Chapter 53

Xie Juanhan saw giants, Dwarf, and half- Elf in the crowd; he even saw a cloaked undead.

Xie Juanhan withdrew his gaze and gestured for the little ones to come closer.

The little Demon Wolf immediately moved closer and pressed itself tightly against his leg.

Xie Juanhan said in a low voice, "Keep an eye on each other, and when you're squeezing in, hold onto your companions' tails so you don't get lost."

The little ones opened their mouths and growled, "Aww!"

Telingewei and Xie Juanhan walked side by side. "It's alright, they won't get lost. I'll watch over them."

Telingewei said it can't be lost, it definitely can't be lost.

Xie Juanhan relaxed a bit and looked around at the stalls.

He immediately noticed many stalls filled with shimmering hay, neatly arranged tree bark, and bundles of animal hair.

The quality of these building materials looks much better than it did in late spring.

With the recent sunny weather, merchants may be able to harvest higher-quality goods.

However, his house is already built, so he doesn't need to worry about these things anymore.

Xie Juanhan withdrew his gaze and began to stroll around with Telingewei and the little ones.

The market now has many more stalls selling herbs, agricultural products, and handicrafts.

Xie Juanhan strolled around, buying cleaning powder and herbal incense from the potion makers, and wood-chopping knives and scissors from the Dwarf. He also took the little ones to buy a kind of pizza-like flatbread.

After finishing the wheat cakes, Xie Juanhan turned into a small alley and saw a vendor selling pears, so he bought some.

After buying the pears, he walked a few more steps and saw many grape stalls.

These grape stalls display all kinds of grapes: white, yellow, green, purple, black... and each grape emits a different aroma.

He couldn't resist buying some more.

The little guys, carrying cloth bags in their mouths, followed Xie Juanhan and Telingewei with their four paws, occasionally nimbly weaving past passersby.

Telingewei keeps a close eye on their movements and occasionally blocks pedestrians to prevent them from stepping on them.

Xie Juanhan glanced at the little ones, a smile on his face.

Soon, Xie Juanhan's gaze was drawn to a splash of golden red. "A pumpkin?"

Telingewei followed his gaze. "Want to buy pumpkins?"

"Yes!" Xie Juanhan squeezed forward. "It's been so long since we've had fried pumpkin cakes, let's buy some and make some."

The vendor piled up the golden-red pumpkins neatly, forming a wall.

Xie Juanhan reached out and picked up a pumpkin, tossed it around, and felt its heavy weight and thick skin. He could tell at a glance that it was very sweet.

He bought three pumpkins without hesitation.

The vendor used a straw rope to wrap the pumpkin, and the Companion Beast came forward and grabbed the rope, chirping.

The vendor couldn't help but smile as he looked at his docile Companion Beast.

Xie Juanhan also thought the little guys were really well-behaved today. He bent down, patted their heads, and generously took out a gold coin, giving one to each of them. "Pocket money. You can buy whatever you want yourself."

The Companion Beast immediately became excited. "Awooo!"

The little Demon Wolf howled, "Awooo!"

In the end, the little ones didn't buy anything; they just hid the gold coins in their mouths.

Seeing how frugal they were, Xie Juanhan couldn't resist buying them toys and dried meat.

At midday, they traversed the farmland and waded through the river, returning home laden with their catch.

Xie Juanhan looked at the bags of various sizes placed in the corridor and breathed a sigh of relief.

He spent the whole day shopping and even gave the kids pocket money; his gold coin savings are almost gone.

Next, I need to work hard at hunting.

Telingewei picked up the bag and put it in the kitchen, intending to sort and store it.

Xie Juanhan first poured water for the little ones, and then poured a glass for Telingewei.

Seeing the various bags in the kitchen, Xie Juanhan took a sip of water and said, "Let's rest this afternoon, and have fried pumpkin cakes for dinner tonight."

The little ones crowded at the kitchen doorway. "Chirp?"

Xie Juanhan: "Delicious. Steamed pumpkin, mixed with sugar and lard, is so fragrant. I just happened to buy wheat flour today, so I'll use it to make pumpkin pancakes. They'll be crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, fragrant and sweet."

The little ones got excited. "Chirp chirp!"

Xie Juanhan chuckled, "Noon won't work, I'm too tired. Let's just have some bread. But we can steam the pumpkin first, then we can make the filling this afternoon."

The little ones couldn't wait and immediately urged him to steam the pumpkin, "Chirp!"

Stared at by the little ones, Xie Juanhan could only laugh and take a pumpkin to wash, "Alright, alright, let's steam it."

Xie Juanhan washed the pumpkin, cut it with a knife, and planned to steam it.

Cut it open, and inside the golden-red pumpkin is a large cluster of green seeds.

"Huh?" Xie Juanhan put down the knife in his hand and picked up a seed to examine it.

The seeds are soft, without a white outer shell, only a thin green membrane, but they are quite plump and clearly mature.

