Chapter 81: Bully
The facility the old village chief was talking about was a “water mill.”
Bean Village had no public large mill before. If every household wanted to grind some corn or beans, they had to laboriously push a stone mill; if they wanted to eat flour, they had to buy it from traveling merchants.
But this spring plowing, Bean Village planted large areas of wheat. After the spring wheat harvest, if they still used the old stone mills, it would be too physically demanding; if they wanted to send it to other villages to find mills for processing, they would have to give at least 20% of the flour as a processing fee, which was too uneconomical.
Just then, Chu Jiu sent them the [Water Mill Facility Blueprints].
The old village chief and Douglas both knew what a mill was.
But shouldn’t a mill be pulled by donkeys or mules?
Could water actually be used?
They and the craftsmen carefully studied the blueprints and found that it worked by using the flow of water at a place with a drop in the river to collide with a water wheel, and then using the water wheel to drive the millstone through a transmission shaft. This way, they could grind wheat, beans, and corn!
Of course, building such a water mill was much more expensive than building a mill where a donkey pulled a millstone. But they estimated the expected rotation speed according to what was written on the blueprints: the efficiency of this water mill was also several times higher than that of a donkey mill!
Moreover, this “water power” didn’t need rest, didn’t need sleep, didn’t need to be fed grass, and they didn’t have to worry about it getting angry and kicking people. It was much more convenient than a donkey!
So, the village craftsmen gathered together and also asked the little squirrels for help. They busied themselves for more than half a month and finally built this mill on the small river.
Now, the mill that Chu Jiu saw was a two-story wooden building on the bank. In front of the small building was a huge water wheel, constantly turning under the driving force of the flowing water, driving the millstone inside the building to turn continuously.
The old village chief exclaimed excitedly, “We tried it with beans, and this thing is too fast and too convenient to use!”
Douglas also said, “We calculated that this mill is not only enough for our own village, but it can also grind rice and flour for other villages—”
“Of course, we also have to take 20% of the flour as a share!”
At this point, everyone laughed, saying that they didn’t expect Bean Village could also earn flour from other villages.
Yes, just around this time last year, everyone was still begging the traveling merchants not to raise prices and worrying about how many beans they would have to exchange for the insufficient flour.
This year, they no longer had to worry about this!
Seeing the happy looks on the old village chief and the others’ faces, Chu Jiu also felt very happy.
Some time ago, after the first wheat harvest in the fields of the Pioneer’s Cabin, the [Pioneer’s Cabin Renovation Guide] showed a new facility:
[Water Mill: Through your hard work, you now have stable-yielding fields from which you can harvest a variety of crops. Your granary and cold storage now have sufficient and rich stocks.
Now, you will consider: how can you quickly process these crops and turn wheat into flour and bran?
Here, we recommend a facility that can make full use of existing natural resources: the water mill.
Carefully read the attached instructions and comprehend them to obtain the corresponding recipe for this facility.]
Chu Jiu exported this recipe into blueprints that Bean Village could use and gave them to the old village chief and the others.
Two months passed, and the drawings on paper turned into a buzzing water wheel turning in reality, a creaking millstone, and the villagers’ eager anticipation and joyful laughter.
Chu Jiu himself also received a notification: [Pioneering Degree increased to 32%].
Not only did the pioneering degree increase, but if this mill “opened for business” in the future, that is, as Douglas said, it could grind flour for people from other villages and receive a share, then Chu Jiu would also receive pioneering points from it.
Just like the current blacksmith shop—every time a customer came to forge items, Chu Jiu could receive more or less pioneering points.
Wonderful!
Just then, the old village chief next to him sighed again, “We used to only know that we could use donkeys and mules to pull the millstone—we never thought we could use water! This is so convenient!”
Chu Jiu thought for a moment and said seriously, “That’s because Bean Village has good geographical conditions.”
