Chapter 19
The method for extracting seeds from calming grass was not difficult, but it was extremely tedious.
The seeds of calming grass were very fragile. If one was not careful, they could crack or even crumble into bits, so the extraction process required great care and patience.
Obviously, no one else could help with this job. Only Lin An’an could do it.
The seed extraction went very smoothly, and that very night, Lin An’an planted the newly extracted seeds into a separate little pot of soil.
Xiong Yingjun poked his head over curiously. “That’s it?”
“Yingji!”
Xiong Yingjun asked, “You don’t need to water it with nutrient solution? Or pump in a whole lot of powers? Or do that… what’s it called… some kind of ritual?”
The little cub: “???”
The little cub: “Ying… ah-puh!”
What on earth was he even talking about?!
Si Youlin, who was currently practicing walking, happened to pass by. He casually smacked the back of Xiong Yingjun’s head, then smiled and said to Lin An’an, “Ignore him. His thought process is a little strange.”
Xiong Yingjun glared at him. “Isn’t that how it’s written in novels? The more powerful the medicinal herb, the harsher the conditions needed to grow it alive, and all that—”
“Yingji.”
That was indeed a common saying, but…
The little cub puffed out his chest. For him, it was not difficult at all!
When planting the calming grass, Lin An’an had used both of his abilities to accelerate its growth. By the next morning, the newly planted calming grass had already matured.
Lin An’an left some of the calming grass in the little soil pot, planning to let it grow for another two days before extracting a new batch of seeds.
Once calming grass was made into medicinal liquid or pills, its storage time would increase greatly. But right now, there was not enough equipment at home for making medicine, so Lin An’an could only put it in the freshness cabinet for temporary storage.
The three men at breakfast each got handed a leaf of calming grass by the little cub.
Feng Wu asked, “Eat it directly?”
The little cub nodded.
Although eating it raw would not bring out its full medicinal effect, it was still better than nothing, and it would still be very helpful for stabilizing mental power.
Seeing this, Xiong Yingjun stuffed it straight into his mouth without hesitation. But after only two chews, his face changed on the spot.
So, so freaking bitter!
He instinctively wanted to spit it out, only to see Lin An’an pointing at the screen with a little tentacle: [No spitting!]
Xiong Yingjun nearly choked on his own breath. Wearing a miserable expression, he struggled for quite a while before finally swallowing that unbearably bitter leaf.
The little cub’s tone was earnest and sincere, his tiny tentacle slapping noisily against the screen as he typed: [Good medicine tastes bitter! Don’t waste my kind intentions!]
Xiong Yingjun: “…qaq.”
What was it that made a nine-foot-tall burly man’s eyes turn red?
It was emotion!
Beside him, Feng Wu and Si Youlin also quickly finished their own leaves. Lin An’an bounced in front of Feng Wu and asked: [How does it feel?]
Feng Wu closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment. “There’s improvement, but it’s not very obvious.”
The little cub nodded. [Once it’s made into pills and taken over time, the effect will become more obvious.]
As he typed, the little cub sighed. [If only we could find replenishing grass.]
“Replenishing grass?” Feng Wu did not know much about this sort of thing, and the unfamiliar name made him frown instinctively.
Lin An’an typed: [Replenishing grass can stabilize abilities. It works together with calming grass, and if the two are taken together, the effect can double.]
Unfortunately, Lin An’an had searched all over the star network and still could not find a single shop selling replenishing grass or its seeds.
Feng Wu nodded and silently memorized the name.
A few more days passed, and it was time for the afternoon livestream vegetable sale again.
Today, the drawing assigned them Marketplace No. 1 beside the auction house. Lin An’an lounged leisurely on the little pushcart, enjoying the shade and coolness beneath Brother Wolf’s and Brother Bear’s shadows.
Before they even arrived at the marketplace, the news that they were heading to Marketplace No. 1 had already spread.
