The crisp sound crackled inside the room, very rhythmic.
Hei Lie walked into the study and saw Yang Yi tapping something with his left hand while holding a pen in his right hand to write.
This was Yang Yi’s new study, built on the third floor of the temple’s middle building.
The new study was personally arranged by Yang Yi, entirely in a Chinese style, whether it was the furniture or the window lattices.
Yang Yi would not deliberately guide the tribespeople to follow his own aesthetics, but when it came to his own space, he still wanted to arrange it in the style he liked.
Right now, he was a rich man with a large amount of golden nanmu wood, so naturally, a Chinese style suited best.
On one side of the study stood a wide golden nanmu desk. On it were placed a brush rack, with brushes of different sizes and materials hanging from it, as well as an inkstone, paperweights, and so on. The Four Treasures of the Study, most commonly seen in a Chinese study, were all here, complete and in order.
The chair was also very Chinese in style. Behind it was a bookshelf, on which many ornaments were arranged, mostly pottery fired by the tribe.
There were also some strange rocks that Yang Yi had picked up, as well as parts of some animals.
Amidst the ancient cultural elegance, there was also a touch of eeriness.
On the wall hung his calligraphy, bold and powerful, full of ease and flair.
Yang Yi felt that after coming here, even his brushstrokes had changed somewhat.
In the past, his grandfather often said that his strokes were not sharp enough, not strong enough, too soft, and lacking grandeur. But if the old man were to see his writing now, he surely would not give that evaluation anymore.
This was probably due to changes in environment and state of mind, which brought new insights into his calligraphy. This was one of the charms of Chinese calligraphy.
It was not simply writing, but an art.
In the whole tribe now, aside from him, the one with the most beautiful handwriting was Han Bing.
Although Hei Lie was clever, this was his weak spot.
But considering he had only studied for a few months, being able to write to this level was already no easy feat.
It was just that compared to his comprehension in other areas, his ability in writing appeared much weaker.
In another corner stood a rather low tea table in a tatami style, with rattan cushions placed on top.
When resting or relaxing, one could sit there to drink tea or take a break.
One side of the study faced the plaza. A row of windows made the room very bright, with no need to light lamps until sunset.
“So this is an abacus?” Hei Lie pulled out a chair and sat down in front of Yang Yi.
Yang Yi stopped. He put down the pen in his hand, stood up, and stretched lazily, loosening all the muscles in his body.
“Yes. Our tribe now needs to record more and more data. Mental calculation will gradually be unable to meet daily needs, but with an abacus, efficiency will be much higher.”
It was only recently that Yang Yi remembered such a miraculous tool. After searching for a long time, he finally found the relevant information in the space.
The space wasn’t like a marketplace. The things here were piled together without being organized, and there was no way to search.
Each time he wanted something, it took a great deal of effort. He often forgot this or missed that.
Yang Yi had once thought about setting aside a special time to organize it. But after seeing that massive pile of items, nothing ever came of it.
When he was a child, Yang Yi had learned mental abacus, so he had some basic skills.
Although he had forgotten most of it, once he picked up the books again, he was able to get started quickly and grasp the most basic techniques.
Abacus calculation was truly vast and profound. Before the birth of the computer, it was definitely a powerful tool for calculation.
Back when China was first building its atomic bomb, many of the figures were calculated by scientists using abacuses.
Therefore, learning the abacus was of great importance. However, Yang Yi’s current level was still only the simplest addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. He himself was still in the beginner’s stage of learning.
“Then I want to learn it, too.”
“You should learn it. Mastering the abacus will also greatly improve your mental arithmetic ability and train your mind.” Yang Yi nodded.
“Abacus calculation will be included as a required course. There are already several people who are good at mathematics learning the abacus with me. Their progress has been very fast. Once the new school officially begins classes, the best among them can be chosen as abacus teachers.”
The new school was built directly behind the temple, able to accommodate five to six hundred students at the same time, with space deliberately reserved for future expansion as the number of people increased.
The classrooms were set up just like on Earth, with both large and small rooms, making it convenient for different teaching methods.
The tribe needed to actively promote literacy education, but at the same time, it could not allow a large number of people to leave production work. The normal operation of the tribe had to be guaranteed.
Therefore, for now, the number of full-time students was still very small, mostly children aged three to eight.
And even the children were not only required to study. They still had to participate in tribal labor, though it was all lighter, simpler tasks.