“Our river originates in the wasteland, and there are no other villages upstream that need to use water. In our section, there happen to be several large undulations and drops, which allows us to build waterwheels and mills on it.”
“I remember that in Black Wheat Village, the water in their village’s small river is very shallow and the flow is very slow, so they can’t use water power like us.”
If the rivers here didn’t have a natural drop, they would need to artificially build dams to store water. The amount of work involved in that would be far more time-consuming and labor-intensive than now.
The old village chief nodded repeatedly: “Yes, this small river, although it doesn’t even have a name, we all call it ‘Bean River,’ but it’s so important to us—and it almost never stops flowing!”
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but ask, “Has this river ever dried up before?”
The old village chief: “It has. But that was a long time ago, even before Aman and the others came to this village.”
“In all these years, it only dried up that one time, and after two or three days, a heavy rain restored it—maybe there was too little rain that year, or something happened at the source.”
Hearing this, several thoughts flashed through Chu Jiu’s mind.
*
The door of the Pioneer’s Cabin—
After seeing the mill and chatting with Douglas and the others about the “clinic,” Chu Jiu finally returned to his small courtyard and pushed open the door of the cabin. It was quite lively inside!
The little squirrels were sitting on the sofa cracking sunflower seeds, Tata and Little Gray Bird were arguing, and the little chestnut sprites were banging on pots: “Stop arguing, come and help serve the dishes!”
As soon as the door opened, these little guys all looked up or turned their heads, and then chirped and laughed as they rushed over: “You’re back!”
Chu Jiu patted each of their heads: “Yeah, we’re back!”
When Tata took the initiative, flew over and rubbed its round jellyfish head against Chu Jiu’s palm, Chu Jiu exclaimed in surprise, “Tata, you’re glowing!”
Indeed, a faint light shone through the little jellyfish’s translucent body.
Tata smiled brightly: “Mm-hmm, probably because the nutrients are particularly abundant, my body has been able to glow since a few days ago!”
Little Gray Bird said angrily, “Hmph, relying on its ability to glow, it’s learned to hide in the dark and scare people now!”
“Mean jellyfish! All it does is scare people! Hmph!”
Tata wasn’t angry at all when it heard Little Gray Bird accusing it. It still smiled brightly: “Ah, but no one else was scared, only Quick Feather screams every time!”
So the two of them started arguing again.
Chu Jiu found it amusing, patting one and coaxing the other, and finally said to Tata, “By the way, Tata, do you have any information about ‘physician villages in the Carrot Continent’?”
Just now, when he asked Douglas about “whether there were any physicians in town or the city who could come to Bean Village to open a clinic,” Douglas honestly said: No.
Douglas told him that “physicians” in the Carrot Continent were divided into two types.
One type was the kind Chu Jiu had seen before, such as the physician who came to bandage the old village chief’s arm and prescribe cough medicine for Marco.
Currently, in Emerald Town, Amber Town, and Agate Town—the three larger towns—and all the smaller villages below them, there was only this one physician in total.
Even in the huge city of Sea Moon City, they had to share a physician with the nearby Cloud Mountain City.
Needless to say, these two physicians were naturally extremely busy, having to travel everywhere accompanied by patrol members.
It was only because of Douglas’s reputation that they were able to get someone to come and apply medicine to the old village chief in time.
If it had been someone else, they probably would have had to wait several days or even half a month to get an appointment.
Speaking of this, Douglas said with regret and helplessness, “Actually… it’s not just a shortage of manpower…”
“These two physicians have both complained to me privately, saying that they heard that in the past, to become a physician, one had to learn from an old physician for a long time before they could become proficient. But here, they have no teachers and no medical books. After groping around until now, all their medical skills boil down to ‘bandage it up,’ apply some herbs,’ and ‘drink more wine’.”
“They themselves… are also quite distressed, feeling that they can’t help patients much at all.”
Douglas paused for a moment and continued to tell Chu Jiu about another type of “physician.”
