Fire is indeed a problem.
None of Zhu Ping'an and the other two had any interest in eating raw fish, so fire was inevitable; of course the pot was also a problem, but Baozi, the little maid, found a naturally concave stone by the mountain stream. It was an irregular square with a bowl-sized hole in the middle, weighing about ** kilograms. Li Shu and Baozi, the little maid, washed it in the stream water and it could be used as a stone pot for the time being.
There is fish and a pot, but there is no fire.
However, the fire starters the three men carried had long been lost in the sea.
"Uncle, what should we do if there is no fire?"
After the little maid Baozi finished washing the "stone pot", she looked at Zhu Ping'an with her big eyes, as if Zhu Ping'an could create fire in an instant.
"You can try to make fire by rubbing two sticks together." Under the burning gazes of Baozi, the little maid, and Li Shu, Zhu Ping'an said uncertainly.
"Han Feizi·Five Vermin" records: People eat fruits, nuts, clams, and clams, which hurt their stomachs and cause many diseases. A sage came up with a drill to make fire, which eliminated the fishy smell, and the people were pleased with it, so he made him king of the world and was named Suirenshi.
Drilling flint to make fire is what Zhu Ping'an called drilling wood to make fire.
Zhu Ping'an's tone was uncertain because he only knew the principle of drilling wood to make fire, but had never put it into practice. He also heard that drilling wood to make fire was S-level difficult. Many people tried to drill wood to make fire, but their hands were blistered and the fire did not rise. Especially after the heavy rain last night, it was estimated that dry grass and dry branches were difficult to find, which added a lot of difficulty to drilling wood to make fire.
"Hua'er and I will go find some hay."
When Zhu Ping'an mentioned the method of rubbing two sticks together to make fire, Li Shu's eyes lit up. She knew this too, but she just didn't think of it.
Baozi, the maid, was at a loss. She had no idea about making fire by rubbing two sticks together. But since the master said that it was possible to make fire by rubbing two sticks together, then it was fine. Then Baozi followed Li Shu to find hay nearby.
Li Shu and her friends were looking for hay, while Zhu Ping'an was looking for wood nearby that could be used to make fire. The three of them divided the work and worked together.
The rain last night was too bad. The three of them searched for a long time but could not find any hay or dry wood. Almost all of them were soaked by the rain last night. Even if they were not soaked, they were damp and could not be used to make fire.
After searching for a long time, Li Shu and the maid Baozi finally found some damp dry grass under a pile of rocks. The wind blew the dry grass and fallen leaves under the rocks and piled them up. If the rocks hadn't blocked the wind and rain, even the damp dry grass and fallen leaves wouldn't have been found.
Although it was difficult, these dead grass and leaves were not capable of starting a fire and could only be used as fuel after the fire started. It was still a little damp.
After searching for a while, I found nothing. It seemed that I could only try to use this slightly damp dry grass to start a fire.
Just as Zhu Ping'an and the other two were walking towards the stream carrying the dry grass, Zhu Ping'an discovered a dead tree. The dead tree was very tall, and there was a tree hole at a height of more than one person.
"Wait a mininute."
Zhu Pingan looked around the dead tree and found a lot of bird droppings under the trunk and roots. He couldn't help but look happy. Such regular bird droppings showed that this tree hole was a bird's nest, not a place for bats, snakes, rats or the like to stay.
Zhu Ping'an put the dry grass aside, turned around and said to Li Shu and the others to wait a moment. Then he lifted the long hem of his clothes and tucked it into his belt, holding onto the tree with both hands and began to climb up.
"Zhu Ping'an, be careful..." Li Shu was a little worried when she saw Zhu Ping'an climbing a tree. She had never heard that the well-read top scholar could climb a tree. She hoped he wouldn't fall.
The little maidservant looked at Zhu Ping'an who was climbing the tree with eager eyes, and followed Li Shu to say be careful under the tree.
In fact, the two of them didn't have to worry at all. When he was a child, he followed his father and brother into the mountains, and Zhu Ping'an had already mastered the skill of climbing trees.
Zhu Pingan climbed very fast. The tree hole was only about one person high. Soon, Zhu Pingan climbed to the tree hole. For safety reasons, Zhu Pingan sat on a branch on one side, reached out and broke off a branch, and put the branch into the tree hole to explore and see if there were any snakes, rats or the like inside.
After reaching in to check, Zhu Ping'an confirmed that there were no snakes or rats inside, so he reached into the tree hole with confidence. He felt a few small round things inside and took one out.
"Bird eggs, it's bird eggs, miss..." The little maid Baozi cheered with joy because she had bird eggs to eat.
Li Shu ignored the little maid and looked up at Zhu Ping'an on the tree, fearing that a stinky toad might accidentally fall down.
I'm sorry, it's just the pressure of life.
Zhu Ping'an silently apologized to the bird that had not yet returned to its nest, and carefully placed the bird's egg in his arms.
Zhu Ping'an felt around and found six eggs in the bird's nest. He took out four eggs and left two for the bird.
This is a habit that Zhu Ping'an has developed since childhood, and it is also due to the education of his father, who taught him not to drain the pond to catch all the fish. Of course, his father could not express such a written theory, it was just a simple idea of a farmer.
In addition to the bird eggs, Zhu Ping'an also took out half of the hay in the bird's nest. The bird's nest was windproof and rainproof, and the hay inside was not damp at all, making it a good material for starting a fire. Zhu Ping'an left half of the hay for the bird and put the other half in his arms.
"Here, these bird eggs are for nourishing your body."
After Zhu Pingan came down from the tree, he took out the bird eggs in his arms and said to Li Shu, "If Li Shu hadn't fed him blood at the beach, he would have hanged himself."
"Who cares..." Li Shu turned her head away, her pretty face full of disdain, but the corners of her mouth were raised. It turned out that this stinky toad risked its life to climb the tree and touch the bird's nest in order to replenish its body.
After coming down from the tree, Zhu Ping'an picked up the dead grass again and led the two people to the stream. Halfway along the way, they found a banyan tree with lush branches and leaves. Under the root of the tree was a piece of wood that came from nowhere, which was just right for drilling wood to make fire, so they brought the whole tree to the stream.
A simple stove was built with several stones, and clean water was poured into the stone pot. The maid Baozi picked up a small stone piece by the stream. It was relatively thin, so Zhu Ping'an simply polished it and used it as a knife.
Li Shu and Baozi, the maidservant, were afraid to kill the fish, so Zhu Ping'an had to take it on. He gutted the fish and handed it to Baozi, the maidservant, to clean it and put it in the stone pot. Zhu Ping'an also cleaned the bird eggs he touched and put them in the pot.
Everything is ready, just waiting for fire.
Under the gaze of Li Shu and Baozi, the little maid, Zhu Ping'an placed the wood he found from under the tree roots on a stone, used the stone to chisel a small hole in the wood, placed the hay he took out from the bird's nest around it, and then found a thin pointed wooden stick to use as a drill bit.
The fire-making process has officially begun. (To be continued.)