Beast World: A Fragile Beauty Blessed with Many Children-Chapter 157 - 156: Knows How to Find a Backer
For a moment, the three males didn’t know whether to accept.
They really didn’t feel they could generate that much value and were afraid they would just be a burden to Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng, however, was delighted. He knew his little female never did anything without a reason, so he quickly urged them, "Brothers, hurry up and agree! You’ll get Crystal Stones every month, you’ll be working outside every day, eating your fill and resting well. Once you start looking healthier, the females back home will definitely be thrilled."
His words made the three males blush. Si Shuo shot him an annoyed glare. ’So he thinks I’m that shallow?’
’Fine, but even if that’s true, can’t he just keep it to himself!’
Xiao Yuan and the other two males exchanged a look and gritted their teeth. They considered that Si Shuo’s household had five Beast Soldiers. On top of that, three of them led squads with a monthly salary of eight hundred Level 6 Crystal Stones, and one led a squadron with a monthly salary of fifteen hundred Crystal Stones. With that in mind, they swallowed their pride and accepted. They resolved to be sharp and make sure her Crystal Stones didn’t go to waste.
They always stopped eating when they were only half-full. They could hardly remember the last time they’d eaten their fill, or even what it felt like to be truly full.
Xu Chi brought out a generous amount of food, worried they would be too reserved. He placed a portion in front of each man, enough for them to be at least eighty percent full.
After the meal, Xiao Yuan and the others helped clear the table and wash the dishes.
Si Shuo leaned over the other side of the stone table. She took out a piece of parchment and a charcoal pencil, flipping through an illustrated guide to plants and sketching the ones suitable for papermaking.
Logging for papermaking is very harmful to the environment. However, the Beastmen in the Beast World had superpowers. The Wood Element Ability, for instance, wasn’t strong in combat, but it was excellent for accelerating plant growth. This ability was generally considered of limited use, as it was like pumping plants full of hormones. The fruits, vegetables, and grains it produced were bland, had a poor texture, and contained very few nutrients.
Hang He and Pan Zhou from Yimei’s family had Wood Element Abilities, and Si Shuo had them run a test.
After absorbing a single Level 10 Crystal Stone, the Level 6 Hang He could instantly grow a seed into a twenty-year-old tree. The resulting wood was a bit softer than a naturally grown tree, with slightly less fiber and thinner bark, but the difference wasn’t huge. It was, at the very least, good enough for making paper. Pan Zhou, who was Level 10, could produce five twenty-year-old trees by absorbing one Level 10 Crystal Stone, and their quality was even slightly better than Hang He’s.
As for grasses and plants with tough, well-developed fibers, they could be grown in entire swathes.
Paper wasn’t made solely from tree trunks; it also incorporated bark and plant stems.
In other words, using the Wood Element Ability to grow plants for papermaking was almost equivalent to converting the Spiritual Energy in the air directly into Crystal Stones with just a bit of labor.
Now, she needed to test which of the plants near Guangshou City were most suitable after being force-grown, and what kinds of paper they could make. Once she figured that out, she could have the Wood Element superpower users begin mass production.
"Go to the unowned forests on the outskirts and look for trees with needle-like leaves and some tough-stemmed grasses, like the ones I’ve drawn here... Gather some of their seeds and bring them back so we can try growing them..."
The males listened attentively, silently memorizing the features of the plants in the sketches.
As Xu Chi listened, he prepared a meal’s worth of dried meat and a Beast Skin Bag full of water for each of them.
Clutching the heavy bundles of dried meat, the males felt so motivated they wished they could bring back the seeds of every single qualifying plant on the outskirts of the city.
Xiao Cheng was getting restless. Si Shuo waved her hand with an amused smile and let him go with them. After all, this concerned his people. If he stayed behind, he would only be fidgeting with worry. It was better to let him be involved with the papermaking project from the beginning.
Ji Liang returned from the shop after selling the last of the Spirit Plants and closing up for the day. Zhi Qi came back with him.
