After Reincarnating as the Dragon King, I Made a Fortune with Seafood – CH17

Chapter 17: Magical

Lu Ao did not take the wealthy guests in Linwu Village to heart. After fishing these past two days, he had been busy with matters in the fields.

At the end of June, the sun was scorching. The wild grass and miscellaneous trees outside were wilted from the heat, let alone the vegetables in the fields.

The melons, fruits, and vegetables Lu Ao had planted were still small and extremely fragile.

He had to water them twice a day: once after fishing in the morning, and once again after fishing in the evening.

Aside from watering, he also had to pull weeds, fertilize, remove insects, and spray pesticides.

Before he started planting vegetables, he had always had an illusion that vegetables grown by farmers for themselves did not need pesticides or chemical fertilizers. As long as they were planted, one could simply wait to eat them.

In reality, that was not the case. There were many diseases and pests in the wild. Without proper pesticides and fertilizers, after planting a batch of vegetables, very little would actually make it into one’s mouth.

Aside from the necessary spraying and fertilizing, the vigorous wild grass also gave Lu Ao a headache.

These weeds could not be pulled cleanly or eliminated completely. Their vitality was much stronger than that of vegetables. Vegetables grew one inch in ten days, while weeds grew half a chi in three. Their speed was so fast it was as if one could see them shooting up with the naked eye.

Even Lu Ao, as a rather unscientific little dragon, had no way to deal with these things.

That afternoon, Lu Ao finally finished cleaning up the goose pen at home.

This goose pen had been converted from the firewood shed. The ground was paved with cement, a faucet had been installed in the corner, and even the windows had been changed into bright, large windows to allow ventilation and fresh air.

After cleaning up the goose pen, he called the household in Tuanbao Town that raised geese.

The call connected, and when the household owner, Li Xinyong, heard it was him, he was full of enthusiasm. “Ah, we’ve already caught the geese. There are fifty-one in total. According to your request, forty-five female geese and six male geese. When are you free to come pick them up?”

“I’m free now. Is the price still twenty-eight each?”

“Yes. You get what you pay for. We picked good ones for you. You’ll know once you come and see.”

“All right. I’ll come over in a bit.”

Lu Ao rode his tricycle straight to Tuanbao Town. Li Xinyong’s house was in the village. His family had contracted a large area of fish ponds and mountain forest, raising geese on one side and fish on the other.

Seeing Lu Ao arrive, Li Xinyong warmly received him. “Hurry in. The yard’s a little messy. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.” Lu Ao’s gaze swept over the large courtyard of the red-brick house. “Let’s look at the geese first. Where are the goslings?”

“In the backyard. I’ll take you to see.”

Li Xinyong led Lu Ao through the main room to the backyard.

The backyard was fenced off with bamboo. A flock of gray, fluffy goslings were resting in the shade. Hearing people moving, the goslings immediately stirred, honking as they hid in every direction.

Li Xinyong said, “All the geese you wanted are here. Count them and check them over. If there’s no problem, I’ll pack them up for you.”

Lu Ao did not stand on ceremony and entered the goose pen to personally inspect them.

This flock of goslings looked quite sturdy. Each one was larger than an adult man’s fist, much bigger than ordinary goslings.

After Lu Ao finished checking the goslings, he readily paid Li Xinyong the remaining balance.

Li Xinyong used two duck cages woven from bamboo strips to pack the geese, then personally carried them outside and placed them on Lu Ao’s tricycle. “If you run into any problems while raising geese, just call me.”

“All right. Thank you.”

“What are you being polite for? I should be the one thanking you.” Li Xinyong waved. “Come again when you’re free.”

Lu Ao carried the geese and hurried home. When he passed through Linwu Village, he happened to see Lin Gongshang riding his motorcycle out.

The two met and both stopped to greet each other.

Lu Ao found it strange. “Isn’t your family hosting guests? Where are you going?”

“To town to get some medicine.” Lin Gongshang looked worried. “Don’t we have guests at my house? Last night we took them out squid fishing. They might have caught a chill from the wind. Two out of the three started running fevers, and they’re resting at my place this afternoon.”

Lu Ao felt that something was not quite right. “The weather is so hot. How could they catch a cold from the wind?”

“Who knows?” Lin Gongshang spread his hands. “Maybe city people are delicate. A bit of sea breeze and sun, and they get sick.”

“They didn’t go to the hospital?”

