Chapter 40: Good Stuff

"I ran out of the mine, and then... a man in black killed the bugs with supernatural powers?" Little Can, standing on Chu Jiu's pillow, stared with wide, icy-blue eyes, looking at Chu Jiu with suspicion.

Chu Jiu patted its little head. "That's right. That was three days ago."

"We left the mine and returned to Bean Village long ago."

"We even solved the hornet problem on the mountain together. After that, you were extremely exhausted and slept straight through until now."

As Chu Jiu spoke, a note of pity crept into their voice, and they simply pulled the little kitten into their arms.

Truth be told, even though Little Can had warned beforehand, "I will sleep for a long time," seeing it unable to wake up no matter what still worried Chu Jiu terribly.

It wasn't just Chu Jiu who was worried; the other three little ones were just as anxious.

Roar-Roar Rabbit mimicked Chu Jiu, repeatedly reaching out a tiny paw to touch Little Can's forehead, then declaring with certainty, "Roar-roar-roar, no fever."

Gulu-Lu used its tiny tentacles to wrap around Little Can’s special water cup, carefully placing it by the bedside—"Gulu-lu, Little Can, you need to drink more water."

As for Kaka-Ba, it clumsily tucked the small blanket around Little Can: "Dang-dang-dang, tuck in tight so you don't catch a cold and can sleep even better."

It wasn't until this morning that Little Can finally woke up.

Just as it had said before falling asleep, its memory was chaotic. It remembered nothing from the time it was separated in the underground mine until the hornets were eliminated.

Moreover, as Chu Jiu recounted these events, it would occasionally perk up its tail or scratch its little face, eventually falling into a long silence.

Chu Jiu sighed softly, stroking its little head again and again. "Anyway, it's just good that you've woken up now."

Chu Jiu thought to themselves, *So that’s how it is.*

Little Can reached out a tiny paw and pressed it against Chu Jiu’s cheek. "Meow, meow-meow." — "Grilled, the kind with sauce brushed on it."

Aris clearly didn’t think a few words could persuade the old village chief, so he pulled two small ceramic jars from his satchel, placed one on the table beside the chief, and tried to push the other into Chu Jiu’s hands—

"I’m an old cripple with bad legs, so I won't see you out."

Chu Jiu tossed the jar of honey back to Aris, still smiling. "In our Bean Village, we produce tofu, flowers, small fish, and honey, but we don't produce ungrateful trash."

It knew Chu Jiu definitely hadn't lied to it.

After hearing Marco’s explanation, Chu Jiu smiled. "Our honey isn't gathered from the mountains—it's from our own bees; we harvest it from our apiary."

The old village chief didn't speak immediately, but instead picked up the ceramic jar Aris had left on the table and held it up to the candlelight to examine it carefully.

Chu Jiu waited in place.

Marco was startled for a moment, then smiled. "Ah, this is indeed a very good item."

That supernatural user—who knows where they are? What use is just opening one's mouth to give a warning?

[This is the first groundbreaking construction by villagers within the village limits; it is of great significance.]

...What "nice name" and "powerful ability"? Just hearing it, they didn't sound like a good person; it was probably just to fool that silly human.

Aris spoke so fluently that Chu Jiu felt goosebumps listening from the side.

The old village chief sneered and said nothing.

Also, no wonder this person cried so skillfully last night; it turned out to be a repeated trick.

***

After Chu Jiu slipped into the kitchen, Little Can lay on the bed, limbs splayed, chin resting on the sheets.

"I... honestly, although I've been doing this for so many years, well... I really don't have anything particularly impressive in my hands."

*

The normally bold and frank merchant said bluntly, "Isn't Moonsea City full of people doing business?"

Little Can narrowed its eyes and licked its paw.

The old village chief struck the floor with his cane. "You've already disturbed us. I don't care what you came for; our village doesn't welcome you."

Aris said he hadn't done business with Bean Village initially because he had been deceived, focusing instead on trying to make big deals at Gulin Fortress and spending a lot of money on bribes. In the end, the middleman took the money and did nothing, causing Aris to lose everything.

Aris lowered his voice further. "This honey is just a small greeting gift. For future business, I'll give you two a five percent—no, wait, ten percent of the net profit, how about that?"

Chu Jiu’s lips curled slightly. "Fine, I'll go make it for you."

Just then, Grandma Zhu, who had come to trade flour with Marco, interjected, "Speaking of which, that Aris from before—the black-hearted merchant we had in our village—the reason he came crying to the chief to sell him beans all those years ago was precisely because he had happened upon such an order, right?"

Although the old village chief hadn't said a word, Aris was still able to go on smoothly.

"But then again, if a merchant takes a deposit but can't produce enough goods, besides losing money, his reputation is ruined, and he’ll never be able to do big business again in his life."

Tomorrow was the day Marco would come to collect tofu, and now almost every household had beans soaking at their doors, preparing to wake up early to grind tofu.

Chu Jiu said, "I'll go open the door and see. Your legs are inconvenient; you should walk less."

Isn't this that black-hearted merchant!

