Chapter 48

After Shen Mofeng entered the guest room, Ye Chen sat on the sofa for quite some time, trying hard to digest everything.

The divine beast cubs watched for a while on the stairs, then under Hou Cub’s command, they quietly slipped back into the master bedroom, each with a blush on their little faces. Seeing Ye Chen enter the room, the cubs hurriedly covered their eyes with chubby hands. The Fenghuang swiftly buried its head under its wings, while Pulei Cub, still in its non-humanoid form, sluggishly turned its two antennae, which were actually used for sight, towards the back, innocently staring at Ye Chen with its two black bean-like false eyes.

“…” Ye Chen suddenly felt as if he were actually streaking.

Hou Cub covered its eyes and reminded its little companions, “Kids shouldn’t watch people kissing or they’ll get pinkeye da ^[1]Tone for acting cute.”

Ye Chen blushed intensely, embarrassed almost to the point of suffocation. “I-I’m not kissing anyone now.”

Upon hearing this, the cubs all sighed in relief and put down their hands.

“Are Gege and Da Gege dating?” Hou Cub bashfully twirled its index fingers. “Will Da Gege treat us to ice cream?”

“Not dating, he… I’ve always treated him as a brother. And you guys, no causing trouble,” Ye Chen pinched Hou Cub’s bunny ears, threateningly, “Especially you.”

“What did I do?” Hou Cub covered its bunny ears, feeling so wronged its tail deformed.

Ye Chen squinted, warning, “No coming up with bad ideas, and don’t sell out Gege for ice cream.”

He had long recognized Hou as the strategist among the cub group. After the 10:21 [Head Pressing] and 10:26, [Shen Mofeng’s double tire blowout] major incidents, Ye Chen had focused his investigative gaze on Hou, who exuded a leader-like aura. When he accidentally overheard Little He gossiping about the tire damage on Shen Mofeng’s two cars having similar bite marks, Ye Chen became even more convinced that the divine beast cubs were up to mischief. After that, he had separately held subtle talks and warnings with Hou Cub and Qiongqi Cub, using chocolate as bait. Both cubs denied any involvement, but there hadn’t been any strange incidents since those talks…

Hou Cub nervously wiggled its bunny ears, whimpering, “No, Gege, I never come up with bad ideas.”

Ye Chen chuckled, took off the watch Shen Mofeng had given him, lovingly rubbed it a few times, then shamelessly calculated the several tens of yuan he could earn as pocket money in his mind. He carefully placed the watch and the handwritten card from Shen Mofeng into the gift box, instructing the divine beast cubs, “No one is allowed to touch this watch.”

“We won’t touch it!” Hou Cub vigorously shook its head, its eyes shining brightly. “This is Gege’s token of love.”

The divine beast cubs heard the mysterious and romantic phrase “token of love,” and their seven pairs of eyes gradually became misty and sparkling, their round faces showing expressions of “this is extraordinary.”

“It’s not a token of love!” Ye Chen blushed and defended himself, his voice thick with embarrassment. “It’s just too expensive. It’s worth two Lamborghini tractors. If anything happens to Gege’s watch, I won’t be able to afford it even if I sell everything. I’ll definitely return it to him later. Right now, I’m just keeping it safe for him.”

“Ohh——” the divine beast cubs elongated their voices in response, several round faces filled with suspicion.

Ye Chen placed the watch and the box into his suitcase, locked the door, and then moved two bedside tables to block the door. He was afraid that if Shen Mofeng came in and discovered the divine beast cubs’ secret, he wouldn’t be able to keep it hidden. After securing the door, he finally hugged a squirming bundle and went to sleep.

As he lay on the pillow, Ye Chen’s heart was still pounding hard. He felt as though Shen Mofeng’s scent was all over him—on his body, his lips, his face. The details of their kiss kept replaying in his mind relentlessly. Even with the help of the winter jasmine’s hypnotic fragrance, it took him a good ten minutes to fall asleep. If it weren’t for this pillow, he might have spent the whole night tossing and turning.

…

Perhaps still stimulated by last night’s confession, Ye Chen woke up very early. Before six in the morning, he got out of bed… to return to China and farm.

