Orc Girl's Tribal Daily Life

Chapter 138 Grinding Lenses

Jiang Luoluo found a transparent stone about the size of an adult tribesman's fist. The stone was extremely transparent, only slightly less transparent than glass.

When Jiang Luoluo saw the transparent crystal, she was stunned for a moment before realizing that she had obtained it when she first traded with the children on Little Stone Mountain.

Jiang Luoluo still remembers that her first reaction when she saw this transparent crystal was that she could use it to make a telescope or something, but then too many things happened and one thing after another, and she forgot about it.

It wasn't until now, when I suddenly remembered that I needed to make a telescope, that I dug this transparent crystal out again.

Jiang Luoluo fell silent and began to reflect on herself.

But after thinking it over, Jiang Luoluo realized that this was not her fault at all; she had simply been too busy to remember.

She always seems to have endless things to do, so those things that aren't urgent and need to be done immediately are indefinitely postponed and overshadowed by other things.

Then it gets forgotten.

But so what? Jiang Luoluo quickly put those things out of her mind. It didn't matter at all. It wasn't because she was being lazy, and even if she was being lazy, it wouldn't matter.

Just do what you want to do; there's no need to put so much pressure on your life.

"Luo, what are you doing?" Xing asked only after the cub stopped moving, so as not to interrupt the cub's train of thought by speaking suddenly.

Because of her physical limitations, Xing could not move around often. What she did most was think. She was always observing her family members, trying to guess what they were thinking, and then speaking up when she felt it was appropriate.

Jiang Luoluo immediately snapped out of her daze and excitedly gestured towards Xing, adding one or two words of spoken explanation in between.

Xing didn't quite understand what was being said, and she couldn't quite grasp the cub's gestures either.

After all, to understand telescopes, one needs to first understand the principles of light refraction, the effects they produce, or other related concepts in order to truly comprehend them.

Judging solely from the cub's expression, we can only conclude that the cub wants to use this beautiful, transparent crystal to make a round, thin slice, and then use it to look at things.

But why bring it to look at something? Xing couldn't figure it out. She only knew that this matter was very important and that the cub cared about it a lot.

Jiang Luoluo also noticed Xing's confusion, so without saying much, she immediately prepared to start working.

She has now come to understand an important truth: more important than talking is producing tangible results.

Having learned the stone-grinding knife technique on the small rocky hill, and having picked up some small skills by observing and learning from others, I was able to learn a lot.

Jiang Luoluo quickly divided the transparent crystal into several pieces.

Although she wasn't sure if the size of the convex lens would affect the telescope's performance, Jiang Luoluo still chose to retain the largest diameter of the entire transparent crystal, preparing to make the largest lens possible.

Grinding lenses is a simple but very patient task. Without the right tools, you can only change their shape by friction between different stones, which requires even more precise control of the force applied.

Jiang Luoluo stared wide-eyed at the cracked transparent crystal fragment in her hand.

Suddenly, she realized something: she seemed to have overestimated something—she had overestimated her own skills.

Although Jiang Luoluo learned how to sharpen stone knives on the small rocky mountain and produced quite a few stone knives, gaining some experience in stone knife sharpening, she also had some additional skills from her previous life as a craftswoman.

However, sharpening stone knives and grinding lenses are fundamentally two completely different things, and they are not related in a "one-to-all" way.

First of all, the materials of stone knives and mirrors are completely different.

The whetstone used for sharpening knives contains a large amount of metal, which gives it a certain degree of flexibility and toughness, preventing it from breaking easily. This allows it to be used as a weapon for a longer period of time, rather than being a disposable item.

However, the transparent crystal that Jiang Luoluo was trying to grind into a lens was different. It did not contain the rich metallic elements that Earth Star Stone had, and its overall appearance was very "dry" and "brittle".

Under the same grinding force, it has little effect on the Earth Star Stone, but the transparent crystal will shatter completely.

