When Shao Xuan went back, the kids in the orphan cave had already returned from the river. Today's harvest was quite good. Judging from the smiles on their faces, Shao Xuan knew that two groups were competing to see who could catch more fish.
"Xuan, someone came to trade with you just now. You weren't here, so they said they would come back tomorrow." Tu, who was sitting next to Shao Xuan and weaving straw rope, said.
Back in the cave, Tu was rather timid and skinny. But during this period of time, he had become much more relaxed and energetic, and gradually became more talkative.
"Okay, I got it." Shao Xuan nodded.
It must be someone in the tribe who wanted to go fishing. After gaining some experience, they came to Shao Xuan to trade for the floating black block.
At night, the two moons hanging in the sky were even darker. The crescent moon was so thin that only its dim arc could be seen. Looking out of the vent, it was pitch-black near the cave. Only the sound of the wind outside the cave and the noises made by the night swallows flying around could be heard. Winter was coming, and the night swallows were listless. In the past, when they flew, they didn't make such a big noise.
In the next few days, both the kids in the orphan cave and the people who came down from the mountain would run to the river as long as the sun was not set. They all wanted to pull the fish before the river froze.
Maybe it was because the people in the tribe had never thought about these fish before. There were so many fish in the river that even though so many people were pulling fish all day long, the fish never decreased. These fish were very fierce, but not very intelligent. They were easy to pull. As long as they mastered the trick, the number of fish they pulled would increase rapidly.
Fortunately, the fishing went smoothly for the next few days, and there were no creatures with tentacles.
Until one morning, when Shao Xuan took Caesar to the gravel field to dig for stone worms, they found that the number of stone worms had decreased a lot. They only managed to dig up three after a long time.
The number of fish in the river suddenly decreased as well. The stone worms had been thrown into the river for a long time before they could only pull up a small fish.
Both the kids in the orphan cave and the people in the tribe had a heavy heart. This situation seemed to be an omen.
"Xuan, why is this happening?" The kids in the orphan cave were listless. They stared at the straw rope in their hands, as if their hearts were broken.
"Because winter is coming." One of the older children said. He had heard that when winter came, many prey would hide. No matter how hard you tried, you would not be able to find them. Only when winter was over would they come out again. Because of this, the people in the tribe didn't like winter, because it was full of difficulties and depression.
Seeing that the other children were still staring at him, Shao Xuan sighed. "That might be the reason. This was because during winter, the stone worms would no longer appear on the surface. Instead, they would go deep underground to spend the winter. The underground was warmer than the surface. The piranhas on the banks of the river would also leave the shallow waters near the shore and swim into the depths of the river, to areas that would not freeze in winter. That's why we can't catch stone worms or fish. "
As soon as Shao Xuan finished speaking, the cave was filled with a gloomy atmosphere.
In the impression of many kids in the orphan cave, winter was very cold and dark. Sometimes, they would fall asleep without knowing when they were sick. When it was time for meals, they would be woken up to eat something and then continue to sleep. They would not know whether it was day or night outside, just like the walking dead. Usually, it was fine, but now that they suddenly thought about it, and then looked at Yang Guang, who had been fishing these days, it would be strange if they were in a good mood.
There was also a kid sitting in the corner with a sad face, holding the new fish he caught this afternoon. While feeling sad, he touched the fish's head reluctantly. However, with the dark red eyes on the dead fish's head, and the cracked mouth full of fine sharp teeth, this man and fish looked very strange. If this happened in the peaceful era of Shao Xuan's previous life, this kind of person would definitely be labeled as "perverted" and "mentally twisted". However, in this world, it was all too normal.
Shao Xuan covered his face and looked away, no longer looking at the sad kid holding the fish in the corner.
In the past few days, Shao Xuan had taken out the hay used for sleeping in the cave to dry. Even the fur was washed and dried. In fact, they were well prepared. But no one could remove the shadow of the coming winter. What happened in the past had left a deep impression in the hearts of the kids in the orphan cave, so Yang Guang could not get up no matter what.