Zhi Qi’s feet were still caked with a bit of mud, and a thin sheen of sweat covered his face. The first thing he did upon returning was GULP GULP down two ladles of warm water before letting out a satisfied breath. Then, he tore off his shirt, grabbed a bucket of water, and poured it over his head.
The young man’s physique was powerful and well-built. His skin glistened alluringly under the sun, his muscles clearly defined, every line screaming of explosive strength. As the water cascaded over him, it was as if invisible fingertips were tracing the beauty of his power. The sight made Si Shuo’s mouth go dry...
’This... this is way more thrilling than scrolling through videos of hot guys on my phone. All I have to do is take a few steps, and I can actually reach out and squeeze!’
The moment he’d walked in, Zhi Qi had felt the little female’s cat-like eyes sparkling as they followed his every move. A smile played on his lips. He turned to the side, raised an eyebrow at Si Shuo, and pointed to his own nose. "Kitty, you’ve got a nosebleed."
Si Shuo’s face instantly turned beet red, and her hands flew to her nose. But she didn’t feel anything amiss. When she heard Zhi Qi’s unrestrained burst of laughter, she couldn’t help but grind her teeth. "Is that any way to tease your own little female?"
Zhi Qi chuckled as he dried himself off. He went inside to change into a fresh set of Beast Skins, and once he was clean and refreshed, he came over to hug her.
Si Shuo dodged him and dove straight into Ji Liang’s arms, lifting her chin at Zhi Qi in pure defiance. Ji Liang just chuckled, indulging her playful tantrum.
Zhi Qi sucked in a sharp breath. ’This little female is getting bolder and bolder, and a lot more spirited.’
’Before, she used to carefully balance her relationships with all of us, afraid one of us would feel neglected and start sulking. Now she’s practically trying to stir up trouble. How can she get teased by one of us and immediately run to another for backup!’
Seeing Zhi Qi’s thwarted expression, Si Shuo broke into a wide grin. Only after she’d had her laugh did she ask him what he had planted in the fields.
The family had two acres of land, which the Beast Husbands took turns tending.
"Half an acre of vegetables and fruit, half an acre of corn, and the last acre is planted with the medicinal herb seeds you gave us, Kitty," Zhi Qi answered with a smile.
Just then, Xu Chi spoke up. "A shuo, I was thinking that after you’ve eaten, we could go to the market together and pick out some Golden Headed Chickens to raise. This is the season when they lay the most eggs."
"With the convenience of our Sumeru Space, we can stock up on plenty of eggs. When the Golden Headed Chickens stop laying as much, we can butcher them for meat and soup. Then, we can start raising a new batch next spring."
The main issue was that their yard wasn’t big enough, otherwise they could have raised pigs, cattle, and sheep as well.
Ji Liang smiled and said, "Tomorrow night, Xu Chi and I will make a trip to the grasslands. We’ll stock up on some cow’s milk, goat’s milk, and meat for Little Shushu."
Their little female loved beef and mutton. Rather than going through all the trouble of raising the animals themselves, it was far easier to just go "harvest" some from the grasslands.
Besides, she was close to giving birth. If the cubs had big appetites, they would need to have plenty of cow’s and goat’s milk ready!
Si Shuo’s eyes brightened. "Ji Liang, I also want a lot of animal fur and hair. Things like sheep’s wool, wild rabbit fur, horsehair, and cow ear hair. If it’s not too dangerous, you could get some wolf fur, too."
"I want to use them to make writing brushes."
As she spoke, she redeemed some calligraphy brushes, a felt mat, Xuan paper, and ink from her "supermarket," then demonstrated for them how to write by dipping the brush in the ink.
Painting and calligraphy were excellent for cultivating one’s character. They were a great way to pass the time and could also slowly dispel any feelings of restlessness.
Before she was reborn, Si Shuo had practiced calligraphy every day, writing several pages of large characters. She had studied everything from regular script, to running script, to cursive script, and delved into the styles of various masters.
