Chapter 748: A New Crop
Inside the devastated Semi-Farming tribe, Han Cheng, the commander of the victorious side, was exercising one of the privileges of a victor—plundering the spoils.
In one of the rooms, Han Cheng found crops stored by the people of this tribe.
He eagerly grabbed a handful. The round and smooth feel immediately cooled his excited and nervous heart by half.
From the texture alone, he could tell that this crop was not the wheat or rice he had been longing for. Instead, it resembled a bean.
And to be precise, it wasn’t soybeans!
If it were soybeans, he would feel like hitting someone.
Han Cheng thought so to himself, but he was certain these were not soybeans—not only because the round objects were smaller than the soybeans from his tribe, but also because in the dim light of the room, he could tell the color wasn’t yellow.
Grabbing a small handful of the unknown beans, Han Cheng quickly walked to the door of the low house of the Semi-Farming tribe.
These round things were grayish-brown and smaller than soybeans.
But he could confirm it was some bean.
Staring at the gray beans in his hand, he carefully searched his memory. After a moment, he recalled some related memories.
If there was no mistake, these beans in his hand were gray peas, known in his hometown as “liao peas.”
They were called liao peas because when ground, they made excellent feed for cattle and horses, suitable for fattening them up and providing extra meals during busy farming seasons.
It was a decent crop, but since Han Cheng had initially hoped for something else, learning the truth now naturally brought some disappointment.
However, this disappointment didn’t last long.
After all, no matter what, his tribe had acquired a new crop that could be planted on a large scale.
Although the name of the bean wasn’t very appealing, humans could also eat it, aside from feeding cattle and horses.
If placed in a pottery jar with a lid and allowed to ferment for a while, liao peas would turn into a paste that tasted quite good.
But what excited Han Cheng wasn’t that way of eating.
What thrilled him was soaking the liao peas in water, then grinding them with a small stone mill to get liao pea flour.
This flour could be used to make “liangfen” — a cold jelly that was perfect for cooling down in summer!
Liangfen was scraped into strips, then served with fragrant vinegar, sesame paste, chili oil, salt, and a small handful of cilantro. After mixing with chopsticks, a bowl of cold tossed liangfen that made Han Cheng drool just thinking about it was ready.
In a time without ice, this was truly a delicious summer treat.
Not only can liangfen, but also liao pea flour, be used to make cellophane noodles.
In later times, not only sweet potatoes and potatoes—high-starch crops—were used for noodles, but even corn could be made into noodles.
Since liao peas have a decent starch content, they too could be made into noodles.
However, because their yield was far lower than that of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn—big staples in the crop world—making noodles from liao peas was rather costly, so liao pea noodles were rare.
Once converted into noodles, the ways to eat them multiplied instantly.
Pan-fried tofu and eggs, chopped up and mixed with chopped noodles and chives, make excellent fillings for dumplings or steamed buns, or even pan-fried buns.
There was also the famous dish of pork stewed with noodles served in a large bowl…
As memories of the various ways to eat liao peas floated up, Han Cheng’s mood brightened immediately. Looking again at the dull gray beans in his hand, his feelings suddenly changed.
“Bring all of these back to the tribe. Not a single one left behind!”
Stimulated by the thought of noodles and liangfen, Han Cheng shouted with heroic spirit.
After gaining more than three hundred invaders, the Semi-Farming tribe, just having experienced a battle, did not become desolate—instead, it became even livelier.
Many people from the sheep tribe were tied up in piles in the courtyard, watching these brutal invaders come in and out of their tribe’s houses.
Most looked pale and trembling—some scared, others starving.
Since winter had begun, under the wise female shaman’s call, they had been conserving food.
They hadn’t even had breakfast this morning before such chaos broke out. After fleeing desperately, they were already extremely hungry.
In the courtyard, the smell of food drifted—this was the Green Sparrow allied army cooking in large pots.
Nearby, someone was dragging the corpses of fallen Semi-Farming tribe members outside, piling them crookedly.
While cleaning the bodies and cooking, none of the reckless people seemed to feel anything was wrong.
The women of the Semi-Farming tribe holding children were terrified because, under orders from the leader demon, they and their children were all pulled up and pushed into the house.
Separated from the group, they looked back in fear and helplessness, trying to seek help from their tribesmen.
But all they met were equally terrified and helpless eyes of those tied up.
When these frightened women reached the room with a fire burning, they became suspicious and uncertain.
Because those cruel people hadn’t killed them or their children, instead, they tied their hands in front of them.
Seeing their starving, crying children, they hastily took out bowls to feed them…
The female shaman of the Semi-Farming tribe, her whole body aching, was in a daze—her tribe was finished.
The leader was dead, no one escaped…
Though in this daze, when she saw these evil people dragging her tribe’s women and children into the house, she grew scared.
Because of previous shamans, she knew that some tribes killed the babies of conquered tribes, or worse, ate them!
This cruel tribe before her… she dared not think further.