This type of “physician” specialized in treating ability users and association members.
These “physicians” were either “healing ability users” or high-ranking members of the association with “noble status.”
Such “medical services” were generally not available to ordinary people, nor could they afford them, or they dared not use them.
Chu Jiu remembered what Douglas had said before about the association finding ability users and providing them with “healing potions” so they could “pass through the ability regression period painlessly.”
But after drinking that potion, people would become like living corpses, completely devoid of vitality.
Douglas had also said that thanks to Chu Jiu’s “cough medicine,” these ability users no longer had to take the association’s potion or endure the torment of ability regression.
After listening to what Douglas said, Chu Jiu scratched his head in confusion: “It seems quite difficult to find a physician for the village and open a clinic…”
The old village chief said from the side, “Perhaps there’s another way.”
“I once heard a rumor…”
“It said that in a very hidden place, there was a village whose residents had been studying medicine for generations and then came out to treat the sick and save people…”
“But now no one knows what kind of village it is or where exactly it is.”
“I think old He has collected all sorts of strange and unusual books, containing all kinds of almost lost information—”
“Perhaps old He will know about this village?”
So, Chu Jiu planned to go to the lighthouse to ask old Mr. He when he went to Sea Moon City to “go into the sea and fight the sea monster.”
Thinking that Tata had been by old Mr. He’s side before, he first asked Tata.
As a result, Tata scratched her jellyfish head with her little tentacles and said, “Physician village…? Tata doesn’t remember…”
“There are many books, and after Tata finishes reading them, if there aren’t enough nutrients, Tata will forget them…”
Chu Jiu said, “Then I’ll go ask old Mr. He.”
He thought for a moment and said with a smile:
“Ah, I’ll tell old Mr. He that Tata is now plump and white and can even glow!”
“Old Mr. He will definitely be very happy!”
Tata’s several tentacles weaved into the shape of a flower, and a big smile appeared on its face: “Mm!”
*
Before setting off for Sea Moon City, Chu Jiu had two more things to do.
The first thing was that he planned to cut off a portion of the [branch of the Primal Tree] to make a few normal-sized arrows.
Since he couldn’t yet determine the size of these “sea monsters,” he didn’t dare use up all the branches and only made a few for emergencies.
That night, just as Chu Jiu had cut off a branch and was marveling at how the sap of this tree was actually sparkling black crystals, he heard a system notification: [Acquired “Primal Tree Sap” x10]
[Primal Tree Sap:
Everything has a starting point, a beginning. So what exactly would a tree called the “Primal Tree” originate?
If used properly, the sap obtained from this tree might have some incredible effects?]
This was another vague and riddle-like description.
But Chu Jiu was still shocked and quickly found the [mysterious black box] left by the association, and used the active skill [Item Analysis] again.
Sure enough, this time he got a clearer result:
[Analyzing…]
[Analysis result: The main materials composing this cuboid are “Primal Tree Sap,” “the mucus of a certain creature,” and “stone fragments that are not changed by time.”]
[After the host comes into contact with more materials, the system will provide a clearer analysis result.]
Yay! Another material deciphered—although he didn’t understand the description of this material, it felt very powerful!
Chu Jiu excitedly hugged Little Can and told it while petting it, “Little Can, Little Can, when I see Lu Qingyan next time, I can tell him that there’s progress in the analysis of this box!”
Little Can flicked its tail, licked its paw, and slowly “meowed.”
*
After making [arrows specially made from the branches of the Primal Tree], Chu Jiu had another matter to deal with:
He had to go to the Forgotten Forest.
He was going to take a look at the upper reaches of the Bean River.
The Bean River, unlike most other streams in human-inhabited areas, originated in the wilderness where magical creatures roamed.
Fortunately, due to the effect of the “road signs,” those magical creatures in the river would not enter the Bean Village area.