Most of the study time was arranged for the afternoons. Here, there was no such thing as weekends or rest days. The tribe was still far from being able to establish that kind of welfare system, which depended on abundance and safety.
These people had never even heard of the word “rest”. Every day, they were busy. They had long since grown used to such a life.
At most, only in the heavy snows of winter would things not be so hectic. But during those times, they always felt uneasy and anxious.
As soon as the weather improved even slightly, they would go out to search for food. Even if they had stores of grain in hand, they would never dare to sit idle and consume it away.
This was a habit formed under harsh conditions. At first, Yang Yi even thought about implementing a weekend rest system, but Hei Lie and Jiao rejected it outright without hesitation.
They felt that life was already very relaxed now. Being able to stop work early in the day was enough. To set aside an entire day just for rest would be far too extravagant.
Yang Yi also realized that this was his own rigid way of thinking. He was a lazy person, judging others by himself, always feeling that continuous work without rest would be suffocating. That was why he proposed it.
Since the people here could handle it, he would not insist on his own ideas. If problems came up, he could always adjust later.
As for the adult classes, they were mostly held in the form of night school, with two or three afternoons per week allocated as well.
The current basic literacy standard was set roughly at the level of a primary school graduate in China.
This was something everyone was required to reach. As for whether they wanted to continue further, that depended on each individual’s willingness and ability.
The higher the level of elite education, the more study time would be given, aimed at cultivating specialized professional talent.
The specific arrangements were all discussed and calculated together by Yang Yi, Jiao, Hei Lie, and several other outstanding talents from the tribe. They had to ensure that every department could operate normally while carrying out the corresponding education.
After all, their foundation was still weak. There were too many things that needed to be accomplished.
Education was indeed very important, but it also had to be under the condition that they could fill their stomachs first.
Hei Lie had no objections: “After the great harvest, we can officially start school.”
Classes had already been ongoing, but once the new school was formally established, there would be some adjustments.
This included scheduling, teaching methods, textbooks, and so on. Everything would be more standardized than before.
Yang Yi rubbed his temples: “Before that, we still have a lot of preparation work to do, such as printing textbooks.”
Previously, most students had no textbooks. Teachers would write everything bit by bit on the blackboard, and the students would follow along.
That way, there was no way to preview or review, which was very inconvenient and lowered efficiency.
Now that they were already capable of producing paper and with efficiency still acceptable, it was time to begin printing.
“You don’t need to worry about that. The pottery group and Han Bing are already trying out the movable-type printing you mentioned, and it’s going quite well.”
Yang Yi couldn’t help but laugh: “The pottery group really is too busy. They have to handle everything.”
What they were using was clay movable-type printing. First, they would mold and carve clay into uniform-sized stamps of individual characters, then fire them into pottery.
When printing, they only needed to arrange the required characters in order, and they could produce a large quantity of printed materials.
The more they printed, the higher the efficiency became, making it especially suitable for printing large quantities of books like textbooks.
But if the demand for books wasn’t large, then movable-type printing would actually be less efficient.
Therefore, for now, copying the books Yang Yi had brought out from the space was still mainly done by hand.
“Their team is quite large. The more efficient they become, the less manpower they need. Now that there’s this extra task, it saves us from having to reassign some people back.”
The tribe’s demand for pottery was no longer as high as before, so part of the workforce had to be cut and redistributed.
“The work for those reassigned people must also be handled well to prevent them from having other feelings about it.”
Hei Lie gave him a deep look: “You always think about these strange things.”
Yang Yi could only smile wryly: “I’m just paying attention to everyone’s emotions. If someone gets used to a task and then suddenly gets reassigned elsewhere, of course, they won’t feel happy about it.”
Hei Lie still couldn’t quite understand, but he still said:
“Fine, I’ll have the union pay attention to this, though I don’t think it’s really necessary.”
Taking advantage of this festival and the completion of the temple, Yang Yi reorganized and reallocated the different departments, establishing a more complete management system.
The highest leader was the chieftain, still held by Hei Lie for the time being.
It was just that the selection system would change. There would not only be a martial selection but also written examinations. Their tribe could not allow an illiterate person to take charge.
Next came the shaman, mainly responsible for calming the people internally, as well as handling external reception affairs, assisting the chieftain in his work.
Yang Yi was the Divine Envoy, still standing above the chieftain and the shaman, possessing absolute authority. He was also the one and only.
