Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains 126
Chapter 126
After storing the potatoes and sweet potatoes in the storage room, Chen Qi did not continue to harvest the remaining crops all at once.
“Ajing, can you help me pick these sweet potato leaves? Like this,” Chen Qi demonstrated to Ajing by picking a sweet potato vine, showing him how to keep the tender parts and leaves intact while discarding the older stems.
Ajing nodded and took the sweet potato vine from Chen Qi’s hand.
Chen Qi gathered all the sweet potato vines together for Ajing to deal with. These sweet potato leaves could be eaten as vegetables, although they might be a bit tough from growing for too long, but it would be wasteful to throw them away.
The sky had already turned pitch black. Around the land, a few wooden lampstands for lighting were fitted with paper lanterns. Chen Qi filled each lantern with oil, replaced the wicks, and lit them. The warm light immediately illuminated the small area.
While Ajing was handling the sweet potato vines, Chen Qi dug up the chili plants that had been harvested and replanted chili seeds in the same spot. He gathered the potato vines, spread them out in a corner to dry, and planned to use them as fuel once they were completely dried.
He took two bags and went to the area where charcoal ash was piled, carefully filling them. Upon returning, he spread the ash finely over the soil where the potatoes and sweet potatoes had been dug up. Since these two crops couldn’t be planted immediately and needed to be seeded first, Chen Qi decided to use the charcoal ash to enrich the soil in the meantime.
After re-tilling the soil that had been sprinkled with charcoal ash, Ajing had also already finished picking all the sweet potato leaves.
Chen Qi found some ropes and tied the picked sweet potato leaves into bundles of a certain size. The sweet potato plants had grown well, with leaves that were neither bug-eaten nor yellowed. After bundling them all, he ended up with over thirty bundles. He kept a few for his own use, gave a few to Ka Luo next door, and then, with Ajing’s help, carried the rest to Ali’s house.
“So much? Did you dig up all your sweet potatoes? How was the harvest?” Ali asked, looking at the two large bags of sweet potato leaves with some surprise.
“En, I dug up all of them. The yield was quite good. Together with the potatoes, there were five or six bags. These crops have a short growth cycle, so we should be able to harvest another batch before winter. Tomorrow, I plan to clear out the empty plot next to your house and plant some more.”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
“This harvest is much better than searching in the plains. Tomorrow, I’ll bring some of the tribe members to help you clear the land. These crops don’t need much maintenance, so we might as well clear the large area from here to the city gate where no one lives. This way, we can plant not just potatoes and sweet potatoes, but also other things in larger quantities.”
Chen Qi nodded. He had collected a lot of seeds during his trip to the Salt-Water Tribe. If there was enough land, he would be able to plant all of them at once.
“Are you having a meeting?” Chen Qi’s gaze went past Ali and towards the others in the room. Besides Azhang, Ayan, and Ayu who originally lived here, even Ahxu, and Ake, as well as, Aming and Ashu from the Salt-Water Tribe, were present.
Ashu noticed Chen Qi looking over and quickly waved at him.
“We’re discussing the plans for tomorrow’s hunt,” Azhang replied with a smile. “But since you mentioned wanting to clear the land nearby, how about we move the hunt to the day after tomorrow instead?” Otherwise, with this group of young and strong hunters gone, it might take them quite a while to get the large piece of land cleared.
“Sure, we didn’t finish the fish we caught from the Chishui River today,” Ashu raised his hand and said cheerfully. As a member of the Salt-Water Tribe, Ashu was actually not very interested in hunting in the forest and preferred fish over meat from animals. Of course, he also knew that hunting was necessary.
The others nodded in agreement. Although they hadn’t been here long, each household in Qi Ze City had planted some crops in their yards and they had already tasted these crops. While they were not as appealing as the meat they were used to, they were still acceptable, especially when prepared well. In fact, some dishes were even more enticing than meat. They were also curious to see how the people of Qi Ze City cultivated their crops. If they could plant similar crops in their own tribe, they wouldn’t have to worry about finding food during the winter.
