I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 800: The Melancholy of the Eldest Senior Brother
As the first carpenter and weaver of the Green Sparrow Tribe, Lame’s craftsmanship and comprehension naturally left nothing to be desired.
Although weaving the helmet was much more complicated compared to the safety helmet, with Han Cheng guiding him verbally, after more than two days of trial and error, the Green Sparrow Tribe’s first helmet with a specific defensive capability finally appeared in Lame’s hands.
This helmet provided more coverage—not only protecting the top of the head like the safety helmet, but also shielding areas like the back of the head.
After all, this helmet was prepared for those going to the battlefield, where attacks could come from anywhere, unlike mining, where protection mainly focuses on preventing falling objects from above.
After experiencing another round of bronze hammer strikes to the head, this improved double-layer rattan helmet, confirmed to have considerable defensive ability, began to be produced in batches.
Watching the armor pieces Lame and others weaved, Han Cheng suddenly had the idea that during his spare time, he might have Hei Wa and the Second Senior Brother try casting some bronze helmets.
Wearing such a helmet could not only defend against enemy attacks but, when no pots were available for cooking, the helmet could be taken off, set on a few stones with water added inside, and used to boil food.
Plus, no oil was needed…
However, helmets cast in bronze were a bit too heavy, potentially causing the scalp to wear down and requiring a long period of adjustment.
This wasn’t urgent. Judging by the current situation, simple rattan armor and helmets were already sufficient.
Regarding the tribe’s equipment and troop types, there was one more critical issue Han Cheng had to consider: the rattan shield team.
Now that the tribe had rattan armor and helmets, once everyone was equipped, the rattan shield team, led by the eldest senior brother, seemed somewhat redundant.
Because without relying on the eldest senior brother’s defense, the long spear and archer teams equipped with this armor could also withstand some enemy attacks.
Similarly, the eldest senior brother and his team, wearing rattan armor and helmets and holding large rattan shields, also seemed superfluous.
After all, rattan shields were relatively bulky and mainly defensive, making them far inferior in offense compared to bronze spears, bows, and sling stones.
The more Han Cheng thought about it, the more he felt the rattan shield team had become too much of a burden.
Just as he pondered this for a while, the eldest senior brother walked in.
Seeing him come in, Han Cheng called him over to discuss the issue of the rattan shields.
Although Han Cheng spoke tactfully, after understanding his meaning, the eldest senior brother fell silent.
After all, he had been using rattan shields for years and had grown fond of them.
Hearing Han Cheng point out the awkward position of the rattan shields and the suggestion to disband the rattan shield team and merge them into other units, it was only natural for the eldest senior brother to fall silent.
In fact, he had already realized the awkwardness of rattan shields ever since the rattan armor came out—long before Han Cheng even thought of it.
But since he was so accustomed to the weapon, he didn’t want to switch, and so never brought it up.
Still, his heart was uneasy, worrying that the Divine Child or the shamans would notice the problem and reorganize the rattan shield team.
That worry finally became reality today…
Seeing the eldest senior brother standing there with a gloomy expression, unsure what to say, Han Cheng felt bad as well.
It reminded him of the scene from Soldier Assault where the Steel Seventh Company was reorganized and its members either discharged or transferred to other companies.
As someone who had once cried watching that on TV, Han Cheng could truly understand the eldest senior brother’s feelings right now.
“Let’s not rush this. I only have an idea so far—it’s not certain.
And the autumn harvest is about to start. Even if changes were to be made, it would have to wait until after the harvest and still take a long time.
With that much time, finding a perfect solution isn’t impossible…”
Han Cheng comforted the eldest senior brother.
“Mm.”
The eldest senior brother nodded somewhat gloomily and left, looking quite heavy-hearted.
Watching him leave, Han Cheng’s mood also grew heavy.
He even somewhat regretted bringing up the matter…
Time quietly passed as the grain stalks grew fuller day by day and bowed humbly.
The workers building the Bronze Highway had all been called back.
Looking out over the vast fields of bowed grain, hope filled his heart.
At the threshing ground, some held bronze shovels, clearing weeds growing there.
