With Yan Lu helping to pull weeds, the efficiency was extremely high. By the time Jing Lin and Yan Fei came out, more than half of the weeds had already been removed. Jing Lin quickly told Yan Lu to rest nearby, then joined Yan Fei in pulling weeds. 

When Yan Fei and Yan Lu left, Jing Lin pulled out a basket of bokchoy for them to take back. He also gave Yan Lu a small bottle of jam. Since they had helped him for an entire afternoon, these were the only things he could offer in return. 

Yan Fei and Yan Lu did not refuse either. Giving and receiving back and forth was how relationships became closer. 

Zhao Zhiwen left together with them. When he returned home, Croakie had already wandered through every corner of his house. Seeing that its belly was slightly bigger than before, it seemed that it had eaten quite a lot that afternoon. So he picked up a towel and cautiously tried to hug Croakie. When the toad let out a croak but did not resist, Zhao Zhiwen gathered his courage, picked it up, and hurried toward Yan Fei’s house. 

That afternoon, he had seen that his future father-in-law and mother-in-law both had red mosquito bite bumps on their faces and hands. Since there was still plenty of time before bedtime, if he sent Croakie over now, their family would also be able to sleep well.

After Yan Fei and the others left, Jing Lin continued studying the chili seeds. He removed his gloves, but his fingers kept rubbing against them unconsciously. Finally, he closed his eyes and reached out his hand, thinking that whatever happened, at worst he would just get a few blisters on his hand like Gao Honghai. It would not kill him. 

Fortunately, when his fingers touched the chili seeds, there was no bad reaction. Jing Lin felt happy inside. It seemed his guess had been correct. The fuzz growing on the outside of the chili were only a layer of protection it had developed for itself. Touching the chili seeds inside would not cause any problems for their fingers.

Jing Lin picked many more fully mature heaven-facing chili peppers, removed the seeds inside, washed them all clean, and left a small amount outside. He placed the rest evenly spread out on a plate to air-dry, planning to take them outside to dry in the sun once it came out the next day. 

After that, Jing Lin placed the chili seeds he had separated onto his hand and entered the storage room. He caught two chicks: one that he had observed yesterday to be picky about food, and one that was not picky at all. He opened his palm to reveal the chili seeds and held them toward the two chicks’ mouths. 

The non-picky chick had been screaming miserably ever since Jing Lin caught it. Even after seeing Jing Lin hold out his hand for a long time, it still did not peck at the seeds. The picky chick, however, obediently stayed still and did not run around. Before Jing Lin even brought his hand closer, it stretched out its neck and pecked at the chili seeds in his palm. It did not stop until not a single seed remained; then it flapped its wings and cried twice. 

So Jing Lin kept the picky chick and released the non-picky one. To prevent the newly planted vegetable field from being destroyed, Jing Lin also drew a low-level illusion array and arranged it around the vegetable field to stop the chicks from entering to search for food. 

Afterward, taking advantage of the remaining daylight to save on kerosene, Jing Lin began preparing dinner. His mouth had not had much taste these past few days, so he took some dried chilies he had bought earlier, picked a large amount of bokchoy, and made a stir-fried bokchoy dish. Then he took out a can of luncheon meat, sliced it, and fried it in oil. The smell was especially fragrant. 

While Jing Lin was cooking, Duckie was extremely unhappy about the chick wandering around in the backyard. Originally, it had been playing with Le Le in the living room, but when it saw the chick taking advantage of Jing Lin being in the kitchen and walking into the living room, it became furious. Feeling that its territory had been invaded, it charged toward the chick like a little cannonball. It continuously pecked at the chick with its beak and rammed it with its body, knocking the chick over and even making it tumble several times. 

The chick felt that this goose was far too fierce and that it had absolutely no chance of winning. After losing several feathers, it screeched and fled from that troublesome place. 

Looking at the defeated chick running away, Duckie raised its head proudly, full of a domineering aura as if it ruled the world. However, this appearance did not last long. When it heard Le Le calling it from the living room, it flapped its little wings and happily waddled back.