Chapter 106 Malicious Goblin Bullying from Within the Same Clan? Accident, Prejudice...
Lai's first sale of vegetables was decent, but the vegetables needed enough time to grow and recover before he could sell the next batch.
During this time, all he could do was tend to the yard and take Lamb to continue exploring and hunting in the forest.
The vegetable garden does need some maintenance.
As cucumbers, green beans, and tomatoes grow, they begin to need trellises to hold them in place and support their continued growth.
The supports used last year were hastily prepared by Lai; they weren't sturdy and deteriorated after just one summer, so he burned them as firewood. This year, with more climbing vegetables planted, more support structures are needed.
However, no bamboo has been found here yet, and no bamboo poles can be found. Lai can only try to find some branches that are long and sturdy enough to use as substitutes.
When it comes to this, Rhys, who spends most of his time hunting in the mountains, is naturally more familiar with it.
Rhys led Lai on several trips into the mountains and found suitable branches, which saved him a lot of trouble.
Afterwards, Lai and Lamb spent several days in the mountains, gathering enough branches for both families to make frames.
The cart was piled high with branches of uniform thickness, and the two men transported them all back in just one trip.
Tree branches can be used directly after being dried for a few days.
The preparation process was tiring, but these poles can be reused for several years, so it wasn't a complete waste of energy.
After resting for only half a day, Ray took Lamb back to the mountains to hunt.
This time, the hunting trip took place outside the village, where they were cutting branches. During his work, Lai discovered many bird eggs and long-toothed beasts.
Moreover, the gaps between the trees are large, so they don't obstruct the view; the ground is clean and there aren't many weeds, so it won't hinder your footsteps, making it very suitable for practicing archery and hunting.
The two set a trap and began hunting with bows and arrows. They were busy until the afternoon before preparing to go back. This time, they were incredibly lucky and caught four plump long-toothed beasts.
The way back passed through the desolate mountains where the goblins lived. Lai had delivered food to them a few times before, and it had been almost ten days since he last visited Iru's house. Kai hadn't looked for him either, and he wondered how they were doing lately.
Since we've caught enough game today, we might as well take advantage of the opportunity and visit Iru's family.
Lai made a decision in secret, greeted Lamb and asked him to take the three long-toothed beasts back first, while he took the remaining one to visit Iru's family.
"Brother, where are you going?"
"I'm going to visit an old friend."
"An old friend?"
Lamb looked at him suspiciously, his face clearly saying, "Don't try to fool me."
It was common knowledge that his brother didn't like going out, and he didn't have any good friends in the village.
"They're gone."
Lamb watched the direction Ray was heading and guessed pretty much what was going on, so he didn't ask any further questions.
Out of concern for their loved ones, the Hagrids, Brian, Reese, and Lamb knew something about the situation.
After confirming there was no danger, Hagrid's attitude was neither to stop it nor to interfere excessively. Similarly, the three brothers, who witnessed the incident, pretended not to know anything.
Let's turn our attention back to the Iru family.
After Iru left, Nana was too busy with the twins, so Kai became the pillar of the family.
Who would have thought that Kaiyi, who was lying on the ground with her younger brothers catching ants to eat not long ago, has grown into the reliable person she is today?
His life was simple: every morning he would fetch enough water for the family to last the day. Then he would tend the vegetable garden, take one of his younger brothers out hunting and gathering wild vegetables, and leave the other brother at home to help Nana.
They only had a little rye and some beans left. There were plenty of wild vegetables in the mountains, and Kai could occasionally catch some small animals. If they were careful with their food, they could still have enough.
However, they have been facing some troubles lately, which are neither major nor minor, and this has been causing them a lot of distress.
First, one day, the wooden bucket that Yilu's family used to fetch water broke a hole for some reason; then, the half of the earthenware jar that Yilu used to store water—which he had picked up—was completely broken; and then, the vegetable garden that the family had carefully tended was trampled all over, and half of the seedlings that had just grown to about half a palm's height were destroyed.
Nana was so heartbroken that she burst into tears.
Their family had a limited number of seeds, and they had to share some with the goblins they were close to. After planting what they had, they really didn't have any vegetable seeds left. The whole family depended on these vegetables to survive.