Others led donkeys or deer pulling stone rollers in circles over the threshing ground.
Behind the roller’s frame was tied a bundle of leafy twigs called a “laozi,” with some damp soil on top to add weight…
At the carpenter’s workshop, helmet weaving had stopped.
Lame and several others began repairing sickles, wheelbarrows, and other tools.
Some people chopped many thumb-thick bamboo stalks, bundled them tightly, shaped them, then baked them over a fire to remove leaves and shape them.
Then, sets of five were pressed under a heavy stone slab.
After a few days, these bamboo brooms became dense and flat on top, perfect for “beating” and cleaning scattered grain.
In the tribe’s shaded area, many men squatted, splashing water from clay basins onto smooth whetstones, then grinding sickles back and forth.
After a while, they stopped to test the blade edges with their fingers gently…
The women of the tribe had started busying themselves preparing food, ready for a grand harvest feast.
Once the autumn harvest began, the whole tribe would become busy and have no time or energy to prepare such food.
The tribe’s deer and donkeys recently got bean pulp as feed…
In the fields, Han Cheng, the shaman, and several who tended the crops examined the earliest planted grain.
They occasionally plucked a few stalks, rubbed the grains in their hands, and bit them to judge the ripeness.
It was a very demanding task.
The process from planting to harvest took several months.
Among these months, the last few days were crucial, as this was when the grain “grew its germ.”
At this time, if the harvest were done too early, the yield per mu (Chinese unit of land) would drop significantly, and the grains would not be fully plump.
But the harvest also couldn’t be too late. If delayed too long and the weather turns bad, a lot of the grain might not be collected at all.
“It’s settled. The first batch of grain can be harvested tomorrow. When harvesting, we’ll start from the west side.”
After considering everyone’s opinions along with his own feelings, Han Cheng finally nodded and confirmed the harvest time.
The reason for harvesting from west to east was that the west side’s terrain was higher and drier than the east side, so crops there would mature one or two days earlier.
Once this decision was made and spread, the entire Green Sparrow Tribe suddenly became lively.
Those who had been preparing for days started washing various foods and putting them on to cook, and the aroma of the meals mixed with everyone’s joyful mood spread throughout the tribe…
The next day, at dawn, those who had enjoyed the harvest feast and slept well woke up, grabbed sickles and other tools, and cheerfully left the tribe, heading toward the ripe grain fields…
“Start harvesting!”
Han Cheng cut the first stalk of grain, held it high, and shouted to everyone.
Those ready at the field edge bent down; one hand grabbed mature grain while the other wielded the sickle, cutting swiftly at the stalk’s base and pulling back to harvest the stalk.
The morning breeze blew, stirring golden waves of grain, while the rustling sound of stalks and leaves brushing together mixed with the sickles slicing the grain—forming a wonderful symphony…
With many hands, by afternoon, a large area of grain had been harvested.
Then some men stopped harvesting, returned to the tribe, hitched donkeys to carts, and rolled over the stone-paved road into the fields along cleared paths.
The donkey carts now looked different from before.
Instead of just a flat platform, each cart had “yangjiaozi” (literally “sheep horns”) placed into holes left at the front and back of the cart.
Though called “field-shaped” (田字形), it wasn’t exactly a perfect square; the sides of the frame bent outward at the top and bottom.
The bottom protrusions fit into holes on the cart; the upper protrusions helped block more grain loaded on top.
These tools were called “sheep horns” because, when placed front and back on the cart and viewed from the side, they resembled the inverted ‘eight’-shaped horns on a sheep’s head.
With these two “horns” horizontally blocking the cart, more grain could be loaded.
Otherwise, a flat cart couldn’t hold much and would be full quickly.
“Load the two ends first!”
Upon entering the harvested field, some began loading grain onto the cart, but Han Cheng stopped them.
This two-wheeled donkey cart required careful loading; it couldn’t be loaded carelessly like a wheelbarrow.
Firstly, the cart’s space was limited.
If not loaded well, the cart would fill quickly but with less grain than expected.
Two such carts might still not carry as much as one well-loaded cart.
