013 The Golden Touch

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Lin Yan had not fallen asleep either. She entered the Museum of Technology.

Seeing that she had 1,520 contribution points, she checked the record and found that she had gained 162 points over the course of the day.

“Fatty Treasure, I want to open Room 0102.”

She had once asked Fatty Treasure what was inside, but it had told her that it did not know. She would only find out after the room was opened.

Fatty Treasure immediately replied, “All right. Please wait.”

Ten seconds later.

“Room 0102 has been opened.”

Lin Yan rushed in at once.

She froze after only one glance. It was another room full of books, arranged much like Room 0101.

She pulled out a book at random, then paused. There was, in fact, a difference.

The books in Room 0101 had yellowed pages, clearly weathered by time and bearing the marks of age. They were probably antique volumes.

The books in Room 0102 were different. Their pages were pale, smooth, and supple, while the writing was neat and clear. The characters were all in a simple Song-style font, as though they had been printed.

The title of the book in her hand was The Origin of Fire, which recounted the history of humanity’s discovery of fire.

She pulled out another: The Evolution of Fire-Making by Friction.

Then another: Natural Sources of Fire, introducing the various kinds of fire that could form naturally.

…

The Preparation of Phosphorus Fire.

The Principles and Manufacture of Matches.

Lin Yan’s eyes lit up when she reached that title.

She continued reading.

After making random checks from beginning to end, Lin Yan confirmed that the nearly thousand books in the room were all related to fire.

There was everything one could imagine.

She searched carefully once more, but found none of the lighters she had seen in Room 0101.

Lin Yan guessed that the newly opened room was subject to certain restrictions, probably connected to the environment she currently inhabited.

If that was true, then doing whatever she wanted would be far too easy. An entire system of knowledge was already available, and in extraordinary detail. All she had to do was transfer the contents of the books into practical applications.

So the Museum of Technology was an enormous cheat, providing her with everything she needed and merely waiting for her to put it into practice and transform this primitive, backward place?

Whatever the museum’s purpose might be, Lin Yan was thoroughly satisfied with this external brain.

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With all this at her disposal, what did she have to worry about?

She would have a machete, an iron pot, and, before long, a house as well.

At the same time, she was even more curious about the countless rooms farther ahead. What would the next one contain?

Lin Yan found the books that interested her most and began to read. She continued until she could no longer resist her body’s instincts and sank into a deep sleep.

She woke late again. Before she had even managed to get up, she heard a commotion outside.

Listening carefully, she realized there must be quite a few people. What was going on?

She stepped out of the cave and looked around. All she could see were legs—some covered in more body hair, some in less; some long, some short; some dark, some light.

Lin Yan felt a chill of disgust. At a time like this, her first thought had actually been about leg hair.

Before she could think of anything else, someone scooped her up. Her viewpoint rose, and all she could see were people’s heads.

She immediately turned to see who was holding her.

A rough, broad black face grinned down at her, full of urgency. When the man saw Lin Yan looking at him, Black Earth immediately said in a deep, booming voice, “I’m Black Earth. Show me how to write my name.”

Black Earth was the tribe’s strongest warrior and its tallest man, standing a full six feet three inches. His body was covered in muscle, and his dark skin gleamed beneath the sun.

He possessed formidable combat ability, tremendous strength, and astonishing explosive power. Whenever he went out, he brought the tribe back the greatest share of game.

Just as Lin Yan was thinking this, he said, “These are pikas. They’re alive. I’m giving them to you.”

Following Black Earth’s hand, Lin Yan looked down and saw two pikas on the ground, one black and one white. Their heads resembled those of mice, and their bodies were not large—perhaps two pounds each. They had short legs, short tails, and plump, fluffy bodies. Vines were tied around their legs, which explained why they had not run away.

They were pika pups, probably born not long ago.

Black Earth continued, “I picked them myself. Aren’t they pretty?” He had chosen them especially. Children loved things like this.

“They’re lovely,” Lin Yan replied readily. “They’re pure-colored, without a single stray hair, and they look clever. Are you really giving them to me?”

Black Earth immediately said, “They’re yours. You teach me to write my name.”

“All right.”

Lin Yan agreed without hesitation. Opportunities this good did not come often, so of course she had to accept at once.

She had asked Flower Red about pikas. They were the most common animals in the area, herbivores that moved extremely fast and reacted with great agility. Hunting one was not easy, and catching one alive was even more difficult—it depended entirely on luck. The largest could grow to nearly sixteen inches long and weigh as much as twenty pounds.

Pikas were skilled diggers and lived in burrows. They were also one of the main sources of food for the people of the Solar Tribe.

This pair of pika pups was not only attractive but also one male and one female, making them perfect for breeding.

To repay Black Earth’s generous gift, Lin Yan wrote his name with exceptional care, explaining the proper stroke order as she wrote.

Black Earth left happily, carrying the stone tablet bearing his name.

The moment he was gone, the crowd surged forward, all clamoring for Lin Yan to teach them.

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Everyone had come prepared.

Before Lin Yan had gotten up, Flower Red and Leaf had already told them that anyone who wanted to learn to write their name must first prepare a stone tablet and a wooden stick.

By the time Lin Yan appeared, everything was ready. All that remained was for her to begin writing.

There were simply too many people, and no one was following any sort of order. Lin Yan shouted, “Mother! Mother!” She felt as though she was about to be torn apart by the crowd.

Amid the uproar, Flower Red pushed her way over and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Everyone stop! Stop!”

Seeing this, Leaf began shouting as well.

It took more than ten minutes for the crowd to quiet down.

The leaves covering Lin Yan had all come loose. Held in Flower Red’s arms, she surveyed the crowd.

She raised her voice and said, “Don’t push. Form a line and come one at a time. Starting today, I’ll write everyone’s name. If there are other people at home who need their names written, they don’t all have to come. One person can bring the materials for everyone. Also, bring one extra stone tablet. I’ll write the ten digits from zero to nine on it, and you can take it home to study together.”

Someone called out, “You’ll really teach everyone?”

“I’ll teach everyone. I’ll be right here. Also, if there are children at home, they can come and learn other things with me. Anyone who can walk and talk is welcome.”

Lin Yan was small, and her voice was soft and childish, but she spoke neither hurriedly nor slowly. There was a natural authority in her tone. Gradually, the crowd believed her and began forming a line.

When someone’s stone tablet was large, Lin Yan would ask how many other people were in their household and whether they wanted their names written on it as well.

Some tablets were only large enough for one name on each side.

She wrote continuously for an hour before finally sending away everyone in the line.

Lin Yan’s stomach was growling with hunger, so she hurriedly drank a few mouthfuls of the meat broth Mother had prepared.

Before she could even catch her breath, someone else arrived.

It was Blue Orchid. She was carrying a pika leg, dripping with fresh blood, and behind her came more than a dozen people bearing more than a dozen large stone tablets.

Lin Yan took a quick look and saw that most of Blue Orchid’s family had come.

Blue Orchid was elderly and frail, but her eyes were remarkably clear. In a gentle voice, she asked Lin Yan to write the names of her family members on the stone tablets.

Each stone tablet was about a square yard in size, though their shapes varied.

Lin Yan felt that writing only names would be a waste, so she began chatting with Blue Orchid and drew up a family tree for her household.

At the top of the first stone tablet, she wrote Blue Orchid’s name. Beneath it, in a single row, she wrote the names of her children, arranged from left to right according to their birth order.

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