Chapter 7

Elphis closed his eyes and imagined in his mind a kind old man wearing a hat and holding a gold ingot in his hand.

He silently chanted in his heart: Great God of Wealth, I am unfortunately trapped in another world. Due to my grandfather’s kindness, I have sung praises to foreign gods, but please believe that you are my only faith!

Xinnan is going to lead the people around him to get rich through hard work. Please bless us with all the best. When we make a lot of money, Xinnan will build a temple for you and make a golden statue for you!

——The God of Wealth is the only god who can do practical things. I can kneel down to worship Him!

The next day, Elphis gathered all the minors in the town, told them the benefits of literacy for the future, and painted a big picture for the children.

The children have always admired Alphis. After listening to a few words from him, they thought that if they learned more words and read more books, they would become as smart as their brother Al. When they grew up, they would be able to help the town do big business!

With the ambition of becoming wealthy businessmen, the naughty kids went to the chapel in groups to learn from Pastor Kevin. As for how long their enthusiasm for learning can be maintained... that is a matter for the future. If anyone doesn't like to study, they can talk to their parents.

Elphis found a companion for Grandpa Kevin to spend time with, and then continued to do his own thing with peace of mind.

Uncle Martin said that too many people have entered the forest recently, causing quite a bit of noise. There are no animals active around the road they often take, so he wants to take people to a deeper area to hunt today.

Elphis also wanted to see if there were any new species he hadn't seen yet, so he went along.

There were seven people in the group. Except for Martin who was middle-aged and Elphis who was a child, the others were all young and strong. Young people had faster reactions and were more likely to capture small animals and birds alive.

Several people followed the leader carefully, "Uncle Martin, you must remember the way back. We all depend on you."

"Don't worry, you won't get lost. I followed my father into the forest when I was about ten years old, and I've been here for thirty years. I can't say about farther away, but at least I'm familiar with the area within a radius of more than thirty miles."

Children in the small town of Lisse have been warned since childhood not to go deep into the woods because the place is too big and if someone gets lost they won’t know which direction to look for them.

They were all taken to the highest mountain on the edge of the town. Looking from the top of the mountain at the forest on the other side of the town, it was an endless expanse of green. Everyone remembered deeply what their parents said: If you go too deep, you will be swallowed up!

There were no roads in the forest, and everyone walked in on the weeds. Martin reminded them to be careful of snakes, and the young men did not dare to be careless for a moment, holding wooden sticks and scratching through the grass as they walked, for fear of stepping on poisonous snakes.

Elphis consoled her, "Don't worry too much. I bought an antidote potion for you."

He had seen the miraculous effects of the inner healing potion before, and thus had increased his trust in the potions of this world. Knowing that there would inevitably be snakes in such a large forest, he made preparations in advance.

The medicine worked so quickly. If Elphis had not seen the magic material store his grandfather mentioned in Raphie City, and had not heard Uncle Martin, who had been hanging out in the forest for many years, mention that he had seen magical beasts with magical powers, he would have really believed in the existence of magic.

He thought that perhaps the existence of many special vegetation in this world promoted the development of pharmaceutical research.

After walking and stopping for a while, Elphis, who had been paying close attention to new species, suddenly saw a conspicuous red color in the half-man-high weeds in front of him.

There is a small area where the trees are a little sparse, and with plenty of sunshine and rain, the weeds grow much more lushly than in other places, including a plant that bears small red fruits.

Elphis' heart trembled, and he ran over with great expectation. When he saw the small round fruit clearly, he picked one and broke it open to see the inside. Adding the familiar smell - damn! It's a cherry tomato!

Hurry up and dig, take everything back and plant it! Finally, we’re going to add a new ingredient to the field!

In the future, I can sell it as fruit, and make tomato scrambled eggs, tomato egg drop soup, tomato beef brisket, tomato sauce, and various ketchup dishes. It won't be long before the weather gets hot, and he wants a tomato with sugar! Although it's not white sugar... Well, I'll just make do with it.

Others followed him to dig, and asked him curiously: "Al, is this delicious?"

The color is still very tempting, but it's a pity that they have all been pecked by birds and not a single one is intact, otherwise they would have tried it.

Elphis pretended to see it for the first time and analyzed it in an orderly manner, "I just tasted some of the juice, it's sweet and sour. The birds ate so much of it, it shouldn't be poisonous. You can try to plant more. Don't eat the fruit that hasn't turned red yet. The unripe ones may be poisonous."

