I Became The Chief of A Primitive Village

After returning to the wooden house, Su Bai began planning what to do next: his black eyes blinking thoughtfully.

He paused, murmuring: “When the rainy season comes, we’ll need to make umbrellas, right?”

He did not want everyone hiding indoors when the rainy season came. That was just not practical. They still had many things to do.

Of course, they could not just get soaked in the rain either. They would catch a cold, and then he would have to use his Shaman Technique to help them.

“Xiao Yu, when the rainy season comes, do people in the Tribe alway stay inside?” Su Bai asked.

“No, Shaman. They still go out when necessary.” Yu Ying looked up.

She was still feeling guilty, keeping her head down while frantically sewing linen clothing.

“When it’s raining, what do they do when going out? Get wet?” Su Bai asked.

He wanted to understand how the Tribe dealt with the rainy season so he could develop an appropriate solution.

“No, before the rainy season, every household prepares large leaves. When they need to go out, they use the leaves to cover their heads.” Yu Ying explained.

“That’s it?” Su Bai was surprised. [How simplistic. How long could the leaves last? They would rot or wrinkle after a few days.]

“Sometimes they use Animal Hide, but rarely, because about twenty days after the rainy season comes the snow season, and they need to save the hides for that.” Yu Ying continued.

Su Bai tapped his index finger on the table, nodding thoughtfully, saying. “Looks like making umbrellas is urgent.”

Umbrellas would be much more convenient in the rain than using leaves.

“Umbrella? Urgent…” Yu Ying looked bewildered, never having heard these words before.

“It’s a tool to be used in the rain that keeps you from getting wet.” Su Bai smiled.

“Really? Shaman, does such a thing really exist?” Yu Ying’s expression changed from confusion to anticipation.

Every rainy season, the fox eared girl could only pitifully watch the rain from the doorway. The muddy ground and constant rain from above had always prevented her from going out.

“Of course. Though, the manufacturing process is a bit complicated.” Su Bai smiled.

Yu Ying tilted her head, asking. “Shaman, what do you need? I’ll get it right away.”

The fox eared girl became excited at hearing about a tool that would let her go out in the rain. She wanted to help and make up for falling asleep earlier, as she still felt quite guilty about that.

“Get me some Hollow Tree wood and Smooth Skin Lizard Hide.” Su Bai calmly said.

He planned to use the Hollow Tree for the umbrella frame and the Smooth Skin Lizard Hide for the canopy.

The Smooth Skin Lizard Hide was very water-resistant, and they had brought back plenty from the Hunting Ground. They were perfect for making umbrellas.

“Yes, I’ll go right away.” Yu Ying smiled and ran out of the wooden house.

Su Bai smiled watching the fox eared girl run out, then lowered his head to start drawing an umbrella blueprint.

He would only demonstrate the umbrella-making process once, as most of the production would be up to Uncle Gu Mu, who was the Tribe’s carpenter.

*Scratch scratch scratch…* Su Bai picked up a pencil and first drew what the umbrella looked like both opened and closed.

Soon, he drew cross-sections, showing the umbrella’s frame without the canopy.

He broke down the frame piece by piece, drawing the dimensions of the base and shape.

Overall, he drew very carefully, so that even someone who had never seen an umbrella would instantly understand upon seeing this blueprint.

“This needs to be more precise, and the weight can’t be too heavy, or it would be hard to use.” Su Bai muttered to himself.

He kept his head down drawing, using the eraser to make many revisions.

An hour later, he finally put down his pencil with satisfaction and brushed away the eraser shavings to look at the paper.

The drawings were very detailed, with every step carefully illustrated, looking more like an artwork than a blueprint.

“Good thing I have some talent for drawing, otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do.” Su Bai thought to himself, smiling.

Of course, the drawing was not too complex. He would have liked to make them more detailed, but there wasn’t enough time for such complex manufacturing.

*Tap tap tap…*

“Shaman, the Hollow Tree wood and Smooth Skin Lizard Hide are ready.” Yu Ying said with a bright smile.

Su Bai stood up, taking the paper, saying: “Let’s go to Uncle Gu Mu’s place. I need him to learn how to make umbrellas.”

“Alright.” Yu Ying nodded and followed.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at Gu Mu’s wooden house, where the Elder was making wooden bowls and basins.

“Uncle Gu Mu,” Yu Ying greeted.

Gu Mu looked up, smiled upon seeing the Shaman. He stopped his work and came over, asking “Shaman, what brings you here?”

“I have something I want you to make,” Su Bai said.

“Shaman, you could have just had someone bring the items over. No need to personally come over.” Gu Mu said.

The Shaman’s sudden visit surprised him greatly, as the Shaman rarely came by.

“I need to demonstrate this once to you. Otherwise, you might need time to figure it out.” Su Bai calmly said.

“What is it? I can get it to you quickly.” Gu Mu said confidently.

“This item is rather complex, and I need quite a few of them, so time is a bit tight.” Su Bai explained.

With the rainy season approaching and needing so many umbrellas, there was not much time for trial and error.

Gu Mu suddenly became serious, saying earnestly. “Shaman, I will work hard to learn.”

He was also excited. After all, everything the Shaman had him make turned out well, and gave him a great sense of achievement.

“This time I want you to learn to make umbrellas, which can be used during the rainy season, so time is of the essence.” Su Bai said.

Making umbrellas was not exactly simple or difficult – it just required patience and dexterity.

“Umbrellas? For use in the rainy season?” Gu Mu grew curious, “Shaman, is it similar to using leaves?”

Upon hearing it was for the rainy season, his first thought was of using leaves as cover from the rain.

“That’s right, similar, but you can hold it with just one hand.” Su Bai nodded. [As expected of an Elder of the Tribe. He made the connection from just one simple explanation.]

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