Chapter 46: Sweet Potato Bumper Harvest

The next day, after Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er had breakfast, they began chatting at the doorway. Seeing the rain gradually lessen, they went to the Tribal Chief's house.

"Tribal Chief Uncle, yesterday I dug up a few sweet potatoes at home and saw that each sweet potato was bigger than the ones we first brought back. Moreover, the rain is getting heavier and heavier. Fan Fan said we should take advantage of these few days now and quickly dig up the sweet potatoes in the field."

"Yes, the rain is getting heavier and heavier. If we don't harvest the sweet potatoes now, they'll rot in the ground."

After hearing Ba Ke Er and Zhang Fan's words, the Tribal Chief realized the importance. When he first dug up sweet potatoes and brought them back, he had already seen that this sweet potato indeed had a high yield! So this season, every household in the tribe planted a lot. If this harvest is not timely and they rot in the ground, I estimate everyone in the tribe will vomit to death!

So this time, he didn't even bother to consult the Elders, and directly went out with Zhang Fan and the others, transformed into beast form, flew up into the sky, and let out a beastly roar.

When the Tribal Chief let out his roar, the male and female Beastmen who stayed behind in the tribe all took their farming tools and went out to the fields to harvest sweet potatoes. Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er also said goodbye to the Tribal Chief, went back to get their tools and harvest sweet potatoes. The Tribal Chief, of course, not wanting to be left behind, flew straight to his own sweet potato field to harvest.

Ba Ke Er arrived at the sweet potato field and began cutting the sweet potato vines with his claws after beast transformation, while Zhang Fan also used the stone sickle that Ba Ke Er had prepared for him to do the same thing. Ba Ke Er's movements were much faster than Zhang Fan's; after finishing his side, he looked up and saw that Zhang Fan's actions were obviously much slower, understood immediately, and immediately went to Zhang Fan's side.

"Fan Fan, you're tired, right? Go rest first, I'll handle the cutting." Without waiting for Zhang Fan's answer, he immediately started cutting the sweet potato vines at high speed.

Zhang Fan happened to be tired as well, and didn't try to tough it out, saying:

"Alright then, Ba Ke Er, I'll first take the sickle back, then get the hoe and basket out. After that, I'll come help you dig up the sweet potatoes."

"No need, Fan Fan. I can dig by myself; just take out the basket and you can go rest first."

Zhang Fan said: "Ba Ke Er, you don't need to be so careful with me. After all, I can also handle some simple chores for our family; I can't have you do everything! I also need to contribute to this family."

"But, Fan Fan, you're female! Females aren't supposed to do these things; these are Beastmen's tasks. Females just need to stay at home. Of course, if you feel bored, you can occasionally go visit others in the tribe. As for this kind of physical labor, you still shouldn't do it. Seeing you wear yourself out like this makes me feel bad too."

After hearing Ba Ke Er's words, Zhang Fan was speechless—_-# damn females again!

"Ba Ke Er, seeing you work so hard for our family, I also feel heartbroken for you!" Upon hearing Zhang Fan say he felt heartbroken for him, Ba Ke Er was overjoyed and couldn't help but exert himself fully to start digging up the sweet potatoes.

Zhang Fan saw this and felt as if he'd been injected with chicken blood, utterly frustrated! He thought: "Forget it, out of sight, out of mind—I can't afford to provoke him, nor can I hide." He hurried home, grabbed the basket and carrying pole, then went back to prepare lunch.

Once lunch was ready, Ba Ke Er came back carrying the sweet potatoes he had harvested in the morning. After washing their hands, the two sat down together to eat.

After lunch, when Ba Ke Er was about to go out to dig sweet potatoes, heavy rain started again outside. Remembering Zhang Fan's morning reminder, he put on his raincoat and straw hat before heading out to dig sweet potatoes.

After the male Beastmen in the tribe worked enthusiastically for two days, all the sweet potatoes in the tribe were harvested. After the Tribal Chief tallied the results, he found that the harvested sweet potatoes amounted to a full 200,000 catties—150,000 catties more than what was planted. Truly a bumper harvest of sweet potatoes!