The residences of the villagers in Woer Village are not densely populated. Nearly fifty households of villagers are distributed in the valley along the stream. The stream stretches for nearly three kilometers in the ravine. In addition to some barren fields on both sides, there are some
A simple stone house, Suldak's home is located on the lower reaches of the creek, not far from the tidal flat at the river bend.
The residence of village chief Bright is located at the uppermost reaches of this creek and is at the highest point of this ravine.
Although Wall Village is a rather barren small mountain village, with only more than fifty households of civilians living here, this small mountain village still has a very strict class division. In Wall Village, the higher the status of the people, the higher the place where they live.
It is located in the upper reaches of the river. The closer you live to the upper reaches, the more convenient it is to use water.
Especially during the dry season, the water flowing from the spring is not even one-tenth of what it is when rainfall is abundant.
At this time, it will be more convenient for residents living upstream of the news to use water, and the fields on both sides of the river will also be fully irrigated.
Walking up the winding path in the village, Surdak rode through this road in the morning. He also saw the stone house of the village chief Bright, which was a spire house.
The roof is also covered with thick red thatch. Although it does not look like a two-story building, there is a small glass window on the red thatch roof. It should be a small attic.
The house is raised high enough. The entire house is made of limestone strips. The wooden window frames look very strong. There is a simple fence outside the house. There are also a few hens in a fence.
It looks like one of the nicest houses in the village.
The name of Bright Village Chief was something Sheila told herself in the morning.
Old Sheila also told Suldak that the village chief preferred young people to call him Uncle Bright, and almost all the young people in the village called him Uncle Bright.
Surdak stood next to the fence outside the village chief's house. The fence was covered with plum beans. These plums had small purple flowers and the dense green leaves were full of pods. He pushed open the fence.
Walking along the path to the wooden fence gate, you saw the village chief Bright sitting at the door of the stone house, holding a sickle in his hand and whittling a wooden stick. Sitting next to him were two young men also holding knives in their hands.
When I got closer, I realized that the stick was actually the carcass of a hardwood longbow.
The difference between this kind of hardwood bow and the military standard alloy bow is that it does not have stronger metal bow pieces. The pulling force of the hardwood bow is completely determined by the toughness of the hardwood itself. This kind of hardwood bow is an ordinary hunting bow with an average range.
, cannot be used on the battlefield.
It seems that these two young men are learning the craft of making hardwood bows from the village chief of Bright.
The head of Bright Village has gray hair and his face is full of wrinkles. He always likes to squint his eyes and look at people, which is probably a habit left over from being a hunter when he was young.
Hearing footsteps coming from the door, a green hunting dog sprang out from the woodshed and bit Suldak's calf silently.
Village chief Bright quickly called: "Kara, come back!"
When the hunting dog heard its owner's call, it quickly stopped, turned around, swung its tail, and ran to the village chief Bright's legs to lie down.
Only then did the old village chief see Suldak and hurriedly greeted him: "It's Little Dak, come and sit quickly. Are you still used to living in the village?"
"It's okay!" Suldak came over and found a wooden pillar to sit down on.
When the two young men saw Suldak, they quickly stood up and greeted Suldak. The village chief Bright introduced to Suldak that one of the two young men was his youngest son Charlie, and the other
It's his nephew Luke.
A young middle-aged woman in civilian clothes came out of the house, gave Suldak a cup of tea, and then smiled at him before leaving the house.
The village chief Bright then said: "Thanks to you for coming forward yesterday at Beigou Pasture, otherwise I don't know how the matter would have ended. If this pasture was gone, life in Wall Village would be difficult in the future! What if?
These yellow sheep have no place to graze, and I really don’t know what else the village can exchange with the foreign caravans for some daily necessities such as salt, silk thread, and iron pots.”
"I'm glad I can help you all!" Suldak said politely.
Seeing that Suldak was not taking any credit or being arrogant, Village Chief Bright was a little relieved.
He was afraid that Surdak would bring up topics such as the ownership of Beigou Grassland when he came up. Supposedly, the retaking of Beigou Grassland was all due to Surdak, but even so, he could not give it away easily. After all, the village was closely related to this grassland.
