I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 34 –
Something that makes international friends turn to shame – chopsticks
Drinking meat soup with just a bowl and a ladle from a big pot wasn’t enough. Something was missing—chopsticks.
In the tribe, there were only two ways to eat food before Han Cheng arrived. Fruits could be eaten raw, and the meat was roasted over a fire. Both types of food were solid or, in other words, didn’t involve liquids. Eating with hands was sufficient. However, now, with boiled food, it was a different story.
For larger pieces of meat or bones that couldn’t be submerged in the bowl of hot soup, they could be lifted with hands. But for smaller pieces, it was troublesome. They had to either drink the soup first or use their hands to grab the meat from the bottom of the bowl, a method that irked Han Cheng.
Eating like this resembled the habits of some international friends, including people from India. Han Cheng had watched videos of them grabbing food directly while eating hotpot, which felt uncomfortable for him.
Therefore, when he discovered this phenomenon in the tribe, he immediately stopped it. Stone, who loved grabbing the most, was even reprimanded with a specially-made ruler used for teaching.
The people felt a bit wrong, especially Stone. Even though he was young, he still got a big bowl. He hadn’t finished drinking the soup, and if he didn’t grab anything, he would be full on just soup and wouldn’t have room for the remaining meat.
Having meat in the bowl but being forced to drink only the soup was a huge torment for primitive people who valued eating more than anything else.
While everyone was diligently drinking the hot soup, trying to eat the meat at the bottom of the bowl, the god’s disciple, who had taken a stroll outside, returned.
He returned with a small bundle of smooth, thumb-thick twigs in his arms. To the puzzled looks of everyone, Han Cheng called Senior Brother over to help cut these twigs into segments of about twenty centimeters each.
After washing them clean with water from another large pot, Han Cheng handed two to each person, much to the increasing confusion of the onlookers.
Shaman, who got the makeshift chopsticks first, put his pottery bowl on the ground, took a twig in each hand, and examined them, occasionally gesturing. However, he still couldn’t figure out how to use them.
Shaman was wise. He understood the current predicament of the people in the tribe. Considering the Divine Child not allowing them to use their hands to grab meat in the bowl and observing the ongoing manufacturing of these two small sticks, he could guess the disciple’s intention.
However, Shaman was at a loss about how these things could get the meat from the bowl.
A bit perplexed, he held one chopstick in each hand and tried to pick at the meat in the bowl. One piece of meat was lifted above the surface, but before he could bring it to his mouth, a slight shake caused the meat to fall back into the bowl. The aromatic meat broth splashed out, making Shaman feel a bit regretful.
The others were even less adept than Shaman. Except for a few who guessed the purpose, the rest didn’t even know Han Cheng’s intentions.
Everyone was fiddling with the tree branches that Han Cheng had handed out, curious and perplexed. Some mischievous children had already started hitting their companions on the head with the sticks, finding a good use for them.
Except for the young children who couldn’t eat independently, everyone in the tribe now had a pair of makeshift chopsticks.
Knowing that they didn’t understand the purpose of these items, Han Cheng had no intention of explaining.
He returned to where he had been before, picked up the bowl on the ground, cleared his throat, and drew everyone’s attention. Then, skillfully, he moved the two chopsticks to his right hand.
Bringing the two chopsticks together, the upper ends leaned against the base of his thumb, revealing about four to five centimeters at the top.
About two-thirds of the way up, naturally leaning against the first joint of the middle finger, the index finger and thumb, respectively, held the chopsticks. With a slight movement of the fingers, the chopsticks naturally separated.
Han Cheng extended the chopsticks into the bowl, quickly retracted them, and picked up a piece of meat from beneath the soup.
Han Cheng, enjoying the meat with everyone looking on in sudden realization. Shaman, who had witnessed how to use chopsticks, imitated Han Cheng’s actions, holding the two chopsticks with the hand he often used for holding a stone pen.
Before Han Cheng introduced the god’s language and writing system to Shaman, both of Shaman’s hands were used for writing. However, when Han Cheng advised Shaman to write with his right hand. The time Shaman spent using his right hand increased.
From just this aspect, Shaman learned a lot. Previously, he only knew people had two hands, but he couldn’t distinguish between them. After Han Cheng mentioned left and right, this problem was well solved.
Moreover, the concepts of left and right were very versatile. Not only could hands be differentiated, but feet, ears, eyes, and many other things could be distinguished as left or right. The introduction of this concept made Shaman’s recording more detailed and accurate.
With the left hand holding the bowl and the right hand holding the chopsticks, imitating Han Cheng’s movements, Shaman held the two chopsticks together with the hand he often used for writing.
The two thin sticks were like two fingers in Han Cheng’s nimble hands. However, in Shaman’s hands, they were quite unruly. He struggled to control them, attempting to pick up the meat in the bowl, but always failed. After several attempts, he finally awkwardly managed to pick up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
This brought a sense of accomplishment to Shaman.
Compared to Shaman, the others were less skilled. Their movements were clumsy and awkward, and many couldn’t tell which hand held the chopsticks.
Among them, the adults in the tribe were the worst. The children who had learned from Han Cheng made fewer mistakes because they had grasped the concept of left and right during their initial attempts at writing.
For them, it wasn’t too difficult. They just needed to remember which hand held the pen.
Seeing everyone struggling to use chopsticks, unable to pick up the meat from the bowl, and even knocking over the bowls, Han Cheng, feeling helpless, had to demonstrate continuously, teaching each person one by one.
Many people inside the cave didn’t understand the Divine Child’s actions. It was perfectly fine to eat by grabbing with hands. Why did he have to create these two things called chopsticks to torture people?
Due to the appearance of chopsticks, even the Second Senior Brother, who loved eating the most, became a bit scared when mealtime approached, especially when it was a meal with soup.
However, Han Cheng valued the use of chopsticks, and after discussing with the Eldest Senior Brother, he deliberately made meat soup for six or seven days in a row. Then, during a meal, he held the bowl with chopsticks, constantly scanning the people in the tribe. If he found someone not using chopsticks but grabbing with hands, that person would be punished with the ruler. Though it didn’t hurt, nobody wanted to endure it because it was embarrassing.
Under this kind of pressure, after about a week, the people in the tribe had gotten used to using chopsticks to eat. Some skilled individuals started using chopsticks to pick up and eat during barbecues.
As for the Second Senior Brother, after breaking five pairs of chopsticks and knocking over bowls eight times, he finally mastered the skill that had once terrified countless international friends.