Xie Juanhan held the seed, looked at the pumpkin on the cutting board, and said blankly, "Isn't this a pumpkin?"

Why are they different from regular pumpkin seeds?

==========Author's Note:=========

See you tonight!

Thanks to Nanzhi for the grenade; thanks to Fuli (*3), Mango King (*2), Ancient Spirit Little Girl (*2), Yishui's Star, Weixiaoxiao, Qingfeng Yiyi, 37536485, Rabbit Teeth, Lying Flat Coconut, Ji, and Shore for the landmine.

Chapter 53 [VIP]

After Xie Juanhan finished speaking, Telingewei came over to look.

The Companion Beast immediately crowded forward as well.

Several Companion Beast lightly jumped, their front paws resting on the cooking counter, their hind paws on the ground, and squeezed their furry heads over.

Telingewei waved his hand, shoving the Companion Beast aside. "Don't get in the way."

The Companion Beast were indignant. "Chirp!"

Telingewei ignored them and only said to Xie Juanhan, "It should be a pumpkin. The color, shape, and smell are similar, but the seeds are strange. The pumpkins grown in the nearby villages don't have these kinds of seeds."

Xie Juanhan: "So this pumpkin is special?"

He picked up a piece, held it to his nose, and smelled it. Then he let Telingewei smell it. "Don't you think this pumpkin is especially sweet?"

Telingewei: "The quality is better than ordinary pumpkins."

Xie Juanhan: "Was it blessed by Elf? Or is it a special variety of pumpkin? There seem to be traces of magic, but they're so faint you can barely see them."

Telingewei: "Should we ask the pumpkin vendor?"

Xie Juanhan: "Now?"

Telingewei nodded. "I'll carry you there."

Xie Juanhan was genuinely interested. "Then we'll make another trip. Harper, you guys stay home and watch the house until we get back."

Telingewei transformed into a giant dragon and carried Xie Juanhan back to the Star Market.

The Star Market has closed, and the pumpkin vendor has vanished without a trace.

They inquired around the area, but no one knew the vendor's background.

Other housewives who had bought pumpkins asked worriedly, "Sir, is there something wrong with the pumpkins?"

Seeing her anxious expression, Xie Juanhan, "The pumpkins are of good quality, there's nothing wrong with them, we just want to buy some more."

The housewife breathed a sigh of relief, "By the grace of Goddess, I just baked a huge pumpkin pie with lots of bacon and cheese. It would be such a waste if we couldn't eat it."

Xie Juanhan inquired, "Does the pumpkin you bought have a lot of seeds inside?"

Telingewei looked at Xie Juanhan, realizing he was subtly inquiring, and remained silent.

The housewife, puzzled, still replied kindly, "Not much, just a small ball. Would you like some roasted pumpkin seeds?"

Xie Juanhan: "Yes, I'm very interested in pumpkin seeds and would like to buy some more."

The housewife shook her head. "The pumpkin I bought didn't have many seeds, but it was quite plump. If you want it, I can give it to you."

Xie Juanhan: "That's wonderful! May the goddess bless you!"

The housewife quickly ran home and brought Xie Juanhan a tray of pumpkin seeds.

From afar, Xie Juanhan could see that the pumpkin seeds on the tray were small and plump, with moist pumpkin flesh clinging to their white hard shells.

It was completely different from the green pumpkin seeds they had taken out.

The same vendor is selling different pumpkins?

Xie Juanhan and Telingewei exchanged a glance.

They were in a bit too hasty. They should have cut open the two pumpkins they had left at home to check them before going out to find the vendor.

Xie Juanhan accepted the pumpkin seeds from the kind woman, thanked her, and then returned with Telingewei.

Back home, they cut up the remaining two pumpkins.

Of the two pumpkins, one has green seeds inside, while the other has ordinary white seeds.

After a careful inspection, Xie Juanhan said, "When we were choosing pumpkins, we unconsciously picked the best ones on the stall. We should have picked out the two pumpkins with green seeds."

Telingewei: "Possibly. Perhaps the pumpkins the vendor grew were just ordinary pumpkins, and these two green-seeded pumpkins were accidentally blessed by the Elf."

Xie Juanhan: "It's also possible that this pumpkin vine wasn't originally from the field, but rather a seed brought by a bird or other small animal."

The two dragons made some speculations.

The truth of the matter is now impossible to ascertain.

Xie Juanhan simply kept all the green pumpkin seeds as seed stock, hoping to grow a special kind of pumpkin next year.

If we could grow them, it would be great to extract the seeds and press them into pumpkin seed oil.

Xie Juanhan was satisfied with most of the ingredients in this world, except for the oil.

The people here mainly use animal fat.

Sheep fat, beef tallow, fish oil, butter, etc.

He went to great lengths to buy chicken fat and lard from the villagers.

The quality of the lard was rather average.

Now he even has a bit of trouble mixing a salad.

In order to obtain the seeds, Xie Juanhan and his team cut open all three large pumpkins.