Chapter 22: Bathing
The old-fashioned waterwheel recorded in the ‘Guide’ must be built in a place with a drop in water flow.
After assigning the task of ‘building a waterwheel’ to Glug-Glug, the system marked several suitable construction sites above the river.
Chu Jiu chose the ‘mini canyon’ closest to the Pioneer’s hut.
The riverbed here had a natural rise and fall, the water flow was rapid, and the water volume was sufficient.
Glug-Glug, who received the task, happily began working.
For a time, bamboo and wood flew everywhere, and Glug-Glug was busy.
The system gave an estimated completion time: 240 minutes.
During this time, Chu Jiu didn’t plan to be idle.
He first made three wooden buckets of different sizes. The largest one was big enough for a child to swim back and forth in; the smallest one was the size of an ordinary washbasin.
After placing the largest wooden bucket in the predetermined position, Chu Jiu began to make candles.
The raw material for the candles was naturally the [Bloodthirsty Bee Wax] collected this time. He rubbed cloth strips into wicks, fixed them to the bottom of the cups, melted the beeswax, and poured it into the cups to obtain [Simple Candle X1].
This way, there was no need to use fire or fluorescent grass for lighting at night.
After making the candles, seeing that there was still an hour left before the waterwheel was completed, Chu Jiu decided to start cooking meat.
These past ten days or so, the little guys had either followed him on adventures or worked diligently in the fields at home, working so hard despite being so small, they deserved a good meal!”
A pot of ribs in soy sauce and a pot of steamed fish allowed Roar Roar Rabbit and Little Can to eat their fill;
A glass of freshly squeezed grape juice let Glug-Glug drink to its heart’s content.
And so it was done.
The wild boar ribs were washed, cut into pieces, and blanched. Ginger slices and scallions were added, and a sauce was made with soy sauce, salt, and honey. This was poured into the [Clear Lake Water], the lid was put on, and it was left to simmer.
The newly caught small blunt-headed fish was beheaded, tailed, and filleted from the middle. It was soaked in scallion and ginger water for a moment, then placed on a bed of scallion and ginger shreds to steam. When it was ready, half a bowl of soy sauce was poured over it.
With the ribs and fish in the pot, Chu Jiu found the [Eyeball-like Sweet Grapes] in his backpack.
These grapes didn’t grow on grapevines, but on the trunk of the [Totem Tree].
The Totem Tree had natural multicolored patterns on its bark. These patterns would also combine in a very eerie way, making the tree look like a totem pole from a distance.
Looking closer would send shivers down your spine: countless bloodshot eyeballs were embedded in those crooked “totems”!
This sight was enough to scare away anyone who accidentally wandered in.
But for Chu Jiu, it was just a slightly special vineyard.
Chu Jiu tossed an “eyeball” into his mouth.
It was indeed sweet and juicy.
However, Glug-Glug couldn’t eat fruit directly, but could only drink juice through its roots.
So Chu Jiu wrapped the grapes in gauze and squeezed them, getting a big glass of fragrant, deep purple grape juice.
Adding a glass of [Clear Lake Water] made Glug-Glug’s delicious dinner.
With dinner ready, Chu Jiu received a notification:
[Congratulations to the host for successfully building the “Old-fashioned Waterwheel”! ]
[The production efficiency of fields, woodlands, orchards, etc., within the waterwheel’s irrigation range will increase by 5%! ]
[The area’s development level has increased to 1.8%! ]
Chu Jiu wiped his hands, opened the door, and walked out of the hut—
Wow!
A dark brown “wooden aqueduct” had appeared a few dozen meters away from the hut.
The aqueduct was about the height of a person, and on the wooden support were connected sections of green bamboo culms.
At the very end of the bamboo culms, clear stream water gurgled out, trickling into the giant wooden bucket Chu Jiu had prepared.
Little Can stood lightly on the edge of the wooden bucket, curiously looking at the falling stream water; Roar Roar Rabbit peered down at the edge of the bucket, as if to see if the accumulated water at the bottom could reflect its shadow; Glug-Glug flew to Chu Jiu, its little leaves twirling, and asked excitedly and shyly, “It’s, it’s done! Do you want to go see the waterwheel?”
Of course, they had to go see it.
Chu Jiu scooped up the other two little ones and followed the dancing Glug-Glug to the river:
A waterwheel full of bamboo tubes stood steadily in the water, the water flow hitting the water boards above, driving the wheel to turn, so that the bamboo tubes continuously dipped into the water and then turned upward with the wheel. When it reached the highest point, the water in the bamboo tubes poured out and fell into the aqueduct beside it.
Although Chu Jiu knew the principle of the waterwheel, seeing the words on the paper turn into reality in front of him, watching the stream water being continuously lifted to a high place and sent into the aqueduct, he couldn’t help but feel happy and praised, “It’s great! Glug-Glug’s waterwheel is amazing! It’s so much more convenient for us to use water now!”
Roar Roar Rabbit kept shaking its long ears: “Yes, yes, I don’t have to come to the river to fetch water anymore. That big bucket will definitely last a day.”
Little Can also meowed softly.
Praised, Glug-Glug stood on the shore, twisting and turning, becoming a happy dancing tree.
[Spirit Beast No. 3 has triggered “growth.”]
[The current growth level of Spirit Beast No. 3 is: Level 3]
[The spirit beast has learned the new active skill “Daily Repair.” After using this skill, the spirit beast can perform daily maintenance and repair on related facilities, significantly extending the service life of the facilities.]
[Please continue to arrange work properly for Spirit Beast No. 3, keep it physically and mentally happy, and help it grow quickly.]
Level 3? Glug-Glug was two levels higher than Roar Roar Rabbit.