Indeed, he was a diligent and brave descendant of Yan and Huang ^[2]炎黄子孙 lit: Descendants of the Flame Emperor and Yellow Emperor – Sometimes the Chinese are called the Yan-Huang zisun—descendants of the legendary Emperor Yan (a.k.a. Shen Nong, god of … Continue reading…

With just over half a month left until the deadline for planting two thousand spiritual trees, the eight original saplings that Ye Chen had planted two and a half months ago had already matured and entered the fruiting stage. Using their branches, he had propagated over a hundred small saplings, which had now grown into small trees. He could now use the branches of these small trees to start a large-scale planting operation to boost his performance. Before the deadline arrived, all Ye Chen and Zhou Buchu needed to do was to jointly plant over eighteen hundred branches into the prepared tree pits. On average, it meant planting a hundred trees a day, fifty each for the two of them.

The initial eight saplings were preserved in pairs, meaning there were two of each kind, totaling four species of trees. Among them was a species called Huai Mu, described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas as “resembling the Tang tree, with fruits as large as guavas, eating them gives great strength.” In other words, the fruits of this tree looked like guavas and eating them would make one stronger.

A few days ago, two Huai Mu trees had borne fruit one after the other. As the saplings had not yet reached the five-year period of abundant fruiting, each tree only bore about a dozen fruits. The fruit had a greenish tint to its orange skin, and in terms of size and appearance, it was similar to a guava. However, when you held one in your hand, it felt like a wooden object. Someone who didn’t know would think it was a wooden carving of a fruit.

Wrapped in a thick military coat, Ye Chen collected a few Huai Mu fruits in his vegetable basket and headed back to the courtyard.

In the courtyard, there was a tree stump about half a meter in diameter lying on the ground. Its cross-section was smooth and hard. It was a stump that Zhou Buchu had dug up from the original forest in Xishuangbanna ^[3]Sometimes shortened to Banna, is an autonomous prefecture for Dai people in the extreme south of Yunnan Province, China, bordering both Myanmar and Laos. while cloud-hopping to Yuxi to mooch tobacco plants. The perfectly good century-old tree had been chopped down, leaving only this pitiful stump. It couldn’t survive anymore. Zhou Buchu thought of making good use of it, so he decided to dig it out and bring it back, intending to split it into firewood. After all, he expended quite a bit of mana flying back and forth, so if he could mooch some extra resources, why not?

Ye Chen placed the Huai Mu fruits on the stump, picked up the axe he had bought a few days ago, and with a swing, split the Huai Mu fruit in half. With a crisp cracking sound of wood, the Huai Mu fruit split into two, and many shiny black seeds scattered on the ground.

Ye Chen consecutively split open four Huai Mu fruits, collected the small seeds inside into an empty tin can, and stored the tin can in the cupboard. The seeds that couldn’t fit into the can were stuffed into his coat pocket like sunflower seeds.

After sorting out the Huai Mu fruits, Ye Chen picked up a shovel and went to plant trees. A complete tree planting process included placing saplings, covering them with soil, applying a bit of spirit chicken manure fertilizer, and watering with a bucket… After planting three or four saplings, Ye Chen would take out a small black ball from his pocket and chew it like a chocolate bean.

These black balls were about the size of a thumbnail, with a taste similar to nuts, crispy and slightly sweet. They couldn’t fundamentally increase muscle strength, but they could quickly metabolize the negative by-products produced after exercise without any side effects. Eating them would instantly relieve muscle fatigue and soreness, making them a must-have item for farm boys during the busy farming season.

Ye Chen chewed one strongman pill after another, maintaining his physical strength at its peak. He wielded the shovel quickly and steadily, and when carrying two buckets of water, he ran like the wind. On average, he planted one sapling every three minutes, and before nine in the morning, he had completed the planting task for today’s fifty saplings.

At this time, the divine beast cubs woke up one after another. After washing up, they each carried a small cloth bag and went to collect winter jasmine—Ye Chen’s fifty pillows had all been sold out. With glowing reviews in the group, after fifty successful transactions, the online store’s credit rating for “Chen Chen’s Health and Wellness Shop” had also risen to three hearts. Some buyers who had been worried about side effects had dispelled their concerns after safely using them for some time. They were eagerly waiting for the pillows to be restocked, eager to gift them to their family elders or to use them themselves. As the secretion of melatonin decreases in middle-aged and elderly people, coupled with various ailments, sleep disorders are common. Being able to control their sleep freely and fall into a deep and peaceful sleep when they wanted to was the ultimate dream for many who had suffered from insomnia.