Another reason is that the techniques required for polishing a whetstone and polishing clear crystal are completely different, and they involve two entirely different things.

A whetstone knife needs to be sharpened to a very sharp edge, which is a pursuit of ultimate sharpness, and even to this extent, some toughness and durability can be sacrificed.

Even if it's made into a disposable item, as long as it can play a greater role in that one necessary attack, then it's worthwhile.

However, what a mirror needs is overall smoothness, a smooth, rounded transition from the center to the edge, which should be as gentle as possible.

Jiang Luoluo applied the former's habits to the latter, so it's only natural that some parts would break or break.

Jiang Luoluo couldn't help but turn her head to look at the few transparent crystal fragments next to her. She originally thought there would be enough, but now it seemed that there might not be enough for her to practice with.

She needs to find more transparent crystals; she needs more practice materials to ensure she can grind out the lenses needed to make the telescope.

Moreover, Jiang Luoluo suddenly realized something.

It seems she also needs lenses of different thicknesses to improve contrast, which means the number of clear crystals needed has doubled again.

As for someone who doesn't need to practice, can grasp the properties of different stones immediately, and can successfully grind a transparent lens in one go, Jiang Luoluo could only think of making it.

However, he was already quite old, and he devoted his remaining energy to making stone knives and weapons, so that he could leave behind more useful stone knives and weapons for the tribe before he died.

Regardless of whether Zao was willing to go along with Jiang Luoluo's antics, Jiang Luoluo herself absolutely did not want to waste Zao's energy on such things.

Although Zao is currently also in charge of brick kiln firing, something that seems to have nothing to do with stone tools.

But in fact, the brick kiln firing was an attempt to find another "weapon solution" for the tribe.

Ultimately, the hope is that, as Jiang Luoluo said, we can make sturdy and sharp weapons without having to rely entirely on talent.

Therefore, there is no need to worry about the consequences of not having suitable stone tools after one's death.

Therefore, Jiang Luoluo still has to rely on herself.

"Luo, is there anything I can help you with?" Xing asked cautiously from the side.

Although she was weaving hair ties the whole time, she was actually keeping an eye on the cub's condition. When she noticed the cub's troubled expression, Xing asked it a question.

Jiang Luoluo turned her head to look at Xing, and suddenly her eyes lit up.

Although He and others said she had a talent for making stone tools, Jiang Luoluo herself knew that her "talent" was nothing more than an adult soul controlling a young body, displaying a little ability beyond her age.

If compared to her actual younger self, she would be nothing more than one of the mediocre.

Xing, on the other hand, truly possesses a talent for crafting.

The difficult embroidery techniques that Jiang Luoluo taught Xing were all easily mastered by Xing, and now she can create very complex patterns.

Perhaps because of its poor leg mobility, the water chestnut's upper limbs are very flexible and easy to use.

Moreover, Xing has experience with whetstones, so she's not completely ignorant about this. If Xing were to try, she might do a better job than Jiang Luoluo and wouldn't easily break the stone.

For the tribal people, stone knives are not only weapons, but also tools and tableware.

The tribespeople would use stone knives to cut open the throats of their prey, ending their lives. They would also use stone knives to skin the prey, release its blood, cut the prey into pieces, and roast it over a fire.

They would also use a stone knife to cut open pieces of roasted meat while eating to aid their digestion.

Some of the cleaner members of the tribe dislike the greasy feeling of the meat sticking to their bodies after it's been roasted, so they use stone knives like forks to skewer the meat and eat it.

Although this stone knife may have been used for cutting grass, chopping trees, or even other dirty work, it is not necessarily cleaner than using your hands.

In short... Jiang Luoluo felt she had failed, and then tried to place her hopes on Xing—similar to when she couldn't get any gold cards while drawing gacha, and then pinned her hopes on her friend, hoping to borrow her friend's luck to get a gold card on the first try.

Jiang Luoluo felt that Xing's performance would be better than hers, so with an expectant look in her eyes, she placed a piece of transparent crystal in Xing's hand.

