, this point had already been explained. No one minded, and they still took pride in being able to move in as early as possible.
“Our houses are still not quite enough.”
Now that the weather had turned cold, it was gradually becoming unsuitable for building houses, as the mud would freeze.
“Just squeeze in a little. Why be so delicate?” Hei Lie still didn’t see this as a problem.
At present, houses no longer have two people to a room. Basically, four or five people or more had to sleep in one.
The older members were even arranged to stay in the school, the temple, and other such places at night. Aside from a few important locations, every other place had been arranged to house people.
“The older members don’t have any complaints?”
“They’ve only just begun living well for a few days. What complaints could they dare to have?!”
Yang Yi gave him a sidelong glance. Hei Lie rubbed his nose and said, “Being able to live in the temple, they’re more than happy.”
At present, those who could live in the temple were basically all the older members.
As for the two groups of newcomers, there was still a cautious attitude kept toward them.
After all, there were too many of them, and the time had been too short. It was still impossible to distinguish whether some among them harbored malicious intentions.
Especially the group Jing had brought back this time. They were very mixed, with so many people that it was difficult to sort through them in the short term.
Now that they possessed so many things that others coveted, the possibility of spies slipping in among such numbers was not impossible.
Several suspicious individuals had already been caught earlier. This time, they were not treated with the same leniency as Hong had been. Back then, Hong hadn’t even gone so far as to trespass into places that had been strictly warned against.
The tribe had discussed and decided to execute them directly. Their attitude is extremely firm.
Yang Yi had no objections to this. Sometimes a ruthless hand was necessary. Excessive mercy was cruelty toward oneself and one’s loved ones.
“Besides, the trade fair is about to begin. We can exchange for more furs and food,” Hei Lie clicked his tongue in amazement. “Having the technology is such an advantage!”
Whether it was paper, black pottery, ink, wine, or sugar, making them was indeed troublesome. It was time-consuming, laborious, and technically demanding.
Even just producing a small amount required tremendous effort and time.
But compared to what they could trade for in return, it was absolutely worth it.
It was even easier than farming, raising livestock, or hunting. Someone had even suggested before that they should simply put all their energy into manufacturing, since the returns would be greater.
At that time, quite a few people had agreed, because they had personally witnessed how just a small jug of liquor, a little paper, and a few bottles could be exchanged for such a great amount, inevitably giving rise to such thoughts.
Yang Yi had vetoed it on the spot, explaining to everyone what “necessities of life” were.
A tribe must have the ability to be self-sufficient. Otherwise, they would have their throats seized by others, and then those so-called luxuries wouldn’t fetch much of a price.
People could live without those luxuries, but without food, they would starve to death. Their risk resistance would be very weak, making it a loss rather than a gain.
Thinking about the upcoming trade fair, Yang Yi was also very excited.
The name of the Spark Tribe had already spread. In this period, tribes relatively nearby, along with small caravans, had been arriving one after another to trade goods.
Although the numbers weren’t many, and they still didn’t have the things Yang Yi most wanted, it was still something very exciting.
If they could become a new trade center, it would be extremely beneficial for the tribe’s development.
Especially now that their population was already large enough to withstand many dangers. Generally, no one would dare to easily provoke them.
“According to the current information, there will be a great many tribes coming to this trade fair. Hopefully, they’ll bring more of the things we want!”
It wasn’t just because of Spark’s reputation, but also because the Green Python Tribe had learned from Yang Yi how to refine salt and could now provide more of it.
This made more tribes willing to come here. Although the Black Forest was considered a remote region, compared to other places to trade for salt, it was relatively closer.
Moreover, the quality of the Green Python Tribe’s red salt was very good. Once production had been stabilized, the price was also quite fair, which made it even more attractive.
“I just got word. En’s caravan is already close to the Black Forest. He’s bringing a lot of big ones.”
“Big ones?” Yang Yi was curious.
Hei Lie’s eyes lit up. “It should be animals, and the caravan is very large. I think he’s already taken to heart what we told him before.”
“That’s really wonderful!” Yang Yi brightened as well. “It looks like competition on the Western Continent is also very fierce.”
“I suspect the Western Continent has even more conflicts than the Eastern Continent, with very tense relations between each other,” Hei Lie voiced his guess.
Western Continent caravans were extremely numerous, roaming everywhere, and their figures could be seen all around.
Not only did they trade goods, but they also traded information.
But they rarely spoke of the Western Continent—only vaguely saying how rich and powerful it was.
From the sense of superiority in their words, and from the goods they brought, one could only make rough guesses.
But how many people there were in the Western Continent, how vast it was, how many caravans came here, no one had ever given a clear answer.
“The development of civilization will also escalate resource competition. The fact that they extend their business all the way to the Eastern Continent, and their favorite trade is for strong manpower, already says something.”
Yang Yi did not believe the Western Continent caravans’ talk, as though the Western Continent were some paradise where gold could be picked up from the ground.
That was just like some brainwashing slogans on the internet. Having been bombarded by such brainwashing packages often—going from firmly believing at first to later being able to spot them easily—Yang Yi had every reason to doubt their credibility.
“After the fair, if there’s a chance, we can go take a look.”
Yang Yi was surprised. He hadn’t expected Hei Lie to have such an idea.
“What’s with that look? The world is so big, of course I want to go see it!” Hei Lie was displeased.
Yang Yi was even more astonished. This kind of internet slang, there was no way Hei Lie could have read it from a book, right?
“You told me before,” Hei Lie muttered.
Yang Yi gave a dry laugh. “I’ve said too much to you, I’ve forgotten all about it.”
Hei Lie instantly brightened again. His expression changed visibly, like the weather, leaving Yang Yi utterly baffled.
“The security for the trade fair must be guaranteed. I can’t help but feel something is going to happen.”
At the mention of official business, Hei Lie immediately grew serious.
“I’ll strengthen the guard and set apart a dedicated trading area to prevent certain people from ‘accidentally wandering in’.”
This time, the trading area for the fair had been specially designated. To say it was specially set up was actually just to say that the land was leveled and sections were marked out, making it easier for everyone to set up their stalls.
As for lodging, it wouldn’t be like during the last festival when everything was provided.
They weren’t fools, and there was no custom here of charging stall fees. Although profit could still be made from it, at present, they neither had the ability nor the need to cover everyone’s food and lodging.
Just being able to open up such a large area and ensure that people weren’t threatened by wild beasts was already extremely difficult.
Everyone who came here had been eating in the open and sleeping under the sky along the way. Even upon arriving in the trading area, they could handle those problems themselves.
The Spark Tribe only provided the location. Water was free, but could only be fetched in line at designated spots.
Food, lodging, firewood, and the like all had to be settled on one’s own. If they wanted it provided, it could be arranged by trading goods for it.
The trading area was far from the central part of the tribe, especially away from sensitive zones. All around it, there were special watchtowers for surveillance, both openly stationed and hidden guards.
Hei Lie had been busy with these matters during this time.
Yang Yi nodded. “The most important thing is to be careful of collusion from inside and outside. The tribe seems to have people stirring restlessly lately.”
