章 34: Spirit Treasure
編集者: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Dig carefully, and keep digging deeper, but don't hurt the root of the gourd vines!"
"I know, brother. You just make sure you keep a good grip on it so the little gourd doesn't shake too much. If it shakes too much, it will fall off."
Next to the dead tree, Chi Qiaosong, his father, and his uncle were carefully digging at the root of the gourd vines. To protect the life of the gourd vines to the greatest extent, they were ready to dig out the root together with the surrounding soil.
Because the gourd vines clung to the dead branches, they had to be sawed off along with it, or else the vines would be damaged.
Each of the little flowers on the vines, in Chi Qiaosong's eyes, represented a gourd baby. Especially the tiny green gourd near the main vine might have a big baby hidden inside.
A big gourd baby would be mighty. If he really materialized, the family would have someone who could work hard in the fields in the future.
After much toil, they finally dug out the gourd vines with a large piece of soil attached. It was put into a bag, which was then carried by Mr. Chi and the second uncle with a pole. Chi Qiaosong held on to the dead branches and followed them along to protect the gourd vines.
They walked, taking frequent breaks in between.
Back and forth, it took three whole hours before the gourd vines were transported to the two-acre greenhouse in one piece.
"Water the vines, don't let them dry out." Mr. Chi was panting from exhaustion. Still, he scooped some water with a ladle and poured it on the gourd vines to prevent them from being dried out by the sun.
Just traveling this distance, the gourd vines had wilted considerably.
"Drink some water first, you three." Mrs. Chi had already prepared a cooling herbal tea and brought it over to Mr. Chi, the second uncle, and Chi Qiaosong. "Yuping and I have dug the pit already. Do you think it's big enough?"
"I'll widen it a little more." The second uncle took a sip of the herbal tea before he took the shovel from the second aunt and enlarged the pit a little more. "It's better now. Qiaosong, should I plant it?"
The location of the gourd vines was picked out in advance by Chi Qiaosong.
He had already realized the third acre of the field, next to the two-acre greenhouse. When he heard it, he nodded, "Let's plant it."
The three of them worked together, and with the help of Mrs. Chi and the second aunt, they quickly planted the gourd vines. After they buried it in the soil, Mr. Chi and the second uncle buried the four wooden posts that were prepared ahead of time and then put loose strips of pine blanks on top to create an arbor of sorts for the vines.
Then, he carefully removed the dead branches and wrapped the vines of the gourd around the pine planks.
Now, everything was done.
Looking at the little gourd with green skin gently swaying in the wind, Chi Qiaosong's mouth gradually turned up in a smile. This time, he finally perceived all the information about the gourd vines.
...
Grade 3 field: Three acres
Fertilizer Storage: Three bags
Spirit root source (2): bay tree (...); Saturn peach tree (...)
External spirit root (1): Rainbow Gourd Vines (...)
Spirit plants: ...
...
These gourd vines were called the Rainbow Gourd Vines, and when the "..." was expanded, the information could be clearly seen.
One was the introduction to the Rainbow Gourd Vines. "The remnant seed of the ancient gourd spirit root that seized the opportunity between heaven and earth and broke through the ground. It may give birth to the Rainbow Gourds, all of which are considered spirit treasures."
Another piece of information was about the growth rate of the Rainbow Gourd. "The red gourd is 12%, the orange gourd is 3%, the yellow gourd is 1%, the green gourd is 1%, the aqua gourd is 1%, the blue gourd is 1%, and the purple gourd is 1%."
"Rainbow Gourd?"
"Spirit treasure?"
Chi Qiaosong was stunned by this revelation.
The evolution of this world was indeed extraordinary.
The spirit root in plants seemed to have been propagated from ancient times to the present rather than cultivated from some ordinary plants. Of course, just a vine was not enough to prove anything.
"Qiaosong, once we planted these gourd vines, will another acre of vegetables grow in the greenhouse?" the second uncle asked with a smile.
The question pulled Chi Qiaosong back to reality. He nodded as he replied, "Yes."
The second uncle was immediately overjoyed. "That's great news! Brother, let's go get some more materials and build a greenhouse ourselves. I learned all the techniques of building a greenhouse last time."