It seemed that the higher the spirit beast’s level, the richer its skills?
Chu Jiu guessed.
Unfortunately, this system didn’t have a question-and-answer function, so it couldn’t answer Chu Jiu’s questions.
*
After visiting the waterwheel, Chu Jiu took the little ones home for dinner.
The ribs were already cooked through. The newly brewed soy sauce and natural rose-colored honey coated the ribs with the most tempting caramel color, and also allowed the salty, fresh, and slightly sweet taste to seep into them. This pot of ribs was soft, glutinous, delicious, and not greasy. A gentle pinch with chopsticks would tear off a piece of lean meat with juice.
Of course, Roar Roar Rabbit didn’t know how to use chopsticks. This little rabbit grabbed the protruding bone at the bottom of the ribs with its little paws, just like a regular rabbit gnawing on a carrot, crunching…
It even swallowed the bones.
Roar Roar Rabbit wasn’t the only one eating meat and bones with gusto.
In front of Little Can was a plate of fresh, tender, delicate, and juicy steamed fish. The sweet fish fragrance perfectly blended with the rich soy sauce aroma, and was dotted with the unique flavor of scallions and ginger, enough to make people hungry. With a slight poke with chopsticks, one could see the moist, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth snow-white fish meat.
Little Can didn’t grab it with its paws and gnaw like Roar Roar Rabbit.
It motioned for Chu Jiu to pick up a piece of fish with chopsticks, and then lowered its head—
Whoosh!
The entire piece of fish, meat and bones, was gone.
Little Can raised its face and licked the corner of its mouth, which was stained with a little sauce.
Chu Jiu didn’t even see how it ate it.
Compared to these two carnivorous spirit beasts, Glug-Glug was much more gentle.
It quietly soaked its arms in the grape juice, closed its eyes, gently swayed its head, and “drank” the sweet juice in big gulps.
In less than half a minute, a glass of grape juice was gone.
It opened its eyes a little embarrassed, looking pitifully at Chu Jiu.
Chu Jiu quickly added another full glass for it.
Glug-Glug continued to drink, swaying back and forth.
As for Chu Jiu himself, in addition to the fish that Little Can shared with him, and the potato fruits stewed with the ribs, he also ate some spicy roasted pork—
Before roasting, he repeatedly rubbed the surface of the pork with the leaves of the prickly ash tree, allowing the spiciness to permeate it.
Although this spiciness was not as intense as real chili peppers, Chu Jiu still ate it in large mouthfuls, sweating profusely.
After a hearty meal, Roar Roar Rabbit simply collapsed on the spot and started rubbing its belly, Little Can was also a bit dizzy and curled up into a ball, and the shyest Glug-Glug, as if drunk on grape juice, started giggling non-stop.
Chu Jiu looked at the table of silly spirit beasts, smiling as he picked them up one by one…
And then threw them into the basin of warm water he had prepared, washing them from head to toe.
Roar Roar Rabbit and Glug-Glug both accepted bathing well. Only Little Can tried to resist when it was thrown into the water.
Chu Jiu used force to suppress it.
Little Can was suppressed.
By the time Chu Jiu fished them out and wrapped them in linen cloth, Little Can’s eyes had turned into puffy semicircles.
It shook twice in the cloth, meowing indignantly, “I can bathe myself!”
Chu Jiu didn’t take it seriously, casually responding with “Oh, okay,” while rubbing it through the cloth.
Little Can: “Meow! Meow meow meow!!!”
*
After tidying up the spirit beasts, Chu Jiu poured the hot water from the pot into the medium-sized wooden bucket, added some cold water, took off his clothes, and climbed in.
Phew…
So comfortable…
Finally, a hot bath!
Chu Jiu, who had been hastily rinsing with river water during this time, relaxed both physically and mentally under the comfort of the hot water, feeling a sense of “Ah, I’m alive again.”
After soaking for a while, seeing that the moon was already hanging in the treetops, Chu Jiu got out of the wooden bucket.
Carrying the warmth and blush from the bath, Chu Jiu lit a candle and took out the small mirror he hadn’t used in a long time.
He couldn’t record videos with the small mirror while exploring.
Now that he was back at the Pioneer’s hut, he had to make up for the Pioneer points he hadn’t earned during this time!
*
Arsa Star.
“On the fifth day of our trip, we met a new friend.”
In the flickering candlelight, the young man’s lips were upturned, and his eyebrows and eyes were relaxed as he narrated his experiences over the past ten days.
He said they found bamboo, collected honey beeswax, brewed soy sauce, and grew cabbages.
He said that thanks to the friend who had been with him all along, they caught a wild boar, and now they had ribs, pork…
When the merchant delivered the wok he had ordered, he could stir-fry dishes with oil and even try making hot pot.
He also said that they were fortunate to meet another new friend who helped them build a waterwheel.
The dancing candlelight shone on his smooth forehead and fell on his fair neck.
Perhaps because he had just taken a bath, the young man’s cheeks were still a little flushed, and glistening water droplets remained on his hair tips.
Lu Qingyan shifted his gaze.
His eyes fell on the other end of the screen—
The screen showed the mental energy fluctuation curves of Tu Mingyuan and Shu Yiheng.
Judging from the graphs, these two curves were densely fluctuating within a very narrow range, appearing jagged.
But in the past month, the jaggedness had suddenly turned into smooth ups and downs.
When Tu Mingyuan’s curve smoothed out, the young man said he “met a partner who loved planting.”
And the change in Shu Yiheng’s curve coincided with the time when “the young man met a new partner who built a waterwheel.”
…Coincidence?
Lu Qingyan frowned slightly, gently rubbing his fingertips.
Nice!