I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 334 Ramie

The central tribes have hemp, and it's a very tall variety of ramie.

Clumps of ramie grew luxuriantly outside the tribe. Bai Ling estimated that they were about three meters tall and thicker than his thumb. It was already autumn, and their leaves had turned slightly yellow.

Bai Ling's eyes lit up when he saw ramie, but he had more important things to do in the Central Tribe. Only after helping the Central Tribe build the iron smelting furnace and brick kiln would he have time to harvest the ramie.

Besides Bai Ling, Yue, Xiao, and Chen, there were more than a dozen beastmen working with them. These beastmen were specially sent by the central tribe to learn alongside Bai Ling.

The flat land outside the tribe has been cultivated into fields, while the uneven land remains as it was, covered with wild grass, the tallest of which are clumps of dense ramie.

These ramie plants grew outside the tribe, so instead of riding on the backs of the Sky Orcs, the group walked over directly.

The orcs working alongside Bai Ling included lively young orcs and steady, middle-aged orcs. The young orcs chatted and laughed loudly the whole way, surrounding Bai Ling and Yue and constantly asking them about hemp.

"Ling, can hemp really be used to make clothes?"

"Ling, is making clothes out of hemp like weaving a basket, so you can wear them?"

"Ling, is it complicated to make clothes out of hemp?"

…………

In the central tribe, this tall, ubiquitous wild grass has few uses. It cannot be eaten or used, and apart from its bark being used to make ropes, it has no other uses. Even wild animals rarely eat it.

Ramie doesn't even have a specific name; like other tall wild grasses, it's called "big grass" by the local orcs.

Bai Ling had explained to the beastmen how to make clothes from hemp several times. Now that the young beastmen were asking again, Bai Ling said, "Making clothes from hemp is very complicated. First, you have to make hemp into hemp threads, then spin the threads into hemp cloth, and then cut and sew the hemp cloth to make clothes."

"Clothes made of linen are light and breathable, and they are very cool to wear in the summer."

No sooner had Bai Ling finished speaking than a young orc immediately asked, "Is linen the same as silk?"

Can linen be dyed?

Can linen be used to make quilts?

They asked one question after another, and Bai Ling said, "Linen is different from silk. Silk is smooth and delicate, while linen is relatively rough. Linen can be dyed and used to make quilts. Linen has many other uses, which you can discover gradually in the future."

*

The ramie plants grew in clumps and were very tall. The leaves were as big as Bai Ling's five fingers spread apart. Bai Ling first said to the beastmen, "If you want to harvest the ramie, you have to knock down their leaves first. You can use sticks to knock down their leaves."

When ramie is still growing, its leaves can be easily knocked down with a stick. However, if you cut the ramie down, the leaves become more difficult to manage.

The young orc walked ahead, vigorously striking the tall ramie bushes with a wooden stick. Green leaves fell like snow. Yue was also doing the same thing, and many green leaves fluttered down and landed on him.

Bai Ling watched Yue's retreating figure, a smile appearing on his lips. He held a sickle in his hand and explained the precautions to the orcs harvesting ramie: "You should choose ramie that has grown this year, with thinner stems and a more tender color. This kind of ramie is easier to extract the fibers from."

The best season for drawing ramie fibers to weave cloth is summer, when the ramie fibers are at their most resilient. Now it's autumn, the ramie stalks have turned yellow, and the fibers have aged. Although the drawn ramie fibers are still usable, they are not as good as in summer, but they are still usable.

With nothing much to do now, Bai Ling led the beastmen to make hemp thread. If he's still around next summer, he'll lead the beastmen to make hemp thread again.

*

The harvested ramie needs to be processed. The first step is to peel the ramie. This is a simple task. The beastmen sit in the square of the tribe, make a light cut on the ramie with a knife, and then pull it off with a little force.

The ramie bark that has been peeled off needs to be soaked in water to make it easier to extract the fibers.

Bai Ling and the beastmen carried the ramie bark they had peeled to the riverbank. They chose a shallow spot on the riverbank, picked out all the stones in the shallows, threw the ramie bark in, and weighed it down with stones.

The river water slowly seeped in, soaking the ramie bark.

"We can start extracting the silk tomorrow. Everyone should bring small bone knives or shell knives," Bai Ling said.

The beastmen agreed, then smiled and said goodbye. The sun had already set, and they needed to go home to cook.

*

Xiao hopped and skipped ahead, with Chen following behind him. Bai Ling and Yue walked together, with Yue's head slightly lowered, seemingly lost in thought.

Bai Ling asked, "Yue, what's wrong?"

Yue gently hummed in agreement and said, "Ling, I'm wondering what the tribespeople are doing at this time?"

Perhaps it was during the autumn harvest, or perhaps the crops had already been harvested. The beastmen of the hunting party went out hunting, while the other tribesmen prepared food such as vermicelli, dried vegetables, and dried meat for the winter, or plowed the fields before winter arrived.

Bai Ling gently took Yue's hand and smiled, "They should have finished harvesting the crops by now. Yue, do you miss your tribespeople?"

This is the first time Yue has been away from the tribe for so long, so it's inevitable that she misses home.

Yue said honestly, "Yes, I miss them."

Bai Ling: "I miss my father, my father-in-law, and the clan chief too."

Neither of them spoke, and they walked forward hand in hand. Along the way, they encountered many orcs from the central tribe, who greeted them warmly. Bai Ling responded to each one, while Yue nodded slightly.

These orcs had just returned from the fields. When they got home, Bai Ling and Yue had a lot more things in their hands: wild vegetables, fruits, wild onions, two wild duck eggs, and a bunch of wildflowers in full bloom.

Wild onions also grow in the central tribe. No one used to eat this plant, but after the orcs who went to the High Tree tribe returned, the orcs here started eating wild onions.

The bird eggs and wildflowers were a gift from the older children in the tribe. Those children had collected a nest of wild duck eggs and wanted to give them all to Bai Ling, but Bai Ling refused and only took two.

Bai Ling loves flowers. Every day on his way home for dinner, he would pick a few flowers and give them to Yue. The children in the tribe, seeing his fondness for flowers, would secretly place the wildflowers they picked on the windows of their houses every day. Sometimes, like now, they would give wildflowers to him and Yue on their way back.

Not only Bai Ling and Yue, but Xiao and Chen in front also had a lot more things in their hands.