From Chief to Ball

Worry and panic are vividly displayed in the eyes of every woman. For a tribe, men are indispensable.

They cannot survive the winter by relying on collection, and they are easily annexed by other tribes, or even attacked by wild beasts.

They worried that their brothers had encountered some terrible beasts, and they were worried that something had happened to their sons.

The old grandmother was even more worried about the future of the tribe. If those people were really in danger, the tribe would weaken.

That kind of marriage and mating between tribes is also based on equal strength.

Once there are few males in one's own tribe, it is likely to be absorbed by other tribes and kill young children.

At this time, human animal nature has not completely subsided. During the breastfeeding period, females will rely on animal instincts to reject other males, and will go into heat again after killing the cubs.

And these children who are still breastfeeding have the blood of the old grandmother flowing on them, and she does not want to see such things happen.

A matrilineal society is not a matriarchal society, and the meaning of a woman as a leader is determined by the convenience of distinguishing bloodlines and reproductive advantages.

The lifespan of men is often not long because of hunting, and they can only rely on women like old grandmothers to pass on their wisdom and experience.

The man who hunted today has not returned yet, so it can be said that the fate of the tribe is doomed.

He must have encountered a ferocious herd and dispersed the crowd. Once he was alone, he would not be able to survive in the forest.

Several women uttered mournful cries, and the old grandmother looked at the quiet forest with sadness in her eyes.

Those who hunt are all their own sons or their own grandchildren, and the family relationship formed by the blood link cannot be separated.

The sky is getting darker and darker, and the despair in these people's hearts is getting heavier and heavier.

Chen Jian's mother frantically piled up the branches in the bonfire, as if she wanted to use the firelight to guide her son and brother on the way back. The firelight cast her shadow on the stone wall, jumping endlessly, desperate and crazy.

The sound of beeping flames echoed in the cave, and Yu Qian'er was crying behind her mother, looking forward to her brother's return.

However, the hotter the fire, the deeper the despair.

Finally, the women in the cave uttered a cry, followed by a second voice, a third voice, a fourth voice... finally gathered together, the waves of sorrow and the sea of ​​despair hit the stone wall, echoing Seeing the pines, startled countless night birds.

Suddenly a thick and rough roar came from a distance, the eyes of the old grandmother suddenly brightened a lot, she stood up abruptly, walked tremblingly to the entrance of the cave, and looked into the distance.

The women heard the excitement in the roars, couldn't help shouting for joy, pulled out firewood from the fire, and rushed down the mountain.

In the starlight, their brothers and sons carried their prey and ran towards the cave.

The roar mixed with beast style and human joy has been spread far and wide.

Chen Jian's mother rushed to her son, hugged her son's thick body, weeping, and kept stroking the animal teeth hanging around his neck.

The old grandmother finally let go of her heart, took out the bark with knots, and counted the people who came back, one of them was quite a few, and she also brought back five prey and quite a few birds.

The wolf skin publicized the hunt in the crowd, especially the story Chen Jian told, as well as the magical bow and arrow.

An aunt took the bow and arrow carefully, and couldn't believe that such a simple thing would make hunting so rewarding.

People gathered around the fire, worshiping bows and arrows, the blood of the slaughtered deer dripped on the bows and arrows.

Several women leaned over to drink deer blood, which is a way to replenish salt.

In addition, in Chen Jian's memory, the tribesmen would sometimes go to a dry saline-alkali land to retrieve the soil or lick the stones there. The salt-alkali rich in impurities is very bitter, but at least not because of Electrolyte imbalance due to lack of salt.

Blood is a good way to replenish salt, but it is rare to catch live prey during normal hunting. It is okay for men, but women can only rely on licking stones to replenish.

The clansmen's emotions are unrestrained but there is no aftertaste. Now that they are back, they only know how happy they are, expressing their joy in a simple and natural way, and then get busy again.

