Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
9 AM, the twenty-fourth of August, 2020.
The first thing that Jiang He did when he woke up was run to the yard to look at his corn.
The 28 corn stalks were a tidy field that stood over two meters tall, with three thick, massive corn ears hanging on each plant.
[Ding!]
[Farm point +1]
Jiang He plucked off a corn ear and peeled off its husk to find that the corn kernels inside were crystalline. Its juices were overflowing with just a pinch, with a fragrant corn scent hitting Jiang He right in the nose.
“Awesome!”
“This corn ear is twice the size of normal corn, not to mention that there are three ears on each corn stalk. The yield alone is much higher.”
Normal corn stalks usually only yield two corn ears.
And of those two, one would be thick and large. The other, however, would be small because of malnutrition and even lacking in kernels.
Moreover, corns usually don’t smell sweet unless cooked. On the other hand, the corn Jiang He planted was wafting with sweet scents even before it was cooked—indeed, what could happen once it’s cooked?
Jiang He then stared at the corn for a second.
[Corn]
[Attribute: A thick, large stick of corn]
Jiang He: “???”
‘The System is being lewd!’
“Anyway, it looks like the corn grown from normal seeds doesn’t have special effects... Still, corn improves metabolism, lowers cholesterol, and blood sugar. Maybe the corn grown in my yard here would have such effects as well, but better.”
Jiang He hence plucked off one corn ear after another.
“I’ll keep two for myself.
“Eh? Why aren’t the corn stalks turning into ash?”
“Could it be because they are grown from normal seeds?”
Later, Jiang He decided he had to chop his own two corns into four parts.
He had no choice since both of them were too thick and huge, and it wouldn’t fit into his pot if he did not cut them.
It was only after he cooked the corn that he looked for a scythe and cut down the corn stalks, tying them and stacking them together before putting them on the greening zone outside the yard.
Since there were villagers who reared sheep, people usually put any excess food outside their house, so that the sheep owners could collect them and use it as fodder.
Nonetheless, the moment he put down the corn stalks, a gorgeous figure was approaching, calling out from the distance, “Jiang He...”
Scowling, Jiang He promptly let his mind run wild, imagining one child-unfriendly scene after another.
“...”
Wang Siyu blushed immediately. She quickly withdrew from his mind and spat, “Bleh! Shameless!”
“How am I being shameless?”
Jiang He replied seriously, “Wang Siyu, did you come here to scold me because you hadn’t had enough after scolding me for no reason yesterday? I rejected you all those years ago because you were about to take your high school exams, I didn’t want to affect your studies. You don’t have to hold such a grudge, alright?”
“You!”
Wang Siyu gritted her teeth.
But inside, her young maiden was pounding.
Jiang He was very handsome.
His skin was rather tanned since he worked at the farm since he was a child, but it only painted his good looks with the air of a tough guy—Wang Siyu wouldn’t have confessed her feelings to him otherwise.
And now that she had heard what he had to say, her mind promptly became confused.
“D-did he just explain why he dumped me?
“So he did it for my own good... and not because he didn’t like me!
“What if I confessed again... Bleh! I don’t want such a dirty-minded person!
“But... maybe he had feelings for me... which is why he is imagining things with me?”
When Wang Siyu looked up, Jiang He had already returned inside his yard.
She followed him inside, and immediately found Dumbo who was lying down in the middle of the yard and sleeping soundly.
“Dumbo!”
Wang Siyu’s face turned dark as she yelled, “You white-eyed wolf! What are you doing here and not staying at home?”
‘Who’s Dumbo?’
Jiang He turned around, saying nothing but thinking it. ‘It’s my dog. We watched over each other after Grandpa died, it just looks a little bit like your Dumbo.’
“Really?”
This, time, it was Wang Siyu’s turn to be stunned—she was mind-reading Jiang He again, and she realized that he wasn’t lying.
“No!”
“His subconscious revealed yesterday that Dumbo is at his home!”
Nonetheless, she stepped forward and carefully studied the dog that was fast asleep.
This wolfdog’s black coat was smooth and shiny. On the other hand, her Dumbo was over eight years old, with its coat drying up and the dog itself showing signs of aging. Moreover, the wolfdog before her was a little bigger than her Dumbo.
“Is it really not Dumbo?”
“What is going on?”
Wang Siyu used her mind-reading on Dumbo by reflex.
‘I’m not Dumbo, I’m not Dumbo, I’m really not Dumbo... I’m already dead, I’m already dead, she can’t recognize me...”
Wang Siyu was left thunderstruck once the brainwave feedback transferred into her mind. She stumbled three steps backward, spreading her hands and keeping Jiang He behind herself as she muttered quietly, “Oh no, Jiang He... You have to run. Your dog has evolved!”
Jiang He did a double take.
Wang Siyu’s reaction moved him a little, but his heart was pounding as well.
“I knew it! This girl knows something!”
“She could mind-read and knows about evolution... hold on, how does she know Dumbo has evolved?”
Eyeing Dumbo who was still feigning sleep on the ground, Jiang He rebuked it, “Alright, you can stop playing dead. Scoot.”
Arf!
Dumbo hence leapt up, giving Jiang He a very sneaky but human pleased look.
‘My acting is too awesome. Wang Siyu actually didn’t recognize me.’
Puffing its chest and rearing its head, it dashed into the yard.
Wang Siyu only recovered half a beat, and she turned to Jiang He with a dead serious look.
“My hunch was right, Jiang He. You are an Awakened... your superpower must be beast taming, yes? There’s no way Dumbo would listen to you after evolving otherwise.”
“Still, now that Dumbo has evolved, it is Feral and shouldn’t be allowed to stay in the village.”
“Evolved Ferals are very dangerous, and their ferocity grows with their evolution. I have to notify my squad to take it away so that it won’t hurt the villages and cause unnecessary panic.”
Jiang He: “...”
“What?
“Superpower?
“Beast taming?”
Jiang He turned to Dumbo who was digging a hole in the yard and pondered.
The dog was a glutton. Why else would it choose a new master and snuggle up to him?
And superpowers? Like he had any.
However, Jiang He could try to use this opportunity to trick Wang Siyu, and he just might be able to obtain further information.
And yet, Jiang He realized with a start when he remembered what had happened to Two Dog Li.
“No. Wang Siyu must be someone from the country’s secret bureau. Would she abduct me and use me as a lab rat? Should I kill her to keep her quiet? But that’s not really possible, but maybe...
“I could try seducing her?”