But outside Bean Village, there were quite a few small magical creatures in this river, such as the “blunt-headed fish” that Chu Jiu occasionally caught to grill for Little Can. But this time Chu Jiu wasn’t going fishing.
Hearing the village chief mention the drying up of the river, he remembered an encyclopedia entry he had once seen:
[Giant Forest Beaver: Similar in appearance to the beavers on Earth, but its size is even larger than an Earth elephant! It has a very irritable temper!
Although it is huge, its movements are not slow.
With its small eyes, small ears, round body, and flat, paddle-like tail, it is a magical creature with a very strong nest-building instinct!
They firmly believe that “home is a necessary condition for living and working in peace and contentment,” so every few years, when new forest beavers reach adulthood and enter their mating season, they look for suitable places to build nests.
They diligently gnaw down trees, move stones, and build “dams” on the water surface to create comfortable nests for their future small families.
Unless these dams are washed away by floods, they will not easily abandon their nests.
However, due to the forest beaver’s excessive size, they often harm other animals when building dams and nests. After the dams are built, they also cut off the water flow.
And what’s worse is that when other magical creatures try to ask them to make a little space, these irritable forest beavers will simply slap the other party into paste.
In comparison, the beavers on Earth are much gentler and much more timid. Moreover, the dams built by Earth beavers usually become wetlands where local small animals can live safely.
Habitat: Sunny Plateau area, occasionally seen near streams in the Forgotten Forest]
Chu Jiu suspected that back then, it was one or two giant beavers who had sneaked from the Sunny Plateau to the Forgotten Forest and were preparing to build a dam in the upper reaches of the Bean River, thus causing the downstream water to dry up.
As a result, not long after construction began, a flood happened to wash away their “infrastructure project,” which made them give up nesting and move to other areas.
This time, Chu Jiu’s plan was to find the source of the Bean River and have Little Can leave a paw print nearby, or spray some stinky liquid taken from the [skunk that poofs frantically after eating], to ensure that these beavers wouldn’t come again.
Early the next morning, Chu Jiu set off with the spirit beasts, riding the Bodo.
Since the map of the [Forgotten Forest] was already fully revealed, Chu Jiu found the source of the Bean River without much effort.
Before he even jumped off the dodo, he first heard a thunderous “thump thump thump” and a sharp, piercing “crack crack crack.”
It sounded like an elephant dancing in the forest, or like lumberjacks sawing trees with chainsaws.
Elephant? Sawing trees?
Chu Jiu thought it couldn’t be such a coincidence.
He jumped off Bodo Bird, pushed aside the branches and leaves blocking his view, and walked a short distance towards the sound—whoa!
In the forest, there really was a giant beaver as big as an elephant, hugging an ancient tree that several people could barely encircle, “crunch crunch” gnawing on the trunk!
While whistling, it also used its paddle-like flat tail to strike the ground, making a rather intimidating sound, probably announcing:
I’m building a house here! Anyone who has objections can get lost!
Chu Jiu lightly “tsk-ed.”
Little Can: “Meow, meow?”—”Should I go beat it up and make it leave?”
Before Chu Jiu could speak, Kakaba, who was always friendly to most magical creatures, said, “Dang dang dang, why don’t I go and communicate with it first?”
“Since we’ve encountered it, maybe I can persuade it to leave and tell it to find another place to build its nest.”
Chu Jiu thought for a moment and said, “Go ahead, but be careful.”
Kakaba: “Dang dang dang! Don’t worry!”
So Kakaba jumped off the backpack by itself, its short legs moving in quick, small steps towards the giant beaver.
Chu Jiu watched Kakaba run over and then watched the giant beaver turn its head to look down at Kakaba—
He suddenly realized that on Earth, round capybaras and plump beavers were both rodents! And it was said that capybaras were the largest rodents, followed by beavers.
But here…
It was completely a giant beast and a miniature beast about to engage in a confrontation.
Kakaba introduced itself in a friendly manner, making gentle “dang dang” sounds and gesturing with its little paws.
