Chapter 107: An Eerie Smile

Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan woke up early in the morning. After finishing breakfast, they took the bone knives and baskets used for harvesting vegetables and went out together toward the vegetable field at home.

After arriving, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er began working busily, starting to harvest vegetables. Because Ba Ke Er firmly believed Zhang Fan was female, he always snatched the heavy work for himself, not giving Zhang Fan a chance to help.

So, Zhang Fan had to tell Ba Ke Er clearly to follow the division of labor system. They divided the vegetable field into east and west sections, each responsible for one side, and harvested separately.

Ba Ke Er expressed strong dissatisfaction! But what good does dissatisfaction do? Zhang Fan's words are always followed by action. If Ba Ke Er doesn't obey his "imperial edict," the evening harmony activities will likely be restricted again, or after being teased, he'll be forced to take a cold shower.

No choice—Ba Ke Er, thinking of his own "sexual" happiness, and seeing Zhang Fan annoyed by his stubbornness, almost immediately agreed, though he also reminded Zhang Fan to do less work when agreeing.

But, seeing Zhang Fan's face just calmed down, a flash of anger appeared again; he immediately covered his mouth, said nothing, picked up the bone knife, and started chopping vegetables with a swift strike.

Seeing Ba Ke Er had given in, Zhang Fan felt happy. Haha… I'm actually quite imposing after all! Haha… at least in front of Ba Ke Er! Thinking this, Zhang Fan also took a basket, picked up the bone knife, and headed to his eastern side to start chopping vegetables.

Not long after they started chopping, many tribespeople came out to harvest vegetables. Fei Er, Dier, Nuoya, and Wu Na also came with their partners they had just hunted back. When Fei Er saw Zhang Fan, he ran straight over.

"Hey? Fan Fan? When did you guys arrive? Why didn't you call me! Oh right! Those dried sweet potatoes you taught us to make last time are really delicious! I brought some today to share with everyone! You'd better remember to bring some this afternoon too! I want to see how different mine are from yours! If they're very different, I'll come to you for guidance! Besides, I can also mooch more food from you!"

Saying that, Fei Er reached into the cloth bag he carried, pulled some out, and fed them to Zhang Fan personally. Then he smiled at Zhang Fan, ran off, and began distributing the dried sweet potatoes to the nearby females for tasting.

After the dried sweet potatoes received universal praise, Fei Er happily returned to Mo De's side and began packing the vegetables Mo De had just cut into baskets.

By noon, after making several trips back and forth, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er finally transported all the vegetables home.

After lunch, the two took advantage of the usual midday break to sort the harvested vegetables by type. They especially gathered the cabbage meant for making sauerkraut and kimchi, then neatly arranged it in the yard to dry.

After finishing that, Zhang Fan turned over the dried sweet potatoes drying in the winnowing baskets. Once he had arranged all the baskets, he went inside to fetch a clean cloth bag, then, following Fei Er's suggestion, selected the best of the already-dried sweet potatoes and packed them.

After the noon rest, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er returned to the vegetable field together to continue harvesting. When the owners of the surrounding plots had all gathered, Zhang Fan took out the packet of dried sweet potatoes he had prepared at noon, placed it under the big tree beside the field, and called everyone over to taste.

Since the attendees were all females they usually got along with, everyone was relaxed. They ran over, grabbed some, and started eating. After finishing, they all shared their thoughts. Without exception, everyone wanted to try making it themselves, especially since Fei Er had already succeeded, boosting everyone's morale.

After the dried sweet potatoes were finished, they chatted a bit more and then headed back to their own vegetable fields.

Zhang Fan also put away the cloth bag, walked back to his eastern plot, and resumed chopping vegetables with the bone knife.

Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er worked all day before finally harvesting all the vegetables grown at home. Ba Ke Er did not go out hunting or setting traps in the tribe these two days.

Now that the field work is done, Ba Ke Er has resumed his routine of going out to hunt or set traps in the tribe after breakfast each morning.

Zhang Fan then began processing the vegetables. After turning the cabbage into kimchi and sauerkraut, he moved on to the other greens. He selected the leafy vegetables suitable for making dried salted greens, removed the cores, stems, and old leaves, then threaded each leaf onto thin bamboo strips, one by one. He also hung each string of leaves in the yard to dry.

After that, Zhang Fan washed the harvested radishes clean, added salt, chili peppers, Sichuan pepper, fresh ginger, and garlic, and packed them into jars to make sour radishes. Since radishes contain a lot of water, he did not add cool boiled water but directly used salt to pickle them.

When Zhang Fan stopped, it was already lunchtime. He covered his growling stomach, looked up at the smoke rising from his kitchen chimney, washed his hands, and headed to the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, he saw Ba Ke Er busy serving food at the stove.

Seeing Zhang Fan come in, Ba Ke Er quickly sped up his work. Once the dishes were ready, he grabbed two sets of bowls and chopsticks from the cupboard and handed them to Zhang Fan, telling him to wait in the main hall.

After Zhang Fan took the bowls and chopsticks to the main hall, Ba Ke Er continued busy bringing the food into the main hall.

After the meal, Zhang Fan took Ba Ke Er to the yard to pick up the rotten vegetable leaves, which they then carried to the backyard to feed the rabbits, poultry, and other herbivorous animals.

After several days, the vegetable leaves Zhang Fan had dried in the yard gradually lost moisture and wilted. Seeing this, he called Ba Ke Er to fetch several basins of well water, then tossed the leaves into the basins to wash them.

After washing the leaves clean, Zhang Fan lifted them out and hung them again in the yard to dry. During this time, many tribespeople came over to watch Zhang Fan's vegetable leaves.

Seeing so many people curious, Zhang Fan simply told the clan chief that anyone who wanted to learn how to make pickled vegetables could come for lessons, and he proposed a tuition of one and a half sheep per day.

The tribe found this price affordable, so on the official opening day the news spread throughout the tribe. Seeing so many students, Zhang Fan had no choice but to move the classroom from his home to the Tribe Center Square.

However, when Zhang Fan saw the priest in a white robe standing below the stage, watching his every move with focused eyes, he was almost scared stiff! Was this still the same priest who avoids worldly fire, dislikes walking around the tribe, and prefers to stay home with his partner?

It was as if a different person had taken over! After the priest sensed Zhang Fan's gaze on him, he tugged at the corner of his mouth and smiled. Seeing the priest smile at him, Zhang Fan found it even more eerie—but, being in front of everyone, he could only return a smile.

After the lesson ended that day, Zhang Fan kept dreaming of the priest's eerie smile even as he fell asleep at night, waking up in a cold sweat.