“Will this disrupt your plans?” Chen Qi asked. “We can take our time with clearing the land.” Chen Qi knew that it was already difficult to hunt in the forest, and the hunting teams had been rotating in and out in shifts. Even so, the game they brought back barely sufficed for the tribe’s daily consumption, with no surplus.
Now, even the fish in the Chishui River, after being disturbed by the beastmen over the past few months, were difficult to catch with just a fish spear. Using bait to fish was also a matter of luck, as no one could predict whether the fish would bite.
“Don’t worry, we’ve been running into the forest every day for the past two months you’ve been gone. Tomorrow will be like a vacation,” Ake said, noticing Chen Qi’s concern. Looking at the two large bags of sweet potato leaves in Ali’s hands, he added, “Besides, we’re not short on food now. You’re sharing the crops you’ve grown with us, so we can’t just sit by and not help with clearing the land.”
Azhang also smiled as he glanced at Ayan and Aming sitting nearby and added, “The people from the Salt-Water Tribe and the Flame-Hill Tribe are eager to learn how to grow crops. It’s a perfect opportunity for them to come along and see how it’s done.”
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
“Indeed, the roasted sweet potatoes we had yesterday tasted really good. I had no idea that the roots of this plant could grow so large and be edible,” Aming said, remembering how Ahxu had gone straight to the yard to dig up a large sweet potato and roast it as soon as he returned yesterday. Aming couldn’t help but want Ahxu to go back and roast a few more right away.
“Haha, those were directly grown here. You’d have to put in quite a bit of effort to find them on the plains.”
Seeing that everyone started discussing crop cultivation, Chen Qi felt a bit helpless but agreed to let them help with clearing the land. However, the land was so large that it couldn’t all be cleared in one go. Proper planning was needed. It would be best to dig a well as well, so they wouldn’t have to constantly go to the school area to fetch water. Currently, there was only one well available for the entire tribe, which was too few.
Upon returning home, Chen Qi found that Aze had already come back.
Aze had gone out with the hunting team, but after entering the forest and not finding any grapes, he split off from the group. He ventured deeper into the forest on his own and finally returned late after gathering a full sack of grapes.
Chen Qi was unaware that Aze had ventured deep into the forest alone and was not sure who exactly had gone hunting today. He assumed that Aze had returned with the hunting team, especially since he had seen a female coming over to Azhang’s house earlier, intending to have him distribute the prey.
“This batch of grapes seems to be a bit larger,” Chen Qi remarked, picking up a grape to examine it. The grapes were round and beautiful, with a deeper color than the batch used for winemaking before. They also had more of the white bloom on them. However, just wiping his hands left some powder on them, making Chen Qi frown. He wondered if these grapes could really be used for winemaking.
Although he had some doubts, Chen Qi wasn’t ready to give up on making wine. After selecting the intact grapes, he processed them using the same steps as last time and then placed them in the storage room to let them ferment slowly on their own.
Aze had gathered quite a lot of fruit this time, enough to make three large vats of wine. The rest was eaten as fruit. It was a bit tangy but noticeably sweeter. Chen Qi rewarded Aze with a kiss on the corner of his lips.
Ajing quickly covered the little wolf cub’s eyes and whispered in its ear, “Little Wolf, you mustn’t learn these things.”
Hearing Ajing’s whispered words, Aze couldn’t help but blush, his ears turning red.
Chen Qi briefly mentioned the plans for clearing the land and digging another well for tomorrow. Aze understood. He had originally planned to go hunting with the team. After all, they had received some game over the past few days without hunting, Aze felt a bit uneasy about taking things without contributing.
Crossing to Live in the Wilderness Plains (CLWP) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Since they had new crops, Chen Qi decided to roast sweet potatoes for dinner and skipped preparing other dishes. Both Aze and Ajing were delighted; the freshly dug sweet potatoes were incredibly tasty. As a result, Ka Luo from next door saw this from the window and dragged the just-returned Ake over to mooch some food, earning a series of eye rolls from Aze.