He gestured to the water chestnut to indicate the shape he wanted to grind.

Xing hesitated before taking it from the cub's hand.

A few minutes later, the two stared at the transparent crystal in Xing's hand, which was also cracked, and fell into a brief silence.

Xing immediately showed a very guilty expression and apologized to Jiang Luoluo, "I'm sorry, Luo, I..."

Jiang Luoluo quickly stopped Xing from continuing.

She was the one who asked Xing to help her with it in the first place, so even if Xing didn't meet her expectations, she shouldn't blame Xing.

Xing was trying to help her out of kindness, so it's impossible for her to be so unreasonable as to blame Xing for not helping her enough.

Moreover, Jiang Luoluo herself had anticipated this outcome. She knew that it was unlikely to succeed on the first try, so she couldn't blame Xing for it.

After carefully reassuring Xing and telling her not to worry about the outcome, Jiang Luoluo prepared to begin her second plan.

That is—to restart the Little Stone Mountain Exchange Conference.

Go to Little Stone Mountain and find those children to collect another batch of transparent crystals.

There are actually quite a few transparent stones like these in the hands of the tribe.

It seems that some people have an innate love and appreciation for shiny stones, so when they see such beautiful and sparkly stones, most people in the tribe will choose to bring them home.

However, this fondness is like seeing a particularly beautiful flower by the roadside and casually picking it to take home and enjoy; it doesn't reach the point of being a luxury item or a precious treasure to be passed down as a family heirloom.

If it were a handcrafted stone tool, that might be possible, but a few shiny stones are unlikely to have such a significant impact on the tribe.

If Jiang Luoluo were to offer jam or something else in exchange, almost everyone would be willing.

After all, if you really like stones, you can always go out and pick up a few more when you want, but the chances of exchanging them for jam are slim.

Since we're going to Little Stone Mountain to exchange jam, we definitely need to inform Brown first. As the person in charge of Little Stone Mountain, Brown teaches the children every day.

Jiang Luoluo's plan to organize an event to exchange stones with the children on Xiaoshishan Mountain will definitely disrupt He's class schedule.

Therefore, it is necessary to inform Brown in advance.

Although classes on Little Stone Mountain are quite casual, He still has a plan in mind regarding when to teach what and what the children should learn.

It was just the time it took to go up and down the mountain, and by then it was noon, time for lunch.

Jiang Luoluo thought for a moment, then took Xing and prepared to go to He's house to show off her skills and cook a delicious dish for He.

Jiang Luoluo felt embarrassed, thinking to herself that she was being despicable for trying to bribe He with food and ask him for help.

It's just that the tribespeople are so simple-minded that they can be easily won over with a little food.

……

As soon as He Yi got home, he saw a familiar figure loitering at the door.

"Luo, what are you doing here? Is there something you need?" Having lived with the cub for so long, He had come to know it quite well.

Seeing the cub's appearance, Brown knew that the cub must have something it wanted his help with.

Brown doesn't dislike cubs like this. In fact, people like Brown crave the feeling of being needed by others. He hopes that cubs will ask him for help more often, even if it's just small things that aren't difficult.

This makes Brown feel that he is not just a useless person, nor is he just wasting his time every day. There are people who need him, and he has other reasons to live.

When He returned home, it was time for Jiang Luoluo to show her skills.

Jiang Luoluo decided to make a dish today—fruit wine stewed meat, which was mainly inspired by cola chicken wings.

Cola chicken wings are arguably one of Jiang Luoluo's favorite dishes. Besides being delicious, another reason is that they are really easy to make.

However, there is no cola or chicken wings here, only meat from different wild animals, jams, and fruit wines.

If He were a little younger, Jiang Luoluo might have chosen to make jam stewed with meat. What young person wouldn't like sweet jam and tender stewed meat? But He is already a young man who likes to drink, so Jiang Luoluo decided to make fruit wine stewed with meat.

Let's make a dish for Brown that's suitable for adults.