Chapter 54: Harvest Season Arrives

The rainy season ended, and the harvest season arrived. Because everyone knew that this year's harvest season would be a month shorter than usual due to the delay of the rainy season, the tribespeople began a new season of planting sweet potatoes and rice.

Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er started sowing as soon as the harvest season began; after finishing the field work, they entrusted household affairs to Lei Ya and Dier. After seeing to the household, the two prepared to leave the tribe to find edible food. Fei Er, upon learning they were going out, clung to Mo De and went along as well.

Fei Er was going out of the tribe with Zhang Fan for the first time, feeling very excited. Sitting on Mo De's back, he kept talking nonstop to Zhang Fan.

After flying for a morning, Zhang Fan's group arrived at the canyon where they had previously harvested rice, seeing it again a stretch of golden yellow. Ba Ke Er and Mo De, upon seeing it, flew down directly, setting Zhang Fan and Fei Er on the ground. Seeing their actions, Zhang Fan knew they wanted to go harvest rice, but since they had come out not just for harvesting rice, he worried that if they harvested too much rice they wouldn't be able to carry it all.

"Ba Ke Er, there's too much rice here; we simply can't carry it all. Moreover, if we cut the rice stalks together with the straw, we'd have to spend time threshing and drying the rice before we could take it, which is too troublesome! Why don't you, when you harvest later, just cut off the rice heads and leave the straw uncut?"

Hearing Zhang Fan's suggestion, Ba Ke Er and Mo De each replied with just one word: "Okay." Then they went straight into the paddy field and began harvesting the rice heads.

Fei Er and Zhang Fan were not idle either; they walked straight to the small river near the canyon and began drawing water with the bamboo tubes they had brought. While drawing water, Zhang Fan saw that the fish in the river were completely unfazed by people, showing no fear at all. He thought to himself, "I haven't eaten fish in a long time!" So he directly used the weapon he had brought—a machete—to cut two branches from the riverbank. Then Zhang Fan used the knife to sharpen one end of each branch into a point, gave one to Fei Er, and began demonstrating how to spear fish with the branches.

Fei Er was very smart; after watching Zhang Fan spear a few fish, he began operating on his own—and hit the target on his first try!

"Wow! Fei Er, you're amazing! You got a fish with your first strike!" Zhang Fan couldn't help praising Fei Er.

"Hahaha! It's all thanks to Fan Fan's teaching—I've never speared a fish before!" Fei Er laughed loudly.

After playing by the river for a while, the two returned to the paddy field, each carrying their own catch.

By this time, Ba Ke Er and Mo De had already come out of the paddy field, taken out their prepared dried provisions and meat, and started grilling. As soon as they saw Zhang Fan and the others return, they went up, took the fish from Zhang Fan and Fei Er's hands, held each other's partners' hands, and returned to the barbecue rack.

"Fan Fan, why did you decide to catch fish? If you wanted to eat fish, I and Mo De could have gone for you."

"Yes, yes! Fei Er, how could you just run off to the river by yourselves? It's dangerous out in the wild. You should just stay put in a safe place."

Upon hearing Ba Ke Er and Mo De's words, Zhang Fan and Fei Er, in perfect understanding, rolled their eyes. They broke free of the two's grip and walked away.

Ba Ke Er and Mo De, whose hands had been wrenched away, silently lowered their heads to look at their own freed hands. Seeing Zhang Fan and Fei Er start walking toward the paddy field, they hurriedly chased after them, bringing them back to the barbecue rack. Then they also placed the fish that Zhang Fan and Fei Er had brought back onto the grill, brushed it with animal oil and barbecue sauce, and began grilling. Meanwhile, they didn't forget to oil, flip, and sauce the other food as well.

After lunch, the four packed up their bags, carried a large sack of rice heads back to the tribe, informed the chief of the situation at the canyon, and then each went home to eat and sleep. Zhang Fan and Fei Er also agreed to go out of the tribe together tomorrow for exploration. As loyal hounds, the two Beastmen attackers, seeing the two so enthusiastic, naturally couldn't dampen their spirits; they immediately promised to take them both out again tomorrow to find food.