Chapter 174 (continued)

Sheep-pigs prefer pasture grasses and roots, while black pigs prefer wild fruits, nuts, and flowers; their diets overlap only slightly.

They get along quite well; they've hardly fought at all in all this time.

This might be related to the fact that the two black pigs are female piglets.

Shi Wen people riding by on horseback, and two black pigs were still nudging the flowers and small green apricots with their snouts.

Seeing how happily they were eating, he got a little greedy and couldn't resist reaching out to pick a small green apricot, wiping it on his clothes, and then taking a small bite.

Instantly, a bitter, astringent, and sour taste spread across his tongue, forcing out his mask of pain.

Shi Wen spat the fruit pulp onto the ground with a "pui pui pui" sound, and looking at the black pig still gnawing on the small green apricot, couldn't help but ask, "Don't you guys find it bitter?"

The two black pigs were completely unaware and did not respond to his words at all.

Shi Wen at the remaining half of the green apricot, Shi Wen wondered just how different the sense of taste is between humans and animals.

He couldn't eat the remaining green apricots, so he held them up to give to Shi Suo.

Shi Suo instantly curled its upper lip up, slapping its lips together with a loud slapping sound. It lowered its head, pawed at the ground, and snorted at Shi Wen, accusingly. "Hiss!"

Shi Wen quickly covered his face with his sleeve. "Fine, I won't eat it then! I thought you'd be more interested. Don't you dare spit on my face!"

Shi Suo: "Hiss!"

Shi Wen, under its stern protest, had no choice but to throw the remaining green apricots to the two black pigs to eat.

Shi Wen rode his horse down the mountain.

As I was descending the mountain, I ran into Zhu Ji.

Zhu Ji was holding a large box that was about half his height, and no one knew what was inside.

Shi Wen reined in his horse and called out to him from a distance, "What did you bring with you? You're being so polite."

"I brought you a few boxes of strawberries. They're big strawberries from the east, fragrant and sweet, air-freighted in this morning. Have a taste!" Zhu Ji displayed the boxes. "Twenty pounds in total, enough for all the little ones."

Shi Wen slapped his forehead. "I knew I'd forgotten something! Oh, I forgot to plant strawberries!"

Zhu Ji: "You want to grow strawberries?"

"Let's plant some. There aren't many fruits in spring, so I'd like to plant some strawberries to try." Shi Wen gently shook the reins, urging Shi Suo towards Zhu Ji. "It's too late this year, let's wait until next year."

Zhu Ji: "How can it be too late? Aren't strawberries something that can be grown all year round? As long as the temperature is right, they seem to bear fruit all year round."

Shi Wen hadn't heard of this before. "Really?"

"Of course it's true, why would I lie to you? You can grow these strawberries too." Zhu Ji shook the box of strawberries in his hand. "These are large, ripe strawberries; you can grow them using their seeds."

Since we already have the seeds, let's give it a try.

Shi Wen brought Zhu Ji home and took the strawberries out of the package.

The strawberries Zhu Ji brought this time were indeed fresh, high-quality, and large. Some of Shi Wen big as half a palm, and the flesh emitted a pleasant sweet aroma.

Shi Wen the strawberries smell even better than they taste.

He couldn't help but take a deep breath, then asked, "What variety of strawberry is this?"

Zhu Ji: "I'm not sure, maybe it's milk strawberry? A friend gave it to me, but I was too embarrassed to ask him to put a label on it. Anyway, there are so many strawberries, as long as it tastes good, who cares what the name is?"

Shi Wen, "That makes a lot of sense."

Zhu Ji smiled, "Is that so?"

Shi Wen took a fruit knife and gently peeled off the sesame-like seeds attached to the strawberry. There was no need to waste the peeled strawberries; they could be given to Shi Suo and the little snow leopard to eat.

He peeled off a small bowlful of strawberry skins.

Rinse the strawberry skins slightly and place them on a damp paper towel; they will sprout one by one. You can plant them in the ground after they have sprouted.

They will sprout seedlings, and once they grow taller, we will transplant each strawberry plant to a proper planting area.

Although I've never grown strawberries Shi Wen, I've read popular science books and I don't have any problems with growing them.

The two chatted while eating strawberries.

Shi Wen that Zhu Ji was called over today specifically to have pigeon soup.

That day, they dug up yams and came back. Zhu Ji even helped them watch the pasture, but he had something to do and left the pasture before they returned. He didn't even have soup with them.

Shi Wen felt a little embarrassed, so he specially chose a weekend to invite him over for soup.

Only--

Shi Wen said to Zhu Ji, "Yan Kexing encountered an injured wild yak and has gone to rescue it. He'll be back later. We probably won't have dinner until seven or eight o'clock today."

Zhu Ji: "It's alright, I'll stay at your ranch a little longer. I really enjoy playing with your little ones."

Shi Wen said, "Alright, you play here, I'll go check on the calf."

Zhu Ji stood up. "Want me to help you? Or we can prepare the ingredients in advance, otherwise we can wait for Old Yan to come back and do everything, I'm afraid he won't be able to handle it."

Upon Shi Wen Zhu Ji's words, Shi didn't mince words. "Do you know how to handle pigeons? Why don't you handle the pigeons and I'll peel the yams? The yam skin might get a little itchy on your hands, so I'll do it."

Zhu Ji said confidently, "What's the big deal? I've already handled the goose, why would I be afraid of a mere pigeon? Just leave it to me."

"Not one, but ten," Shi Wen reminded him. "We need at least ten pigeons to eat."

Zhu Ji: "That's not a problem. It's still a long time before Old Yan comes back; we can handle it slowly."

"Then let's go pick out some pigeons." Shi Wen led him to the poultry coop. "Picking out pigeons requires some skill. I'll pick out the ones we need to process first, then you can do it."

They went to their respective jobs.

Soon, Shi Wen looked at the calf, brought over a basin of yams, sat down next to Zhu Ji, and began to peel the yams.