It was not a position. If Yang Yi were to leave, it would mean the tribe would no longer have a Divine Envoy.
Below him, the structure was divided by function into the Secretariat, Logistics Department, Armed Forces Department, Construction Department, Agriculture Department, Resources Department, Foreign Affairs Department, Education Department, Communications Department, Judicial Department, and a union specifically responsible for protecting workers’ rights.
At present, the union mainly handles collecting information on the members of each department, as well as their specific assignments and arrangements.
Most of the positions in the tribe were flexible and relatively mobile.
Unless someone was truly gifted or a technical talent who would remain in one place, most others were simply laborers. Like bricks, they were moved wherever they were needed.
However, the union would also allocate people according to their traits and preferences, which required updating everyone’s information in a timely manner. After all, people were constantly improving and changing.
Especially since some people might suddenly awaken talents one day. While most showed early signs beforehand, there were also some who awakened talents that had nothing to do with themselves at all.
On top of that, there was also acquired learning, so the information could never remain fixed.
The union’s work required the active cooperation of all departments. At the same time, it also influenced them in return.
At present, its role is equivalent to the Ministry of Personnel, overseeing human resources.
All departmental offices were located in the buildings on either side of the temple, with a reception desk at the front to assist those who didn’t know where to go or whom to look for, providing guidance. The reception desk was managed by the Secretariat.
Currently, there were not many managers, and they often held multiple posts, since the tribe’s population was still very small.
And almost no one stayed in the office all the time. They were often running around everywhere.
Yang Yi’s intention was to establish the management system right from the beginning and put it into practice, so that when the population gradually grew, people could quickly step into their roles.
This way, everything was clear and straightforward, letting everyone know more clearly what they should be doing.
During this period, adjustments could also be made according to specific situations, gradually improving bit by bit.
“I just boiled some taro and fox nut sweet soup in the pot earlier. It should be chilled with well water by now. Do you want some?”
Hei Lie’s tone suddenly shifted. Clearly, they had just been discussing official matters, but now he had turned to casual home talk.
Yang Yi was helpless: “You’re so busy every day. How do you still have time to make these things?”
“The fox nuts were already peeled and sent over. I just threw them into the pot, that’s all.”
Hei Lie’s attitude was natural, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Ever since he had started cooking small meals especially for Yang Yi, he had become more and more interested in cooking. Not only could he make hearty dishes, but he had even begun preparing desserts and sweets.
Yang Yi had always been fond of food. Whether it was fiery, sour, and refreshing, or sweet desserts and soups, he liked them all.
Here, it was easy to get hungry, and snacks were needed. Whenever Hei Lie had the time, he would make something.
Sometimes, before leaving, he would even prepare food in advance and have someone warm it up and deliver it at the right time.
Yang Yi truly didn’t know how this man had so much time. Hei Lie’s responsibilities should have been even greater than his own, not less.
Yang Yi was only a commander. Many plans, once completed, were simply assigned downwards. At most, he would supervise at key moments.
Hei Lie was different. He had to ensure that not a single step went wrong, so he personally oversaw everything.
He also had to train the soldiers, lead hunts, and conduct his own training to make sure his combat strength kept improving.
Aside from all the tribal affairs, every day he was as busy as a spinning top.
And yet, he always managed to carve out time to do little things completely out of line with his appearance and the duties he handled outside.
Now that they had moved into the new house, things had become even more convenient, and the variety of what he did grew as well.
Not only had Yang Yi moved his new study into the temple, but his residence was also relocated here.
He was the Divine Envoy, so naturally, he was supposed to live in the temple.
The main hall of the temple had three floors. The first floor was the tallest, as high as two or three stories, mainly housing the grand temple hall and various reception rooms.
The second floor was shorter, holding the library, reading rooms, and the tribe’s important internal meeting rooms.
The third floor was the lowest, about the same height as an ordinary residential building. It served as the living quarters for Yang Yi and Hei Lie.
Hei Lie needed to protect Yang Yi, so he also moved into the temple.
Originally, they had planned for Jiao to move in as well, but she refused.
She felt it was better for her to stay close to the others. After all, the temple was a sacred place, and many people wouldn’t easily go up there.
If she lived there, too, it would be harder for people in the tribe to come find her.
Thus, on the third floor of the temple’s main hall, only Yang Yi and Hei Lie lived. Up there, there was not only a dedicated study and living room, but also a kitchen, toilet, bathroom, and more!
