032 Pioneering

By the time all the work was finished, Lin Yan's home had undergone a complete transformation; the sense of emptiness that once defined it was gone.

The two side rooms, aside from the heated sleeping platforms (kang), were now filled with various sundries. The central room was left as it was for the time being, to be renovated gradually in the future. The kitchen was the most well-stocked, piled high with pottery jars and other cooking utensils, along with a stack of firewood.

In the courtyard, a circular enclosure of about twenty square meters had been built with bricks, specifically for raising pikas. Since these were the primary source of food for the household, Lin Yan dared not neglect their breeding until other food sources were secured. For safety, the families had also built brick walls around their respective yards, leaving only a door opening blocked by a simple fence. With these brick walls, each home became an independent, fortified compound, feeling much more secure.

As the families busied themselves with these improvements, others in the tribe came to observe, eventually returning to renovate their own homes in a similar fashion.

By the time the renovations were done, it was already June. The domestic pikas had already produced a litter, bringing their number to eight. Half the year had passed, and Hua Hong was busy preparing food for the upcoming cold season.

Seeing her mother working tirelessly, Lin Yan urged, "Mother, when you go hunting, please don't kill the pikas. Regardless of whether they are young or adult, catch them alive and bring them back to raise. Pikas breed quickly; as long as we catch enough live ones, we will have plenty by the cold season and won't have to worry about food."

Over the past few months, Old Lin had frequently gone out to fish, returning with a bountiful harvest each time and sharing some with Lin Yan’s family. Occasionally, Hua Hong would join the hunting parties, and between the game and wild fruits she brought back, the family had enough to eat. In fact, Lin Yan had long since realized that food was not hard to come by. The land was rich in resources; as long as one was not lazy, no one would go hungry. In the past, it was only because the cold season was so severe that people couldn't leave their homes, making food storage a desperate necessity. Now that conditions were improving, raising pikas and gathering wild fruits to dry would be more than enough to see them through the winter.

Lin Yan gathered Old Hei, Mao Mu, and Lin Yun to study the construction of an efficient kiln. She had the blueprints and knew that as long as they followed them, it would be successful. This kiln would offer better sealing, controllable temperatures, and even heat distribution, resulting in superior pottery. Once she found materials for glaze, they could even attempt to make porcelain, and eventually, glass, once the necessary ingredients were discovered. Although materials were currently scarce, the kiln would still be immensely useful.

Old Hei and the others were wide-eyed, filled with anticipation for the future Lin Yan described. With bricks and blueprints in hand, building the kiln was not a major problem. Lin Yan handed over the plans, and the three men set off to work. The site for the kiln was chosen at the location where the clay had originally been discovered, making it convenient to source materials.

Hua Hong returned after three days with five live, plump pikas, one of which was pregnant. Feeling that they had enough, Lin Yan pestered her mother to clear some wasteland to plant jute. She had also collected seeds of wild fruits, including red apples and green lemons, and intended to plant those as well.

Hua Hong was puzzled, wondering why they should go through the trouble of clearing land for farming when they could simply scatter the seeds and let nature take its course.

"Mother, if we clear away the weeds, what we plant will grow better and be easier to manage. Let's just start by clearing a small plot near the pika enclosure. Once you see the benefits of cultivation, you won't regret it."

Half-convinced, Hua Hong asked, "Really?"

Lin Yan nodded firmly. "Take me with you. We'll find a good spot, clear the grass and brush, turn the soil, plant the seeds, and just wait for the harvest."

"It sounds simple, but it’s too much work. Removing that brush is no easy task," Hua Hong grumbled, though she picked up her tools and headed toward the pika plains with Lin Yan.

"Mother, once we grow our own food, you won't have to struggle so hard with hunting. A bit of hard work now will lead to a better life later."

"How could such a good thing be true? Our ancestors have always lived by hunting. Are you sure you aren't just teasing your mother?"

"I'm not. You'll see in a few months."

The pika plains were to the west of their home, and it took about ten minutes to reach them. Lin Yan had Hua Hong carry her until they found a flat, overgrown area. There were no large trees, and the scrub was relatively sparse, which would make clearing easier. They marked out a plot about fifty meters long and thirty meters wide and began their work.

Hua Hong cleared the brush while Lin Yan pulled weeds—the very kind that pikas loved to eat, so nothing went to waste. Lin Yan used every ounce of her strength, her small hands moving incessantly until she was drenched in sweat. She couldn't help but mutter to herself that this was exhausting. Since ancient times, the life of a farmer—facing the earth with their backs to the sky—had never been easy, and only after experiencing it herself did she truly understand the meaning.

After nearly an hour, Hua Hong finally cleared a patch of scrub and moved to the next section with Lin Yan. When Lin Yan saw the thicket of identical, two-meter-tall shrubs and realized her mother was about to start clearing them, she quickly shouted, "Mother, stop! Don't clear these—they're valuable!"

"What are they?" Hua Hong paused, looking at the small thicket of plants she didn't recognize. Through Lin Yan’s teachings, she had become familiar with most of the vegetation around the tribe.

Lin Yan was excited; she had thought this spot was just easy to clear, never expecting such a surprise. "Mother, these are chestnut trees. See those fuzzy fruits? Those are the kernels; we can eat them to fill our bellies."

Lin Yan pointed to a chestnut, roughly the size of a baby’s fist, hanging in abundance from the branches. Hua Hong looked at it—it was indeed a fruit—but she reached out and touched the green, prickly husk, unable to imagine how it could be edible. "This is really edible?"

"Yes," Lin Yan said, seeing Hua Hong hesitate as if to put it in her mouth. "Not like that. You have to peel off the green, prickly skin, crack the hard shell inside, and eat the meat."

Under Lin Yan’s instruction, Hua Hong finally cracked one open. The white, tender meat was fragrant and smooth, tasting quite different from wild fruit. Hua Hong’s eyes lit up. "It’s delicious."

Mother and daughter picked and ate five or six more, their eyes sparkling as they looked at the grove of chestnut trees.

Hua Hong said, "Since these are chestnut trees, we'll keep them and clear the other brush around them."

"Yes, Mother, we must keep this patch. In a while, the chestnuts will be fully ripe. We can pick them, roast them over a fire, and they'll be even better. Chestnuts store for a long time, so we can eat them during the cold season."

They worked all morning, but had only cleared less than twenty square meters, and the chestnut grove remained untouched. After taking home the two baskets of grass Lin Yan had pulled and having a meal to rest, Hua Hong was full of energy again. Having seen the chestnuts, she believed Lin Yan was right: as long as they cleared the land and planted edible things, managing them carefully would ensure they never went hungry.

Lin Yan, however, was too tired to move. Clearing land was far too difficult; without proper tools, relying solely on human labor, she didn't know how long it would take to clear that entire plot.