Everyone’s livelihood issues.
The bow tire in the hand of Village Chief Bright has been almost shaved off. The entire handle and the back of the bow have been roughly chipped out. Only the fine balance of the bow back is left. Surdak said to Village Chief Bright: "
Uncle Brett, are you making a hardwood bow?"
Village Chief Bright handed the hardwood bow tire to Suldak, then dusted off the sawdust on his body, and replied: "Well, September is about to enter, the weather will gradually cool down, and the lizards in the mountains will also have to crawl through the cracks in the mountain walls.
Climbing out, this time of year is the best time for hunting. I hope my luck will be better this year and I can catch more gray rock iguanas.”
Surdak asked curiously: "Will the gray rock iguanas that are hunted be sold in the city of Helensa?"
Village Chief Bright paused for a moment and then said: "Well, there are usually caravans who come to buy it, and then they transport it to the city of Halanza. The city of Halanza is too far for us."
"Is this kind of gray rock iguana used for eating?" Surdak asked.
Charlie, who was sitting aside, said to Suldak: "Of course, the iguana's meat is very tender and delicious, it feels a bit like tender chicken, but one piece of this thing can be exchanged for almost two silver coins, and no one in our village will be willing to eat it.
they."
The wooden bows in their hands were very average. Village Chief Bright took it in his hands and inspected it, pointed out the shortcomings and gave suggestions for modifications. It seemed that Village Chief Bright had a lot of experience in making hardwood bows, and it looked like
This is a village-wide hunting activity.
Surdak also participated in some hunting activities when he was in the second team. In addition to hunting evil spirits, he also hunted Tim fish, swamp giant crocodile and devil antelope.
"Uncle Brett, can I participate in the gray rock iguana hunting?" Suldak felt that he should also participate in such an activity.
Mayor Bright replied: "Of course, when it's time to hunt, I will notify everyone in advance!"
Later, Suldak explained his purpose: "Uncle Bright, I want to buy some boards from the village to repair the house..."
Mayor Bright pondered for a moment, took out a pipe from his pocket, and took two puffs. The wrinkles on his face were like those carved by a knife and an axe, and his bronze face was covered with traces of time.
After pondering for a moment, he said: "There are wooden planks in the warehouse in the village. I heard that Wall Village will be your fiefdom from now on. These wooden planks will naturally be included in your private property, and naturally you will not need to pay for them."
When Surdak heard that Chief Bright wanted to give him the wood for free, he hesitated before saying:
"Uncle Bright, I am still a reserve knight and have not obtained a fief for the time being. Besides, even if the Lord of Helensa turns this land into my knight territory, the supplies in the village belong to the villagers here and have nothing to do with me.
, I’d better pay some money.”
Village Chief Bright opened his eyes and banged the walnut pipe on the wooden table hard twice. His tone was a little high, and he said loudly:
"How much is this wood worth?"
Then he realized that something was wrong with his tone. He immediately lowered his tone and said sincerely to Surdak: "The land in Wall Village is barren and cannot produce much food a year. In the future, this place will become your fiefdom. As long as
Being able to reduce some taxes during bad years is the greatest favor to us."
Of course, Surdak also knew that the villagers in the village usually lived a very difficult life, but at this time, he could not make any promises. He could only continue: "I also want to ask someone to help repair the house at home."
,Uncle Bright, are there carpenters and masons in the village?"
"Everyone in the village has some skills in masonry and carpentry. In addition, you should pay attention to the fact that asking people to help repair houses in the village does not require payment. If you give them money, it is equivalent to looking down on them..." Village Chief Bright
Said to Suldak.
Suldak looked at the bottle of Charlie and Luke. The two young men nodded repeatedly. It seemed that what the village chief said was true.
Mayor Bright continued: "But...according to the tradition in the village, the owner who is renovating the house needs to prepare some stew and wheat cakes, and treat the craftsmen who are renovating the house to a good meal. After all, it is a laborious job, and it is just right.