Ever since he listened to his nephew and stopped going out to collect dry goods, he always felt that just guarding the few acres of land at the First Ridge was not enough; they would starve one day.
Now, the news that they could have another one-acre greenhouse pleased him to no end. He felt that if things progressed smoothly like this, they would be able to build greenhouses all over the mountains, and they would never have to worry about starving ever again.
He and Mr. Chi, as well as the second aunt and Mrs. Chi, immediately began to discuss the matter of buying more materials for the greenhouse.
A while ago, Chi Qiaosong had helped collect the second uncle's arrears. Now the second uncle had some money in hand. He could use this money to build the greenhouse, which would be considered his part of getting into the family business.
However, Chi Qiaosong did not care much for these mundane affairs.
With his parents, uncle, and aunt working hard on these matters, he was happy to focus on other things. As he stood under the gourd arbor and counted how many flowers were in bloom, he was surprised to find that there were actually thirteen flowers by now.
"It is clear that only seven gourds can be grown from the vines, but there are thirteen flowers... Counting the first flower that had withered and given birth to a gourd, there are fourteen flowers."
"That is to say, the other seven flowers would either bear no gourds, or the gourds they bore would be the ordinary varieties?"
He had never had an experience like that.
For now, he couldn't figure it out.
After thinking about it for a while, he decided to apply a bag of fertilizer to the Rainbow Gourd Vines to speed up the growth of the gourds. However, he found out that the fertilizer could not be used on the external spirit roots but could only be used for the spirit roots source.
"What kind of restriction is this?!"
Chi Qiaosong shook his head and sighed. He couldn't speed up the growth through fertilization, which meant he could only wait for the Rainbow Gourd Vines to grow at its own pace. Moreover, the Rainbow Gourd had already been determined as a spirit treasure. Gourd babies would probably not have much to offer compared to that.
No matter what, finding an external spirit root was a happy event for the family.
"Mom, cook some of that bear claw from the Palace Suppressing Noble, and we will celebrate with some good eats," he said with a smile. They had already eaten quite a lot of the four bear claws from the Palace Suppressing Noble.
It tasted barely better than regular bear claws, but not by much.
Facts proved that the spirit beasts were not as magical as people had imagined. It was a pure myth that a bite of the meat from the Mountain Drum could provide longevity. The meat from spirit beasts may be a little richer in nutrients and with some medicinal value, but that was about it.
In light of such a happy event for their family, Mrs. Chi didn't argue. "Sounds good. I will take care of it with your second aunt in a little while."
The second uncle washed his hands and said while drying his hands, "Then I'll go down the mountain to get some home brew and bring it back. Qiaosong, you don't like to drink liquor, so how about I bring you a case of beer?"
"Sounds good."
Mr. Chi added, "Why don't you go directly to town, get the wine, and tell Yali and Yixiang to bring the kids over and have dinner together."
"Alright." The second uncle wiped his hands and left.
...
...
...
Dinner was held in the brick house of the Chi household.
The elders were sitting at one table, and Chi Qiaosong was also seated at this table. Chi Qiaowu, Wen Moshan, Chi Xiaoya, Wen Ting, Wen Moshui, Chi Qiaodong, and Chi Qiaoshui were all eating at a smaller kids' table next to them.
"I can't believe that Chi Qiaosong is already in the Wrestler Plane," little uncle-in-law, Wen Yixiang, said emotionally. "Come on. I'll have a drink with my favorite nephew."
Chi Qiaosong picked up the beer mug and paid tribute to his little uncle-in-law.
Chi Yali, the little aunt, said proudly, "You two did the right thing to send Qiaosong into the military academy!"
The second aunt immediately added, "Isn't that the truth? In the future, all the children in the family will learn martial arts because learning martial arts can have great prospects. Look at Qiaowu and Moshan. They are becoming more obedient. Xiaoya and Wen Ting have only practiced for a few days but are already different in spirit."
The family drank and ate.
The atmosphere was delightful.
Chi Qiaosong felt an exceptional warmth in a time like this.
-- 贈り物
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