After layering the grain, other details needed attention.
Balance was critical.
Loading too much at the front would put all the weight on the donkey, which couldn’t bear it.
But loading too much at the rear to ease the donkey’s burden could cause the cart to tip upward on slopes.
If the rear load was heavy enough and the slope steep, even the donkey pulling the cart might be lifted off the ground.
Also, the left and right sides had to be balanced.
If one side was loaded lower and the other bulged out, the cart could tip over on uneven roads.
Plus, any bulging grain might not make it to the threshing ground, collapsing completely and requiring reloading—very troublesome!
Loading grain onto the cart was called “arranging the cart”.
Just the word “arranging” shows it was not casual but a vital farmer’s skill.
Han Cheng was very familiar with this from childhood, when every summer break he’d help adults harvest wheat and load carts.
Many times, to load more wheat into one cart, when the wheat reached the “sheep horns,” he was sent onto the cart to stomp and spread layers of wheat forked on top.
He was often scolded for this, but over time, he learned how to load correctly.
Today, Han Cheng decided to pass on this skill.
After informing those who would load carts later, he took a wooden fork, scooped up some stalks with grain, walked to the donkey cart, and, with some force, flipped the fork half a circle in the air and hooked it onto the cart.
This hooking method made it easy to pick up the fork without disturbing the grain already loaded, kept the grain compact, and allowed more to be loaded.
The first fork was hooked between the cart frame and a “sheep horn” about 30 cm apart at the front.
The grain heads faced inward, stalks outward, with about half the stalk length sticking outside the cart, suspended in the air.
Grain heads faced inward, so any dropping grain would fall onto the cart and not be wasted.
Also, the heavier grain heads inside allowed stalks to stick out more, enabling more grain to be loaded.
After hooking this first fork, Han Cheng scooped several more loads, filling gaps between the front, back, left, and right frames and “sheep horns” until roughly level with the frame, then stopped.
Then he loaded grain toward the center of the cart.
The cart sides were only about 20 cm high, so after only a few forks were loaded, the grain was already level with the frame.
Seeing this, Han Cheng stopped loading grain inside, instead starting on one side of the cart, loading from front to back as before, with grain heads facing inward and stalks protruding about half outside.
This side was loaded about 20-30 cm high.
After one side was done, he loaded the other side.
Once both sides were done, he started filling the middle gap.
Again, from front to back, but the foremost forked grain was placed with grain heads half-tilted upward, leaning on the “sheep horn.”
After filling the middle from front to back, he repeated the process…
During loading, after the grain near the cart was loaded, someone led the donkey forward to shorten the gap between the cart and the grain piles, stopped, and continued loading.
This made loading faster and less tiring.
After loading two layers, Han Cheng instructed the others to take forks and work in pairs, one on each side, with a minor in front holding the donkey’s reins to keep it steady.
When people watched Han Cheng load, it didn’t seem difficult—fork grain and hook it on the cart.
But when they tried it themselves, many problems appeared.
Sometimes loading too much here, sometimes too little there, sometimes a fork hooked wrongly with grain heads facing outward…
Han Cheng acted as a technical instructor, explaining how to fix mistakes and demonstrating with the fork.
He taught while loading, and when all donkey carts were roughly level with the “sheep horns,” Han Cheng gathered everyone to watch him demonstrate the method for loading grain above the “sheep horns,” which was different from before…
“For the last layer, don’t load both sides.
You must load the very top from front to back, placing one fork over another to press down the grain.
This way, when the cart moves forward, the grain won’t fall off easily!”
While loading, Han Cheng explained these key points.
After placing the last fork, Han Cheng didn’t let anyone lead the donkey away immediately.
At this point, the grain loaded already far exceeded the cart frame and needed to be tied down with ropes, or it would spill during movement.
Han Cheng picked up the “tie rope,” thick as a child’s arm, which had been prepared earlier.
One end was tied to the base of a cart shaft; the remaining rope was spread and swung over the grain-loaded cart top.
Underneath the cart body, near the wheels, were wooden pegs about 5 cm long, 2 cm thick, and 3 cm wide in front and back.