Yang Yi’s room even had a fireplace built in, so that when winter came, his house wouldn’t be so cold.
The bathroom was of the highest standard, specially made for Yang Yi.
A drainage system was constructed, and a water tower was built on the rooftop.
From time to time, designated people would fill it up, and it would also be cleaned regularly.
Because of this, Yang Yi’s living experience was almost the same as on Earth. Whether it was going to the toilet or using water to wash, he could do it all on the third floor. He didn’t need to run outside like everyone else.
This was his privilege as the Divine Envoy. Yang Yi had no intention of being stubborn about it, insisting on living the same as everyone else.
If he could make his life more comfortable, why not? Having grown used to convenience, while he could endure the previous inconveniences, he naturally preferred life to be better.
Moreover, it let others see that as long as they worked hard, their living conditions in the future could also improve. This served as a kind of motivation.
“Then I’ll have some,” Yang Yi said.
Hei Lie grinned, turned, and went out. Not long after, he came back in holding two bowls of taro and fox nut sweet soup.
Although there was no refrigerator, the well water was very cold, chilling the sweet soup until it was refreshingly cool. Drinking it made the stomach feel very comfortable.
“Your cooking skills are really getting better and better.”
Yang Yi sighed. If it weren’t for the fact that he walked every day, and that this otherworld had changed his physique, then with this kind of constant feeding, on Earth, he would have gotten fat beyond saving.
Hei Lie grinned: “Then eat more. I cooked a big pot this time. I hid it, so those brats didn’t see it.”
Before, Hei Lie often cooked privately for Yang Yi. The aroma drifted far and wide. Everyone knew his cooking was excellent.
Although they didn’t dare openly come over to freeload, sneaking a little now and then, they were quite unrestrained about it.
While everyone respected Yang Yi as the Divine Envoy, it wasn’t to the extent of being untouchable. They also knew he couldn’t finish that much food, so in some matters, they acted fairly casually.
Yang Yi couldn’t help but laugh: “I think they’re taking revenge on you. I’ve heard them countless times saying you’ve turned into a devil now.”
At present, Hei Lie was putting the elite troops through high-intensity training, blending modern military methods with the brutal, wild intensity of this world, drilling them until they cried out in misery.
Although the results were remarkable, with some warriors breaking through levels in just a short time, that didn’t stop them from wishing they could kill Hei Lie.
But since none of them together could take him down, they had no choice but to find another outlet for revenge, like secretly eating the food he specially made for Yang Yi.
Childish yet endearing. It showed how helpless they were. That was all they could manage.
“This festival will make our tribe’s name resound far and wide. To protect what we have, we must be strict.” Hei Lie’s eyes were sharp.
“The Western Continent’s caravan has already entered the tribe. This time, the leader is En. I’ve never directly dealt with him before.
The variety of his goods is relatively broad. Compared to others, he’s less inclined to meddle in the affairs of other tribes. But he is also a very shrewd man, and his strength is not weak.”
The Western Continent Caravan was a general term. In recent years, quite a few caravans have come to the Eastern Continent. Each group had its own style. While their goods were roughly the same, there were also differences.
Behind each caravan stood the various powers of the Western Continent. They were of the same kind, yet also in competition.
“Our tribe’s gates are open to the outside. As long as they’re willing to come and trade with us, we welcome them. Even if they have other ulterior motives, there’s no need to worry too much. As long as we’re strong enough, they’ll behave honestly.”
Trade allowed for more rational organization and use of resources. While ensuring their own self-sufficiency, they could also make use of exchange to save time and effort, using their own goods to swap for others’, thus lowering costs.
Not every item needed to be produced solely by themselves. Through trade, they could obtain labor, products, and other resources from elsewhere. As long as they weren’t letting others choke them by the throat, trade was a highly convenient and labor-saving approach.
The risks from the outside world naturally brought threats, but that wasn’t a reason to “seal the nation off from the world”. Yang Yi had already studied in modern history what consequences that brought.
Even if he had introduced a civilization far more advanced than this world’s, he absolutely could not become arrogant.
Once such a mindset took root, perhaps their generation would be fine, but their descendants could very well end up like China once did—falling from the world’s summit straight into the abyss, and only now, after much hardship, slowly climbing back up.
A hundred years of dictatorship was still a scar that the people could hardly smooth over. Yang Yi did not wish to repeat that mistake.
