Chapter 223 222. Visit the village chief
The residences of the villagers in Wall Village are not densely populated. There are more than 50 households distributed in the valley along the course of the stream. This stream stretches for nearly three kilometers in the valley. A simple stone house, Surdak's home is located in the lower reaches of the creek, not too far from the tidal flats at the bend of the river.
The residence of the village chief Brett is located at the uppermost stream of this creek, which belongs to the highest point of this ravine.
Although Wall Village is a rather barren mountain village with only fifty households of civilians, this small mountain village still has a rather strict hierarchy. It is located in the upper reaches of rivers and streams. The closer you live to the upper reaches, the more convenient it is to use water.
Especially in the dry season, the spring water flowing out of the spring is even less than one-tenth of the time when the rainfall is abundant.
At this time, it will be more convenient for residents living in the upper reaches of the news to use water, and the fields on both sides of the river will be fully irrigated.
Walking up the small path in the village, which Suldak rode on in the morning, he also saw the stone house of the village chief Brett, which was a pointed 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, which should be a small attic.
The house is high enough. The whole house is made of limestone slabs, and the wooden window frames look very strong. There is a simple fence outside the house, and there are a few hens in a fence. It looks like one of the nicest houses in the village.
The name of the village chief Brett was told by Sheila to herself in the morning.
Old Sheila also told Suldak that the village chief prefers young people to call him Uncle Brett, and almost all the young people in the village call him that.
Surdak was standing by the fence outside the house of the village chief. The fence was covered with plum beans. These plum beans had small purple flowers, and the dense green leaves were full of pods. Go inside the wooden fence gate and walk along the path, and you can see the head of Brett sitting at the door of the stone house, holding a sickle in his hand and sharpening a wooden stick, and two young people sitting beside him are also holding knives in their hands With the wooden stick, when he got closer, he realized that the wooden 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 there is no metal bow with stronger toughness. 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, and the shooting range is average. , cannot be used on the battlefield.
It seems that these two young people are learning the craft of making hardwood bows from Village Chief Bright.
Village Chief Brett's hair is already grey, and his face is full of wrinkles. He always likes to squint his eyes to look at people, which is probably a habit left behind from being a hunter when he was young.
Hearing the sound of footsteps coming from the door, a blue hound rushed out from the woodshed, and bit Suldak's calf silently.
The village head, Brett, hurriedly called out, "Kara, come back!"
The hound heard the master's call, stopped abruptly, immediately turned around, wagged its head and ran to the lap of Village Chief Brett, lying down.
The old village chief saw Suerdak just now, and hurriedly greeted him: "It's Little Dak, come and sit down, are you still used to living in the village?"
"It's okay!" Suldak came over and sat down on a wooden pier.
When the two young men saw Suldak, they quickly stood up and greeted Suldak. The head of Brett introduced to Suldak that one of the two young men was his youngest son Charlie, and the other It was his nephew Luke.
A middle-aged woman in common clothes came out of the house, gave Suerdak a cup of tea, smiled at him before leaving the room.
Only then did the head of Brett say: "Thanks to your presence in Beigou Grassland yesterday, otherwise, I really don't know how it would have ended. If this pasture is gone, life in Wall Village will be difficult in the future! If These gazelles have nowhere to graze, and I really don’t know what else the village can exchange with foreign caravans for some daily necessities such as salt, silk thread, and iron pots.”
"I'm glad I can help everyone!" Suldak said politely.
He was afraid that Suldak would bring up topics such as the ownership of Beigou Grassland when he came up. It is said that it is all due to Suldak to take back the Beigou Grassland, but even so, he can't let it out easily. After all, the village related to the pasture livelihood issues for all.
The bow tire in the hands of Village Chief Bright has almost been cut, the entire handle and the back of the bow have been cut out, and only the fine trimming of the balance of the back of the bow is left. Suldak said to the village chief Bright: " Uncle Brett, are you making a hardwood bow?"
Village Chief Brett handed the hardwood bow to Suldak, then dusted off the sawdust on his body, and replied: "Well, it will be September soon, the weather will gradually cool down, and the lizards in the mountains will also come out of the cracks in the rocks." Climbed out, this time of year is the best time for hunting, I hope this year's luck will be better, and I can catch more gray rock iguanas."
Suldak asked curiously: "Will the gray rock iguanas hunted be sold in Hailansa City?"
The village chief Brett paused for a moment before saying, "Well, usually there will be a caravan to buy them, and then they will transport them to Hailansa city. Hailansa city is too far away for us."
"Is this gray rock iguana used for eating?" Suldak asked.
Charlie, who was sitting on the side, said to Suldak: "Of course, the meat of the iguana is very tender and delicious, and it feels a bit like tender chicken, but this thing can be exchanged for two silver coins, and no one in our village would be willing to eat it." they."
The wooden bows in the hands of the two of them were very averagely cut. Village Chief Brett took it in his hand and inspected it, pointed out the shortcomings and gave suggestions for modification. It seems that Village Chief Brett has quite a lot of experience in making hardwood bows, and it looks like This is a village hunting activity.
Suldak 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 magic antelope.
"Uncle Brett, can I participate in the hunting of gray rock iguanas?" Suldak felt that he should also participate in such activities.
Village Chief Bright replied: "Of course, I will notify everyone in advance when it is time to hunt!"
Subsequently, Suldak explained the purpose of his visit: "Uncle Brett, I want to buy some planks from the village to repair the house..."
Village Chief Brett pondered for a moment, took out a pipe from his pocket, and took two puffs. The wrinkles on his face were like knives and axes, and his bronzed face was covered with traces of time. After pondering for a moment, he said: "There are wooden boards in the warehouse in the village. I heard that Wall Village will be your fief in the future. These wooden boards will naturally be included in your private property, and naturally you don't need to pay for them."
Suldak heard that Village Chief Bright wanted to give him the wood for free, so he hesitated for a while before saying:
"Uncle Brett, I'm still a reserve knight, and I haven't obtained a fief for the time being. Besides, even if the Lord Hailansa turns this land into my knight's collar, the supplies in the village belong to the villagers here, and it has nothing to do with me. , I'd better pay some money."
Village Chief Brett kicked his eyes, and tapped the walnut pipe on the wooden table twice vigorously. His voice was a bit high, and he said loudly:
"How much is this wood worth!"
Then he realized that his tone was wrong, immediately lowered his voice, and said sincerely to Suldak: "The land in Wall Village is barren, and it can't produce much food in a year. In the future, this place will become your fief. It is the greatest favor for us to be able to reduce or exempt some taxes when the times are not good."
Of course, Suldak also knew that the villagers in the village had a very difficult life, but at this time, he couldn't make any promises, so he could only continue to say: "I still want to ask someone to help repair the house at home. , Uncle Brett, are there carpenters and masons in the village?"
"Everyone in the village has some skills in masonry and carpentry. In addition, you have to pay attention. In the village, you don't need to pay for people to help repair the house. If you give them money, it is equivalent to looking down on them..." Village Chief Bright said. Suldak said.
Suldak looked at the bottle of Charlie and Luke. The two young people nodded repeatedly. It seemed that what the village chief said was true.
The village chief Bright went on to say: "However...according to the tradition in the village, the master who renovates the house needs to prepare some stew and wheat cakes, and invite the craftsmen who repair the house to have a good meal. After all, it is a labor-intensive job. And here's a salt pork leg..."
(end of this chapter)