I am a Primitive Man

Chapter 72: Autumn is a season for harvesting children

Han Cheng saw this and quickly stopped her. He didn't feel offended.

It is often said that although women are weak, they are strong as mothers. The primitive woman just now acted out of great maternal love, and Han Cheng did not realize how much courage it took for her to take the baby away.

From this action, Han Cheng only saw the touching motherly love and didn't care about anything else.

If this matter were to be carefully investigated, it would also be Han Cheng's fault. He was impatient and wanted to handle the baby quickly. He forgot about everything else for a moment, leading to this misunderstanding.

The shaman, whom Han Cheng stopped, still looked at the primitive woman holding the baby with an air of indignation, but she no longer had the intention to resort to violence.

"Child, give it to me, bathe it, and prevent it from getting sick."

Han Cheng pointed to the water basin and then said to the primitive woman with a smile.

The primitive woman had calmed down a lot by now. She realized that her previous reaction was indeed too intense. From various signs, the Divine Child did not seem like someone who would eat her baby. However, the Divine Childs actions, resembling cooking soup, made her unable to help but act impulsively.

Now that she had calmed down a bit, she breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Han Cheng's words.

But due to her motherly nature, she still hesitated to hand over the baby she had just given birth to. Upon seeing the Shaman glaring at her, she hastened her pace.

Han Cheng took the baby, crying with clenched fists and squeezed eyes, and said to the nervous primitive woman with a smile, "Bath."

Then, with great care, he placed the slippery baby into the warm water. One hand supported the baby's head, which could not yet be held up, and the other hand scooped up the warm water from the basin to clean the filth off the baby's body.

Shaman watched from the side, feeling somewhat puzzled about what Han Cheng was doing. He had not received any inheritance about bathing newborns from the previous generation of shamans. However, he did catch the part about preventing illness from Han Cheng's previous words.

After watching for a while, seeing Han Cheng struggling to bathe the baby alone, he squatted down and held the baby in his hands, letting Han Cheng do the cleaning.

The newborn baby looked wrinkled and somewhat like a little monkey, not appearing cute at all. Han Cheng initially thought it was because of the primitive people's characteristics, but later, he realized that almost all newborns looked like this. They would become more attractive after a few days of breastfeeding or even a longer time.

However, the baby's tender skin felt comfortable to the touch.

Perhaps because the warm water resembled the amniotic fluid in the mother's womb, the baby, who had been crying and clenching its small fists, stopped crying.

After cleaning the baby of the filth, Han Cheng replaced the basin with half a basin of clean, warm water and focused on cleaning the umbilical cord roughly handled by the shaman. Then he tied a knot near the baby's belly.

Of course, it wasn't a butterfly knot.

While Han Cheng and the shaman were doing these things, the primitive woman had been watching by the side, wanting to intervene but not daring to.

"Cut it off," Han Cheng said, learning from his previous experience. To avoid misunderstandings and prevent the nervous primitive woman from getting tense again, he first pointed to the remaining piece of the umbilical cord and told her what he would do next. Then, using a pair of long chopsticks, he picked up a sterilized bone knife from a pottery jar once it was no longer too hot.

After ensuring it wouldn't scald his hands, he took the knife and cut off the excess umbilical cord while holding it close to the knot.

Re-wrapping the newborn baby in a clean and dry animal hide, Han Cheng prepared to hand over the clean baby to the mother waiting nearby.

However, upon a second glance, he noticed that the baby's mother was also in a mess. He instructed the old primitive man to boil more water. With the help of the other primitive women in the cave, they cleaned the mother's body outside the cave before finally handing the baby over to the anxious mother.

Whether it was due to the robust constitution of primitive people or some other reason, the woman who had just given birth did not appear very weak. There was no sign of fatigue in her movements.

This made Han Cheng feel somewhat emotional.

It was precisely after experiencing this incident that Han Cheng, who had not thought about these issues before, formulated some regulations.

For example, newborns should have their umbilical cords tied and cut off. They should be washed with warm water, and the bone knife used to cut the umbilical cord should be boiled in hot water first. Women who have given birth, if too dirty, should be cleaned slightly.

The postpartum confinement system was also established.

In the future, giving birth to a child is a significant event for women, and postpartum confinement is indispensable. Many problems could arise if not taken seriously during the confinement period.

Given the current situation in the tribe and considering that primitive women generally had a stronger physique, Han Cheng eventually set the postpartum confinement period to ten days.

Starting from the day of childbirth, each passing day would be marked on the nearby stone wall or other places until ten marks were reached, signifying the end.

During these ten days, women didn't need to engage in any activities; they just needed to care for their babies. Also, they should be provided with good food, especially plenty of meat soup.

Initially, the people were not accustomed to these new practices. Because they had never experienced such things before, and in times of severe food shortages, there were instances when women went out to search for food on the day they gave birth.

However, the Green Sparrow tribe no longer needed to worry about food shortages, and since these practices were established by the Divine Child (Han Cheng), they naturally complied.

As with any repeated activity, it eventually became a habit.

After persevering for a long time, Shaman and the people in the tribe finally discovered the tremendous benefits brought about by these practices. While they were grateful for this and expressed sincere thanks to Han Cheng and the heavens, Han Cheng himself was also reflecting.

He wasn't pondering over anything else but the toughness of primitive human life.

Modern families would severely criticize the methods he adopted for a woman in confinement. Yet here, it produced such significant effects.

This made Han Cheng marvel at the toughness of human life, as humanity managed to evolve from primitive times and achieve a magnificent comeback, which was not without reason.

However, childbirth in primitive tribes could also be divided into batches. Taking the Green Sparrow tribe as an example, of the eight children born this year, six were born in the autumn.

This made Han Cheng feel that autumn was not only the season for harvesting food but also the season for harvesting children.

Yes, spring plows, autumn harvests; this saying is unquestionable.