Thinking about it carefully, almost all the small animals in the desolate mountains, except for wild birds, have been eaten to extinction. Besides, if it were done by animals, they couldn't have done it so quietly.
There's only one answer—some goblins are doing this deliberately to target Iru's family.
Realizing this problem, Nana and Kai began to live in constant fear.
Kay cut his hunting time in half, spending as much time at home as possible to protect his family, which resulted in them getting less food each day.
This was an internal matter for the goblins, and Kai didn't want to trouble Lai with it, so she took on the responsibility of protecting her own property and catching the murderer herself.
My father will be back in two weeks.
Kay thought to herself, "I need to be extremely focused, and reduce my sleep to protect the safety of my home."
They waited for half a month, but Yilu still hadn't returned.
Before leaving, Yiru said that it would take more than thirty days to return. Days passed, but there was still no news.
Given the almost universally hated status of goblins on the mainland, it's absolutely impossible not to feel anxious.
But Kay could only swallow his unease; he was now the pillar of the family, and he had to maintain its stability.
He knew that his mother was also very uneasy. She would often sigh unconsciously and throw herself into more housework to cover up her feelings.
Apart from the immature twins, none of the goblins in the house felt at ease, but none of them showed it, and they all tried to maintain a facade of calm.
"Kay, Nana, are there any goblins at home?"
Lai called out from the door of Iru's house, and Kai hurriedly pushed open the door.
It was already afternoon, and instead of going hunting, he stayed home to protect everyone's safety.
"Mr. Victor, you've arrived!"
Kai smiled brightly and stood up straight, which made him look very energetic, unlike the other goblins who hunched over and secretly observed others with cunning eyes.
These actions and expressions always make them seem sleazy, which is one of the reasons why people dislike them.
"I went hunting in the neighborhood this morning and stopped by to see how you're doing."
"Thank you for your concern. I'm doing well lately. Thanks to nature's bounty, we have enough food to get through each day."
Kay chose to report only good news and conceal the bad, covering up all the recent events.
Lai observed the new changes at the Yiru family's house. The small garden in front of the wooden house was now planted with potatoes and sweet potatoes, and there were also neat vegetable seedlings behind the house.
Seeing Lai looking after the vegetable garden, Kai offered to introduce her.
"Potatoes and sweet potatoes have a high yield and are easy to store, so they can be used as food for winter. My father deliberately planted them in front so that they would be easier to take care of."
It was also to prevent other goblins from stealing the artifacts. Considering what happened not long ago, this decision was absolutely correct.
Kay thought to herself, and began to speak haltingly in Common Tongue.
Lei nodded.
"You can cut down some wood to fence off the garden and keep out any wild animals that accidentally wander in."
“Very good! Thank you very much for your suggestion, Mr. Victor.”
"I suggest," Ray suggested, and the young goblin offered his sincere thanks.
"Greetings, Mr. Victor!"
Before Lai and Kai could exchange more than a few words, Nana came out of the house and greeted Lai warmly.
"Hello, how are the twins doing?"
"They're growing very well. Feeding them according to the recipes you gave them, they're the strongest little goblins I've ever seen!"
"That's good. You can keep this long-toothed beast for your consumption."
Lai placed the long-toothed beast at their feet, and the two goblins, of course, dared not directly accept the prey Lai had brought.
That's meat! It can sell for a lot of silver coins.
Nana and Kai were at a loss, wanting to refuse but afraid that Lai would overthink it, and sweat was pouring down their foreheads in their anxiety.
"Don't feel guilty. I promised Iru I would take care of you, but I haven't been able to come over often. I hunted a lot of game today, so I dropped one off for you along the way to improve your meals. The little goblins need nutrition to grow, don't they?"
“Iru agreed to help me with some things, and I promised to take care of his family. It’s what I should do.”
Lei added.
Nana and Kai finally accepted the long-toothed beast. As Lai was about to leave, he noticed that Nana was stammering as if she had something to say.
"Is there anything else?"
“Mr. Victor,” Nana asked hesitantly, “Iru said he would be back in about a month before he left, but several days have passed now and he still hasn’t returned. I’m a little worried.”
Upon hearing Nana's words, Lai Yi also felt that something was amiss, and that he should ask the clan elder about this matter.
"Don't worry, I'll look into it in the next few days and let you know when I have the results."