During this time, the giant beaver maintained its “overlooking” posture, occasionally thumping its tail on the ground.
Finally, Kakaba finished speaking.
The little capybara looked at the giant beaver and danced another lighthearted dance.
Based on the “Universal Monster Language” he had learned, Chu Jiu guessed that Kakaba was saying, “Do you agree with my opinion?”
The giant beaver raised its head high.
Chu Jiu could see its chest puffing up higher and higher…
Chu Jiu’s heart skipped a beat, and he shouted, “Kakaba, come back quickly!”
However, the giant beaver had already lowered its head again, raised both arms to a forty-five-degree angle, and “pfft!” spat out a large mouthful towards Kakaba’s position!
Chu Jiu: !!!
The spirit beasts: !!!
What kind of rogue and bully behavior was this!!!
Fortunately, although Kakaba was round and plump, its movements were not slow at all.
Before this “saliva bomb” landed, it had already done a backflip to a safe place—it just rolled around on the ground once when it landed because it was too round.
It got up, patted the dust off its body with its little paws, and trotted back to Chu Jiu, scratching its head somewhat embarrassedly, “Dang dang dang, it seems communication failed.”
“Ah, I told it that if it builds a dam here, the river will dry up, and all the blunt-headed fish and big-billed cranes downstream will lose their habitat, and human settlements will also be affected.”
“I also told it that this place had flash floods before, and building a dam here is actually not safe. It would be better to go back to the Sunny Forest and find a bigger pond.”
Kakaba sighed disappointedly, its eyebrows drooping, “What a pity, its reply was just one word…”
Without Kakaba’s translation, Chu Jiu also knew which word it was.
Little Can: “Meow, meow.”—”You wait, I’ll go ‘communicate’ with it.”
Kakaba: “Dang dang dang, no need, no need, I can handle it myself.”
After speaking, Kakaba turned around again and trotted back to the giant beaver with its short legs and small steps.
The beaver, out of the corner of its eye, saw this insolent miniature capybara returning. A contemptuous smile appeared on its lips, and it raised its head again, puffed out its chest, and raised its arms to a forty-five-degree angle—
Huh? Eh?
What was going on? What was going on?
Why did it suddenly fly into the air?!
Hey, wait, ahhhhhh!
Before the beaver could even let out a howl, it had been grabbed by its tail, swung high like a scallion, and then “thump!” heavily slammed into the ground!
And Kakaba, who had grabbed its tail, had only used one small paw, pinching just the tip of its tail with perfect precision.
The beaver was dizzy and saw stars. Just as it was about to howl, it was lifted up again! And slammed in another direction!
The usually friendly and smiling Kakaba, who never swore or cursed, was seen holding the giant beaver’s tail with one arm, swinging it around like a scallion, “thump” here, “splat” there.
Chu Jiu: ……
He was completely dumbfounded.
This, uh, this was Kakaba?
Rawr Rawr Rabbit poked its head out of the backpack: “Roar roar roar, it seems Kakaba is really angry.”
Glup-Glup: “Glup glup glup grunt, no choice, that magical creature was too rude.”
Chu Jiu looked at the magical creature that was about to be slammed into a rubber beaver and quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Hmm, thankfully, this way he didn’t have to worry about the babies being bullied.
After slamming the giant beaver around ten times, almost turning it into a mature dough, Kakaba stopped.
It still spoke gently, “Dang dang dang? Dang dang dang?”
Giant Beaver: “Squeak! Squeak squeak! Squeak squeak squeak squeak!”
Kakaba let go and trotted back to Chu Jiu, “Dang dang dang! The beaver is willing to communicate now!”
“It said that what we said was very reasonable, that it hadn’t considered it carefully before, and that it was willing to return to the Sunny Plateau and tell its clan members never to build nests in the Forgotten Forest again!”
Chu Jiu gave Kakaba a thumbs up: “Well done!”
