Chapter 168 (Transition Part 1) A year has passed
By late summer, apple trees had already been planted on the low hill. Because they were planted late, they had missed the flowering season, and it's unlikely that these trees will bear much fruit this year.
However, Lai was prepared and didn't think it was a big deal. He cleared some land next to the cabin and planted a lot of radishes, cabbages and other winter vegetables, which he would harvest in late autumn and sell in town to make up for some of the shortfall.
This year there was little rain; for a whole month in the summer, there was no rain at all, and the wheat in the fields was scorched and wilted. With no other option, everyone had to fetch water to irrigate the fields. After several days of watering, the wheat seedlings recovered considerably, relieving the immediate crisis. Barnett was so worried about this that his mouth was covered in blisters.
A few light rains later brought some relief from the drought, but the fields remained dry, so everyone had to continue watering. Regardless, this year's harvest will definitely not be as good as last year's.
Because of the drought, Lai pulled up all the bad melon vines in the field and planted potatoes and sweet potatoes instead.
This stuff is drought-resistant. Even if you grow too much and can't sell it, you can process it into vermicelli and starch. If stored properly, it can last for several years without any problems.
The magical gadget that Temugi's friend gave him was quite useful. Laiyi placed a water jar in the middle of the vegetable garden, filled it with water, and put it in the jar when he needed to water the plants, which saved him some effort.
He likes to water the vegetables the day before delivery, so that each vegetable is tender and clean when he picks them, and he can get a higher price when he sells them.
Neil spends most of his time studying in town, but when he comes back, he doesn't just sit idle; he'll proactively help with chores.
He adapted well to school life in town, made several good friends, and became more outgoing. He gradually shed his childishness and began to look like an adult.
The most obvious change is in height. Neil has grown a lot taller in the past year, and Ray estimates he's about 1.6 meters tall. But Neil is only fourteen years old, and with proper nutrition, he'll definitely grow another ten centimeters or so.
Lai had also grown taller. Although he couldn't keep up with Lamb's height, he was still considered one of the most handsome young men in the village, and several aunties were thinking about his marriage.
However, Lai had always been lukewarm towards the villagers, and they were not close to him, so it was difficult for them to speak up, otherwise it would be troublesome if Lai found out.
That said, with Neil as an example, having studied in town for over a year and made considerable progress, Brian made the difficult decision to send Danny to town to study with Neil as well.
Brian's decision was supported by Hagrid and Linda.
Danny is introverted, and Brian doesn't expect him to achieve great things, but it's good for him to broaden his horizons. It's better than him always being taken to his grandfather's house by his mother and bullied by his cousins. Besides, with Neil around, he'll adapt to the environment there more quickly.
Because of the birth of Reese and Farah's baby, Kelly has been subtly and overtly hinting to him to have another child with Danny, which infuriates Brian.
Taking advantage of the fact that he needed money to send Danny to town for his studies, he simply found a long-term job, partly to earn more money, and partly hoping that time would eventually make Kelly give up the idea.
Brian didn't dislike children; he just felt the timing wasn't right. And given Kelly's personality, Danny might receive even less maternal love after having younger siblings.
Life in the village was relatively peaceful, while the goblins had taken up odd jobs.
After finishing their work with Laiyi, another village wanted to build a road through the mountains, and the goblins, led by Yiru, got busy again.
There's no physical labor that isn't tiring, but the goblins enjoy it immensely.
Their hard work brought them a large sum of silver coins. With the help of the villagers, they were able to buy more daily necessities and seeds, temporarily solving their food problem. Perhaps due to their increased contact with humans, their way of life began to resemble that of humans more and more.
This kind of news couldn't be kept secret for long, and the nearby villages more or less learned that there was a group of goblins near the small mountain village.
Regardless of whether it's good or bad, there will always be people who have opinions about this, but due to Barnett's authority, they dare not cause trouble and can only observe secretly. In order to protect themselves, the goblins can only live even more discreetly.
While Iru led a team of over a dozen goblins on a busy "engineering trip," Kai, who had grown up, became the pillar of the family.
Kai is a brave and clever goblin. This year, he and his younger siblings expanded their vegetable garden and planted many sweet potatoes.
His family loves this sweet and filling food, so he plans to grow more of it.
In goblin tradition, he was well past the age where he should leave home and make his own way in the world. Although Iru and Nana didn't mind that Kai had been living around them, Iru still hoped that Kai would go out and explore before deciding where to settle down.
Moreover, it's difficult to find female goblins near the small mountain village, so Kai has to go out and find his other half, otherwise he will have to live a bachelor's life forever.
Iru has decided to prepare weapons and luggage for Kai after this mission is completed, and Kai will officially embark on his journey next spring.
Life in the village hasn't changed much, but in the town, glass lamps have quietly become a fashion trend.
When Temugi returned with the news, Laiyi naturally had no reason to refuse Golden Oak's proposal. After the group signed a magically binding treaty, the switch began mass production in the distant capital, entering the public eye along with the glass lamp.
The widespread use of glass lamps and energy stones became inevitable, and it is said that the promotion by the nobility was behind it.
