The dark, thin woman spoke first.
"Mr. Yang, we sisters used to cook for the convoy. Our cooking isn't anything special, but... it'll fill your belly, and there's enough to go around."
She held out the bag in her hand.
"This is the rice and pickles our team saved up."
"It's nothing fancy, but it's all clean."
The other woman, short and plump, hurried to add, "Yes, please don't turn it down."
Yang Yong was still hesitating.
Long Ya came up from behind and tugged his sleeve.
"Master, a word in private."
The two went inside.
Long Ya left the door ajar and lowered her voice.
"Master, just cooking and eating our Ideal Grain Seed really is too wasteful."
"Why not have them plant it?"
"Ideal Grain Seed grows fast. Have them plant it, and we take seventy percent of the harvest."
"We can give them a share of the ordinary grain."
"Zhao Hu's people have nothing else to do anyway."
Yang Yong glanced at her.
The girl was already calculating.
"You certainly know how to make arrangements," Yang Yong said.
Long Ya smiled a little sheepishly. "It's still up to you, Master."
Without wasting any more words, Yang Yong took two ears of corn from the space inside the Nine Nether Yuanchen White Bone Ring.
The moment the ears came out, a fresh, sweet grain fragrance filled the room.
Long Ya took them, hefted them in her hands, and turned to go outside.
"Zhao Hu, catch."
The two ears of corn flew toward him.
Zhao Hu scrambled to catch them, then looked down and froze.
The kernels were golden yellow, each one plump, as though coated in beeswax.
The glow was faint, neither the sheen of oil nor the gleam of water. It shone from inside the kernels.
His