Ye Chen hadn’t been using his WeChat alternate account much these days because every time he logged in, he was faced with countless requests for restocking. Some were practically begging.

Behold Swelling Water: “I now take my health pillow with me when I go abroad. Thank you for bringing us such a good and affordable product. Please notify me as soon as you restock. I want to buy another one as a backup. [Rose]”

Passionate Landscape: “I was worried about side effects at first, but after using it for more than half a month, I feel very energetic during the day! I used to take sleeping pills, but the next day I always felt groggy and sluggish.”

Old Horse and Young Horse: “Having an Elder at Home Is Like Having a Treasure, When will the pillows be restocked? After using them for a few days, they’re so useful that I can’t bear to give them to my elders. I let my father use them first, but I regret not buying more directly.”

If one were to continue enduring low-quality sleep, they might gradually get used to it, but after experiencing the tranquil and peaceful sleep like that of a baby, forcing them to return to their previous low-quality sleep would be somewhat cruel. Moreover, Ye Chen fully understood the feeling of wanting to give the best to his elderly father…

So, Ye Chen secretly messaged Old Horse and Young Horse, giving him backdoor access: “I’ve restocked one, hurry up and buy.”

Old Horse and Young Horse was deeply grateful: “Thank you, Da Ge! [Smile]”

Ye Chen had long practiced the psychological quality of seeing a smiley face without changing his expression. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. He replied in a gentle tone, “Little brother, no need to be so polite with Da Gege. [Smile]”

As for the remaining health pillows, Ye Chen planned to put them on the shelves every time he gathered twenty of them. Too few wouldn’t be enough for a few people to grab, and those with slow reflexes might end up empty-handed every time, which would be quite frustrating. But if he saved them up for too long, he worried they might become impatient.

The other divine beast cubs were busy picking winter fluff flowers. Fenghuang, who disdained farm work, chirped and flew onto Ye Chen’s head, using its claws to hold onto his Lei Feng hat, comfortably dozing off. Ye Chen didn’t shoo it away to work, instead, he went straight to the western wing room to collect the excrement of over a hundred chickens from the chicken coop, which he then mixed with the previous batch from a few days ago, blending it thoroughly with the soil.

These over one hundred and forty spiritual chickens consumed about twenty yuan worth of chicken feed each day, and occasionally they needed to eat some spiritual cabbage to maintain their “spiritual chicken” lineage. However, the cost-effectiveness was very high—they produced enough spiritual chicken eggs daily to fully offset the cost of feed, and they also reliably supplied the egg consumption needs of Ye Chen’s extended family and fed the Ranyi fish. Moreover, the spiritual chicken manure was very nutrient-rich, greatly improving the soil micro-ecosystem around the roots of the crops. The more they were raised, the more fertile the land in the Mountain and Sea Realm became, forming a virtuous cycle. Gradually, Ye Chen didn’t need to worry about fertilizing anymore. Since the over one hundred chickens entered the courtyard, Ye Chen hardly spent any money on buying fertilizers.

After thoroughly mixing the chicken manure, Ye Chen grabbed Fenghuang, who was lazily perched on his head, to use its fire.

Fermenting and ripening chicken manure compost required suitable high temperatures, and the controllable temperature of Phoenix fire made it a very convenient choice, but before Huang Huang could react, Ye Chen had already stripped it of its few remaining fire feathers in just a few moves…

“Jiu jiu jiu! Jiu mi! Mi!”

Ya ya ya! Gege is using Huang Huang’s fire to stew chicken dung again! How disgusting!

The most undignified Fenghuang Cub wailed in protest, flapping its wings with only a few feathers left in an attempt to fly away. However, as soon as it flew out of Ye Chen’s palm, it fell to the ground with a thud, its bald head and body slinking away.

That’s the price for not participating in collective labor…

“Gege,” at this moment, the cunning little spy Hou Cub trotted over, swinging its cloth bag, and whispered to Ye Chen, “Dun Dun says Da Gege has already gotten up and is exercising in the gym.”

Ye Chen was startled, a hint of blush creeping up on his ears, feeling uncomfortable. “He’s up when he’s up… You don’t need to tell me.”

