CHAPTER 168 - A-NUTTER HOT SUMMER
🙞❤︎🙜
Summer was the best season back on Earth since it was my school vacation time and my family and I always had the most awesome overseas trips.
On Emberstone Farm, summer was the season of scorching hot weather and I was a sweaty mess all day long.
“It’s not my imagination that it’s hotter this year, is it?” I said.
“Last year's summer was cooler,” said Prince Baiyu. “We’re calling these the dog days of summer since astrologers say that the dog star is on the rise, causing the fire element to be in the ascendant.”
We were in the reception room of the second courtyard.
The house’s temperature controls made it much cooler inside compared to the furnace-like heat of the outdoors. I had also added plenty of mist fans in the rooms which made things pleasantly cool, and the scholar tree in the middle of the courtyard that I had placed in honor of Scholar Wu gave plenty of shade.
Scholar Wu was currently holding classes in one of the rooms. The kids were all getting individualized tutoring and seemed happy enough, though I had heard them complaining about their homework several times.
Earlier, I had peered into the room and saw them all busy reading books or practicing their writing on cheap paper.
Prince Baiyu and I were waiting for them to finish so we could go out to Forage in the [Golden Harvest Banana Grove]. The last time I had visited it, I had been chased off by the monkeys and my own cowardice, but this time I had backup in the form of Prince Baiyu and his bodyguards.
Meanwhile, we made small talk about the weather and its effect on the crops.
“I can’t believe I had to place a canopy over the tea plants so early.” Shaking my head in disbelief, I took another sip of the iced lemonade with honey. “I’m afraid the tea won’t be of good quality this time either.”
Prince Baiyu smiled. “That’s just as well. Your tea is already in great demand. I fear the consequences if it becomes even more popular. Shuye has been threatening to run away to the mountains with his family.”
“What? People are still asking him for more tea?”
He nodded. “I’ve asked the clan to send more clerks. They’ll handle it.”
“The demand should die down soon since no one but those two people got any skills from drinking the tea.”
“I doubt it very much. The clan doctors have certified that they do have the skills they claim. Everyone will want to try it even though the odds are low.”
While we were talking, the kids finished today’s class and called out to us as they exited their classroom.
“Teacher, we’re ready to meet the monkeys!” said Lari.
Prince Baiyu and I joined them, and together we walked to the front gate where the flying carriages were waiting. Normally, we would just walk to the grove but Prince Baiyu arranged for more comfortable transportation because of the incredible heat.
It was a tight squeeze inside the carriage with me, my apprentices, Prince Baiyu, and Scholar Wu inside. The prince’s guards flew beside the carriage. There was a moment of hilarity when Prince Baiyu told me I could sit on his lap. I opted to sit on Scholar Wu’s lap instead for propriety's sake, and he spent the entire twenty-minute trip pouting. The trip would’ve been a lot faster, but I asked them to move as slow as a snail when taking off and landing since it was scary for me when the carriage flew too fast.
As usual, the clan members claimed there was no such place as the [Golden Harvest Banana Grove]. I reckoned the place was in stealth mode, so I had to help them out by guiding them there.
“There it is!” I pointed at the right spot below us.
The driver saluted me and started the descent.
“I see something,” said Scholar Wu. She sounded extremely surprised.
“You get used to new places popping up now and then when you travel with Violet,” said Prince Baiyu.
We alighted one by one and marveled at the mini jungle in front of us.
[Golden Harvest Banana Grove:
Wild banana trees are growing haphazardly in this corner of the forest. The tropical microclimate here is caused by a magical hot spring.]
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The dense jungle was a verdant maze of towering tropical trees, their broad leaves casting dappled shadows on the damp earth below. It was quiet the last time I was here, but today the jungle was alive with the raucous chatter and acrobatic antics of the monkeys who were swinging from branch to branch or resting under the shade of the canopy, with mothers cradling their young in their arms.
“My lord, we’ll cast a shield over the group. Please, everyone, stay close to me.” The head of Prince Baiyu’s guard took out a crystal from his interspatial storage bag and activated it. A hemisphere of light surrounded us, and he demonstrated that he could move the shield by waving his pacing back and forth with the crystal in his hand.
The monkeys eyed us warily but did not approach. We circled the mini jungle and Foraged what we could. Mo, with her uncanny knack for finding more than the rest of us, was able to get [Yam], [Lemongrass], and [Taro] in addition to the [Bananas] that the rest of us Foraged. I remembered where the [Vegetable Fern] and [Ginger] grew and gathered that.
Of course, the bulk of our haul was bananas of every shape and size.