These days, the stall owners at several nearby marketplaces had all grown quite familiar with Lin An’an and the others. Now a whole group of them had abandoned their own stalls and gathered at the entrance, waving at Lin An’an.
“Baby An, whose stall are you borrowing today?”
“Come to auntie’s side! Auntie’s got lots of space here!”
“Uncle brought a little air cooler—nice and chilly!”
The little cub greeted all the uncles and aunties one by one, then had Xiong Yingjun push the cart over beside the seed vendor.
The other stall owners all shot the seed vendor looks full of envy and jealousy.
Selling the fruits and vegetables was left to Brother Wolf and Brother Bear, while Lin An’an jumped onto the seed vendor’s stall and began rummaging through the stock, picking out quite a number of seeds.
Over the past few days, the vendor uncle had stocked some new varieties. Lin An’an took a little of each kind, and before long he had filled a whole large bag.
[I’m dying, the moment baby An enters the marketplace it’s like the emperor entering the capital—every minister comes out to welcome His Majesty [doge jpg]]
[Hahahahaha, it feels like picking a bride. A whole crowd introducing their precious daughters to baby An (not really)]
[!!! Cubby’s buying new seeds again!]
[Ahhhhhh does this mean we’re getting new vegetables soon? The people of Sin Star C City are so lucky [tears of envy jpg]]
[There are apples, my favorite! I’m heading to C City tonight! [drool jpg]]
[Will I ever live to see the day baby An’s fruits and vegetables get listed in the livestream room? [humble cat head jpg]]
[But there’s no more room in the courtyard [worried jpg]]
[Do they need to dig up the old ones and replant everything? That’s such a huge job, cubby’s going to work so hard again [heartache jpg]]
[Yesterday I got lucky and snatched a bag of cucumbers. I’m not even exaggerating—they were insanely delicious! Way better than the ones I bought on Capital Star for three thousand star coins!!! (And I definitely will not say that I secretly got to rub baby An’s little tentacle. It was so soft and squishy, so nice to pinch [hehehe jpg])]
[??? I advise you to delete this comment right now. My red-eye disease is about to flare up [who’s jealous, not saying jpg]]
After choosing the seeds, Lin An’an took out his terminal to pay, but Vendor Uncle stopped him and rubbed his hands together expectantly. “I won’t charge you money. Once you grow these seeds, can you just give me a little of each fruit and vegetable?”
The little cub happily agreed. In an excellent mood, he stretched out a tentacle, grabbed a fist-sized potato from the pushcart, and gave it to the uncle as a deposit.
Over these past days of selling vegetables, Lin An’an had saved up quite a bit of money. He was preparing to expand the area for farming.
The size of the courtyard could not be changed, but they could buy or rent other land.
There was quite a bit of unused land still lying vacant within C City. Once rented and tidied up a little, it could be used for farming. The price was manageable, and if it really came down to it, they could even go farm out in the wilderness beyond the city.
Lin An’an calculated the money he had saved and decided that later he would tell Brother Wolf about it and ask him to help keep an eye out for land rentals.
One full pushcart of fruits and vegetables sold out in no time, and the people nearby who had failed to buy any left in disappointment.
Someone asked unwillingly, “Baby An, is there really none left today?”
The little cub patted the empty pushcart, spread his two little tentacles out to either side, and shook his head with a sigh.
“What about tomorrow? Where are you setting up tomorrow, cubby? Give us a little hint in advance!”
The little cub blinked his round beady eyes and looked over innocently, only to be scooped up at once by Feng Wu. “Sorry, everyone, please make way.”
[Hahaha Brother Wolf looks exactly like a worried big brother]
[No helping it—cubby is too cute. If you’re not careful, someone might kidnap him [worried cubby head jpg]]
[Eh, was that Xingxing just now?]
[Xingxing? Shi Xiaoxing? Where? Why didn’t I see her?]