“If you want to eat, roast it yourself.” Aze wrapped the last baked sweet potato with cattail leaf and handed it to Chen Qi, then threw a few raw ones over to Ka Luo.
As expected from my brother. Ka Luo pouted and could only endure the smell of roasted sweet potatoes while turning over the charcoal ash to bury the raw sweet potatoes. Then he spread a layer of charcoal ash and placed the hot coals on top of that layer to prevent them from burning.
In a cheerful mood, Chen Qi peeled the sweet potato in his hand and offered it to Aze to take the first bite. As he was about to start eating himself, he looked up and noticed the chubby Ayao staring longingly at the steaming roasted sweet potato in his hand.
Chen Qi blinked and moved the sweet potato back to Aze’s lips. Ayao’s big eyes followed the sweet potato’s movement, and seeing Aze take another bite, he couldn’t help but pout his lips in a look of disappointment.
“Can Ayao eat these things now?” Chen Qi asked Ake.
Ake buried the other two sweet potatoes in the ash and replied, “Yes, he can. He can even eat meat.”
Chen Qi moved the sweet potato closer to Ayao. Ayao’s eyes lit up, and he quickly opened his mouth and stretched out his little arms to grab the delicious-smelling food. Chen Qi noticed that Ayao had indeed grown a few small milk teeth.
Chen Qi didn’t hand the food directly to Ayao. Instead, he waved it playfully in front of him and grinned mischievously. “Be good, Ayao. If you call me ‘Qi Qi,’ I’ll give you a bite. How about that?” He hadn’t heard the little one speak since his return, and he was quite looking forward to it.
Ayao stared at the delicious food right in front of him but couldn’t reach it. His little mouth pouted, and his big eyes seemed to be welling up with tears. He looked back at his father and dad. Ka Luo was completely focused on the sweet potatoes in the fire and didn’t notice his son’s small expressions. Ake was busy fetching water to make tea, thinking that eating too many sweet potatoes might get tiresome. Drinking some tea would help settle his stomach and alleviate the heaviness.
Seeing that his father and dad weren’t paying attention, Ayao shifted his gaze back to Chen Qi. Noticing the little one pouting and ignoring him, Chen Qi pretended to pull the roasted sweet potato away. “If you don’t call me, I’ll eat it myself,” he said, and then took a big bite, chewing loudly and adding, “Delicious.”
Ayao jumped up with a “whoosh” and ran to Chen Qi, hugging his arm tightly with both hands to prevent him from taking another bite. He didn’t want the delicious food to be gone before he had a chance to taste it himself.
Chen Qi chuckled at the child’s actions and held out the half-eaten sweet potato to Ayao. “Just call me ‘Qi Qi,’ and you can have it.”
A Yao glanced at the roasted sweet potato, then at Chen Qi, and back at the sweet potato. After a moment of hesitation, he softly said, “Qi Qi.”
Chen Qi was momentarily stunned and leaned in a bit closer. “I didn’t hear clearly. Could you say it again?”
“Qi Qi.” This time, Ayao’s voice was a bit louder, catching everyone’s attention. They saw Chen Qi, with a look of delight, handing the roasted sweet potato to Ayao. Unable to resist, he picked up Ayao and gave his chubby face a big kiss.
Ake, with black lines on his head, took Ayao from Chen Qi’s arms. He gently tapped the little one’s head and said with a smile, “You gave in for just one roasted sweet potato. I can’t believe you’re my son.”
Ayao didn’t care about anything else and took a big bite of the now cooler roasted sweet potato.
En, really fragrant.
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: Sorry for erratic posting schedule…
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomNight73
Proofreader: Yume
Editor stepping into the realm of MTL translating, starting with CLWP. Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.
No, the fact that Ayao gave in proves he is exactly like his father….his foodie father XD
That’s the way Chen Qi won over Ka Luo too :-*