Chapter 89: Nationwide Action, Digging Cellars

After Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er spent several days tidying up intermittently, they finally finished completely fixing the cellar. At this point, the cellar's surface no longer showed its original appearance; it could be said to have been completely transformed. If not for the wooden door of the cellar visible below near the house, no one would guess there was still a cellar here.

After Zhang Fan's family cellar was dug, the few Beastmen who came to help also each dug their own cellars, though they hadn't yet handled the follow‑up matters. Zhang Fan thought they should let the cellar air for two days before storing anything, but Ba Ke Er couldn't wait and, the day after the cellar was finished, secretly put some hard‑to‑store vegetables and fruits inside.

However, after Ba Ke Er put the items down, he went busy helping his buddies dig their cellars and ended up forgetting about this. When two days later Zhang Fan said they would start storing things for a test, Ba Ke Er remembered he had already placed some items down for a test. He quickly pulled Zhang Fan to the cellar behind the house, opened the wooden door, and led him down the wooden ladder to the cellar bottom.

As soon as they stepped off the ladder, they smelled vegetables and fruits drifting in the air. Zhang Fan found it odd and asked Ba Ke Er, "Ba Ke Er, do you smell something? It's strange—clearly the cellar is empty, so why is there a scent of vegetables and fruits?"

At that moment, Ba Ke Er recalled that he had put things in a couple of days ago and forgotten to tell Fan Fan.

"Um, Fan Fan, it's like this: I saw the cellar was ready a couple of days ago, so I casually tossed in a few vegetables and fruits that aren't easy to store. I only remembered because you just said we should test storing things down here. I've been swamped these days and forgot to tell you." After saying that, Ba Ke Er sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, that's perfect—let's go check the test results. If those vegetables and fruits are still fine, our cellar is a success! We can then start promoting it tribe‑wide. As long as the tribe members can store enough food during the harvest season, our tribe's harsh season will be easier this year."

Ba Ke Er felt delighted! Great, Fan Fan didn't blame him for acting on his own.

After the two reached the cellar bottom, they quickly fetched the vegetables and fruits Ba Ke Er had placed there two days earlier, carried them to a spot near the cellar entrance where light could reach, and began examining, in sunlight, the produce that had been stored in the cellar for two days.

Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er were astonished to discover that, under normal conditions, vegetables and fruits that would normally wilt and lose moisture after a day remained as fresh as if just picked after two days in the cellar. Upon obtaining this test result, both were unusually excited.

"Good heavens, Ba Ke Er! Are you really sure these are the items you put down two days ago and not just now? How can they be so fresh? There's no sign they've been stored for two days at all!"

"Fan Fan, I'm absolutely certain these are the ones I placed two days ago—the very day we finished tidying the cellar, when you said we should let it air for two days. I couldn't wait, so I casually tossed in some vegetables and fruits, never expecting… wow, this cellar really works! I just don't know how long these could keep if we left them in longer."

"Haha, we'll find out by trying! Now that we've seen how useful the cellar is, I don't need to worry anymore. Later we can sun‑dry the vegetables that don't store well into dried veggies or make pickles, and the ones that naturally keep well can simply be spread out and stored in the cellar."

"Mm‑hm, Fan Fan, just tell me what you want to do and I'll handle it. By the way, Fan Fan, should we move the food from the storage room into the cellar now?"

In response to Ba Ke Er's question, Zhang Fan stroked his chin, thought, and replied, "Well, for now we don't need to—let's keep the storage room's food for eating during this period, and use the cellar to preserve newly harvested grain. When the harsh season arrives and we need to eat, we can bring it up then."

"That works. So, Fan Fan, should we keep these vegetables and fruits in the cellar, or just take them up now to eat?"

"Better leave them here; we can observe a few more days to see exactly how long they'll keep. All right, let's put the stuff back quickly—we should head up too, since staying in the cellar too long isn't good for the body." Having said that, Zhang Fan pulled Ba Ke Er to return the vegetables and fruits to their original spot, and then they left the cellar together.

After Zhang Fan closed the cellar's wooden door, he glanced at his watch, saw it was almost lunchtime, and hurried with Ba Ke Er into the kitchen to prepare lunch.

Not long after, thanks to their teamwork, a colorful, fragrant, abundant lunch was ready. The two sat down and began eating. After finishing the meal and clearing the dishes, they went back to their rooms for a midday rest.