Han Cheng bent down and hooked the swinging rope onto the wooden peg…
“You hold this end of the rope, and when I pull hard, you pull hard too!”
Han Cheng handed the longer end of the rope to the eldest senior brother, who was standing nearby learning how to use this new tool for loading grain onto the cart, and gave him instructions.
Seeing that the eldest senior brother understood, he gripped the rope that looped over the top of the cart with both hands and pulled down hard.
Because the grain stalks were loose and not tightly packed, Han Cheng’s pull immediately pushed the rope down, compressing the stalks quite a bit.
The eldest senior brother pulled hard at the right moments as instructed, taking up the slack in the rope.
Han Cheng pulled the rope down forcefully four or five more times, and when there was barely any extra rope left and the stalks were tightly bound by the rope, he stopped.
“Hold tight, don’t let go. I’ll tell you when to release.”
After tossing the remaining part of the binding rope over the other side of the cart, Han Cheng told the eldest senior brother.
When the eldest senior brother nodded to show he understood, Han Cheng bent down to hook the rope onto the wooden peg on that side, tightened it, and only then told the eldest senior brother to let go and come over.
Han Cheng then handed the long rope back to the eldest senior brother and, just like before, kept pulling the rope hard.
With his effort, the donkey cart swayed slightly from side to side.
The remaining steps were done the same way — just tying off the end of the rope so it wouldn’t loosen or come undone, and then the cart would be fully secured.
Since the grain was loaded layer by layer, as long as the ropes didn’t come undone, none of the grain on the entire cart would spill.
After demonstrating this, Han Cheng had those watching nearby form pairs and practice tying the carts themselves, while he walked around giving guidance.
Many things are like this — they look simple when watching others do them, but they’re much harder when you do them yourself.
Take this seemingly effortless act of tying the cart with ropes, for example.
Though many people in the Green Sparrow tribe were somewhat skilled at binding due to the influence of their great divine leader, the process still didn’t go smoothly.
Many made one mistake or another.
After a good while, the twenty-three donkey carts, loaded for the first time with grain, were finally fully loaded and tied.
The loaders looked around and, without much comparison, could already tell the significant difference between their loading and the divine leader’s.
But even so, everyone was pleased — this cart was loaded over two meters high!
When the divine leader had said before that one donkey cart could hold the grain of five wheelbarrows, they had been shocked.
Now, it seemed that one donkey cart held not just five but at least as many as six wheelbarrows!
It turned out the divine child had been modest!
Shaman and the others involved in the harvest stared at these twenty-three carts piled like small mountains, their eyes shining.
Earlier that morning, the grain they harvested together was estimated to take an entire afternoon to transport with wheelbarrows, with no breaks allowed.
But now, just one trip with these donkey carts had already loaded nearly half of it!
Although they knew the donkey carts could carry a lot, no one expected them to hold this much!
This… this really was a miracle!
At this moment, seeing the scene, Shaman suddenly felt the impulse to tell the heavenly god — who never listened to him — about this miraculous thing.
But he also knew this was an essential time for the autumn harvest and so forcibly held back.
“Let’s go!”
Han Cheng led the very first donkey cart he had loaded himself, called out, took the reins of the donkey and the deer pulling the cart, turned at the edge of the field, and headed for the main road first.
Having donkey carts brought back the feeling of his childhood days harvesting wheat and loading carts, so though he was soaked in sweat from the hard work, his spirit was very high.
A hometown he couldn’t return to, a childhood he couldn’t go back to — these memories were always unforgettable, bringing smiles or tears whenever recalled…
“Ha!”
There was a slight slope between the soil and the stone pavement.
Pulling an empty cart uphill was no problem, but now with a cart full of grain, it wasn’t so easy.
When they were still about 20 to 30 meters from the slope, Han Cheng shouted and slapped the donkey’s back to speed it up.
Then the person, the donkey, and the deer started trotting, pulling the cart with momentum up the slope onto the stone path without any bump or stumble, which pleased Han Cheng greatly.