Nana's eyes lit up; Kai had the same expression as her.
"Mr. Victor, may God bless you with abundant harvests every year and grant you lasting strength and good health!"
"Thank you, Nana. May God also bless your family with happiness and good health."
Ray left to retrieve the remaining long-toothed beast from Hagrid's house, and the Iru family returned to peace.
With some effort, Kai lifted the long-toothed beast and carried it into the house.
"Thank you, Mr. Victor, this long-toothed beast is enough for us to eat for several days!"
Kay laughed and said that he had been on edge the whole time, but Ray's arrival finally made him relax a bit.
"Yes, I'll make you some meat soup tonight."
Nana didn't dampen Kai's enthusiasm and played along. The second and third brothers stared at the long-toothed beast on the floor, swallowing hard.
Looking at her thin and small younger brother and sister, Kaiyi felt a little uneasy.
He failed his father's instructions, did not take good care of them, and even had half of the vegetable garden destroyed.
We must catch the murderer!
A raging fire ignited in Kai's chest.
Ray returned to the village to Hagrid's house to retrieve the long-toothed beasts, where Reese and Brian were skinning them.
"They're here."
"Why."
Hagrid greeted Ray and invited him to sit next to him.
"I had Brian take care of the long-toothed beast for you. You can just take the cleaned-up beast back with you later."
"Thank you, Uncle Hagrid."
You're too kind.
Linda poured water and got snacks for Ray, while Luna sat opposite Ray, staring at his face.
"Luna, don't look at Uncle Lei so rudely."
Farah admonished.
"Okay, Mom."
Luna lowered her head listlessly.
Farah's belly was already quite large, and her figure was becoming increasingly fuller. Ray greeted her politely.
"Uncle, why hasn't the construction team that went out to work come back yet?"
As soon as Rye asked the question, Hagrid knew his purpose and picked out the information he wanted to know.
"There were two landslides while we were digging the tunnel, which delayed us a bit. We should be back in about half a month."
"Okay, is no one hurt?"
"Hmm. But it seems a goblin got injured while trying to save someone."
Ray was puzzled as to why such a big thing had happened without any news from the village. But he wasn't the type to pry, so he didn't press the matter.
"How's that goblin?"
"They said he injured his arm, but it's nothing serious. I heard it's just a fracture, and he'll receive appropriate compensation."
"Um."
Ray sat for a while longer. The long-toothed beast over there had been killed. Brian rinsed the blood off with water and then put the meat in a container for Ray.
Let's eat at home today.
"No, no, Neil is waiting for me to go back and cook."
“Bring Neil along to eat with us.”
"No, I have things to take care of at home."
Hagrid didn't try to keep him any longer and let Rae go back.
"Alright, if you need anything, just come here to get it. Don't be shy."
"Okay, okay."
Ray took the prepared meat back, and Kelly, who was busy in the kitchen, spat at the sound.
"Look at your cousin, he's always taking advantage of you. Stay away from those two brothers from now on!"
Kelly said angrily to Danny, who was tending the fire under the stove.
She disliked the brothers, Ray and Neil, believing they had taken a lot from the house.
"My father and mother are really something, why do they give all the good things to outsiders..."
Danny listened quietly to Kelly's rambling. Ever since Aunt Farah had her baby, Grandma and Mom had been cooking all the meals at home. Mom's temper had also been getting worse and worse.
He knew Kelly was wrong, and that Uncle Rye and Uncle Neil weren't the kind of people she described. But he didn't have the courage to argue with his mother.
"Danny, you need to be smarter and try to please Grandpa and Grandma. Once the second child of the Reese family is born, you may not be their favorite grandson anymore."
Here we go again; the mother doesn't seem very excited about the new life that's about to enter the family.
"Perhaps it's time for you to have a younger brother."
"..."
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A note from the author: I sometimes wonder if my writing is too bland or if my writing is just too ordinary, but then I think that might just be my style (smile).
But, it's only the first book, so how can I even talk about style? Hurry up and write, hurry up and fill in the plot holes, hurry up and finish it!
But I really do have procrastination and typing difficulties. (Lying down, oh keyboard, help me, you can move yourself!)
I'm such a chatterbox, why is the plot moving so slowly? Waaaaah!
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