I Became The Chief of A Primitive Village

Chapter 181: Fruit Oil Lamp

“Shaman, are these the grass ropes you wanted?” Yu Ying returned from outside with several grass ropes.

Su Bai took the grass ropes, selected a few thinner ones, and twisted them together, saying, “This will do.”

“Shaman, what are you going to do?” Yu Ying asked, confused.

Su Bai brought over the stone bowl containing the brown fruit juice and said, “I’m making a fruit oil lamp.”

“Fruit oil lamp?” Yu Ying was completely baffled.

Su Bai smiled, without giving much explanation, and placed the twisted grass rope into the brown fruit juice. After letting the entire grass rope soak thoroughly, he used two wooden sticks to clip out one end of the rope.

“Watch carefully. The next step is the moment you will witness a miracle.” Su Bai said with a slight smile, dipping the wooden stick into the fire pit to light it.

He brought the burning wooden stick close to the exposed end of the grass rope. Instantly, that end of the grass rope was ignited.

A small flame danced at the end of the grass rope, very much like a graceful dancing sprite.

Yu Ying’s pink eyes were drawn to the dancing flame. She exclaimed in surprise, “Shaman, is this a Shaman Technique?”

“This isn’t Shaman Technique. Anyone can do this. This is the power of knowledge.” Su Bai explained.

He placed the fruit oil lamp on another stone table to prevent oil from splashing out and burning the wooden table, which could cause a fire.

Yu Ying leaned in close, her pink eyes constantly watching the dancing flame, murmuring, “It’s so magical. Shaman, how long can this fruit oil lamp burn for?”

“If you keep adding fruit oil, it can burn for a very long time, but you’ll need to keep changing the grass rope in the middle,” Su Bai said.

The grass rope was not like the cotton threads from Earth; it would burn out easily, so it needed to be changed frequently.

“This is amazing.” Yu Ying’s pink eyes were filled with admiration.

“Bring another stone bowl, I’ll make one for you to use,” Su Bai said gently.

Although there was a fire pit in the Teepee at night and it was not completely dark, the table was still some distance from the fire pit. Every night when working at the table, since they did not have lights like those on Earth, which could brightly illuminate the entire Teepee, one had to lean in to see things.

Doing this for a long time could lead to nearsightedness. Of course, Su Bai’s Stamina was increasing bit by bit every day, so the possibility of becoming nearsighted was probably unlikely for him. Even so, it was different for the fox eared girl. Without the support of the System, and not being a Totem Warrior, if she continued like this for a long time, nearsightedness would likely be inevitable.

Now that they could make fruit oil lamps, making an extra one was a simple matter.

Placing it next to the fox eared girl would make it easier for her to see the linen clearly, and she would not have to keep her head lowered and close to the linen.

“Okay.” Yu Ying brought another stone bowl and several thin grass ropes.

Su Bai followed the previous procedure, squeezing more brown fruit juice into the stone bowl, then twisting the dry grass into a rope and placing it inside.

After lighting the dry grass, he handed the stone bowl over, saying, “Place it next to you, but keep it away from the linen and firewood. Make sure you don’t accidentally set anything else on fire.”

“I understand,” Yu Ying carefully reached out with both hands to take the stone bowl.

The light from the fruit oil lamp illuminated the fox eared girl’s delicate face, adding much beauty to it.

She carefully placed the fruit oil lamp on a flat, large stone, and contentedly kept staring at it.

Su Bai, seeing the fox eared girl’s soft and cute appearance, really wanted to pinch her cheeks.

He smiled and sat back in his place, continuing to take out materials to make more Shaman Bone Tablets.

Besides making Shaman Bone Tablets, he also thought about other uses for these fruits. [Apart from making fruit oil lamps, what else could they be used for?]

[Never mind, let’s have our people pick more of these fruits first] Su Bai thought. [Before finding out better uses for them, we might as well stockpile them first.]

…

The night passed in a flash. The next morning, Su Bai was the first to open his black eyes.

He saw that the fruit oil lamp on the table had gone out. Surprisingly, when these brown fruit juices burned, they no longer had that strong odour. On the contrary, there was more of a wild fruit scent, which Su Bai was very satisfied with. As long as it was not the smell, when the fruits were first squeezed, it was fine.

“Shaman, you’re up early today.” Yu Ying also slowly got up.

“Good morning, Xiao Yu,” Su Bai stretched out his arms and smiled, “How was it? Did you sleep well last night?”

He had watched the fox eared girl go to sleep first last night. She had fallen asleep shortly after lying down. Her fox tail was still unconsciously swishing.

“I slept very well. How about you, Shaman?” Yu Ying gently responded.

“Me too. You can go about your business.” Su Bai poured himself a cup of water, mainly wanting the fox eared girl to leave the Teepee so he could check in.

“Mm-hmm, I’ll go water the chilli peppers first, then come back to make breakfast for you, Shaman.” Yu Ying said in a soft voice.

The fox eared girl left the Teepee carrying a wooden bucket, skipping and hopping as she went out. It was clear that she was in a good mood today.

Su Bai was always happy to see the fox eared girl’s lively appearance. Before, she had been very timid, always trembling and afraid of causing trouble for others no matter what she did. Now, it seemed that timid personality had mostly changed, and she was more lively. Perhaps it was because they had been together for a long time.

[System, check in and open the Assistance Package.] Su Bai called out to the System in his mind.

[Ding! Congratulations Host, check in successful!]

[Ding! Congratulations, Host has received Low Grade Assistance: two pieces of ginger.]

Su Bai pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then said, “That’s also good. We had garlic, and now we have ginger.”

[Ginger is also one of the spices needed for cooking, especially in this primitive era where meat is particularly gamey. Adding some ginger could remove that gamey taste. Especially when dealing with fish, adding some ginger when steaming fish could dispel the fishy smell.] [There’s a big river near the Ancestral Land. When we catch fish, we’ll now have spices to cook with.] Su Bai muttered contentedly.

He got up and stepped out of the Teepee, thinking of burying these two pieces of ginger in the soil early, and then digging them up when they leave for the Ancestral Land.

*Tap tap tap…* A few minutes later, Su Bai arrived at the chilli pepper field and saw the fox eared girl watering them.

Yu Ying heard the footsteps and turned her head, surprised, “Shaman, why are you here? Do you need to use the bathroom?”

She was still a bit uncomfortable with this term. Somehow, the word ‘bathroom’ felt awkward no matter how she said it.

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