[I saw her! The camera just swept past—it’s Shi Xiaoxing! [excited jpg]]
[I heard Xingxing terminated her contract with CrimeNet. I haven’t seen her stream in so long. I miss Xingxing so much, wuwuwu [crying wildly jpg]]
[Did Xingxing come to find cubby? Can I dare hope for a Xingxing-and-cubby livestream together? [rubbing hands in anticipation jpg]]
[It’s good that she terminated it. Xingxing’s old agent was rotten-hearted. Back then Xingxing got popular and brought him up with her, and now that she’s in a slump, he immediately had her contract ended. Bah! What a thankless bastard [breathing fire gif]]
From the barrage comments flying rapidly past, Lin An’an caught the three words “Shi Xiaoxing” and instinctively started looking around.
The slender Shi Xiaoxing was squeezed into the crowd, struggling as she waved at them. She looked like she was about to be squashed flat.
The little cub: “…puji!”
Poor thing, but honestly it was really, really funny jpg.
Lin An’an tugged at Feng Wu’s clothes, signaling him to head in Shi Xiaoxing’s direction, and successfully rescued the girl, who had nearly been squeezed into a paper-thin sheet.
“Thanks.” Shi Xiaoxing took a breath and smoothed down the hair that had been mussed by the crowd.
Feng Wu changed back into his wolf form and walked ahead with the little cub riding on his back to clear a path. Shi Xiaoxing hurried to follow them, leaving Xiong Yingjun behind to block the noisy, jostling crowd.
Once they had walked to a less crowded place, Shi Xiaoxing quickened her pace and came up beside the giant wolf, speaking softly. “About those daisies from before… thank you.”
The little black dumpling rolled over in the wolf’s fur. [No need to thank me. Those were flowers you grew yourself.]
Shi Xiaoxing smiled. She said no more thanks aloud, but in her heart, she remembered the little cub’s kindness.
[Did Xingxing come specifically to thank baby An?]
[So it really was because of cubby that those daisies bloomed last time. Cubby is so warm-hearted, wuwuwu, and Xingxing is so gentle too [covering mouth with tears in eyes jpg]]
Thinking of the barrage comments he had seen earlier, Lin An’an asked: [Are you not going to be a streamer anymore?]
“Probably not.” Shi Xiaoxing said it without avoiding the subject at all. “I became a streamer because I wanted to record my days farming, but now…”
She gave a little shrug. “My ability has completely disappeared.”
Lin An’an looked at her, and in his round beady eyes was reflected the relieved expression on the girl’s face.
Shi Xiaoxing said, “I’ll go find another job and work hard to earn and save money. Even though I won’t be able to leave Sin Star ever again, Sin Star is so big—I still want to go see it.”
She wanted to see different scenery, and she also wanted to look for new opportunities.
—What if?
What if she could find a way to treat Alpha? What if her ability could come back? What if she got the chance to return to the land she loved most…
No one could say for certain.
The chances were slim, but she did not want to give up.
The little cub suddenly leapt up from the wolf’s back and bounced straight onto Shi Xiaoxing’s shoulder.
Startled, Shi Xiaoxing instinctively reached out to steady the little black dumpling so he would not accidentally tumble off.
Lin An’an pushed the little light screen right in front of her face. [There’s a job here that I think suits you very well.]
Shi Xiaoxing’s heart gave a sudden jump, as if she had already guessed something. “What job?”
[I’m short of a helper here.] Lin An’an typed slowly. [She has to be gentle and patient, she has to be pretty, she has to be hardworking and willing to endure hardship, and she has to know how to farm.]
[And the most important point is that her name has to be Shi Xiaoxing.]
[So… are you willing?]
Of course Shi Xiaoxing was willing.
But she did not say anything for a long time, forcing Lin An’an to stretch his nonexistent neck and poke his head out to look at her.
The girl covered her mouth. Her eyelashes trembled lightly. At some point, her eyes had filled with tears, yet they could not hide the bright light in them, as if they were filled with stars.
The little cub looked up and gently patted Shi Xiaoxing’s shoulder with a soft little tentacle, then gave a tender cry.
“Yingji!”
If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes!
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