Chapter 87: The Busy Farming Season

Zhang Fan looked at the wheat and corn seedlings that had survived in his home courtyard, thought it over, and still decided to first spread the planting method, teaching everyone. After discussing it with Ba Ke Er, Zhang Fan went together with Ba Ke Er to tell the tribal chief about this.

Upon hearing this, the tribal chief's blood boiled with excitement! In the Heaven Lion Tribe, there was now a new plantable food to walk with! This cold season would surely be much better than before! Thinking of this, the tribespeople solemnly bowed deeply to Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er, simultaneously placing their right hand over their heart in a gesture of gratitude and respect.

"Zhang Fan, Ba Ke Er, I, on behalf of the entire Heaven Lion Tribe, express my gratitude and highest respect for your contributions and everything you have brought to the tribe's people! Especially the Divine Envoy, without your help and generosity, our Heaven Lion Tribe would not have seen such a great change. It is you who have led our Heaven Lion Tribe to bring food and the drive to survive in a rain season with no surplus food."

Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er, seeing the tribal chief's sudden action, were somewhat unable to regain their composure; now hearing the tribal chief speak so solemnly to them, especially expressing gratitude to Zhang Fan, they felt even more dazed.

Zhang Fan waited for the tribal chief to finish speaking before regaining his composure. He quickly reached out to help the chief up, saying: "Tribal Chief Uncle, you are an elder; how can you bow to us juniors! Besides, I am also a member of the Heaven Lion Tribe! Of course, it is also my honor that what I brought can help everyone. Tribal Chief Uncle, you really don't need to do this; please get up quickly! For the upcoming gathering to teach everyone the planting method, we will still need you."

After Zhang Fan finished speaking, Ba Ke Er finally came to his senses and also quickly reached out to help the chief.

Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er, seeing that the matter had been settled, agreed with the tribal chief to meet at the central square, then headed toward their home. After arriving home, they placed the selected wheat and corn separately into small cloth bags. Then they dug some soil in the courtyard into a broken pottery jar, brought a bag of water and a wooden basin, and walked together toward the tribe's central square.

At that moment, the tribespeople all heard the gathering signal from the chief and hurried out of their homes, streaming toward the tribe's central square. Seeing what Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er held in their hands, everyone knew they would learn much today. At the same time, Zhang Fan's weight in their hearts grew heavier. Thus everyone flocked to walk alongside Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er.

Wu Na, Nuoya, and Fei Er, these females who usually had a good relationship with Zhang Fan, upon seeing him, directly abandoned their own males and ran to his side. Whenever this happened, Ba Ke Er could only stand aside. Of course, today was no exception; the females pushed him to the side. Lonely Ba Ke Er, carrying his things, had no choice but to go to those brothers who had just been abandoned by their own females and walk with them.

Not long after, Zhang Fan and the others arrived at the tribe's central square. The tribal chief was waiting on the high platform of the square; seeing that all the tribespeople had gathered, he began to speak. He first expressed his highest respect and gratitude to Zhang Fan, then started to explain the purpose of summoning everyone.

After the tribal chief had clearly explained the whole story, he then called for Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er to bring their things up onto the platform.

After Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er ascended the platform, they said nothing more and directly laid out all the items in order. Once everything was arranged, Zhang Fan began to explain the key points and precautions for planting corn and wheat. Of course, he also emphasized that wheat must not be soaked in water, while corn is best soaked overnight before sowing. After finishing these explanations, Zhang Fan began the actual operation.

The people below watched intently as Zhang Fan soaked the corn in water, then scooped it out and scattered it into the pottery jar filled with soil. He then began planting the unhusked wheat directly into the wooden basin that had been dug a hole in. After Zhang Fan finished these steps, he told everyone that this was the process. Of course, he also reminded everyone that once the corn reaches a certain height, it should be planted in separate holes.

When Zhang Fan said this, Fei Er suddenly thought of the rice planting method and blurted out: "Fan Fan, according to what you said, isn't the corn planting method very similar to that of rice? Like rice, you first soak the seeds, then scatter them, and once the rice seedlings grow tall, you begin to transplant them in separate clusters."

Everyone heard Fei Er's words and began whispering, discussing the similarities and differences in the planting methods of the two crops.

Zhang Fan naturally also heard Fei Er's words, and saw everyone's enthusiasm for planting corn and wheat. Seeing everyone so eager about this, he laughed, very pleased with Fei Er's analogy and everyone's active discussion, saying: "Everyone, quiet down and listen to me finish! First, I want to praise Fei Er—what he said is absolutely correct! However, there is also a difference: corn does not need to be planted in paddy fields. It only needs to be sown in soil. Moreover, corn grows very quickly; I believe that if everyone plants it during this recent period, they will surely be able to harvest before the cold season."