What an effective way to communicate! Immediate effect! Instant results!
Having ensured the safety of the water source, Chu Jiu set off for Sea Moon City the next day.
After arriving in Sea Moon City, he didn’t directly rent a boat to go out to sea, nor did he seek out fishermen. Instead, he first went to the lighthouse.
He had already written a letter to old Mr. He and had specially prepared fresh honey and milk mixed with honey.
In the letter, he wrote that Tata was doing well, now eating his fill every day, and even glowing, joking with the Feathered Clan, and helping them translate a very important map…
He excitedly ran to the lighthouse, only to find two guards in uniform standing at the entrance.
Chu Jiu had seen this uniform before—
It was the clothing worn by the guards around City Lord Clara.
Why were the city lord’s guards here?
Just as he was wondering, one of the guards saw Chu Jiu and snapped to attention, saluting, “Are you by any chance Mr. Chu Jiu from Bean Village?”
Chu Jiu: “Yes…”
The guard handed him a letter with both hands: “This is a letter for you from the former lighthouse keeper, old Mr. He.”
“Old Mr. He has passed away. Before he left, he instructed us to wait for you here, saying that you would definitely come.”
Chu Jiu held the letter, his mind buzzing, unable to react for a moment.
Old Mr. He… was gone?
No, that couldn’t be right.
The last time he saw him, he was so… so energetic, complaining to him.
In his last letter, he had even enthusiastically made fun of his handwriting.
He… was gone?
While Chu Jiu was still stunned, the guard saluted again, “Old Mr. He said that everything in the lighthouse is left to you. Please go up.”
Chu Jiu nodded blankly, not even opening the letter, and mechanically lifted his feet to climb the stairs.
Still the narrow and steep steps, still the sea breeze blowing in his face.
But Chu Jiu didn’t glance at the sea.
He reached the top floor.
This floor must have been cleaned. The sun and wind-blocking panels had all been removed, the windows were wide open, and the curtains were drawn, letting the sea breeze rush in.
The wind was so strong.
Chu Jiu rubbed his eyes.
It must be the wind, getting sand in his eyes.
Why did he feel so sad, even though it was just a strange old man he had only met once and exchanged a few letters with?
Chu Jiu slowly walked to the window and then slowly turned back to a high-backed chair, squatting down beside the chair.
His tears began to fall in streams.
Until a hand rested on his shoulder.
Turning his head, he saw Lu Qingyan.
He gazed at Chu Jiu’s tear-blurred face, his hand moving to the back of Chu Jiu’s head, gently stroking his hair again and again.
“Cry if you want to,” Lu Qingyan said softly.
Chu Jiu lunged forward, buried his face in Lu Qingyan’s arms, and sobbed aloud.
“I… I even prepared honey for him…”
“I wanted to tell him that Tata was doing well…”
“I was even thinking that maybe I could bring him to see Tata…”
“Why… didn’t I hurry up…”
Lu Qingyan’s hand pressed against Chu Jiu’s back: “You’ve done very well.”
Chu Jiu shook his head forcefully, his words already incoherent: “No!”
“Before, in the place where I came from, I also…”
“The place where I grew up, the director who took care of us, she and the old village chief, and old Mr. He, she was like them…”
“She was very good to us… taught us, protected us…”
“Later, when I lived at school in high school, I didn’t have time to visit her. I always thought that after getting into university, when I reported, I would use my own saved money to take her to see that school…”
“As a result, I could only burn a photocopy of the admission notice for her…”
“I! I didn’t make it in time, if only I had been faster…”
“So after coming here, I thought, I want everyone to live better, at least this time… at least this time…”
Chu Jiu spoke without restraint, completely disregarding how strange his words were, completely disregarding whether Lu Qingyan could understand.
Lu Qingyan didn’t ask any unnecessary questions, he just kept holding him, stroking his back again and again, and telling him again and again: “You’ve done very well.”