It was only noon, but the sky outside was already gloomy.
While Shao Xuan was thinking about what to do in winter, Stutterer, who was sitting beside him, came over.
"Xuan … I … I want … to …"
Stutterer held back for a long time before he could express his thoughts clearly.
Stutterer had a younger sister. When Stutterer lost his parents and was sent to the orphan cave, his sister was adopted by a family on the mountainside. The tribe valued girls more, and people who adopted girls could get more subsidies from the tribe.
Most of the people in the tribe would awaken their totemic power. Boys would awaken their totemic power when they were about ten years old, or not much later than fifteen years old. That was why the kids in the orphan cave and those living in the mountain foot district only cared about eating and sleeping. They did not need to work hard. As long as they did not starve to death or die of illness, they would naturally become totemic warriors when they were old enough.
Compared to boys, there were fewer girls who awakened their totemic power. Nearly one-third of them would never awaken their totemic power. However, the tribe would not treat them unfairly. On the contrary, girls were treated much better than boys in the tribe. Therefore, even though they were all orphans, some families were willing to take in girls. That was why there were no girls living in this cave. All of them had totemic power.
Stutterer wanted to visit his sister before winter came. He wanted to bring her a fish and deduct it from his share. He came here to ask for Shao Xuan's opinion. Since Shao Xuan started fishing with the other kids in the orphan cave, his position was unshakeable. As long as Shao Xuan agreed, the two oldest kids would not object even if they did not want to. Now, they would also ask for Shao Xuan's opinion if they needed to.
Stutterer finished his sentence, and then stood there rubbing his fingers anxiously. He was worried that Shao Xuan would refuse, so he looked at Shao Xuan carefully.
"Of course, just come back before dark." Shao Xuan said.
"Thank you, Xuan!" Stutterer excitedly ran back and dragged a fish out of the cave.
Looking at Stutterer happily dragging a fish out of the cave, Shao Xuan smiled. "He stopped stuttering when he thanked me. It seems that I still need to stimulate him a little. Maybe once he gets excited, his stuttering problem will be cured."
Not long after Stutterer left, Mo-Er's mother came again. The reason was the same as before. She wanted to take Mo-Er up the mountain. Unfortunately, Mo-Er was not willing to do so. No matter how hard his mother coaxed him, he did not relent. Maybe a few days ago, he had a big quarrel with the other kids on the mountain.
In the end, Mo-Er's mother left with a thick fur sweater and some dried meat, and then left with tears in her eyes.
In the afternoon, Ge brought food to Shao Xuan. He brought some dried meat, an animal skin blanket, and a coat.
"This is from Mai, and the coat is from Lang Ga." Ge said, "They are very busy today. The Shaman said that it will be winter tomorrow, and everyone is checking the houses and preparing for other things. So he asked me to help him deliver these things."
Mai's hunting team came back yesterday. They finished the last hunting mission of the year before winter, and they had a rich harvest. Yesterday, Shao Xuan saw that they were carrying or dragging enough game to survive the winter. Moreover, many people in the hunting team had stored food at home, so they would not be hungry in the winter. The warriors who came back yesterday all had a relaxed smile on their faces.
Shao Xuan took it and looked at it. The dried meat was fresh and the quality of the meat was good. The blanket and the coat were better than the furs he had traded these days.
It was impossible to say that he was not moved.
"Thank you, Uncle Ge. By the way, please thank Uncle Mai and Lang Ga for me. Oh, by the way. "
Shao Xuan dragged two fish over and asked Ge to bring them to Mai and Lang Ga. Although he knew that Mai and the others had enough game to survive the winter, Shao Xuan still wanted to express his gratitude. These two fish were from Shao Xuan's share, so the others in the group did not have any objections.
"Hey, aren't you afraid that I will take the fish?" Ge threw the fish into the empty stone tank, carried it with one arm and left.
Since the Shaman said that winter might come tomorrow, Shao Xuan told the others in the cave that the furs had been distributed. He did not need to tell them what to do. These kids knew how to protect themselves.
