I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 226 Wool

Bai Ling took the steamed cake out of her bosom, untied the animal skin on it, and said with a smile, "I made steamed melon cake today. Grandpa, great-grandpa, come and try it and see if it tastes good."

Grandpa Yue laughed and said, "Ling, your cooking skills are so good, this cake you made must be delicious too. I can already smell the aroma before I've even tasted it."

Grandpa Yue also said, "I'll stew some meat for you later. Ling, you don't need to go back. Eat here."

Ling agreed, then pulled Yue along as if they knew the way well, and they began to stew the beast meat.

*

Winter has arrived, and the temperature has dropped significantly overnight, with the air feeling icy cold.

Bai Ling put on a top and trousers made of animal hide, wrapped another animal hide over them, and walked out of the house with a basket on her back.

He and Yue had agreed to gather the animal hair together at Yue's house today. Once the animal hair was gathered, they could spin it into yarn, and then knit sweaters.

When Bai Ling arrived, Yue had just finished clearing the dishes. Upon seeing Bai Ling, he gave her a gentle smile: "Ling, you're here."

Bai Ling took the basket off her back and said with a smile, "Yes, I brought all the animal fur with me."

Grandpa Yue asked from the side, "Ling, what can we do with animal fur?"

“You can spin yarn, and you can knit clothes,” Bai Ling said. “Sweaters and woolen pants are very warm.”

To spin animal hair into thread, you first have to brush the animal hair open. Yue led Bai Ling to her bedroom, patted the kang (a heated brick bed), and said, "I heated the kang this morning. We'll work in this room today."

Besides Bai Ling and Yue, several other young beastmen are also coming to learn from Bai Ling how to turn beast hair into yarn. The spinning wheel that Bai Ling made was brought to Yue's house yesterday.

Bai Ling held one iron brush still in one hand, and with the other hand, she rubbed it back and forth on another iron brush. The animal hair between the two iron brushes was brushed away and straightened, becoming smooth and delicate instead of messy.

The brushed animal fur was placed in another basket. Grandpa Yue and Grandpa Wu watched it for a while before going about their own business.

*

Xiao was the first to arrive, carrying a basket on his back made of animal fur shed by the three of them.

The family of three were all foxes. Unlike other beastman families, they kept all their shed fur together, which had to be washed and stored separately if the beastmen in their family had different animal forms.

After Xiao arrived, he spoke a few words to Yue, then found a place to sit down and started brushing animal fur. However, he didn't brush his own fur but instead helped Bai Ling brush hers.

Other orcs also arrived, and with their combined efforts, the entire basket of animal fur that Bai Ling had brought was brushed clean.

The animal hair was broken into individual strands and placed in the basket. Bai Ling then began brushing it a second time.

"The finer you brush the animal hair, the finer the yarn you'll spin. If you have time, it's best to brush the animal hair twice. If you don't have time, brushing it once is fine too," Bai Ling said.

The beastmen chimed in, "We've had plenty of time all winter, so of course we have time."

“Yes, Ling said it would be best to do it twice, so we’ll definitely do it twice.”

"Ling, what do we do after brushing? How do we turn the animal hair into yarn?"

In response to the orc's question, Bai Ling pointed to the spinning wheel in the corner and said, "We'll use the spinning wheel to spin thread later."

*

After brushing the animal hair a second time, it was almost noon, and the young beastmen needed to go home for lunch. However, at the beastmen's request, Bai Ling still demonstrated to them how to spin animal hair into yarn.

Bai Ling first removed the spindle from the spinning wheel, then held the animal hair in one hand and slowly pulled a thread from the hair with the other.

The pulled-out yarn is placed on the spindle. Then, one hand gently holds the animal hair while the other hand slowly rotates the spindle, and the yarn continuously emerges from the animal hair and wraps around the spindle.

Once she had enough yarn, Bai Ling threaded it around the spinning wheel and then attached the spindle.

Bai Ling held the handle of the spinning wheel in one hand and held the animal hair in the other, raising it slightly. He shook the handle, and the spinning wheel creaked and spun. The yarn was pulled out of the animal hair in an endless stream, first reaching the spinning wheel through the eyelet, then spinning around on the spinning wheel, and finally passing through the eyelet to the spindle.

Bai Ling wasn't very skilled at spinning. He spun very slowly at first, and the yarn would break from time to time. At this point, Bai Ling would have to stop, reconnect the yarn, and then continue spinning.

As time went on, Bai Ling's movements became more skilled, and the coordination between his two hands improved, allowing him to spin the thread faster.

The beastmen surrounded Bai Ling and the spinning wheel, their eyes wide with wonder. So this is how yarn is spun! It was truly amazing.

Yue was also watching, but unlike the other young orcs who were focused on the spinning wheel and the yarn being spun, Yue's gaze fell on Ling.

His gaze was focused, his expression gentle, and all the light in his eyes fell on Bai Ling, who was spinning thread.

In his eyes, neither the spinning wheel, which was novel to others, nor the freshly spun yarn held any appeal for Ling.

With Ling around, how could he possibly see anyone else?

*

In the afternoon, the young orcs still gathered at Bai Ling's house, but this time they didn't just brush animal fur; instead, they took turns spinning a spinning wheel.

For orcs, the spinning wheel was a very novel thing. It creaked when it was turned and you could watch the animal hair turn into yarn, which was really fun.

Some orcs have already decided to trade for a spinning wheel. They and their partners are both large orcs, and with their parents on both sides, they can collect a lot of animal hair in a year. All the collected animal hair will be made into yarn, and having a spinning wheel will make things much more convenient.

There are many skillful orcs among them, and in just a short while, some have already spun something that looks quite decent.

When the group of young orcs reluctantly gave up the spinning wheel, Bai Ling sat down in front of it and began spinning yarn, while Yue sat beside him, brushing the wool back and forth with two iron brushes.

The yarn on the spindle should be rolled into balls, which will make it easier to knit sweaters.

*

Brushing animal hair became popular in the tribe. At first, only the young beastmen did it, but later, the older beastmen also started doing it. Even Bai Ling's father, uncles, and great-uncles started brushing animal hair at home.

Now the spinning wheel is the most diligent item in Bai Ling's family. It starts spinning as soon as it's light and doesn't stop until sunset.

Some orcs wanted to spin thread by torchlight at night, but Bai Ling dissuaded them. There were no electric lights in the orc world, and the light from torches was too dim. Working under such light would easily damage their eyes.