When Zhang Fan spoke, the crowd immediately stopped their discussion and began to listen to his explanation. Hearing him speak so confidently and affirmatively, everyone's enthusiasm for planting corn and wheat surged to unprecedented heights, their hearts unable to calm for a long time.

Standing on the platform, Zhang Fan could clearly see every expression of the tribespeople. Seeing their performance, he knew that previous cold seasons must have been harsh; now that he had given them hope, all he could do was let them see the dawn of a bountiful harvest as soon as possible.

After the tribe's meeting ended that day, the tribespeople began to busy themselves. This time, not only the adults were active, but even the young beasts that had not yet taken shape and the female infants who had just learned to walk joined in. Although they could not do much, they could still help the adults by watching over the seeds or bringing a sip of water to those busy with sowing.

Of course, at this time Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er, the couple, were not idle either; they were busy planting corn and wheat just like the rest of the tribe, preparing enough food for the cold season. Although their household consisted only of the two of them, their father, and Am—four people in total—they did not slack off; on the contrary, they worked even harder to tend the rice in the fields and the corn, wheat, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and other crops in the soil.

Whenever the tribespeople passed by Zhang Fan's fields, they saw Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er diligently fertilizing, pest‑removing, weeding, and watering the crops, never slackening, but working even harder and more conscientiously with their own field's produce. Whenever they encountered something they didn't understand, they would go to Zhang Fan for advice. Each time, Zhang Fan would specially go to that family's field and land, carefully observe the crops, then thoroughly explain the problem and its solution to everyone.

After the tribespeople finished sowing in a frenzy, it was already more than ten days later. By then, the corn and wheat that had been planted first in the tribe had grown to a certain height. Zhang Fan specially went to the fields where they had first been sown, observed for a long time, and then told everyone that it was time to separate the corn seedlings.

After the Heaven Lion Tribe had just calmed down, the tribespeople began another round of busy work. At this time, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er likewise began to transplant the corn seedlings they had scattered at home, moving them in groups of two to three per hole into the freshly dug, fertilized soil.

After several days of busy work, the Heaven Lion Tribe's people finally began to rest; the tribe's children returned to their usual leisure, running through the streets to play. Zhang Fan was completely exhausted; after the work, he started resting at home, rarely going out unless there was something important. Normally only Ba Ke Er, who needed to go out hunting, came and went in the tribe. Even the usually lively Fei Er was too tired to leave the house.

After resting for a day or two, Zhang Fan finally felt revived; at this time, Fei Er also regained his former energy, pulling Mo De along as they jumped and hopped to come find Zhang Fan to play.

Seeing Fei Er arrive, Zhang Fan was very happy, laughing and saying: "Fei Er, you've come? Hahaha, I guess you're also exhausted from all that work! This bout of busyness I can't stand! I'm so tired I don't want to— I rested two days before I recovered. I see your spirit is not bad!"

"Hahaha… not bad! I've also been exhausted these past few days from planting corn and wheat! When I woke up the morning after finishing, everything felt sore and refreshing—just amazing!" Fei Er, excited, repeated all the offhand remarks Zhang Fan had made before.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fan laughed so hard he couldn't straighten up! "Hahahaha! Fei Er, you guy recover so quickly! My offhand words you could remember! Besides, your description is indeed quite cool! Hahahaha!"

When Fei Er heard Zhang Fan come up with another new word, he hurriedly chased after Zhang Fan to ask. Zhang Fan, unable to escape his pestering, gave him a full explanation. Fei Er learned another new word, very delighted; excited, he couldn't help but dig deeper and ask more.

Seeing Fei Er's endless chatter, Zhang Fan quickly went inside to fetch plenty of tasty things to stuff into Fei Er's mouth, which loved both eating and talking. Upon seeing the heap of goodies Zhang Fan produced, Fei Er instantly forgot what he had wanted to ask years ago, began stuffing himself with snacks, nearly choking; Zhang Fan, seeing this, hurriedly handed him a cup of flower tea.

Fei Er, the big eater, even though he had almost choked, did not stop; he kept taking a bite of water then a bite of snack, continuing to eat. By the time lunch came, even though Zhang Fan had prepared a big table of delicacies, he could not finish them; even seeing his favorite foods, he could only eat a little, which made Fei Er feel wronged for a long while.