Chapter 33 - Brainstorm
While working, the women had smiles on their faces. Life was full of hope, and it made them feel alive with something to look forward to every day.
Zhao's face couldn't help but smile too.
Some of the women were carrying the corn stalks. Zhao didn't intend to hide anything from these slaves. After all, they had been branded by the Buda clan crest, so their fates were now linked together with the Buda clan. There was no need to hide anything from them.
By now the slaves seemed to have adapted a little to Zhao's magical abilities. They didn't react much when he brought out the corn stalks.
Seeing the female slaves carrying the corn stalks, he told them, "You can use these as a bed when you lay them down on the floor. Also, you can use them to make a fire. But since the corn stalks still have some moisture, it's best to dry them first before you burn them."
This time, after hearing Zhao's words, the female slaves weren't in a hurry to kneel down. It seemed like Meg had talked to them.
In fact, unlike what Zhao guessed, this wasn't because of Meg. Although Meg was a servant, do not forget, she had a higher status than a common servant, even if the Buda clan had been forced down. Few of the slaves would dare look at her in the face, so it was hard to get along with her.
The reason for the change in the slaves was because of Daisy. Although Daisy became a commoner thanks to Zhao restoring her status, she had also been a slave for two years. In the eyes of the slaves, she was easier to get along with.
The main thing was that even though her status was restored and she now had her own room, she would still work and joke together with them, so the slaves found it easier to accept Daisy's words than anyone elses.
The status of slaves in the Continent was the lowest, to the point that some masters treated them less than dogs. They had even heard of how a noble family cared more about their dying family dog than killing one hundred slaves. This showed how low slaves were.
It was also because of this that slaves didn't have a great relationship with the nobility or anyone else of high status. It was hard for them to believe the words of nobility.
But the identity of Daisy was very special. She had been a slave, but had also been restored to a commoner. Plus Daisy was very honest, so she was able to talk to the slaves, and they would accept her words.
Even if they were slaves, the women would naturally chat together. While working with Daisy, they would ask her things about Zhao, and she didn't hide anything from them. Hearing what she said, they were very surprised, because they didn't expect that Zhao could be such a good person.
She had mentioned that Zhao didn't like it when people knelt in front of him. That, and the fact that he had been more benevolent these days, made the slaves less wary of him.
Zhao didn't care that much, to be honest. Even though he came from the modern age, he also had Adam's memories, so although he wasn't used to people kneeling in front of him, he could still accept it. However, he was more comfortable when they didn't greet him on their knees.
Meirin and Zhao had gone to the square to greet Meg. Afterwards, he went to a vacant area next to the square, where he took out the stone from the space.
Zhao then turned and watched the slaves weaving weed mats. Apparently, they were good enough to do this for a living. Their hands were flexible and they managed to learn this skill quickly.
Sitting on the ground, everyone was surrounded by piles of weeds, almost to the point of blocking them from his sight.
Seeing them like that, Zhao couldn't help but think of something: Cao Chuan Jie Jian.
It was the story of how Zhuge Liang used straw boats and scarecrows to steal arrows from Cao Cao.
Straw boats? It was then that Zhao finally remembered seeing something on the news in his past life. Someone had made a boat out of grass to try to sail across the Pacific. Although he couldn't remember if the madman succeeded, he knew at least one thing for certain, you could make a boat out of weeds!
Zhao ran around in excitement. If he could really use weeds, then the problem of making a boat would be solved. He would be able to get to the valley on his own.
The thought of it made Zhao even more excited. However, standing next to him was Meirin, who was scared because she didn't understand why Zhao was running around. "Master, do you feel well?"
Zhao recovered and saw Meirin staring at him. He turned around, and sure enough, everyone else was staring at him too. Zhao became embarrassed, and quickly said, "Grandma Meirin, you and Meg and Daisy come with me to the living room. I have discovered something!"
Meirin didn't know what Zhao was going to do, but if he thought of it, then she believed that it must be a good thing. She quickly called Daisy and Meg into the living room with her.
Zhao was pacing back and forth in the living room while touching his forehead out of habit. He only stopped when the three came in.
"Come and sit down, I have something to say." The three people stood in front of Zhao, not daring to sit down.
Zhao smiled, then sat down himself, and waved them to do the same. "Please sit down." The three finally sat down, but they sat with their backs straight, and Daisy was even looking down.
While looking at the three, Zhao said, "I just suddenly thought of a way, Grandma Meirin, of how we could make a boat to get to the valley. Right now we don't have enough supplies to build a boat, but when I saw the pile of weeds, I suddenly thought, why can't we build a weed boat?"
They all stared at him, and even Daisy looked up. This was the first time they had heard of building a boat with weeds.
Meirin was uncertain. "Master, can it be done?"
Zhao smiled. "Yes, it certainly can. We just need a lot of weeds and compact them together, and maybe a bit of rope too. The mountain weeds are very tough, so boat building shouldn't be a problem. Meg and Daisy will lead the slaves to try to make it. Don't be afraid if it may take a few tries to be able to build it."
Meirin saw Zhao's confident look, and even though she didn't say anything, in her heart she thought that even if this doesn't work, the worse that could happen was that they would lose some weeds and rope.
Zhao continued, "Meg, come to the study. I'll give you some plans for a weed boat design." Having walked upstairs, Meg quickly followed after him.
Once they were in the study, Zhao drew a weed boat from memory. The design wasn't very complex. It looked like Arabian shoes, with the front end tilted high and the back end relatively flat. Overall, it had a thick bottom, and was tied in the middle with rope to make it solid. He drew this as a reference for Meg.
Once he was finished, Zhao gave the paper to Meg. "This is probably what the boat looks like. See if you can make a boat according to this. Trying more than once doesn't matter."
Meg left while holding the drawing.
Left alone, Zhao didn't know what to do with himself, but then he caught sight of the books in the study, and his eyes brightened.
Fortunately, although Adam was a hooligan, he was still a child of nobility, so he was taught how to read. Otherwise, Zhao would have been illiterate.
Zhao looked through the books. There were a few history books and books about the art of war, which may contain words about magic or martial arts.
Zhao first picked up a history book, but looking inside it made him dizzy. Parts of it were written like a Bible while other parts were written like it was telling a fairy tale. It was too difficult to understand, giving him a headache.
After reading two pages of the history book, Zhao threw it aside, then picked up a miscellaneous book. This miscellaneous book seemed to be a personal travel diary, and it recorded a large number of traditions and legends in the Continent. This suited Zhao's exact taste, and he couldn't help but read it carefully.
Because Zhao hadn't come out from the study for a long time, Meirin and Meg went in to check up on him. But they were in for a surprise, because when they looked beyond the study door, they saw Zhao reading a book with a serious look.
Translator Notes: If you want to know more about the story of Cao Chuan Jie Jian, here's a LINK.
Translator Notes #2: This chapter was edited from an MTL. Please leave a comment if you've spotted anything that looks wrong.