She and others who saw this scene grew extremely fearful, mingled with a more profound hatred.
This feeling lingered for a while, then abruptly stopped.
Because the demon who seemed to lead these monsters was personally serving hot food, bringing bowl after bowl into the room.
That room was where their women and children had been locked up not long ago.
What were they doing?
It didn’t look like they intended to kill.
If they wanted to kill, they wouldn’t bring such precious food, especially in winter when food was even more scarce.
Their people must have more food now, since they were poorly fed before, and even milk was scarce.
The female shaman thought this, then grew more confused.
She realized she didn’t understand what the man was doing.
Just like before, she never expected him to be so despicable as to arrange people like that.
Since meeting this tribe, her proud wisdom always felt insufficient.
She often felt like she was being rubbed into the ground.
She didn’t know Han Cheng’s intentions, but Han Cheng knew.
On one hand, he didn’t want these infants to freeze or starve to death in this weather.
Compared to adults, they were the most innocent.
Though this feeling seemed a bit hypocritical, Han Cheng truly felt it.
Though he had some precious guilt for the casualties under his leadership, if given the choice again, he would do the same without hesitation.
No way around it—there’s no “easy” in an adult’s world, especially for someone leading a tribe’s development.
On the other hand, this behavior was to appease and slowly win the hearts of these people.
Having just committed a massacre here, Han Cheng naturally didn’t expect them to be instantly grateful.
That wasn’t realistic.
But doing this did have some effect.
Doing such things repeatedly would slowly change their feelings toward his tribe.
Though these people would eventually be enslaved, Han Cheng wanted them to be slaves without complaints, like the people of the Flying Snake tribe.
Han Cheng’s approach was efficient.
The terrified captives of the Semi-Farming tribe, after seeing this, although still confused, understood one thing: these cruel people wouldn’t kill them, for now.
When these cruel people had all eaten, and bowl after bowl of hot soup surprisingly appeared before them, the suspicious people felt a little more settled.
The female shaman felt dazed, partly from cold and hunger, partly from these people’s unpredictable actions.
Though dazed, after her ropes were untied and under armed guards, she ate without hesitation—because she wanted to live, wanted to see what they intended, wanted to see the secret behind this tribe’s strength.
While the female shaman ate quickly, Han Cheng inside the house was observing this somewhat old, primitive woman.
From a few sheep tribe slaves rescued earlier, he learned her identity.
This woman’s status fit well with a shaman. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel✶fire.net
This thought appeared in Han Cheng’s mind after understanding her role in the Semi-Farming tribe.
The shaman was old, lived alone, lacked a warm bed, and looked pitiful.
This woman looked younger than the shaman. Sending her to warm the shaman’s bed wasn’t exactly a “beauty suppressing a flower,” but more like “an old ox eating young grass.”
Moreover, because of her special status in the tribe, she was well fed and plump.
From the previous bride searches by the shaman, she should catch the shaman’s eye…
The more Han Cheng thought, the more feasible the plan seemed—after all, the sunset glow is the most beautiful.
“Do you think that woman is pretty?” Han Cheng asked his Eldest senior brother, pointing to the Half-farming tribe’s female shaman, who was wolfing down food.
The senior brother seriously looked for a while, nodded: “Pretty.”
Then suddenly looked at Han Cheng with a strange expression.
That look made Han Cheng shiver.
With a dark line on his forehead, Han Cheng quickly waved to clarify the scary misunderstanding: “For the shaman, for the shaman…”
Understanding Han Cheng’s meaning, the Eldest senior brother thought seriously for a moment, his eyes lighting up, then nodded…
At the Green Sparrow tribe’s gate, the shaman, wearing a domineering tiger skin coat, was staring eastward, suddenly sneezed hard, with snot bubbles flying.
Wiping his nose, the shaman didn’t dare stay longer, because the Divine Child told him people tend to sneeze when they catch a cold.
He didn’t want to die at all. Watching the tribe thrive day by day was a joy he couldn’t get enough of.
So, back in his house, he quickly poured himself a steaming cup of tea, holding it with both hands as he sat on the warm kang (heated bed), sweating profusely, and then finally relaxed.
Not knowing if the Divine Child and others had arrived at that tribe, if they had conquered it, or if they were injured…
Meanwhile, Han Cheng and the others, being nagged by the shaman, were packing up to return to their tribe.
The Semi-Farming tribe had many people—after losing forty-three from the leader’s death and those killed fleeing, including adults and children, 223 remained!
This number was about five times the population when Han Cheng first arrived at the Green Sparrow tribe!
Among them, 131 were adults—36 men and 95 women.
There were also 92 minors.
Adding five sheep tribe submissives and four sheep tribe people who never surrendered, they gained a total of 232 people!
Meanwhile, the Green Sparrow allied army lost only one person.
This person was a new member from the sheep tribe.
When killing the Semi-Farming tribe people at the eastern entrance, he was knocked down and trampled to death…