In conclusion, the outcome was positive.
Glass lamps have now dropped in price by more than tenfold, no longer a luxury item exclusive to the nobility and the wealthy. Families who can afford it all dream of installing one in their homes. In villages, if someone installs a new glass lamp, it's guaranteed to attract everyone's attention.
Switches have low costs and low profit margins, but they are still a source of regular income for the family. They can earn dozens of gold coins a year. Before he knew it, Lai had accumulated a lot of assets, which would allow him to provide a more comfortable life for his family members.
But this is only relative. He knows that there are always people better than him and there is always something beyond his reach. At present, he can only ensure that his family has a constant supply of meat.
A high-quality elemental stone can easily cost several hundred gold coins, which is not something Lai can just take out on a whim.
Autumn has arrived in the blink of an eye. As expected, this year's grain production has been reduced significantly due to drought, and even the joy of the harvest has been dampened.
After deducting taxes, Leigh kept all of this year's grain but sold last year's stale grain.
The price of old grain is half that of new grain, but grain is not the main source of income for the family, so even if they lose money, it's okay. The family doesn't produce much grain, so they can't sell it for much money. He prefers to store grain.
This place is not modern; if a food crisis suddenly breaks out, we can only save ourselves.
Grain prices are high this year. I heard from the grain buyers in town that the drought here isn't too bad, but further west, the grain yield has been reduced by half.
Their town is located next to the Eton Forest, which provides them with a natural advantage. The Eton River, which flows through the forest, provides a continuous supply of fresh water to the surrounding area for thousands of miles, which explains the constant flow of rivers near the village.
The orc kingdoms neighboring their country also experienced drought this year, but they are a nomadic hunter-gatherer people, with most of their land being grassland and only a small portion being cultivated.
They purchased large quantities of grain domestically, which has led to an increase in grain prices this year.
The boss told him all of this.
Lai felt there was something unusual about this, but perhaps he was just being paranoid.
Because of the drought and reduced yield, this year's harvest festival will be held in a more grand manner, mainly to pray for rain next year.
Whether it will be effective or not is debatable, but everyone's good intentions have been conveyed, which is better than doing nothing and ending up with "God being displeased and sending down divine punishment."
Vivian still hasn't returned this year, but she has sent word that she's safe and sound.
Not long after that, the weather started to get cold again, and Ray took Lamb to the low hills to harvest radishes, cabbages and other vegetables, and stayed there for a few days.
I hadn't expected the trees to bear much fruit, but after walking around the orchard, I unexpectedly picked a basket of apples. They weren't big, but they tasted good—a truly delightful surprise.
This time, we harvested more than a dozen bags of radishes. Half of them were green-skinned radishes, which were sweet and slightly spicy. They could be eaten directly, or sliced, dried, and seasoned with chili oil and other condiments to make a side dish in winter.
The other half is a red-skinned radish, which can also be dried into radish chips, but it is more often used for making soups and dishes.
There are hundreds of Chinese cabbages, which are the most common vegetables for winter storage.
This area of the hill is sparsely populated, and the fallen leaves accumulate year after year after being decomposed by bacteria, forming high-quality humus soil. Planted in such nutrient-rich soil, the cabbages are all large and of excellent quality.
It was absolutely impossible to haul all these vegetables back in one trip, but luckily they had a large warehouse.
Lai and Lamb spent a lot of effort carrying all the vegetables inside, then pulled two bags of radishes and half a cart of cabbages back to the village. Now that they had harvested all the vegetables, they could transport them back slowly later.
Apple Lai sent some to Haig, Gug, and Temuqi's families, and kept some for his own family, and that was it.
Hagrid's family had no shortage of vegetables, and Gug didn't need that many. Only Temugi didn't grow vegetables much, so Lai sent him a lot.
The remaining vegetables were all taken to the market; they were of good quality and fresh, so they sold quickly.
Especially regarding the quality of the cabbages, two vendors each ordered one hundred heads and had already paid deposits. Lai had no choice but to make another trip to Aishan the next day to transport the ordered cabbages to town and deliver them to the vendors.
After keeping enough for their own family's needs, Lai Yi spent more than half a month trying to sell all the vegetables, which was mainly due to the large purchases by each household.
Mu often patronizes his business. His little bear cub, Li, who loves to hug his legs, has already managed to maintain his physique quite well.
As expected, Li is a very healthy and lovable child. He eats with gusto, is emotionally stable, and doesn't throw tantrums for no reason. Lai likes him very much.
After finishing this busy period, there was basically nothing else to do. Because of the trials after the annual harvest festival, Neil would not be home for a long time. Lai packed his bags and finally left the town, heading to Eaton City, which belongs to Rosen Town and is also Vivian's current residence.
Tata was temporarily fostered by Gugna, and Temuji would send Gugna enough meat every week as Tata's food.
As expected, Tata threw a tantrum when he wasn't taken along. But Eaton City was too unfamiliar and dangerous, and there was supposedly an arena there. Ray really didn't dare take Tata out, fearing something might happen.
As for Ryan, Lai could only ask for his opinion; whether or not to go was entirely up to him.
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