Everyone dug the trees out with their roots and put them into a backpack along with the soil. The young man who was originally carrying the basket felt that it would be tiring to carry it for too long, so he left it where it was, waiting to return later to take it back with him; anyway, it wouldn't be stolen.

Elphis curled the corners of his lips, looking so happy, it was rare for him to look like a child.

He didn't expect to have such good luck the first time he went deep into the forest. He even encountered a cherry tomato.

This season is the time when tomatoes bear fruit. If he had come earlier or later, even if he passed by the place just now, he would not have been able to find the tomatoes, because he only recognized the fruits and was not familiar with the stems, leaves and flowers... Fortunately, he didn't miss it, hehe!

For lunch, they each had two large steamed buns and various wild fruits that they had picked on the road.

Six of the eight large backpacks were already full, and they were left on the road, waiting to be taken away on the return trip.

Martin looked at the position of the sun and said, "There is a stream two miles ahead. There are many animals nearby. Everyone, please be quiet and don't alarm them. We will go back after we catch one more."

I wanted to catch a farmable animal, but I didn’t expect to encounter a wild boar!

Everyone was attracted by the "grunting" sound of eating, and following the sound, they saw a black wild boar eating fruits that fell from a tree.

This wild boar has two big fangs on its mouth and is very aggressive, so it cannot be kept, but... you can eat it!

Even Elphis didn't want to miss out on so much meat. Due to the breed, the domestic pigs in this world weigh less than 100 kilograms when grown up, and their size can't be compared to those of modern times that weigh hundreds of kilograms. There are many people and little meat, and the price is not much cheaper. Many townspeople only eat once every few days.

How can you refuse something free?

The wild boar was eating so intently that an arrow pierced its neck with a "whoosh". The wild boar let out a sharp cry, then fell to the ground and twitched a few times. When everyone walked over, it had already died.

Elphis looked at the blood flowing from his neck with a look of regret. He only had steamed buns for lunch and couldn't help swallowing his saliva... He wanted to eat Maoxuewang.

Martin: "The smell of blood will attract wild beasts. Let's go back now."

The young man, whose backpack was still empty, wanted to cry but had no tears: "I, I may not be able to carry it."

The wild boar didn't look very old, but Elphis looked at its drooping belly and estimated that it weighed at least 70 or 80 kilograms.

"Cut down a thin tree, tie ropes to its four legs and carry it."

Everyone thought this was feasible. After looking around, they found that the tree trunks were either too thick or too thin. Martin recalled: "There is a patch of gnarled trees across the stream ahead. They are just the right thickness, hollow inside, and not heavy. Let's go over there and cut down some trees."

Elphis was a little tired at first, but he became more energetic after hearing what he said. Knotty tree? It's a species I have never seen before.

Soon they arrived at the place and looked across the stream - damn, that's not bamboo!

Elphis was completely stunned. After everyone had passed by, he finally reacted and followed.

All he had seen over the years were European faces, which had influenced his subconscious mind. He always thought that he was reborn in a place similar to Europe and America, so it was so incredible to see the bamboos that were native to the flower-growing country.

But if you think about it carefully, the climate of this place is indeed suitable for bamboo growth. The winter is not particularly cold. The land deep in the forest is moist, cool and ventilated, so it is not surprising that bamboo forests appear.

Smelling the familiar smell, Elphis was in a good mood, but Martin didn't like this forest very much. "I came here three years ago. The knotty trees multiplied too quickly. The roots were too close together."

The young man looked inside and said, "Indeed, there are too many of them. It's hard to get through them."

This bamboo forest is far away from the town, so people have little chance to study the function of this plant thoroughly.

Several hunters who passed by this place in the past few decades saw that it bore no fruit and had tall leaves, so it could not attract herbivorous prey, let alone wild beasts. They thought that they would gain nothing if they entered the bamboo forest, so they all walked around it.

The young man was cutting bamboo, and Elphis felt very sorry that he had missed the bamboo shoot growing season...

"Help me dig some bamboo... saplings, I'll take them back and plant them."

Martin reminded him, "Al, a knotty tree doesn't bear fruit."

