Chapter 35: Improving Grain Varieties

Chapter 35: Improved Crop Strains

When Zhao An revealed his ability to Hu Sheng, it might have been a moment of impulsiveness, but after confessing his power to accelerate plant growth, he felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart.

At the same time, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Although Hu Sheng had been gentle earlier and they had rested for a long time on the flower meadow, his young body still needed more rest. Seeing Zhao An yawn, his reddened eyes glistening with tears, Hu Sheng brought him to his own room.

His room was located in this wooden pavilion, furnished with a bamboo bed only two feet wide. The rest of the space was taken up by bows and arrows, a saber, and a full suit of armor hanging on the wall. It was a room stripped of personal comforts, befitting a military commander.

He helped Zhao An sit on his bed and said, "Rest here for now. I’ll wake you when it’s time for dinner."

Hu Sheng had already taken a nap at Zhao An’s house earlier that day. The thousands of untrained people he had brought back hadn’t even set up a camp yet, so he couldn’t stay with Zhao An any longer and had to go out to oversee everything.

Zhao An had also seen those people earlier and knew that Hu Sheng’s decision to leave them behind and come find him that morning was already impulsive. Naturally, he didn’t want to become a burden now. He lay down, took Hu Sheng’s hand, kissed it, and said, "Go ahead. I’m really tired."

After the door closed, Zhao An opened his eyes and looked at the light streaming in from the window. He yawned again, but his mind was too excited to sleep. His thoughts kept returning to the idea of improving crop varieties, so he took out the small pouch he always carried in his sleeve and retrieved a strawberry seed.

The black strawberry seed looked like a plump sesame seed. Zhao An held it in his palm, and soon a strawberry seedling sprouted from his hand. Within a few breaths, strawberries grew on the vine. Finally, the vine withered, leaving behind eight vibrant red strawberries the size of eggs. Their radiant color resembled the purest pigeon's blood rubies, making them look incredibly delicious, and their enticing fragrance filled the entire room.

He picked the eight strawberries and arranged them one by one on the wooden chest beside the bed. Then he ate one—its taste was as sweet as he had imagined.

He hadn’t deliberately cultivated them, but the first batch of strawberries from the wild plants he found in the mountains in early spring had only been the size of thumbs. Now, through careful selection, he could produce strawberries as large as eggs. These larger strawberries yielded fewer fruits, and after bearing fruit once, the vine would exhaust its nutrients, unlike in spring when a single vine could produce fruit multiple times.

After eating one strawberry, Zhao An carefully examined the remaining seven and picked out the three seeds he thought were the largest. He ate those three strawberries and left the other four for Hu Sheng to enjoy when he returned.

Having used the last bit of his supernatural ability, Zhao An yawned again, feeling even more tired. He lay back down, the sweet taste of strawberries lingering in his mouth. His mind wandered to thoughts of selling these large strawberries to Ruyi Restaurant next year and how much he should raise the price. He thought fifty wen wouldn’t be too expensive—after all, the finest rubies could cost dozens of times more than lower-quality ones. As he mused, his thoughts gradually drifted away.

Meanwhile, Hu Sheng had gathered the thousands of people and ordered them to stand up. He had them line up and go to the nearby forest to each cut down a wooden stake and drive it into the ground in front of them. He instructed them to pack down the earth within a three-foot radius around their stake—this would be their temporary living space.

Once the people had settled down and stopped moving around randomly, Hu Sheng and his men gave each person a number and made them memorize it.

Hu Sheng worked efficiently, but by the time the afternoon had passed, he had only finished assigning numbers. As darkness fell, none of the people had eaten yet. But Hu Sheng had to return, so he left the task of preparing food to Ma Chuan, who had been following him closely. Hu Sheng still held considerable authority among these rebellious Miao tribespeople, and assigning Ma Chuan some responsibilities would help win his loyalty sooner.

Returning to his room, Hu Sheng found Zhao An still asleep and quickly went over to wake him. "A'an, wake up. Don’t sleep too long, or you won’t be able to sleep tonight."

Zhao An drowsily opened his eyes and saw his lover beside him. He initially wanted to share a sweet kiss, but as soon as he moved, he felt a sudden urge to urinate. Nature’s call was unavoidable, and since he wanted to spend his life with Hu Sheng, he had to endure it. Biting his lip, Zhao An lowered his head and asked, "I need to relieve myself. Can you take me to the latrine?"

"Ha ha ha." Hu Sheng laughed, noticing Zhao An’s ears turning red. He took out the chamber pot from under the bed and said, "The latrine is outside. You can use this for now."

Zhao An took the chamber pot with three fingers and lowered his voice again. "Can you step outside for a moment?"

But Hu Sheng simply turned his back and said, "I’ve already seen and kissed every part of you. There’s no need to be shy."

Perhaps it was because the urge was too strong, or maybe Hu Sheng’s words had an effect, but Zhao An stared at Hu Sheng’s broad back as he untied his pants.

After the initial urgency subsided, Zhao An heard the sound of his stream and saw Hu Sheng’s broad back. He felt even more embarrassed than if Hu Sheng had been watching him, and his face flushed bright red.

Fortunately, Hu Sheng didn’t tease him further and acted as if he hadn’t noticed his expression. With a calm demeanor, he led Zhao An downstairs, where they fetched hot water from the kitchen to wash their faces. Then they ate a pot of salted pork congee cooked by Li Dake’s wife.

Her cooking couldn’t compare to Uncle Hai’s, but Zhao An, exhausted from the day, had a good appetite and downed two large bowls. He suddenly remembered the strawberries he had saved for Hu Sheng were still upstairs, so he hurried up to retrieve them. Presenting them to Hu Sheng like a treasure, he said, "Look, these are the strawberries I improved. Aren’t they much bigger than before? It took me less than three months to develop these, and I wasn’t even trying my hardest. Give me half a month, and I can definitely grow yams with twice the yield per acre."

But Hu Sheng only saw Zhao An’s red lips moving and remembered the energy with which he had run up and down the stairs earlier. Suddenly, he asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

Zhao An also noticed the sudden shift in the atmosphere, but he nodded anyway, feeling that the afternoon’s activities had indeed left him wanting more. Sure enough, he heard Hu Sheng say in a husky voice, "In that case, since it’s already dark, let’s go upstairs."