Chapter 401 (1/2)

Anxiety

Qi Qi had reminded him about the precious Thousand Grain Gold in his backyard.

The more precious something was, the more fragile it was. Plants like that require constant care. Thinking back at the little seedlings and the number of days he had been cooped up in his house, Shao Xuan heaved a sigh. There was no hope.

When Qi Qi saw his response, she suspected that the Elder had probably forgotten about the Thousand Grain Gold and did not even do anything about it. If he were someone else, she would’ve probably hit and scolded them. However, this was the tribe’s Elder, the position below the shamaness and the chief and the owner of the Thousand Grain Gold. Of course she dared not scold him.

No matter how angry she was, all Qi Qi could do was take a deep breath and suppress all her feelings. Then again, the crops she planted had failed so she was in no position to chide him either.

It was a pity. This little Elder was too young to sense the importance of the Thousand Grain Gold. Qi Qi lamented to herself.

“Let’s go check it out.” Shao Xuan tidied up the pieces of leaves he had been using to take notes then went to the backyard.

In the past, when Duo Kang heard Shao Xuan was planting something precious, he had brought people over to build a fence with cloth wrapped around the plot of land. This was to prevent naughty children from kicking rocks inside. That was why every person who passed by could not see the inside. The more curious people did not dare look into his house either, the position of the Elder was an intimidating one.

He had not had much hope but when he opened the back door and looked into the yard, he saw many fresh green seedlings swaying in the breeze.

The last time he checked, only half of them germinated. Right now, there were more than eighty of them. Thirty more had germinated since the last time he checked.

They were not tall, only a little taller than his ankle. Although they grew very slowly and did not look too sprightly, at least they were alive.

“What…” Qi Qi was so shocked she did not know what to do.

Hurrying forward, Qi Qi looked at the ground. No one had watered them nor given them fertiliser. The ground was even cracked in some parts.

“Elder, how...how did you plant them?” she asked.

“Same as what you all did. You watched me too. After they germinated, I watered them a little but I haven’t used any of the fertiliser.” Shao Xuan pointed at a tank of fertiliser, embarrassed. It contained all the fertiliser Qi Qi had given him.

Qi Qi had told him to put the fertiliser when the seedlings had grown to a certain size but in the midst of all his work, he had forgotten. With the cloud patterns taking up so much of his attention, he had long forgotten about them.

After looking at the seedlings, she said with guilt, “Elder, we have let you down!”

“Why? Did something happen to yours?” asked Shao Xuan.

Her face reddened, not knowing what to say. It wasn’t just ‘something’, they were all starting to wilt when they were growing fine some time ago!

Qi Qi brought Shao Xuan to all the plots of land from the top to the bottom of the hill. It was the same throughout.

“They were all growing well initially and everyone was so happy. But slowly, they all wilted…” Qi Qi told him about the situation.

Shao Xuan did not know why. Qi Qi and the rest had taken such good care of them, they were so healthy when they germinated. Why did they wilt?

Were they over-watering it?

Qi Qi and the rest had prepared fertilisers for it and watched the plants every day. There were so many people too. When they heard Shao Xuan say that he found it at a place with dryer soil, they decreased the watering frequency and only watered according to need.

Was it not adapting to the environment here?

They were all germinating and growing leaves in the beginning, only wilting later. One by one, they died- Qi Qi and the rest were heartbroken. A few of the older farmers hadn’t slept in days, brainstorming ideas and carrying out rescue plans. However, the situation did not improve and out of the ten plots, only about twenty were left. While they were a lot taller than Shao Xuan’s seedlings, they looked weathered and unhealthy.

Shao Xuan could not explain it.