[Banana:
Rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber, the banana grows year-round in tropical climates. The golden peel hides soft, creamy flesh that is sweet without being cloying. Finely chopped banana peels can be placed at the base of a plant to repel aphids.]
We finished quickly since the place wasn’t large, and ended up at the hot spring in the middle of the grove.
Prince Baiyu and Scholar Wu dipped their hands in the hot spring and pronounced it the perfect temperature for outdoor bathing.
“This is a wonderful find. The nearby villages will be pleased,” said Scholar Wu.
“I reported the location ages ago, but people are calling it the ‘disappearing jungle’ because they say it's really hard to locate,” I said.
Scholar Wu looked around thoughtfully. “These monkeys are rather high level for wild spirit animals. They probably instinctively set up barriers to defend their home.”
Prince Baiyu and the others nodded.
“That makes perfect sense,” I said. “Primates are known to be smart.”
Lari politely waited until the adults were finished talking before saying, “Teacher, may I fish here?”
“What? The water is way too hot, there can’t be fish here,” said Mo.
Lari gave me a pleading look and I nodded. I thought Mo was right, but there was no harm in trying.
Lari, Kharli, and I cast our lines while the rest just watched.
“I got one!” said Lari.
“That’s impossible!” Mo scoffed.
But she was wrong.
When Lari pulled up the item he had fished everyone burst into laughter.
“Oh my gosh!” I laughed so hard I could barely stay upright.
“Some poor girl must have lost that when she was bathing here,” said Mo. She was red-faced from laughing.
Kharli put a finger on her lips and pretended to shush Mo. “...Didn’t Teacher say she bathed here?”
Lari screamed wordlessly and dropped the bright red piece of clothing on the ground as though it had scalded him.
I picked it up. “It’s not mine!”
Scholar Wu took it from me and examined it. Her lips were still twitching when she said, “This piece of underwear seems to be from a lady of the Monkey clan. Look, there’s the character for monkey embroidered here.”
Now Lari seemed interested. “Maybe I should go and try to find the owner?”
We could all see that he was thinking, “I hope she’s pretty.”
He immediately regretted saying that because throughout the walk back to the carriage and the ride back to the farm, the girls teased him about being a monkey boy who was getting married to a monkey girl and having monkey babies.
***
The days grew hotter and hotter until I declared that there would be no work in the house during the day. The kitchen stoves and ovens were only used during the night and whatever housework had to be done was postponed until the sun set. The household slept during the day and worked at night, except for the farm chores, of course. We did those at dawn when the heat was still bearable.
The clan members proved to be quite hardy and hardly seemed to notice the heat. Scholar Wu explained that they were born with a greater ability to control their body’s temperature compared to humans.
Today, the rice had finally grown tall enough for us to flood the rice fields, turning them into proper rice paddies. Then we added the [Rice Carp] and [Cleaner Shrimp].
[Rice-fish Culture System:
The water in a rice paddy can be used for more than just growing rice. Farmers can also stock it with fish in order to secure an easy source of protein. Furthermore, the fish will improve soil quality by softening the soil and providing nutrients via their excrement. It is also good for pest management since fish eat insects, snails, fungus, weeds, etc.]
“Oh, thank goodness we’re done!” I shielded my eyes from the sun with a hand and looked up at the tree we were standing under. “The leaves look so wilted. Do you think we should start watering all the trees here, not just our crops?
Lari frowned. “Scholar Wu said it wasn’t necessary.”
“She said that a week ago. They might need it now.” Kharli plucked off a leaf from a low-hanging branch. “Look, the edges seem almost burnt.”
“Let’s go ask her,” suggested Mo.
“How are your classes going?” I asked them.
“It’s fun!” Mo looked surprised. “It’s not like the classes we had at the orphanage because Scholar Wu lets us learn on our own and she doesn’t mind if we’re slow.”
“Great. Okay, ask her about the trees, but rest and cool off for the rest of the day. If we need to, we can water the trees tomorrow.” I used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off my face. “See you later!”
We parted ways, and back at the [Ranch House] I cooled off with a long shower and put on comfortable shorts and a T-shirt. Then I turned the air conditioning to full blast since I was going to start preparing for the [World Boss Event] again today.
Of course, I had already established an explosive arrow production line with my apprentices and enhanced a lot of [Firebird Feathers] using [Automatic Mode]. Now that I had enough of them to fill a room, it was time to take those [Firebird Feathers] and turn them into [War Fans].
[War Fan:
A magical weapon favored by the Vermillion Bird clan. Its base is made from lightweight wood, providing a sturdy structure for the magnificent Firebird Feathers. The fan greatly amplifies a mage's power in battle.]