Chapter 204: Strolling

Filled with doubt, Baifeng began searching for Sui everywhere, because the matter of planting vegetables was entirely controlled by Sui, and the vegetable seeds were also managed by her; although they were kept in the Grain Storehouse, no one could touch the seeds without Sui's order, as the husband and wife held a firm grip on both the grain and the vegetables.

Of course, Baifeng did not intend to let Sui monopolize vegetable cultivation forever; he planned to expand the farmland this year and select a portion of it for growing vegetables, because as the population increased, the consumption of vegetables had gone up, and Sui alone could not handle the workload, not to mention that she was now pregnant, and Baifeng dared not let her work in the fields constantly, as long as she maintained a normal level of activity.

Baifeng estimated that Sui was currently still in the cattle pen, because that was the only hobby she had right now, and the stench of the cattle on her was also quite obvious, though Baifeng would not mind it.

When Baifeng found Sui, she was sitting steadily on a half-grown white calf; the calf was in no hurry to find food because, for carrying Sui for a while, it would get a meal of refined feed, which was a mixture of lotus root dregs and rice husks, something Baifeng originally used for cows that had just given birth to help them recover and gain weight, as some of the naturally thin cows would be sucked dry by their calves to the point of exhaustion, sometimes even afraid to lie down.

For the sake of the smooth growth of the tribe's cattle herd, Baifeng was exceptionally attentive.

Baifeng was still a bit worried about Sui sitting on the cow; although he was not afraid that the cow would throw her off or trample her, she was pregnant, and he feared that if the cow suddenly bolted, the jolting might harm the fetus.

As soon as Baifeng spoke, Sui obediently slid down from the cow and stood by Baifeng's side, and only then did Baifeng ask her in a gentle tone why there wasn't a single green vegetable in the greenhouse, whether it was because they couldn't grow or something else.

As it turned out, Sui told him that when he left, he hadn't given her any instructions, and she didn't dare to open the door of the greenhouse on her own, fearing that she might ruin Baifeng's preparations; later, she discovered the Tea Tree had died, but she still didn't dare to go in, originally intending to tell him when Baifeng returned, but she forgot after telling him about her pregnancy.

What more could Baifeng say? Although nothing had been accomplished, she fully recognized and deferred to his authority, even if she lacked initiative; however, Baifeng did not blame her and just took her for a slow stroll around the tribe.

On the way, they encountered people from the Jiangbenshi, whose spirits had improved significantly since gaining their status as Free Persons, and they greeted Baifeng generously as Tribal Chief; those few who had previously been unwilling to hand over their personal Sulfur to Chinv also felt ashamed after receiving news from Chinv, and thus voluntarily offered to hand over the Sulfur they carried.

That bit of Sulfur was no longer of much use to Baifeng, but if he didn't accept it, those people might feel uneasy in their hearts; furthermore, Sulfur itself was a dangerous item, and if they kept carrying it, who knew when an accident might happen, so collecting it was also for their own good.

Because spring was drawing near, the temperature had risen, and even though the tribespeople had no work to do now, they all came out, just like Baifeng, to stroll around; after all, having been cooped up in their rooms for so long, besides increasing the tribe's population, they just slept and gained weight, with no entertainment, and people's limbs had grown rusty.

Baifeng also saw those tribespeople who were raising wolves, playing with them on the side; although the wolves were still wolves and were far from being dogs, and Baifeng might have even chosen the wrong breed to domesticate from the start—as wolves, no matter how they breed, remain wolves, and dogs might have been domesticated from wild dogs—this was just a guess of Baifeng's.

But based on the state these wolves were showing now, they were actually not much different from dogs, so Baifeng simply told them to change their name to "dog," which could distinguish them from wild wolves and reduce the tribespeople's fear and hostility, as Baifeng still needed to breed them in large numbers to turn these "dogs" into an important asset for their tribe.

What they were playing was nothing more than a game of chase; without adult wolves to teach them hunting skills, these dogs could not beat wild wolves, even though they possessed many innate instincts.

Baifeng had previously taught these tribespeople how to train dogs, such as listening to commands and some simple movements, among which listening to commands was the most important, as this was the most significant indicator of whether a dog was useful or not.

The usual hunting practice was throwing a stick for them to retrieve; they didn't have things like frisbees, because whether it was made of wood or pottery, if they threw it for the dogs to catch, he feared their teeth wouldn't last long.

It was not yet the breeding season, but once it arrived, they would put all the tribe's dogs together, and there would surely be new dogs born this year; many Soldiers had already seen the benefits of raising wolves, as they were very useful for searching for prey and guarding the house at night, especially when the numbers were small and they were out and about, as dogs were the best alarm system.

Those Soldiers were all eagerly waiting for Baifeng to distribute a dog to them, even offering to trade their own stored grain for one.

Baifeng had always been worried about having nothing good to reward the tribespeople with, and now he finally had a target prize: dogs; although there wasn't even a puppy in a dog's belly yet, it didn't stop Baifeng from having already arranged the fate of the puppies that didn't even exist yet.

Just at this moment, Baifeng felt it was time to get their competition started; there was no important work to be done at the moment, and the weather was not that cold, so the timing was perfect.

As for the Gunpowder, Baifeng still felt that it might have to be postponed further, because the paper not being dry was one thing, and the fact that he didn't know how to make a Fuse was the most important point; this was something he would have to ponder slowly.

There is no time like the present, and anyway, the timing for last year's event had been chosen randomly, and even changing the drill into a competition had been an impulsive decision.

However, this year Baifeng intended to make it bigger; for one thing, it would give the tribespeople a chance to earn honor, and for another, he couldn't let just a few people take all the benefits and glory.

No sooner said than done, Baifeng found the Shaman and Yu, having the two of them coordinate the competition; as for this strange pair, Baifeng also felt they were very useful and highly efficient to work with.

Yu learned things quickly, had strong calculation skills, and now knew more characters than the Shaman, but the problem was that his way of doing things couldn't keep up with Baifeng's ideas, and he found it hard to understand some of Baifeng's words, which could only be explained by the Shaman; the Shaman was the exact opposite, so the two got along quite well.

Baifeng's plan was that this time, in addition to the group battles and individual battles like last year, he would add practical skill competitions such as racing, weightlifting, long jump, high jump, and Archery, to allow the tribespeople to fully display their strengths.

Of course, besides the tribespeople of the Baifeng tribe, the Free Persons would also have equal opportunities to participate in the competition; as long as they could place, in addition to the due rewards, they could also obtain the status of a Baifeng tribe member.

A separate event would be held for the Slaves, because their numbers were simply too large, so the specific regulations for this still needed to be carefully studied.