Two hours later, Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er got up. After tidying their clothes and washing up, they closed the doors and windows of their home and set out toward the chief's house.

Upon arriving at the chief's house, they learned they'd come at an inconvenient time—the chief was not home; according to Wei Er, he had gone to the tribal office. So Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er had to say goodbye to Wei Er, leave the chief's house, and head for the tribal office.

Coincidentally, as soon as Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er entered the tribal office, they saw the chief's elders gathered there discussing matters. They hurried through the office's main door and walked toward the elders.

Hearing the footsteps of Zhang Fan and his wife entering, the chief and the elders quickly halted their discussion.

"Divine Envoy Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er, why have you come today? Is there something? Since everyone's here, we can all share ideas." Seeing Zhang Fan and his wife arrive, the chief hurried forward with the elders, smiling warmly as he spoke.

Zhang Fan, seeing the chief's enthusiasm, felt somewhat unaccustomed and couldn't help shivering at the nonexistent goosebumps on his body.

"It's like this, Chief and elders: my family and a few of Ba Ke Er's close buddies dug a cellar in their yards a few days ago, intending to store food for the harsh season. It was finished two days ago, but we hadn't tested whether the cellar works, so we hadn't mentioned it. Today, however, when Ba Ke Er and I went to check the cellar, we discovered that the vegetables and fruits he had casually tossed in two days earlier were still as fresh as if just picked. We were both surprised, so we've come quickly to ask the elders to let everyone visit the cellar. If possible, we'd also like everyone to promote it—if every household could have a cellar, future harsh seasons would surely be easier."

After hearing Zhang Fan's words, the chief and the elders were delighted, almost ready to jump for joy.

"Good heavens! If the cellar is truly that useful, we as a group will definitely dig a few more! As for the tribe members, we believe they'll certainly follow the Divine Envoy's intention and each household will dig one for food storage. Of course, we think no promotion is needed—just tell them it can preserve food, and everyone will be willing to dig."

"Yes, yes! Before you arrived, many tribe members had been asking us how to store the harvested grain later on, and we'd just been worrying about it. Well, perfect! The Divine Envoy has come to give us an idea! Hahaha! This plan is really great!"

"Exactly! Exactly! It's excellent—just need to find a spot in one's own yard and dig a cellar!"

……

After saying that, Zhang Fan had the chief and elders go to his house, leading everyone down to the cellar to see the vegetables and fruits said to have been stored for two days.

After the chief and elders had a look, they couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Really stored for two days? This cellar is truly a fine treasure! If the tribe members learned of it, they'd surely all start digging cellars overnight! Hahaha……"

When the chief finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter. Although his words were indeed a bit exaggerated, there was still some truth to them. This is a primitive society where even getting enough to eat is difficult; having sufficient food at this time can make people happy for a long time, let alone having something that guarantees food freshness.

Now the chief and elders had also witnessed the cellar's prowess. With a wave of the hand, they all left the cellar and rushed straight to the tribe's central square without stopping. As soon as the chief reached the square, he instantly shifted into beast form, spread his wings, flew into the sky, and began using beast language to signal the tribe to gather.

After the chief landed, Zhang Fan saw tribespeople from all directions flowing like a tide toward the central square. Not long after, thousands of tribespeople filled the entire central square in a dark, crowded mass.

Seeing that everyone had assembled, the chief began talking about digging cellars. Naturally, after finishing he didn't forget to emphasize that this was first proposed by Zhang Fan and his wife, that the cellars had been successfully dug and were already in use. He also told everyone that if they had any questions, they could consult Ba Ke Er, Mo De, Wil, and Ji Lie.

Once the cellar matter was settled, everyone cheered! Finally, worries about food storage were over. Who would have thought that those who once fretted over not having enough food now worry about having too much and nowhere to put it? The change is so rapid it keeps everyone excited for a long time.

After the tribal meeting ended, all the tribe members began moving toward Zhang Fan's position and performed a grand salute to express their highest respect for him.

In the following period, Ba Ke Er and his companions were busy directing the tribespeople to dig cellars, running off their feet. Though they were busy, they didn't complain of hardship or fatigue; instead they worked enthusiastically! The tribespeople observed this, feeling reassured and warmed by their diligence, yet also feeling sorry for them because their busyness left no time to look after their health.

Naturally, in the end, every household in the tribe indeed dug a cellar just as Zhang Fan had envisioned, and later trials confirmed that the cellar indeed had excellent food‑preserving effects.