Chapter 27: Chapter Twenty-Eight

Finally, before nightfall, Ba Ke Er finally brought Zhang Fan back to the cave where the rice was stored. After landing, Zhang Fan began preparing dinner with the seafood they had brought back. Ba Ke Er shifted into human form and began harvesting the rice with the last sunlight before dusk.

After Zhang Fan had finished preparing dinner, he went to the cave mouth and called Ba Ke Er:

"Ba Ke Er, it's time to eat dinner. Stop working for now."

"All right, I'll be there right away."

After saying that, he gathered the harvested rice and walked over.

After finishing the meal, Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan began discussing how to bring the rice back; the rice field was too vast, and even with Ba Ke Er's speed, they couldn't harvest even one-tenth of it.

"Why don't we first bring back the harvested rice, Ba Ke Er? Then we'll return to the tribe and have the chief arrange people to come harvest the rest. I'm sure once everyone knows it's food, no one will refuse to help harvest. Moreover, from this much rice we should be able to select plenty of seeds for planting, and the remaining rice could feed the tribe for a long time."

"Mm-hmm, Fan Fan is smart! We'll first bring this processed rice back to the tribe, but Fan Fan, how are we supposed to eat this rice?"

"Just husk the rice and cook it, and it's edible. But we lack the tools for threshing now; otherwise we could have eaten cooked rice tomorrow."

"Fan Fan, we'll head back to the tribe tomorrow; once there, you can tell me about the threshing tools, and I'll try to make them."

"Ba Ke Er, you're great! It's just a pity we haven't found any wheat yet; if we had wheat, we could make all kinds of food, and it's also very good for staving off hunger."

"Fan Fan, you've described what wheat looks like to me, but I seem never to have seen such a plant; next time I encounter an unknown, non-toxic plant outside, I'll bring it back for you to see if it could be food."

"Of course! I was just about to tell you! After all, this planet differs in many ways from the one I originally lived on, so things from my home planet might differ from those on Beastmen Planet."

After tidying up, Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan went to sleep.

Early the next morning, they both got up, and Zhang Fan saw Ba Ke Er's breakfast left in the pot. He looked up toward the cave entrance; outside it was bright and sunny. He saw Ba Ke Er quickly harvesting rice in the paddy field.

The rice harvested yesterday afternoon had already been sorted by Ba Ke Er and left to dry in the open space outside the cave, while the rice gathered this morning had already been placed in hide bags and stored inside the cave.

Ba Ke Er sensed Zhang Fan watching him from inside the cave; as he lifted his head, he broke into a bright smile toward the cave. After finishing tidying the rice, he walked toward the cave.

"Fan Fan, you're up already—why didn't you sleep a bit longer?"

"No more sleep—how long have you been up? And you've harvested so much rice." Saying that, Zhang Fan took a clean cloth, walked up to Ba Ke Er, tiptoed, and began wiping his sweat.

Ba Ke Er was especially delighted! "Fan Fan is wiping my sweat! Fan Fan's slender, beautiful hands are holding the cloth to wipe my sweat—how wonderful!" Seeing Zhang Fan right before him, Ba Ke Er couldn't help but hug him, planting a quick kiss on his face before letting go. Then he turned and sprinted out, leaving Zhang Fan alone at the cave mouth, petrified -_-||