This was why Yang Yi always held reverence toward this world. He would never think himself great simply because he had brought advanced technology.
Humanity was always progressing. Perhaps a single opportunity, like the Industrial Revolution, could flip the entire world overnight.
A hundred years ago, people on Earth likely couldn’t have imagined even in their dreams that the world would look as it does today. Change sometimes came that swiftly.
Earth was like this. Yang Yi felt that this place wouldn’t be too different, especially since the people here were so intelligent, physically strong, and even possessed all sorts of astonishing talents.
Humility was a virtue Yang Yi considered necessary to instill in everyone.
“We are not the Green Python Tribe, blessed with natural barriers. If we want our tribe to remain free from threats, we can only rely on becoming strong enough ourselves.” Hei Lie’s voice was firm, intent on drilling this determination into the armed forces.
“There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.”
Yang Yi laughed. Even though he often heard the man say phrases commonly used on Earth, every time he heard them, he still found them amusing.
“Did they cooperate with filling in the records?”
“They’re being collected right now. They wanted to refuse, but they couldn’t resist the charm of our tribe and were unwilling to leave this place,” Hei Lie replied with a smug curl of his lips.
Though Western Continent caravans varied, they all had one thing in common: extreme arrogance. They always carry themselves with an air of superiority.
Even when they put on a pleasant face, one could still sense their contempt.
But now that they had entered the Spark Tribe, even though Hei Lie had only heard secondhand, he knew well how great a shock Spark had dealt them—shattering their arrogance to pieces.
“Let them experience what it really means to broaden their horizons.” Yang Yi couldn’t help but chuckle.
When the Western Continent entered the tribe, Yang Yi had already used a telescope to observe this group.
They were clearly very different from the Eastern Continent tribespeople. The most direct and obvious difference was their appearance. They resembled Westerners from Earth more closely.
Hair of various colors, eyes of various shades, and facial features that were more defined. Their physiques, however, weren’t much different from those of the Eastern Continent people.
They, too, were mostly ordinary folk, with relatively few warriors. In trading caravans, the armed escorts were usually elites. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to travel such vast distances to trade on the Eastern Continent.
Still, their proportion of warriors wasn’t very high. Many of the fighters were actually from the Eastern Continent, yet the overall level of equipment was far superior to that of Eastern Continent tribes. This greatly made up for their shortcomings, making their fighting strength not to be underestimated.
They all carried bronze weapons and wore armor. Though simplified versions and not fully armored, it was still enough to display their strength.
Because of this, even though they had been astonished all along by the wonders the Spark Tribe revealed, that ingrained arrogance of theirs still clung stubbornly.
Yang Yi had once considered giving them a show of force. But when he thought about the current state of the Spark Tribe, he realized there was no need to deliberately do anything. It was already more than enough to leave them in awe.
And now, it truly seemed so.
“Then we’ll have to think carefully about what to trade with them.”
“This is a crystal cup they brought as a gift for you.” Hei Lie pulled out a wooden box from who-knows-where and handed it to Yang Yi.
Yang Yi opened it and, though lacking much interest, still praised it: “It is indeed a fine thing.”
But such flashy, impractical items didn’t hold much appeal for him. He felt they weren’t as useful as his glass cups. He had always been a pragmatist.
Back on Earth, Yang Yi had occasionally stockpiled gold, but that had been only for the sake of preserving value.
Hei Lie had long expected Yang Yi’s attitude to be like this. “They’ve already taken a strong liking to our black pottery, tea leaves, paper, sundials, and the like. Their interest is feverish. I think this time we can exchange for quite a few things they previously refused to trade.”
Copper, horses, and similar goods were items the Western Continent caravans were unwilling to part with.
This was because the Eastern Continent lacked bargaining chips. They only had common ‘goods’ like furs and slaves. If one tribe didn’t want to trade, there were always other tribes willing to do so.
There was no uniqueness or irreplaceability. Not like the goods of the Western Continent caravans, which were things the Easterners wanted but couldn’t produce themselves.
Thus, the initiative was always in the hands of the Western Continent caravans. You couldn’t exactly threaten them by saying, If you don’t trade us copper or horses, we won’t trade with you at all.
“I’ve never worried about that issue,” Yang Yi said with great confidence. “The only thing I don’t know is how much they can actually bring us. I hope they won’t let me down.”
![Professional Red Thread Cutter [Quick Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_6298.jpeg "Professional Red Thread Cutter [Quick Transmigration]")
