Chili Seeds (continued)

Qing Kuo thought for a moment and said, "I think I understood."

Jian Mo shrugged. "Anyway, this is the only way I know how to express it."

Qing Kuo: "You've dug up so much grass, is it enough for your fields to cultivate?"

Jian Mo straightened up. "Hmm?"

Qing Kuo: "My fields are just sitting idle anyway, you can plant there if you need."

Jian Mo hadn't expected him to say that. After thinking about it for a moment, she thought it was a good idea, "Then let's plant them. We can fertilize them together when we plant them, and the soil will be more fertile next year."

Qing Kuo happily said, "That would be wonderful! I'll plant them with you."

With Qing Kuo taking the lead, the other families also said they wanted to plant pasture grass with Jian Mo.

The land is just sitting idle anyway, might as well plant something on it.

Jian Mo then said he would bring more fertilizer to fertilize everyone's fields.

His family has stored a lot of fertilizer, and now the Jiujiu are producing more and more fertilizer. Even considering the fermentation time, they still can't use it all, so it's good to share some and use it up.

As autumn arrives, crops are in their fruiting stage.

Jian Mo doesn't have much planting experience and forgot before, but it's not too late to apply fertilizer now.

With fertilizer, the fruit can grow more and bigger.

That day, while Jian Mo was working in the fields, the plump chicks from the Cypress Branch Tribe flew over and called out to them from afar, "Jian Mo —we're here—did you miss us?!"

Jian Mo straightened up, and before she could even speak, a smile crept onto her face, "What brings you all here?"

Last time, Jian Mo suggested that the chubby birds come to class together, but they ran away. Jian Mo was a little surprised that they would come at this time.

The plump chicks were quite proud of themselves. They flew over and stood on the edge of the field, puffing out their chests high.

I have something for you!

"Jian Mo, we brought you something good, guess what it is?"

"A huge surprise! Guess what it is!"

Jian Mo thought for a moment, "Is it some kind of special plant? A medicinal herb or food?"

The chubby birds protested, "How did you guess that so quickly?"

Jian Mo smiled and looked behind them, "I see that the baskets you're carrying aren't very big; they probably can't hold much."

Wan Zheng, the leader of the fat chicks, said, "It shouldn't be considered food, nor should it be considered medicine."

Jian Mo was taken aback. "What is that?"

Wan Zheng: "Let us take a look."

As he spoke, Wan Zheng transformed back into human form, took out a small bag sewn together from cloth, and handed it to Jian Mo: "Jian Mo, look."

Jian Mo walked over, reached out and took the small cloth bag, opening it to find several pale yellow, flat seeds inside.

These seeds looked very familiar, but Jian Mo couldn't immediately recall what crop they belonged to, "What are these?"

Wan Zheng: "Jian Mo, don't you recognize me? It's the chili seed you drew for us!"

Jian Mo realized, "Oh, I really did forget! Let me see."

Wan Zheng: "The first thing we thought of it was that chili seed you drew. Do you think it is?"

Jian Mo picked up the seed and examined it closely.

He had eaten chili peppers and seen chili pepper seeds when cutting them, but he still found it difficult to distinguish whether these tiny seeds were chili pepper seeds or not.

There are just too many seeds that look alike.

Jian Mo held the seeds in her hand. "Where did you find these chili seeds?"

Chubby birds:

"Inside the bird's belly."

"We didn't find it; it was found by people from the neighboring Rain Rising Tribe. They thought it looked similar and showed it to us. We also thought it looked similar, so we brought it over to you."

"When they found the chili seeds, the bird still had something like chili skin inside its stomach, but it was mostly digested, so we couldn't bring it to you."

Jian Mo heard their words, looked at the seeds in her hand, and thought to herself, "That was close."

Luckily, he didn't unconsciously lick it with his tongue, otherwise it would have been a real mess.

The chubby chicks looked at Jian Mo expectantly. "Jian Mo, are these the chili seeds you wanted?"

Jian Mo examined the seeds in her hand, turning them over and over, and frowned. "I can't tell the difference. The seeds are too small; other crops' seeds look like this too."

The chubby chicks were a little disappointed. "What should we do then?"

Jian Mo: "Shall I try to see if I can grow it?"

The chubby birds asked, "They've already eaten them all, can we still plant them?"

Jian Mo: "Yes, many plants rely on birds to disperse their seeds. I see the seed coat isn't damaged, so it should be able to be planted."

Wan Zheng: "Then you go ahead and plant them, we'll head back now."

Jian Mo quickly urged them to stay, saying, "You've come all this way, it's not easy for you, why don't you stay and enjoy yourselves for a few more days?"

The chubby chirps politely declined, "Forget it, let's hurry back. If we stay, the chieftain will probably call us to class."

Jian Mo smiled, "It's not that bad."

Wan Zheng: "Really, the chieftain told us to learn more in our spare time, so we don't keep embarrassing ourselves. We can't even compare to those Pallas's rabbits from the Rain Rising Tribe."

Speaking of Pallas's cats, Jian Mo, "Oh, and please also thank the people from the Rain Rising Tribe for me. Tell them we appreciate them keeping an eye out for the chili seeds."

The chubby birds. "We know, we've got it covered."

Jian Mo: "Then could you help me bring some things over?"

The chubby birds looked at each other, then readily agreed.

Jian Mo put down what she was doing, took the fat chicks home, took out honey, dried meat and dried fruit, and divided them evenly into two portions, one for the fat chicks and one for the people of the Rain Rising Tribe.

Wan Zheng looked at Jian Mo, reluctant to accept the gift. "Jian Mo, you're too kind. We brought the chili seeds not for any reward."

Jian Mo said gently, "I know, but you've all been so good to me, so I want to be good to you too."

Jian Mo pointed to the sorted dried meat and preserved fruit in the basket on her back. "The dried meat was made by Wu Jiong and me, with a pepper and garlic flavor. The preserved fruit was also dried by us. We picked the sweetest and softest fruit and dried it outside for three whole days, and even had the little ones help drive away the bugs. I wouldn't give it to just anyone who asked."