Others pulling donkey carts followed suit, accelerating early before the slope, climbing it easily, and rolling along the cleared threshing ground road.
“One, two, three! One, two, three!”
At the threshing ground, they brought the carts to the pre-arranged spots and untied the binding ropes.
Someone wanted to climb onto a cart and use the wooden fork to unload grain from the top, but Han Cheng stopped them.
He had a minor stand in front of the cart to hold the donkey steady and prevent it from wandering.
Then, with two adults, they pulled the forks inserted in the grain loose and moved to the side of the cart.
Raising the fork diagonally upward, they stuck it into the grain on the cart.
Then, shouting a simple coordinated call, the three gripped the fork handles and pushed hard together.
In just a few movements, they pushed the grain down off the cart.
This was much faster than climbing onto the cart and unloading the grain fork load by fork load…
This year’s autumn harvest in the Green Sparrow Tribe saw these twenty-three double-wheeled donkey carts become the most eye-catching sight.
At first, loading the carts felt quite complicated, but after doing it several times, everyone gradually got the hang of it.
With Han Cheng demonstrating and teaching hand-in-hand, it took just over a day for this group, mainly responsible for loading and transporting grain, to learn the skill.
Although most of them had not yet reached Han Cheng’s level, they could already manage well enough…
At the threshing ground, the earliest harvested and transported grain was spread out to dry.
Those assigned to threshing tasks led deer pulling stone rollers, circling round and round over the grain.
Since almost all adult donkeys in the tribe were busy pulling the carts to transport grain, the job of constantly turning the rollers fell to the deer.
Thanks to these more than twenty donkey carts, the grain transport this year was not only faster but also required fewer hands.
The saved manpower was then redeployed to harvesting, thus boosting the overall speed of the autumn harvest.
The grain at Salt Mountain had also ripened, and Han Cheng sent some people there to harvest.
The small courtyard at Salt Mountain had already been built — not large, with only a dozen or so houses and surrounding walls, somewhat resembling a traditional courtyard house.
Because it was too close to the main Green Sparrow tribe, its scale was inevitably limited.
However, the fields there had been extensively opened up after spring, totaling over two hundred acres.
Transporting all that grain back and forth would be troublesome, so after harvesting, it would be processed nearby, and only the finished grain would need to be transported back later.
With one cartload after another delivered to the threshing ground and the newly threshed grain dried and moved into the granary, the entire Green Sparrow tribe was immersed in joyous celebration.
But this joy did not extend to the eldest senior brother, the leader of the Green Sparrow tribe.
Facing such a harvest, it wasn’t that he wasn’t happy, but his happiness was always mixed with something else.
Especially when alone, sitting quietly with a troubled and distracted look.
After a busy day, he would often take out his commonly used rattan shield.
Sometimes he would sit filling it with twigs for repairs, or stand up and wave the shield in front of him a few times, looking rather lonely and somber.
The whole tribe was now caught up in the busy joy of the harvest, and few noticed the eldest senior brother’s unusual state.
But Han Cheng was not among them.
Since the day he briefly discussed the future of the rattan shield and the shield squad with the eldest senior brother, Han Cheng had sensed the eldest senior brother’s mood was off and kept a close eye on him.
Seeing the eldest senior brother like this, Han Cheng felt silent and uneasy inside.
People in life always face many things and make many choices.
Some choices are easy, like what to eat, what to wear, or even which leg to put forward first — things we take for granted.
But other choices aren’t so easy, filled with bittersweet regret and unwillingness when having to give up something…
The night sky hung bright with a full moon, pouring pure moonlight over the land.
As night deepened, the busy Green Sparrow tribe grew quieter, with only the night patrol quietly walking along the inner and outer walls, weapons in hand.
The night breeze carried the scent of ripened grain…
“Bang~ bang~ bang…”
Somewhat muted sounds came from the inner courtyard.
People, weary from a full day’s work, were already fast asleep and barely noticed the somewhat abrupt noises.
Lying on the kang (heated brick bed) in his room, Han Cheng, who had no clue how to handle the rattan shield or the shield squad, was startled for a moment, then quietly got up and came to the window…