The women were in charge of skinning and grilling, and the old grandmother sat by the fire, listening to the story of the wolf skin telling the origin of the bow and arrow, with a look of surprise on her face.

I had seen that kind of black and white bear when I migrated with the tribe when I was very young!

But she hadn't seen her again in these years, and it was the second time Chen Jian went hunting with her. Could it be that the black and white bears were really the souls of the ancestors protecting the tribe?

She glanced at Chen Jian, who was standing next to the fire, raising his bow and arrow, repeating the names of these two objects hoarsely.

Language is constantly developing with the progress of human beings. Since there is a mature language system in the previous life, some things that have not yet appeared can be named by yourself.

The bow body dripping with deer blood is extraordinarily bright red under the light of the flames, and the harvest of prey gives the two words bow and arrow a different color.

After a few glances, the old grandmother believed that what Chen Jian said was true, it must be a reminder from the ancestors to the tribe in a dream, otherwise how could this young adult know so much?

This is a good thing for the tribe, and the tribe may really be able to survive and grow in the wild.

While listening to Chen Jian's story, the women cut the venison with stone knives.Chen Jian's ten-year-old younger sister, Yuqian'er, chatted with her elder brother about her worries, because although everyone is very close to each other in the ethnic groups linked by blood, there are still differences in closeness.

Looking at this little girl who has just developed, her face is covered with mud spots, which set off her big shiny eyes.

Two tear streaks under the corners of the eyes washed away the dust, but at this time there was a smile on her face. The cute little girl may have the same father as Chen Jian, or maybe not, but at least she has the same mother.

Chen Jian took back three chicks from the wolf skin and handed them over to his sister. He caught a few small tide bugs in the corner of the cave, and called the chicks to open their mouths and feed them. .

Yu Qian'er looked interesting, and hurriedly turned over the stones to find all kinds of bugs that he hated before, holding them in his hands.

The little birds were being fed in a learned manner, and several little girls also gathered around, looking at the three little chicks curiously.

The women laughed and wiped the remaining tears and new sweat on their faces with the back of their hands. The men, who had been tired all day, probably felt like home for the first time.

Amidst the laughter, Chen Jian stared at the big fat bird in his hand, and thought that it would be better if it was delicious. If the meat was sour and astringent, then there was no need to think about domesticating it, and it was better to just go and find chickens, ducks and geese honestly.

He cut open the viscera of the big fat bird with a stone knife, and threw it out of the cave together with the viscera of the deer.

A few wolves that were already in a symbiotic balance with the tribe, wagging their tails, kept a safe distance.

After Chen Jian returned to the cave, he immediately jumped on the internal organs and began to bite, which was much easier than hunting in the wild.

He dug a small hole on the ground, put some stones, lit a fire to heat the stones, wrapped the fat bird with grass leaves, put a layer of sand on the stones, and lit the coals again.

When the women were roasting the venison, Chen Jian also dug up the mound and took out the fat bird.

The people in the tribe looked at this cooking method curiously, sniffing the fresh aroma different from the burnt smell, and looked at this side greedily, but no one moved.

The feathers on the roasted fat bird will fall off with just a little force, revealing the white and tender skin, and the soft and not burnt meat.

The old grandmother sniffed it, and it was indeed different from the baked one. She tried to squeeze it with her hands, and it was softer than those baked, and it was more suitable for children and people with teeth problems.

Yuqian'er and several children gathered around the old grandmother, staring at the completely different fat bird. The fragrance of leaves and grass mixed with the smell of dampness was much better than those burnt venison .

Because it was the first time to cook like this, all the old grandmothers shared a little bit, and when a few people received it, they couldn't wait to fill it into their mouths, regardless of the heat, and let out a cry of satisfaction.

Chen Jian took a small piece and chewed it in his mouth, very happy.

Although the meat quality of this bird is not as tender as that of chicken, duck and goose, it is a bit old, but the taste is not bad, at least it is not sour or sour.