I Became The Chief Of A Primitive Village

Chapter 1037, Beauty is Enough

Translator: Silavin

Su Bai had his sketches laid out before him and was drawing away, his dark eyes blinking only once every good while.

“Shaman, I have brewed some hot tea for you. Do take a rest for a moment.” Yu Ying said gently.

Yu Ying had been watching Su Bai carry on like this for an entire morning and was growing somewhat concerned that he might have exhausted himself. After all, he had spent a considerable amount of Shaman Power forging Shaman Bone Tablets the previous day, and one could quite visibly sense that he was a little weary.

“Sure. How have the little ones been getting on with their studies lately?” Su Bai accepted the cup of hot tea.

Promoting Chinese Characters throughout the primitive era was no simple undertaking. The lessons he had put together so far covered only a foundational selection of basic characters.

Along with those, he had introduced the universally useful 99 Times Table, as well as the four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division at a very simple, single-digit level.

“Everyone has been very well-behaved. Not one of them has been cutting corners during lessons, and everyone passed the most recent examination.” Yu Ying reported.

Having examinations alongside lessons was entirely natural, and the test papers were of course composed by Su Bai himself.

Nothing beyond a bit of pinyin and simple arithmetic with small numbers. Anyone who had studied diligently could manage it.

“That is good to hear. Carry on teaching in the same manner, and in another year or two everyone ought to be basically literate.” Su Bai said mildly.

Were it not for the fact that nobody could currently read, he would have already been thinking about establishing a library. Or perhaps publishing some fairy tale books and the like, so that everyone would have something to read during their leisure hours.

“En.” Yu Ying gave a sweet nod, then asked: “What is it that Shaman has been drawing? I notice you have been at it all morning.”

“I am planning the construction work for after the rainy season. It absolutely must be put onto the schedule without delay. Otherwise, the snow season will be upon us before we know it.”

Su Bai took a sip of tea and looked out the window. “Look. This is already my second year here, and the Tribe still does not have cement houses throughout. You can imagine just how slow our progress has been.”

In truth, it was only by his own standards that things were not moving quickly enough. By the measure of the primitive era, what had been achieved was already something utterly extraordinary.

At least, that was so for everyone aside from Su Bai himself. Even so, it was still a long way from his vision of transforming the Tribe into something resembling a city.

“Shaman, is this really slow? I think it has been very fast. Roughly half of our Tribe’s people now live in cement houses. That is already a fortunate thing.” A look of unmistakable happiness spread across Yu Ying’s face as she asked curiously: “What pace does Shaman consider to be fast?”

“I think by the second year, the entire Tribe ought to be covered in cement houses. Only then can the Tribe be said to be properly on track.”

Su Bai reflected on this with a thoughtful expression. “As things stand, we are really only living somewhat more comfortably than before. It can be better.”

His standards for himself were naturally higher. Were it not for the disruption of the rainy season and the snow season, two years of construction at full pace would ordinarily have been enough to achieve what he had just described.

Of course, those were natural laws and could not be changed. All one could do was to adjust the pace of construction as best as possible.

“I see. I do not understand much about all of this. I only know that our current lives are already very good.” Yu Ying’s eyes curved into happy crescents.

“Come, have a look at the design plans I have drawn. See if there is anything you do not quite follow.” Su Bai graciously passed the design plans over.

Over the past few days, whenever he had a spare moment, he had been sketching out a rough picture of the Tribe’s general layout and then beginning to mark out his intended plans upon it.

He had been at it for several days now, and the originally simple planning sketch had accumulated a great many markings and patterns.

“Okay.” Yu Ying accepted the plans with evident delight, her pink eyes scanning up and down across the sheet with careful attention.

It was quite apparent that Yu Ying had not fully grasped everything, which was precisely why she was studying it so intently.

“Shaman, these solid black areas must be the cement houses?” Yu Ying asked.

Despite the abundance of markings on the design plans, a close examination revealed that everything was very methodically arranged.

All of the structures were built around the central point of the Yong’an Building, meaning every road extended outward in orderly, interconnected directions.

“Yes. Those white squares in the middle of the design plans, the ones that have not been filled in black are also cement houses, except those that already exist. The black squares represent what does not yet exist.”

Su Bai pointed to the design plans as he explained. “By the same logic, the white elongated rectangles represent roads. That is, roads which already exist, while the black ones represent roads yet to be built.”

He felt that design plans ought to be drawn simply and clearly. Otherwise, when the time came to hand them to the people responsible for construction, they would not be able to follow them.

“Understood like that, I can follow it perfectly. Shaman is extending outward from what is already in place. That really does make it a lot simpler.” Yu Ying grasped it immediately.

“If someone unfamiliar can follow it, then those who build the houses will certainly be able to as well.” Su Bai said with satisfaction.

“Shaman, is there anything particularly special about this plan?” Yu Ying’s soft, gentle voice carried the question.

Yu Ying had been studying it for quite some time without arriving at any conclusion, and no matter how she looked at it, it appeared to be a perfectly ordinary sketch.

“This is the Yong’an Building, where we are. And here is the Central Market, Restful Night Building and the food street…”

Su Bai pointed to the labelled positions on the plans as he explained. “My intention is to expand the Central Market, the food street and Restful Night Building all outward to the Tribe’s outer region, while the central area of the Tribe is kept entirely for residential use.”

“That would be fine as well. The Tribe’s area expands outward at the same time, and it does make it easier to keep outsiders to the outer region.”

Yu Ying nodded thoughtfully, then asked. “Shaman, but since our Tribe does not yet have all that many people, might the central area not end up feeling a little empty?”

Yu Ying had studied the plans carefully. The outer region of the Tribe was to be filled by the food street, the Central Market and accommodation, while the central area had a great deal of space left open.

“For the central area, I intend to build a grand theatre. In time, people will be able to go and watch performances there, and the like.” The corners of Su Bai’s mouth curved upward slightly.

This too was a plan he had been deliberating on for quite some time. It was to enrich the Tribe’s recreational activities.

At present, the Tribe had precious little in the way of entertainment. Beyond working, people simply rested.

Never mind the Tribe’s people, even Su Bai himself found it rather dull. It was time to devise some recreational activities.

“A grand theatre? Shaman, what is a grand theatre?” Yu Ying asked with innocent curiosity.

“It is a place for performances. You will understand in time. I already have a rough blueprint in mind.” Su Bai smiled.

Yu Ying blinked her pink eyes with an air of guileless curiosity and asked softly. “Is it something everyone can attend?”

“That depends entirely on how skilled they are.” Su Bai flicked the tip of her nose lightly.

“What about me?” Yu Ying asked with eager anticipation.

“You will need to practise. Though your beauty alone would be more than enough.” Su Bai laughed with easy warmth.