"I think it has a unique fragrance, is easy to crack when split vertically, and is tough and elastic, easy to bend without breaking. It is more suitable for weaving baskets and backpacks than rattan. We will take it back and try it out. If we can really make it, it will definitely be much lighter than what we use now."

Everyone praised: Little Al came up with an idea so quickly, he is indeed the smartest kid in our town!

Elphis smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to explain that this was the wisdom of his ancestors.

When he steams steamed buns now, he puts the dough on a metal plate and steams it over water, but he can only steam a small amount at a time.

Uncle Gray and his team always have to change the dough and continue steaming it every once in a while, which is quite troublesome.

When he made a bamboo steamer, he could stack them one on top of the other and steam a lot of food at once, even though he didn't know how to make a bamboo steamer...

It doesn't matter. Just describe it to the uncles and aunts in town who are skilled in craftsmanship according to your memory, and you can study together and make it.

We chose a mountain next to the town to plant bamboo. We hope that it will grow into a small bamboo forest in a few years, which will make it convenient for everyone to use bamboo to make bamboo weaving products. In addition to selling food ingredients, we can also sell bamboo baskets, winnowing baskets, bamboo mats and so on far away.

There are also bamboo shoots, which can be made into stir-fried bamboo shoots, cold bamboo shoots, braised pork with bamboo shoots, pickled bamboo shoots... slurp.

Elphis swallowed his saliva. Next year he would be able to eat bamboo shoots. Oh, and he could also dry them into dried bamboo shoots and sell them far away!

Several people dug a basket of small bamboos to go back and plant, and then cut down a few big ones. They picked up the wild boar and a few backpacks, and walked back in groups of two carrying the things. Elphis was too short, so he didn't need to be carried.

Someone noticed the child's brisk steps and exclaimed, panting: "We are a few strong guys but we can't beat Al. After such a tiring day, the little guy is still so energetic."

Elphis was physically exhausted, but his mind was full of various recipes and ways to get rich, and he was very excited.

They were really lucky today. In addition to enough wild boar meat for several families to share, they also captured two free-range chickens alive and found a nest of their eggs. The whole family took them all away.

He had been practicing archery for some time and had made some progress. He shot and killed a fox and used its fur to make a scarf.

He took several boxes of berry saplings, spice saplings, and several other types of vegetation that he had never seen before but thought might be useful, so he took them back to study.

Most importantly, they discovered two important economic crops: cherry tomatoes and bamboo.

In a few years, these good things will turn into shiny gold coins. Their small town of Lise is a model of unity and getting rid of poverty and becoming rich!

What God of Light and what Holy See, they don’t care about the lives of the poor at all. It turns out that their God of Wealth is still reliable. If you worship him yesterday, you will get rich today!

——

Three years later.

The eleven-year-old Elphis had grown a little more and looked even better.

It is the middle of winter now, and the golden sunlight falling on the body cannot drive away the winter chill. The slender young boy is walking slowly, carrying a small bamboo basket.

His beautiful silver hair was tied up high with a blue-grey cloth, his nose was straight and his delicate little chin was faintly visible under the rabbit fur scarf. When he had no expression on his face, his deep blue eyes were as calm as the deep sea, without any of the innocence that a child should have.

"Al, is there breakfast in the basket? What do you want to eat today?"

When someone greeted him on the road, the boy's brows softened instantly, his light pink lips curled up slightly, and he responded to the aunt, "I bought toast, soft meat buns, and a small can of milk at Uncle Tony's house." The white breath he exhaled lingered in front of his face, giving him a dreamy beauty.

"Oh, the toast Tony makes these years is indeed better than before, but it's still hard. My teeth can't chew it anymore. I'd better buy soft bread."

Because the pronunciation of "steamed buns" is too unfamiliar to the people in this world, everyone always forgets how to pronounce it after a while, and Elphis never corrected them again. After so many years, everyone has always called it soft bread and soft meat buns.

"You should go quickly. There are many people buying breakfast at Uncle Tony's. If you go too late, there will be no more."

"Hey!" The aunt also picked up the basket and left quickly.

Elphis didn't like small talk very much, so he quickly ended the conversation, restrained his smile, and continued to walk back slowly. His leisurely gait seemed somewhat gentle.

From his temperament to his appearance, Elphis is an eye-catching sight in the small town of Lisse, attracting a lot of attention. His young age makes people feel that he is weak and easy to bully.

So it was only natural that he attracted the attention of a hungry wolf cub.