“What hospital? We’re so far from the county town, and they still want to play for another two days, so they just went to the health station for a quick look. The health station doesn’t have any advanced medicine, so I have to go to town to buy some. All right, I won’t talk more. I’ll go early and come back early.”

“Okay, go ahead. I’m heading back too.”

After Lu Ao returned home, he directly sent the goslings to the goose pen.

This flock of goslings already looked somewhat big, but their down had not yet fallen off. As soon as they entered the goose pen, the goslings all slapped their webbed feet and hid in the corner, occasionally letting out a honk.

Lu Ao stood where he was and watched for a while. The fluffy little gray balls gathered together, honking as they dodged left and right. They were very cute.

Lu Ao did not bother them. He prepared clean water and soaked rice grains mixed with sweet potato leaves, placed them in the middle of the room, then locked the door and went out.

He still had to go to the fields to pull weeds later. At night, he would come check on them again and feed them some medicine to prevent illness.

Lu Ao turned around to go back to the courtyard to get his tools. Unexpectedly, the corner of his eye caught sight of a white figure the moment he turned.

Lu Ao was startled. When he focused again, he discovered it was Song Zhou.

“Mr. Song?”

“Mm. I came to see you.” Song Zhou walked over. At a glance, he saw the goose pen and asked curiously, “You’re raising goslings?”

Lu Ao said, “Raising them myself makes things more convenient.”

Song Zhou smiled.

Lu Ao had originally wanted to go out, but since Song Zhou had come, he had no choice but to stay for now and enter the house to make tea for him.

Song Zhou was quite at ease. He sat in the courtyard, pleasantly looking up at the sky.

After Lu Ao returned home, he had planted a grapevine in one corner of the courtyard.

The grapevine had only just grown leaves and was still far from bearing fruit. When the wind blew, the leaves trembled lightly, looking very delicate.

Song Zhou sat at the table where Lu Ao usually drank tea and stared at it in a trance.

When Lu Ao came out and saw him like this, he called softly, “Mr. Song?”

Song Zhou came back to himself.

Lu Ao handed him the tea and asked, “You came to find me just to see me?”

“Yes.” Song Zhou’s eyes were very gentle. “How have you been feeling lately?”

“In what way?”

“Physically.”

“Fine?” Lu Ao carefully thought back. “There isn’t much difference from before.”

“Have you drunk the spirit wine I gave you?”

“I occasionally drink a small cup.” Lu Ao felt a little embarrassed. “There are quite a lot of things to do at home. I have to fish and drive every day, so I don’t dare drink much.”

In fact, Lu Ao had only drunk it twice.

The first time was when Song Zhou had just sent it over. The other time was when he had been barbecuing in the courtyard and poured half a small cup of wine to go with the grilled meat.

Song Zhou asked, “How did you feel after drinking it?”

“Feel?” Lu Ao hesitated.

He was not very good at drinking. As for the wine Song Zhou had given him, aside from thinking it was very delicious, he did not feel much else.

He thought carefully and said, “After drinking it, I don’t seem to get hungry as easily.”

Song Zhou pondered. “It seems the effect isn’t obvious. I’ll bring you something else next time.”

Lu Ao quickly refused. “No, no, no. There’s no need. I’m not lacking anything here.”

Song Zhou smiled. “It’s fine. Just accept it. After all, you are the last dragon here. You should live well.”

After Song Zhou finished speaking, without waiting for him to say more, he asked, “Were you about to go out just now?”

Lu Ao nodded. “I was planning to pull weeds and water the fields.”

“Now?” Song Zhou looked at the sparse stars already appearing at the edge of the sky. “Isn’t it a little late?”

“It’s fine. The fields have been baked in the sun all day. If I don’t water them, the vegetables will wither.” Lu Ao added, “Actually, there isn’t that much work. I’ll be back in a while.”

Song Zhou listened seriously until he finished speaking, then chuckled. “This is my first time seeing a non-human farm so earnestly.”

Lu Ao shrugged. “No choice. I need to eat.”

Song Zhou said, “I’ll go with you.”

“Mm? No need. I can go by myself. The fields are dirty, and after dark, there are a lot of mosquitoes.”

Lu Ao himself was not afraid of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes never dared bite him. But bringing Song Zhou along to feed mosquitoes would not be very good.

Song Zhou stood, turned back to look at him, and raised his brows. “What’s dirty?”

Lu Ao’s lively gaze swept over his white clothes. The meaning went without saying. “The fields are full of mud and water—”

“What’s wrong with mud and water?” Song Zhou sounded somewhat helpless. “Have you forgotten what my original form is?”