“Da Gege and Auntie said they’ll wait for you to get up before making breakfast,” Hou Cub tilted its head, observing Ye Chen’s expression slyly, and said in a childish voice, “Da Gege is hungry and waiting for you.”

Ye Chen took a deep breath, his tone stiff, even more so than before, “I haven’t finished my work yet.”

“Not today, Gege. Qi Qi and I will cook eggs, steam corn, and cut apples for the kids. It’s very nutritious,” Hou Cub said obediently, “Qi Qi is already boiling water.”

—The divine beasts from a poor family were already in charge early in the morning, and the babies who had hatched out of their shells early had learned to help Ye Chen with simple chores.

“Then I haven’t finished my work yet.” Ye Chen pulled down the earmuffs on both sides of his Lei Feng hat, tying them tightly to cover his reddening ears, and went into the vegetable garden to work.

With Zhou Buchu’s help, Ye Chen had doubled the scale of planting ordinary crops and added quite a few fruits and vegetables. However, farming wasn’t something he had to do every day. Zhou Buchu had taken care of the crops quite well last night, leaving Ye Chen with almost nothing to do now. Pulling out a few weeds here and trimming off half-yellow leaves there, he felt quite embarrassed, almost nowhere to hide under Hou Cub’s sharp gaze.

“By the way, we should have dumplings on New Year’s Eve. I wonder if the variety of vegetables they sell in Italy is complete.” Ye Chen muttered to himself, speaking for Hou Cub to hear. He slung the vegetable basket on his back, grabbed a sickle, and cut a batch of fresh and tender leeks. He also picked a few plump Chinese cabbages and randomly picked a bit here and there until Hou Cub flew over to deliver a message, saying that Da Gege had been circling around the bedroom door every three minutes. Finally, Ye Chen felt too embarrassed to linger any longer. He put the vegetable basket on the ground, instructed Hou Cub to find an opportunity to sneak the items into the villa’s fridge, then quietly sneaked into Italy. After taking a quick shower for two minutes, washing away the sweat and dirt belonging to the working class, and dabbing a few sprays of perfume in the bathroom to cover any lingering chicken manure smell, he was fully prepared. Then he moved away the bedside table blocking the door…

The door opened.

In the corridor, Shen Mofeng had been leaning against the wall for a few minutes, listening to the sound of Ye Chen rummaging through the bedside table inside. Seeing Ye Chen come out, he gritted his teeth and said, “Morning… What’s behind the door? Afraid I’ll sneak in at night, kiddo?”

After a brief thought, Ye Chen honestly replied, “Um… The bedside table.”

Shen Mofeng smirked helplessly, “You really don’t lie.”

Ye Chen lowered his eyes, “I promised you.”

Shen Mofeng led him towards the dining room. After a few steps, he turned his head slightly and said coldly, “If I really want to go in the bedside table can’t stop me.”

Ye Chen remained silent.

Passing by a low cabinet of unknown purpose at the corner of the stairs, Shen Mofeng opened the second drawer, rummaged for a moment, and curiously asked, “What would you do if I really went in? Beat me out?”

Ye Chen felt embarrassed, “I… I wouldn’t… fight you.”

The more obedient the kid, the more likely he was to be bullied. Shen Mofeng, feeling mischievous, pushed Ye Chen against the wall with a gentle shove on his shoulder, his arm encircling him from a distance, not even touching a strand of his hair, but he kept teasing, smiling, “If you don’t use your hands, how are you going to drive away the stinky rogue, huh? Use your mouth? Beg me?”

A wisp of smoke rose from Ye Chen’s head, his lips moved for a moment, and he resignedly said, “Um…”

Shen Mofeng burst into laughter, ruining the moment. He took out two strings of six small keys from his pocket, picked open the pocket of Ye Chen’s bathrobe with his fingertips, and as he let go, the keys jingled and fell in.

Ye Chen asked, “What’s this?”

“The keys to the master bedroom and my guest room, including the spare keys, all for you to keep.” Shen Mofeng winked, teasing, “I won’t enter your room, but you can enter mine anytime you want…”

At this moment, a slight sound came from downstairs.

Ye Chen looked up and saw Xiao Gao a few steps away on the stairs, facing away from them like a bound spirit, standing motionless behind a statue, his aura almost taking on a tangible form…

—You can’t see me, you can’t see me, I’m just going to the bathroom, I don’t know anything…