That night, the sky was dark. Two days ago, they could see a little crescent moon, but today, it was completely gone.
It was so dark that it was depressing.
Shao Xuan woke up in the middle of the night because of the cold. He felt as if he was lying in ice and snow, so he was shivering. But strangely, when he woke up, he did not feel so cold anymore.
Sitting up, Shao Xuan pulled away the straw blocking the vent a little. Suddenly, he was shocked by the cold wind that came in.
Winter had officially come.
With the arrival of winter, the kids' lives in the cave became the same as before. They just ate and slept. The temperature outside the cave was very low. Even if they woke up, they could do nothing but sleep. They hoped that the next time they woke up, winter would be gone.
With food and a thick blanket covering them, they slept quite comfortably this winter. At least, it was more comfortable than the winter in their impression. They slept more peacefully.
In winter, Ge still came every day to deliver food against the cold wind and snow. Shao Xuan felt that it was not necessary to suffer so much. After discussing with Ge, Ge decided that he would bring three days' worth of food each time, and then he would come every three days. Now, the cave was not as chaotic as before. Ge knew that Shao Xuan could control the situation, so he did not object. He even left a lighter for Shao Xuan so that Shao Xuan could light the fire.
In fact, there were other things to do in winter. For example, the tribe sent people to teach literacy and counting. As usual, there would be people coming every twenty or thirty days. Winter was as usual.
Today, it was time for the teachers to come again. The day before, Ge had sent a message to Shao Xuan, asking Shao Xuan to be prepared. Otherwise, the kids in the cave would all fall asleep and miss this rare learning opportunity.
Therefore, when the old hunter who was in charge of teaching the children lifted the curtain and entered the cave, before he could feel the warmth from the bonfire in the cave, he saw that the children who were supposed to be sleeping on the ground were all sitting there energetically. Their eyes were shining, and he couldn't help but shiver.
Because he lived in the mountain and was delayed by other things, he had not been here for nearly forty days. Therefore, he did not know much about what had happened down in the mountain. Yesterday, he went to Ge to ask about the situation in the cave. It was just a routine question, but he did not expect that the cave had changed so much in just twenty days.
Yesterday, when he heard that Shao Xuan, who was less than ten years old, was in charge of the cave, the old hunter was very dissatisfied. Wasn't this bullying? Were the kids in the cave easy to get along with? When he went to teach in the cave before, only Shao Xuan was serious about learning. The old hunter had a good impression of Shao Xuan.
When Ge explained, he did not believe it. Now that he saw the situation in the cave with his own eyes, it seemed to be different …
Under the abnormally eager gazes of more than twenty pairs of eyes, the old hunter walked in stiffly and sat on the stone stool that he used to sit on. He took out a piece of animal skin with numbers written on it and checked it against the light of the bonfire. He cleared his throat after confirming that it was the right piece of animal skin.
"Well, today, I'm going to teach you how to count from one to ten. Listen carefully, I'm going to read it once. Cough, one, two, three …"
After reading it once, the old hunter felt that the atmosphere around him was a little strange. He moved his eyes away from the scroll and looked up. He saw that the passionate gazes around him had become impatient. Some of them even looked at him with disdain.
What happened? It was just the beginning and they were already impatient? The old hunter was not happy. It was the same when he came to teach in the past. After he read two numbers, the kids would yawn and want to go to sleep. The old hunter was so angry that he had a headache.
When the old hunter was about to scold them, he heard a kid complaining, "Why don't you go to sleep in the middle of winter? Just to let me listen to this?"
"Only from one to ten? This old man can't do it. "
"That's right!"
"Hey, old man, can you do it? Do you only know how to count from one to ten? "
"Xuan, if you can't do it, let this old man go. Let someone else do it."
"That's right!"
"Let someone else do it!"
"Let someone else do it!"
"Let him go!"
Shao Xuan looked at the old man holding the animal skin roll and found that the veins on the old man's forehead were throbbing.
How rare was that? The old hunter would never have thought that this bunch of brats would actually love to learn.
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