Chapter 55: Chapter 54: I’ll Take It All

The two females nodded enthusiastically at Si Shuo’s words. “Stringing bracelets is easy! We can have the males go catch some river clams for pearls, or we can gather pretty stones at the estuary. We could even carve certain fragrant woods into cute Beast Forms. We can make a lot.

Will you be losing out by offering one Crystal Stone for five bracelets?

How many do you want?”

The Crystal Stones they were referring to were First level. Normally, the bracelets at the stalls were exquisite and beautiful, selling for two Crystal Stones each. But when the females made them to sell to the stall owners or the officials, they only got one Crystal Stone for every ten bracelets.

Even so, not all the bracelets the females made would sell.

Si Shuo smiled. “There’s no limit. We’ll take as many as you can make.

You brought a lot of food with you this time, like potatoes and corn, right? You haven’t sold any of it yet, have you?”

Nong Xiu and Song Ting both shook their heads. “No, we haven’t. We were busy processing the hide, meat, and bones of the dire gray wolves. After that, we browsed the Workshop and attended the Beast God’s blessing. When we heard you talk about making snacks, we became even more determined not to sell them.”

“In that case, don’t sell the snacks to anyone else once you make them. I’ll buy them all!

Make the potatoes and Sweet Potatoes into chips, the corn into popcorn, and the fruits into dried fruit. Pack them all into small wicker baskets about this big.”

Si Shuo gestured, indicating a size similar to a coarse ceramic bowl. “For five baskets of this size, I’ll also give you one Crystal Stone.”

Whether it was chips or popcorn, both were light and airy. They looked like a large volume, but they didn’t actually use many ingredients.

Yesterday, while she and Gong You were gathering fruit, they had spotted and picked quite a few seasonings, including chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns.

At that thought, her eyes lit up. They had also discovered a large sugarcane grove yesterday. They could boil it down to make sugar and use it with fruit to make candied skewers.

With Beastmen who had an Ice Ability, there was no need to worry about the candied coating melting.

Conveniently, she had a planting guide that included instructions on how to grow sugarcane.

Si Shuo went inside, pretending to retrieve a stalk of sugarcane from her room. “There’s a lot of this fruit in the forest. The juice inside the hard rind is very light and sweet. Gather some, peel them, then crush the pulp and squeeze out the juice.

Put the juice in a clay pot and boil it until it’s thick. Then, take skewers of chopped fruit, about this long,” she demonstrated, “and roll them in the syrup. After that, just chill them a little…”

Those three snacks alone would be enough to fill half the booth. The rest of the space would be for all the pottery.

The recipes weren’t difficult, so the males and females from the Fengchuan Tribe who had come this time would be more than enough to handle the work.

The Beastmen of the Fengchuan Tribe were at a loss for how to express their gratitude. They had only sheltered Si Shuo and Xu Chi for a few days, yet they were receiving so much help in return.

They diligently learned how to make each snack, identified the chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, sugarcane, and the various popular fruits that were suitable for the candied skewers. Grabbing some clay pots, they hurried off, promising to come back early the next morning to help set up the booth.

Ji Liang also went to teach the Beastmen from the twenty tribes and families how to fire clay pots, also rushing to be ready for the booth tomorrow.

Gong You found some plant-based adhesive. Since they didn’t have suitable vines, they made bamboo rings instead, sealing the ends together with the glue.

Long poles for retrieving the rings, wicker baskets for holding the rings, more baskets for the pottery—the four of them were incredibly busy. To get it all done, Gong You even activated his Time Law, enveloping the entire courtyard in its effect.

After all, their booth was a hundred meters long and about ten meters wide. It would take a lot of items to fill such a large space.

The males were all skilled workers, fast and meticulous. Even the guards assigned to protect Si Shuo were roped into weaving wicker baskets.

Finally, when the moon was high in the sky, all the preparations were complete.

Si Shuo was exhausted, and she fell into a deep sleep curled up in Zhi Le’s arms.

Seeing how soundly she was sleeping, Zhi Le didn’t have the heart to disturb her, and simply held her as he fell asleep as well.

With so much on her mind, and having had a restful night, Si Shuo’s eyes snapped open the moment she heard stirring in the courtyard, and she quickly got up.

Zhi Le couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms for an affectionate embrace before letting her go to get dressed and wash up.

Xu Chi had already made breakfast, while Ji Liang and Gong You had begun leading the guards to transport everything to the booth.

The males from the Fengchuan Tribe had also arrived early to help.

Si Shuo didn’t even have time for breakfast. She just stuffed a corn pancake into her mouth and urged Xu Chi and Zhi Le to head to the Workshop with her.

Her eagerness was so apparent that the males didn’t have the heart to tease her. Zhi Le transformed into his Snow Leopard form and carried her to their booth.

Their booth was near the entrance, not far from the Workshop’s own guards. It was in a prime location with the highest foot traffic, before the crowds dispersed. You could say that anyone who entered the Workshop had to walk past their booth.

A Stone Ability User had erected high walls on both sides of the booth, and a one-meter-high low wall ran along the front to keep customers from crossing over.

Each hired male was responsible for a three-meter-wide section of the booth.

Another ten males were in charge of arranging the prizes and portioning the bamboo rings into baskets.

By the time Si Shuo arrived, the booth was nearly set. Starting about a meter back from the low wall, there were three rows of bracelets and necklaces. The fourth through seventh rows were filled with various snacks, and the three rows behind them displayed pottery of all shapes and sizes.

A crowd of Beastmen had already gathered. When they heard that only females and cubs were allowed to play, they became even more intrigued and rooted to the spot.

The price for the ring toss game was three Second rank Crystal Stones for one basket of rings, or five stones for two baskets. Each basket contained about forty bamboo rings.

Si Shuo had her hair tied up under a straw hat today. Her four males and the team of guards all formed a protective circle around her.

In front of her sat two baskets, filled to the brim with bamboo rings!

’In the modern world, people’s quality of life is so high, and there are so many holidays and events all year round that the special feeling of the New Year has faded. But what temple fair would be complete without a ring toss game?’

’The ceramic cups, bowls, and jars that modern people have no space for in their homes are priceless treasures to the Beastmen.’

She never got tired of this game.

Si Shuo stood in place, clasped her hands together, and muttered a quick prayer for good luck. Then she took a bamboo ring from the basket, aimed for a bracelet in the front row, and tossed it.

The crowd seemed to hold its breath. The bamboo ring landed perfectly over the bracelet, but before anyone could cheer, it bounced lightly and popped right off!

Si Shuo threw one ring after another, only managing to land two or three out of every ten. And that was her skill level from years of practice at street fairs back when she was in her prime.

But the Beastmen didn’t know any better. It just made them anxious to watch. Seeing their own females and cubs looking equally antsy, they all rushed to pay for a basket or two.

Before Si Shuo could even finish her two baskets of rings, the entire hundred-meter stretch of the booth was already packed with Beastmen paying Crystal Stones to play.

Fortunately, each female was surrounded by several of her own Beastmen, which created some space so the throwing wasn’t too chaotic. The atmosphere, however, was absolutely electric!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep