RPAGF Chapter 55 Calculating Food
Chapter 55 Calculating Food
The young man came over and called to Xiyang, "Grandma Xiyang, I think the cured meat is almost smoked, can we take it off now!"
Xi Yang responded, extinguished the fire, and said with a smile, "The smell of burning cypress branches is quite pleasant."
The young man pressed down on the piece of meat he had just removed, his eyes crinkling with delight. "Yes, meat cooked this way tastes amazing!"
Tu Lin walked over at this moment, looked at the dark, mushy meat in Lin Baiyan's hand, and asked, "Can this taste good?"
Lin Baiyan smiled and said, "This smells amazing! I'll stir-fry some for you guys to try later!"
Tu Lin nodded and said to the young man, "Bai Yan, the meat is almost dried. We need to put it into the cave."
"Oh right, we also need to check how much food the tribe has stored."
Lin Baiyan nodded, "Okay, let's calculate it together in a bit."
The two men called over a few orcs, who collected all the dried and cured meat into their storage, which became their entire meat reserve.
After they finished packing, the two went to the food storage area inside the cave. The young man looked at the cave filled with animal meat, and next to it were dried bamboo shoots, dried wild vegetables, and baskets of potatoes.
Lin Baiyan looked at Tu Lin and said, "Let's begin."
Hearing this, Tu Lin blushed slightly, but it was too dark inside the cave for him to see clearly. "I don't know how to calculate..."
At most, he can help Lin Baiyan with odd jobs.
The young man was a little puzzled. "Don't you know how to count?" He had watched Rabbit Forest count before.
"I can only count to ten." In fact, at this time, the beastmen did not have the concept of a hundred, and most of them used several tens to represent quantities.
There's a significant difference between calculation and counting.
He could count to ten, and with his rich experience in gathering, he became the leader of the gathering team.
The young man slapped his forehead and said decisively, "Well then, do you know how much meat our tribe eats in a day?"
"And how long is the snow season approximately?"
This was something Tu Lin was familiar with. He thought for a moment and said, "A typical snow season lasts about ten days."
"But in order to have enough food, we usually set aside two extra ten-day supplies." This is in case heavy snowfall extends the snow season and food shortages occur.
The young man nodded; this was about the same duration as the winter on Earth before.
As for eating meat…
Tu Lin pointed to a wicker basket that reached up to the young man's chest, "We use about this much meat every day. Plus another basket of plants."
To save space, the baskets they wove were all very large, but the size of the baskets varied. Lin Baiyan estimated that each basket contained about 100 jin of meat.
Upon receiving this figure, Lin Baiyan was utterly astonished. "Do we really need to eat this much meat every day?"
Tu Lin didn't sense anything strange. He nodded and said, "Yes, if we're full, we'll want even more."
"We should add another basket."
No wonder Tu Lin has been worrying about food all along.
This orc has an insatiable appetite!
From this perspective, the food brought back by the hunting party, including the bulls and other wild animals, after removing the skin, bones, and internal organs, was basically one-fifth less in weight.
Lin Baiyan picked up a wicker basket and said, "Then let's count how many wicker baskets we can fit in total. One wicker basket of meat and one wicker basket of plants per day."
Tu Lin frowned and thought for a moment, looking like he understood but not quite, "Like this..."
Knowing that explaining further would likely be incomprehensible, Lin Baiyan simply grabbed a wicker basket and began demonstrating, "Uncle Rabbit Forest, come and hand me the animal meat."
Tu Lin handed the meat to Lin Baiyan, and once the wicker basket was full, he nodded, "That's about it."
Lin Baiyan looked at the amount of meat, which was about 100 jin (50 kg), just as he had estimated. The two of them poured all the meat from the wicker basket into another wicker basket and used that basket as the measuring standard.
The two began to calculate, and after all the meat had been counted, the young man stood up and rubbed his lower back. The flames in the stone basin on the cave wall were still burning.
He rubbed his eyes, then counted the wicker baskets; there were one hundred and eight in total.
The food supply could barely sustain the tribe for a hundred days, but the reserved food was indeed not much. No wonder Wolf Cang had been leading the beastmen on hunts these past few days, and Rabbit Forest had been hurriedly gathering with the sub-beastmen.
This was his first time experiencing such a difficult snow season, so it's no wonder that Tu Lin was worried.
Rabbit Forest remained relatively calm. They had all gone through similar experiences, and they were already quite content with what they had. They had originally thought this snow season would be extremely difficult.
He gently comforted them, "It's alright. During the snow season, it's just that prey is harder to find. Unless there's really heavy snow and the hunting team can't go out, they still hunt as usual."
Male orcs must maintain their hunting abilities at all times; they basically cannot stop practicing.
"Oh right, we need to go get more salt. The tribe has been curing meat these past few days and has used a lot of salt." Tu Lin slapped his forehead and turned to Lin Baiyan to say.
Lin Baiyan nodded, shaking off his worries. There was no use in being anxious. Everyone had hands and feet. Winter meant less food, but not no food at all. We were not going to starve to death.
"Okay, I'll talk to Lang Cang and we'll go there before it snows."
According to the calendar on Earth, it's already early November, and the wind in the mountains and forests is starting to get biting. He guesses it might snow soon.
After taking stock of all the food in the tribe, Lin Baiyan found Lang Cang and told him about the salt they needed to obtain.
Lang Cang pondered for a moment and said, "This time I'll only take a few male orcs with me. We should be back in a few days."
Last time, because it was their first time finding their way, it took them too long. According to Lang Cang's estimate, the sea was only two sunsets away.
Thinking back to their previous salt-seeking journey, the young man reminded Lang Cang, "As far as I know, the sea is very long. Once you leave the territory, head straight east."
"If there are two sunsets, I estimate that the sea should be within our territory," Lin Baiyan said after a moment's thought.
Lang Cang nodded. "No problem. Is there anything you'd like me to bring back for you?"
Speaking of this, Lin Baiyan was actually craving seafood. Anyway, it was winter, and the cave was like a natural icebox. Any leftovers could be stored inside to keep them fresh.
"I want sea fish and octopus, and if possible, some seaweed as well," Lin Baiyan gestured to Lang Cang.
"Do you remember? It's that green sea plant I brought back last time."