Division of labor

The success of the pottery was like an injection of fresh vitality into the ancient machine that was the Fire Tribe. Jianshi and several of his core brothers-Jianya, Dali, Dazhuang, and Dabang-sat in a circle inside the chief's hut.

"Pottery is the greatest thing our Fire Tribe has to rely on right now!" Jianshi's voice was low and forceful. "We must keep it firmly in our own people's hands."

Jianya, their strategist, nodded in agreement. "Big Brother is right. We can't let the techniques spread outside. Yan and his three aunts should hold the core techniques. Each of them can pick five absolutely trustworthy women from the tribe who are quick with their hands and tight-lipped to help them. They'll only handle specific tasks like mixing clay, shaping pieces, and tending the fires. Yan and his aunts will still personally handle the crucial clay formula and control of the kiln fires."

Everyone unanimously agreed to this proposal. Soon, each of the three aunts chose five women whom she was close to and who were hardworking and honest, forming three pottery teams. Wang Yan served as the overall instructor, moving between the three teams to resolve the problems they encountered.

Beside the earthen kiln that had successfully fired the original batch, the hunters who were resting, personally led by Dali and Dazhuang, built two larger kilns with slightly improved structures. The three kilns stood side by side, breathing flames day and night, turning heaps of unremarkable earth into the tribe's precious pottery.

Empty huts were cleared out specifically to store pottery that had already been fired and pieces waiting to be fired. Watching the bowls, jars, and pots pile up inside, the people of the Fire Tribe felt utterly reassured.

The food supply also grew increasingly stable.

Wang Yan further refined the original "food-gathering squad." He had Shibang take four half-grown children and focus exclusively on fishing for frogs. They had already become old hands at it, knowing which pools to visit and how to take turns working, and could reliably supply several dozen jin of frog meat every day.

He himself took Gubang, Daya, Shouchai, and five other boys to concentrate on work on the water. They made large numbers of shrimp traps, using not just vines but also trying thinner branches or bamboo to weave tightly meshed cages, which they sank into the stream and the broader river bends downstream. Their catches of shrimp and crabs began to rise steadily. Although they still could not compare with the frog meat in quantity, their delicious flavor was an advantage, greatly enriching the tribe's diet.

These cages were more durable than hide bags, and their materials were easier to obtain. Whenever they broke, they could be repaired or remade.

Over the past ten days or so, the changes had been visible to the naked eye.

Although the tribespeople were still thin, the sallow color and look of weakness in their faces were slowly fading. The children ran and played with more strength, and even their crying had lessened. The adults stood straighter as they worked, and their eyes were no longer lifeless.

Everyone believed that as long as they kept eating like this for a few months, they would surely grow solid muscles and no longer sway at a gust of wind.

As Wang Yan walked through the tribe, amid his busy work, he noticed a problem-rope.

Whether it was the lines for catching frogs, the cords binding shrimp traps, or their attempts to weave larger fishing nets, all were limited by the coarseness of the materials. The bark and grass ropes the tribe currently used were not strong enough, wore out easily, and were too thick, making them very inconvenient for fine work.

"We need better rope," Wang Yan told Gubang, Daya, and the others sitting around him that evening.

"Better rope?" Gubang scratched his head. "Aren't bark rope and grass rope already the best? Where would we find anything better?"

"There definitely is something," Wang Yan said with certainty. "We need to find plants with finer, longer, and tougher fibers. The bark we peel off needs to tear into very fine strands. Only then will the rope we twist from it be both strong and soft."

He described the ideal plant fibers from his memory, but he needed to search and experiment to find out exactly which plant would work.

The next day, after arranging the day's shrimp trapping and pottery work, Wang Yan took Gubang and Shouchai on a new exploration. Instead of going to the water, they plunged into the woods beside the tribe and onto the hillsides, carefully examining every plant that looked as though it had slender stems or fiber-rich bark.

They found a wild grass with long, narrow leaves and upright stems. Wang Yan tried peeling away its outer skin, but the fibers inside were short and snapped with a tug.

"This won't work." Wang Yan shook his head.

They then found a tree with layers upon layers of bark. Gubang tore off a large piece with a strong pull. It was fairly tough, but its fibers were too coarse and contained a great deal of unwanted matter.

"This won't work either. It's too coarse. Rope twisted from it would chafe our hands and wouldn't be easy to use."

For several days in a row, they continued this seemingly fruitless search and experimentation. Sometimes they brought back samples, which Wang Yan patiently processed, soaking, pounding, and combing them in an attempt to separate out usable fibers.

Seeing them fiddle with grass, bark, and roots all day, Aunt Baiya asked curiously, "Yan, what treasure are you looking for?"

Wang Yan explained with a smile, "Auntie, I'm looking for something we can make better rope from. Look at our ropes now. They're thick and break easily. If we can find something better, the nets we weave in the future will be stronger and catch bigger fish, and our shrimp traps will last longer too."

Aunt Baiya seemed only half to understand. "Then take your time looking. If you need anyone to help, just say so."

That day, on a damp slope downstream along the creek, Wang Yan discovered a dense patch of plants. They had palmate leaves and upright stems covered in tiny prickles. Something stirred in Wang Yan's mind. This shape... could it be some wild relative of hemp or ramie?

Carefully avoiding the prickles, he snapped off a stem and peeled away its outer skin. Inside, greenish-white strands of inner bark were revealed. He tried tearing off a strand and found that its fibers were very long and exceptionally tough. Even a hard tug did not break them easily!

"Come look, you two!" Wang Yan excitedly called to Gubang and Shouchai.

He gathered a large bundle of these prickly plants and brought them back. That night, beside the campfire, he imitated the methods he remembered for processing hemp-like plants, soaking the stems in water, then gently pounding them with a stone before rinsing them in water again.

After repeated pounding and rinsing, the greenish-white fibers gradually separated, becoming whiter and softer. Wang Yan dried the fibers, then tried twisting them with his hands.

A thin yet exceptionally tough hemp cord gradually took shape in his hands!

He tugged hard on the hemp cord. It merely stretched, showing no sign of breaking. It was far stronger and more elastic than bark rope!

"It worked!"