Only then did Lu Ao remember. This person’s true body probably had no shortage of mud and water.

This was like cursing a bald man in front of a monk. Lu Ao felt a little awkward and touched his nose without speaking.

Song Zhou acted as if he had not noticed and asked, “Are your fields over there?”

“Southwest, near the river.” Lu Ao picked up the small hoe and hesitated. “Are we walking there?”

“No need.” Song Zhou gently rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll take you.”

Song Zhou’s fingers were slightly cool.

Lu Ao felt that maybe he was being too sensitive. Even through a layer of clothing, he could still feel the temperature of Song Zhou’s fingers passing through the fabric, almost without any force.

While he was lost in random thoughts, Lu Ao only felt his vision blur. The next second, they had already arrived at the edge of his fields.

Before Lu Ao could speak, Song Zhou looked at the ridges of vegetables Lu Ao had planted, and admiration appeared in his eyes. “You planted your vegetables quite well.”

“It’s all thanks to careful tending.”

Lu Ao stared at the grass beside the vegetable ridges under his feet, his brows furrowing. He had just pulled the weeds the day before yesterday, yet they had grown back again.

These weeds fully absorbed the fertilizer. One by one, they grew fat and tender, even better than the vegetables he had planted.

Song Zhou’s gaze followed his and landed on the grass. He chuckled lightly. “Is weeding troublesome?”

Lu Ao complained very seriously, “Extremely troublesome.”

Song Zhou laughed again, then suddenly bent down, pressed his hand against the soil, and lightly brushed over it.

Lu Ao looked at Song Zhou in confusion and was just about to ask a question.

The next moment, all the weeds in the vegetable field withered together. In only a short while, they had all turned into dry grass.

His eyes widened. He looked at the field, then at Song Zhou.

Song Zhou stood up and said, “Now you won’t have to pull weeds anymore.”

Lu Ao could not help walking a few more steps. As far as his eyes could see, all the wild grass had died, while the vegetables seemed to have received some kind of nourishment instead. Each plant was glossy green, unusually plump and tender.

Lu Ao murmured, “This is too magical.”

“A small matter, not worth mentioning.” Song Zhou looked at the field. “I also drove away the insects for you while I was at it. This batch of vegetables should grow pretty well.”

“Thank you.”

“No need.” Song Zhou looked at him. “Is there anything else you need to do?”

“Water them…”

Song Zhou smiled. “Don’t water them. Let it rain instead.”

As he spoke, Song Zhou looked at the sky.

The clouds on the horizon had, at some unknown point, drifted over to them and began to drizzle.

The rain was not heavy, but it was very moist.

Its range was also precisely limited to the two mu of fields Lu Ao had planted, making it unusually convenient.

Lu Ao had originally come to weed and water the fields, but in the end, he only watched Song Zhou cast a spell once.

Even after Song Zhou had been gone for a long time, Lu Ao still had not quite recovered.

When the sky was completely dark, he sat in the courtyard and let out a breath. For the first time, he faced his true form directly.

The things Song Zhou could do—perhaps a dragon could also do them?

With Song Zhou’s help, Lu Ao finished his plans ahead of schedule.

After dinner, it was not even eight yet, far from his bedtime, so he could play on his phone for a while longer.

Lu Ao thought of the guests at Lin Gongshang’s house.

He had had a bad feeling in his heart all along, so he simply sent a message on WeChat: Lin Gongshang, have your guests’ fevers gone down?

—No. They just started burning up again. Thirty-eight degrees.

—City people don’t have very good constitutions. I already had them take fever-reducing medicine and lie down. Troubled.jpg

Lu Ao frowned slightly and suddenly thought of a possibility: Besides squid fishing yesterday, what else did you do?

—Nothing much.

Lu Ao: Think again.

Lin Gongshang was at a loss: We just fished squid and ate squid. Oh right, we also caught a black sea bream in the middle.

Lu Ao asked: Did they get injured by the black sea bream?

—Not exactly. They had no experience and grabbed the black sea bream barehanded. They were pricked by the dorsal spines and got a small cut.

Lu Ao stared at his phone screen and slowly typed: It might be infected. Check whether their legs show any signs of ulceration.

—Infected?

—Mm. It might be marine bacteria or something. Go check first.

—No problem. I’ll go now!

Read More Extra Chapters (EPUB & PDF Format)