"He said, he heard the villagers of Bean Village are all very kind and loving, but there are many people in this world who are not. The peace and tranquility of Bean Village now is largely due to its poverty. As Bean Village becomes more prosperous, many wicked people will eye it covetously; we must be prepared."

"In short, if you get scouted at a time like this, then for the next year, the merchant won't have to worry about business."

However, he didn't have much time to revel in the joy of "making a profit."

He widened his eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "Right, I remember now—I heard before that some mountain villages would put a wooden bucket or something in the wild, waiting for bees to move in. Is that what you do too?"

After some time, Chu Jiu received a notification:

Aris was calculating that since Bean Village needed a merchant to sell tofu, and he was so familiar with this route, why not get more tofu made and let himself help sell it?

This human, why did he mention that supernatural user again? He’d heard him mention it three times in two days!

Unexpectedly, Marco coughed twice, showing a rare look of embarrassment, and even his voice lowered. "Me? Ha, I just went to watch the excitement."

Aris, who once held his beard up to the sky and cursed the chief as an old cripple, now had his waist bent low, his voice incredibly respectful. "Old sir, good evening. I hope I haven't disturbed your rest?"

After everything was prepared, Chu Jiu saw it was still early and thought about going to tell the old village chief about their plans, so the old man wouldn't worry if he couldn't find them later.

The next morning, Chu Jiu found Marco to discuss taking a carriage to Emerald Town.

"However, although this item is very valuable, it's not suitable for sending to Moonsea City."

Little Can: "Meow?"

Chu Jiu said candidly, "Honey. We have honey."

The old village chief couldn't help but be puzzled. "Who could this be? Everyone in the village is so familiar; except for you, little Jiu, everyone else knocks and says their name."

The old village chief, leaning on his cane, walked to the door and said in surprise, "Aris? What are you doing in our village?"

***

That's great! My 5,000 development points really weren't spent in vain!

At this moment, the young clerk on the side couldn't help but say, "Ah? Why is that? This thing is so rare."

After all, one could explore the map for ages and still not necessarily increase development by that much!

After a moment, the old village chief said to Chu Jiu, "Little Jiu, what do you think?"

This clearly meant for Chu Jiu to step aside.

Marco had a good temper; hearing the clerk say this, he didn't get angry but just gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

Although Chu Jiu felt the person looked somewhat familiar, they couldn't recognize who it was for a moment.

Chu Jiu suddenly remembered:

He lowered his voice. "This is honey only available in Moonsea City; it's very rare and high-grade. Old sir, doesn't your grandson love sweets the most? This honey is so sweet; one spoonful can sweeten a whole pot of water!"

Aris was somewhat surprised. But he didn't show anything on his face, instead smiling at Chu Jiu. "My apologies, my apologies."

He rested his chin on one hand, thinking for a long while before saying slowly:

According to Douglas’s introduction, Moonsea City was not only the city closest to Bean Village but also the one with the most developed trade and the widest variety of goods among the existing cities. If one wanted to inquire about all sorts of strange goods, Moonsea City was the most convenient place to go.

They had been sitting at the old village chief's house for only a few minutes when someone knocked on the door.

Aris added that he had returned to Emerald Town in deep regret and accidentally discovered that a new dessert was trending in town. The wealthy families in town loved this white, tender food, and anyone hosting a banquet would be proud to serve it as a dessert.

Marco spread his hands. "After all, this stuff can only be gathered in the mountains; no one can guarantee they'll find it."

Grandpa Du and the others had also made new bait with beeswax and honey, and soon they lured swarms of bees to fly into the movable-frame beehives.

Where had they seen this middle-aged man before—the one wearing a headscarf, sporting a small mustache, with dark, oily skin, hunched shoulders, and a face full of fawning smiles?

"Didn't you often say in the past that it's normal for young people to make some mistakes? Look, I've come to correct mine."

Speaking of this, Marco was a bit apologetic. "Actually, your village's tofu is so good, I've wanted to try selling that."

[Estimated honey harvest time: 15-20 days]

The first major problem was that it was absolutely impossible for them to have run out of the mine alone under those circumstances, leaving Chu Jiu behind.

Chu Jiu rolled their eyes inwardly, thinking this person’s little schemes were probably loud enough to be heard all the way in China.

And this kind of high-grade dessert was a product of our Bean Village!

Tofu isn't easy to ship because it spoils if left too long. Honey is different; a jar of honey can last for many years.

Chu Jiu hugged Little Can and walked back. "Actually, if it were before, I wouldn't have thought to follow and take a look."

"Bees are animals, after all, not wheat or flax that stay put once planted. They’re in this mountain this year and run to that forest next year; who can say for sure?"

Chu Jiu naturally had no objections, but was also a bit curious about what Marco was going to do in Moonsea City.

What if this person had bad intentions and kicked over the bean buckets or added ash to them?

Not only would we not destroy the hive or kill the bees, we would help the bees survive the winter without nectar and help the thriving colonies split.

"Every autumn, the big merchants in Moonsea City and other big buyers from other cities invite the town merchants there to introduce new products and such."