"It's ready to eat!"
Jiang Xuan placed the two grilled fish on a clean stone slab and used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat from the back of the grilled fish. He blew on it and put it into his mouth.
When he built the bamboo house, he used bamboo to make several pairs of chopsticks. Unfortunately, other than him and Chi Shao, Hook Vine and the others preferred to eat directly with their hands.
The fish meat was roasted for a longer time and was dry. The rich smell of meat carried the fragrance of wild ginger.
The taste and texture of the freshwater fish were excellent. Even though he had used only two pieces of wild ginger, they were still delicious.
"It tastes good. Everyone, try it."
Jiang Xuan continued eating as he called out to them.
Chi Shao also picked up a pair of chopsticks. She was not used to using chopsticks, but Jiang Xuan liked it, so she tried her best to get used to it so that Jiang Xuan would not be alone.
Chi Shao clumsily picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and held it in her hand, afraid that she would drop it.
When she put the fish in her mouth, she chewed a few times and nodded in satisfaction. Her eyes narrowed like crescents because of her smile.
"With that herb, it's indeed much better than before."
Chi Shao gave full recognition to Jiang Xuan's method of stuffing wild ginger into the fish's stomach to roast.
"Hot, hot, hot…"
Hook Vine, Stone Loach, and South Star tore the fish meat with their hands. As they shouted that it was hot, they blew on it and stuffed it into their mouths.
"It's delicious!"
"Xuan, the fish you roasted is amazing!"
"I want more."
The three of them quickly finished a big fish. The big fish did not have any small fish bones, and Jiang Xuan roasted it dry. Therefore, although they ate quickly, no one was scratched by the fish bones.
After eating the two big fish, the five of them were still unsatisfied. They skewered the fish oil on small wooden sticks, roasted them on the charcoal fire, and ate them.
The taste of the fish oil was actually not good, but no one cared as long as it was edible.
After eating the fish, Jiang Xuan thought that it would be great if he could make a pot of fish soup. They would get tired of eating roasted food.
However, making soup required a pot. Without a pot, one had to at least have a crock.
"A crock…"
Jiang Xuan muttered under his breath and his eyes lit up. "Why don't I make some pottery?"
Beside him, Chi Shao heard him and said in surprise, "Xuan, you know how to make pottery? How much did you learn in the tribe?"
Chi Shao felt surreal. Her own brother was so awesome. Why hadn't she realized it before?
There were indeed people in the Deer Tribe who could make pottery. Although it was only the most primitive and simple pottery, it was still pottery. The earthenware had the basic functions and characteristics of pottery.
Jiang Xuan said embarrassedly, "I've only seen them make it. As for whether I can successfully make it, I'll only know after trying."
Chi Shao nodded. "Then let's try, Xuan. I trust you."
This place was rich in resources. Now that there was a way to fish, coupled with hunting and digging for root plants, it was not particularly difficult to save enough food for five people for the winter as long as they were diligent.
With fewer people and more resources, the pressure to survive was much less than when they were in the Deer Tribe.
"Alright, I'll try my best!"
In order to drink meat soup, Jiang Xuan decided to try making pottery.
Actually, the production of pottery was not complicated. All he needed to do was to choose the right clay, pat it repeatedly, knead it, and mold it into a tool shape. After the clay dried, it would be baked at a high temperature.
As long as he tried a few times and summarized his experience, he should be able to succeed.
There was clay by the stream. It was the kind of soil that was pale and delicate. It was good material for making clay pots.
But before making pottery, there was something more pressing—digging a pond.
Since the fishing trap was effective, they would definitely be able to catch a lot of fish in the future. They couldn't possibly hang all of them up to smoke, right? How big of a fire pit would that have to be?!
The best way was to dig a pond and raise these fish. They could eat them whenever they wanted. They did not have to worry about preserving them.
Early the next morning, Jiang Xuan got up and took two half-dried fish from the top of the fire pit. He roasted them for everyone to eat, and then began to prepare the tools to dig a pond.
As the saying went, if one wanted to do a good job, one had to sharpen the tools first.
Good tools could greatly increase the efficiency of work.
With the help of Chi Shao and the others, Jiang Xuan spent the entire day making three more bone plows. Together with the first two, they now had five bone plows, so they could have one each.
Then they spent another day weaving three rattan baskets of different sizes to transport the excavated soil.
On the third day, they finally started digging the pond.
Jiang Xuan chose a place in front of the bamboo forest that was close to the stream and had relatively flat terrain. After removing the wild grass and bushes, the five of them dug the soil with the bone plows at the same time and piled the dug soil into the rattan baskets to construct a pond.
Because they were using crude tools, it took them eight days to dig a six-meter-long, four-meter-wide, and half-meter-deep pond. The hard work was something that only they themselves would know.
Jiang Xuan spent another day using the moist mud to seal the dike on the four sides of the pond so that it would not leak easily.
After covering the pond, Jiang Xuan stuck a small fence woven with branches at the outlet. This way, it would be difficult for the fish to escape.
After everything was done, Jiang Xuan dug a drainage canal to let the stream water into the pond.
"Crash…"
The stream water flowed in, filling the pond, bit by bit.
Jiang Xuan and the others stood by the pond and watched the water surface rise gradually. They were filled with a sense of accomplishment.
"Xuan, after digging the pond, will we have endless fish in the future?" South Star asked hopefully.
Jiang Xuan smiled and said, "We will. One day, we will have endless fish."
"That's great!"
South Star immediately smiled happily, and so did Hook Vine and Stone Loach.
Chi Shao looked at Jiang Xuan and said, "I really hope that this day will come soon so that everyone won't have to worry about starving."
Jiang Xuan nodded. He believed that as long as they worked hard, that day would come sooner or later.
After digging the pond, the fish caught by the fishing trap were no longer killed.
They used rattan baskets to take the fish from the pool, and then used animal skin bags to carry the live fish back to the pond to rear.
After a few days, the newly dug pond was no longer empty. Many fish swam in the water.
However, they soon discovered a new problem.
The carnivorous fish would often bite the herbivorous fish. Even if the herbivorous fish were larger in size, they would be bitten to death.
Helpless, Jiang Xuan had to drain the water in the pond and build a new dike in the middle of the pond to raise the carnivorous fish and the herbivorous fish separately.
Although the carnivorous fish would still bite each other, at least the herbivorous fish would survive now. They only needed to throw some water plants as food for them every day.