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Translator: Silavin
The sky was as clear as a blue sheet of paper, with a few thin white clouds floating slowly in the wind, as if melted by the sunlight. The Flame Dragon Tribe was enveloped in the vast expanse of the blazing Sun. The weather now resembled a steamer, baking the people.
Su Bai felt drowsy, this weather really made one want to sleep.
He kept twirling the pencil in his hand, his mind blank, unable to think of what to draw for a moment.
Yu Ying brought over a cup of Ocean Lily Fruit Juice, softly saying, “Shaman, please rest for a while. You look very tired.”
“En…” Su Bai made a small nod, took the juice and drank with a big gulp. He soon fell into blurry contemplation.
Yu Ying took away the wooden cup, then slowly left. She continued to quietly sew linen clothes on the side.
Su Bai blinked his black eyes, as thoughts began to slowly form in his mind. He picked up the pencil and started sketching out the ideas in his head.
The pencil danced quickly on the sheet of Wolf Tail Grass Paper, constantly making rough sounds. It was only after more than half an hour, a large circular pattern appeared on the paper, with a small circle in the middle of the large circular pattern.
There was also a small protruding handle next to the large circular pattern. After drawing these, he began to focus on detailing the large circular pattern, ensuring it was meticulous, mainly so that Gu Mu could understand what it was.
[Make it out of wood?] Su Bai suddenly asked himself, then shook his head and affirmed, [No, wood might not achieve the effect I want.]
He lowered his head again, erased some of the patterns with the eraser, and continued to draw with the pencil.
[Stone should be better. Indeed, I should leave it to Shan Qiu to forge it.] Su Bai thought, pursing his lips.
He refined what he had drawn again, brushing away the eraser debris from the paper.
“Done.” Su Bai picked up the Wolf Tail Grass Paper and folded it, continuing, “Xiao Yu, take this piece of paper to Shan Qiu and tell him it’s urgent. I need it by tomorrow.”
Yu Ying quickly put down her needle, walked over to take the sheet of paper, and said, “I’ll go right away.”
After watching the fox eared girl leave the Teepee, Su Bai took out another sheet of Wolf Tail Grass Paper and began to conceive the next step.
[With clay, after making ceramics, apart from drying the blanks and glazing, the most important step is firing. This firing step is also called kiln firing, which is the process of heating clay to form ceramics through fire in a man-made building that increases the intensity of the flame.].
[Kiln firing also requires technique, it can’t be done carelessly…] Su Bai muttered, chewing on the pencil.
[If not built well, the fired ceramics would easily crack, which would be a waste of all prior effort.]
He lowered his head and continued to draw, planning to build a kiln for firing ceramics in the Tribe.
[Of course, this kiln for firing ceramics would be made simple, not too complex. We don’t have much time before we move back to the Ancestral Land. If built too complex, it would not only waste time but also attract and alert outsiders that come to the Tribe…]
After more than half an hour, a simple kiln was drawn. Unlike the stone kilns on Earth, what he drew was an earthen kiln.
A semi-arched earthen kiln, only one metre high and one metre wide, with a very small entrance of about forty centimetres.
He also drew a small wooden door, and inside the earthen kiln was a small protrusion, which was where the ceramics would be placed.
“Alright, it’s done,” Su Bai smiled.
“Shaman, should I go find someone to come here? Or should I send it somewhere?” Yu Ying immediately stood up.
She had already delivered the first drawing and returned while Su Bai was still drawing.
“Haha… Take this to the Chieftain and have him build one according to my drawing.” Su Bai handed over the drawing.
“Okay.” Yu Ying nodded, took the drawing and strode out of the Teepee.
Su Bai pulled out another sheet, sharpened his pencil with a small bone knife, and continued to draw.
However, this time, he was drawing something different. They were patterns for the ceramics. He needed to plan the ceramic patterns first so he would have a guideline when making them.
Half an hour later, Su Bai shook his wrist, having been in the same posture all afternoon.
“Shaman, what are you drawing?” Yu Ying asked curiously, seeing several papers filled with patterns on the table.
“These are all ceramic patterns. We can trade them for things once they’re made.” Su Bai explained.
Yu Ying tilted her head, looking at those ceramic patterns in confusion, asking, “Ceramics? What are ceramics?”
“Hmm…” Su Bai pondered for a moment, picked up the wooden cup, and explained, “When made, it’s similar to this, but made of clay.”
“I see…” Yu Ying seemed to understand but not really, obviously not really comprehending it.
Su Bai smiled and softly said, “It’s okay, you’ll know when we make them.”
“But Shaman, I have a question,” Yu Ying lowered her head slightly.
“Hmm? What question?” Su Bai asked calmly.
Yu Ying pointed at the yellow clay on the table and asked, “Shaman, will anyone really want this soil?”
“If we give the soil directly to someone else, they certainly won’t want it.” Su Bai was amused by her innocence.
“Yes, I just feel that no one would want soil. So, how can we trade it for lots of dried meat?” Yu Ying lowered her head, playing with her hands, her knuckles turning white from squeezing.
“If we just present this soil directly, they certainly won’t want it. But, by processing it, things will be different,” Su Bai explained.
“’Processing’? What is ‘processing’?” Yu Ying heard this word for the first time.
Su Bai picked up the wooden cup beside him again and asked, “Like this wooden cup, it was originally a huge piece of wood, right?”
“Yes, it came from chopped wood.” Yu Ying nodded, her pink eyes immediately widening with delight as she asked, “Turning the wood into this wooden cup is processing, right?”
“Absolutely correct, that’s processing,” Su Bai took a sip of water and continued, “Like turning Ramie into linen, and you sewing linen into clothes, these are all processing.”
“I understand now. So, making the Stone Armoured Crocodile Hide into a Crocodile Blade is also called processing,” Yu Ying extrapolated.
“When Gu Mu and Shan Qiu make things, this can all be considered processing.” Su Bai put down the wooden cup and continued, “Many things seem valueless at first, but become useful after processing.”
“I understand now, Shaman.” Yu Ying was particularly happy to have learned new knowledge.
Seeing her so eager to learn, being so happy about such little things, Su Bai thought about preparing a gift for her. Of course, this gift would have to come later, as with the Chinese Characters the fox eared girl currently knew, she would not be able to appreciate it just yet.
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