The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 91 Ambitious
“Wheat.” Ling Chengen was in a good mood, so he talked to him a bit more. “However, this kind of wheat is much taller than the ones I’ve seen before, probably because it’s a different variety.”

"No matter what, you've done me a huge favor. With this wheat field that looks like a small forest, not to mention the Hanshan and Shilin tribes, even if the population were several times larger, no one would starve to death this winter."

Ling Chengen looked at Bai Qingyu quietly: "However, the wheat in this field is not yet ripe. It is estimated that the harvest will not begin until around mid-May."

"Before that, we need to confirm one thing."

Bai Qingyu was also shocked by what she had just said. She looked down at the long stalks in her hand and held the heavy ears of wheat in her left hand. The stems and leaves of these wheat plants were still green, but once May arrived, with plenty of sunshine and rain, they would turn from green to yellow in just a few days, becoming the hope for this beast plain to survive the harsh winter.

The confusion on Bai Qingyu's face gradually disappeared. When she raised her head, she asked in confusion, "Confirm what?"

“These tree wheat crops are widely distributed, likely covering the eastern and central regions. There are many tribes in the surrounding area, and we need to negotiate with them in advance to ensure that there will be no trouble during the May harvest.”

"Moreover, the harvest is very weather-dependent. All the harvesting work must be completed after the wheat is ripe and before the rain falls, otherwise the wheat will become damp and sprout, or even worse, it will mold and rot."

"Sprouting is fine, you can still eat it. But once it gets moldy, you can't eat it anymore."

"Even if thousands of orcs from the Stone Forest and Cold Mountain tribes were to work together, they might not be able to complete all the harvesting before the rainy season arrives."

Bai Qingyu plucked a few blades of grass, tied the wheat stalks together, and handed them to Ling Chengen beside her: "Can I leave these with you for now?"

Ling Chengen looked at the neatly bundled wheat, took it, and put it into his spatial storage: "Don't you have any doubts about what I just said?"

Bai Qingyu shook her head, saying with absolute certainty, "There's no need. You wouldn't joke about something so important."

“There are indeed many tribes around here. They have never harvested this tree wheat before. Like us, they probably don’t know that the fruit of this plant can be stored as food.”

Bai Qingyu knew the importance of food to the orcs. Before Ling Chengen suggested that this wild grass was edible, no tribe paid attention to it, and these tree wheat were worthless.

However, once the news leaks out, the surrounding tribes will definitely not remain indifferent.

If they exploit information asymmetry and harvest as much barnyardgrass as possible, they can indeed stockpile a large amount of food this year, but what about next year?
While stockpiling grain could indeed feed their people, the surrounding area was filled with starving orcs. If someone with malicious intent incited a dozen or so restless tribes nearby, even if Hanshan and Shilin joined forces, they would absolutely have no chance of holding onto such a large amount of food...

Therefore, Ling Chengen's concerns are valid, and these issues need to be resolved before the tree wheat is harvested.

Even if they worked day and night with their strength of several thousand, they would not be able to harvest all the wheat on this land. It would be better to use this uncollectible grain to exchange for more allies.

Or perhaps... a subordinate tribe.

When Bai Qingyu thought of this answer, her heart skipped a beat.

He watched Ling Chengen walk away, his gaze lingering on her.

Although he had long known that the chieftain and the young chieftain of Shilin were no ordinary people, and that it was only a matter of time before Shilin developed into a large tribe in the central region, he had never realized as clearly and profoundly as he did now that Ling Chengen was the one destined to lead Shilin to glory.

The most important indicator of becoming a large tribe is its population.

All large tribes have populations exceeding ten thousand.

The major challenge of food shortages has now been overcome.

With food available, more people can be attracted.

With a population, more things can be done.

Bai Qingyu raised her right hand, slightly shielding herself from the dazzling light coming from the east. In the darkness of her palm, she could vaguely make out each step Ling Chengen had taken, each step leading to the ultimate goal of her ambition.

So what's there to hesitate about?

What attracted his attention from beginning to end was this ambitious man in front of him.

Bai Qingyu's lips suddenly curved into a smile beneath the half of her face that was covered by her right hand. Her long hair, which was scattered on her shoulders and back, was blown away by the wind on the plain.

“You can leave the negotiations with the surrounding tribes to me.” Bai Qingyu said as Ling Chengen walked back. “However, before we negotiate with these tribes, we need to determine our bottom line.”

Ling Chengen, unaware of what he was thinking, suddenly had a determined look in his eyes: "Of course it's possible. If you can complete the negotiations with the surrounding tribes, I'll have more time to solve the salt supply problem."

Bai Qingyu: "How much has the price of salt increased this time in the trade market?"

“5 Blue Crystals,” Ling Chengen said solemnly.

Bai Qingyu frowned deeply: "This time the price has risen even higher than I expected."

Ling Chengen said gently, "I took it upon myself to reduce the purchase quota of three tribes by one-third, so the salt supply problem needs to be solved first this month. If you are willing to help, I can save you a lot of trouble."

Bai Qingyu looked at her with some concern: "Do you have any ideas? The salt supply problem is not so easy to solve. A month is really too tight."

“If Bai Xi and Chong Zhen disagree, they won’t cut their share by a third. Ultimately, this isn’t just your responsibility.”

"You don't have to carry all the burdens on your own shoulders."

Ling Chengen simply smiled at him, a hint of something deeper in his eyes: "Perhaps it's not as difficult to solve as you think?"

Bai Qingyu was full of doubt, and before he could think about it, Ling Chengen's voice came from ahead: "Let's go, it's time to return."

Bai Qingyu quickly caught up with her and suddenly asked, "Do you want to go to the beach? We're already in the eastern region, not far from the eastern sea. We should be able to get there by tonight."

Ling Chengen turned to look into his eyes, where faint blood vessels could be seen in the whites: "Aren't you tired? Although there are indeed many things that need to be resolved, health is the foundation of everything. Rest up and come back later, it'll be the same."

Bai Qingyu grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop: "Then let's find a place to rest nearby. I don't want to go back so soon. Besides, I am a little tired right now."

Ling Chengen looked down at his wrist, which was being held in a clamp, and fell silent: "..."

Bai Qingyu's straightforward and frank words reveal his true intentions.

"Is that alright?" Bai Qingyu pressed.

Ling Chengen sighed, somewhat helplessly, and said, "Since you've put it that way, how could I possibly refuse you?"

Bai Qingyu's smile gradually widened, but he didn't let go of her hand. He simply parted the tall grass and led the way, saying, "What you said before made me think carefully about whether I should continue to insist on being with you."

"I already have the answer."

Ling Chengen followed him forward, his eyebrows twitching slightly: "It hasn't been that long, and you're already thinking pretty quickly?"

Bai Qingyu turned to look at her and smiled: "Actually, it's not that hard to tell, nor is it that hard to make a decision. I still want to be with you and be your partner for life."

“I’m ready.” Ling Chengen said meaningfully, “Are you willing to go against the very nature of your race?”

"I abandoned you first, so you have a beastly husband. Now I want to be with you, so I have to accept everything about you. I can indeed drive away the beastly husband from your life, but you won't be happy, will you?"

Bai Qingyu wasn't stupid. He genuinely disliked having other males around Ling Chengen. He didn't know much about Su Weihua and Yu Shaochen, but he had some contact with Chongzhen. He could tell from his daily interactions with Ling Chengen that Ling Chengen valued Chongzhen.

Ling Chengen was quite curious about his mental journey of self-conquest and couldn't help but tease, "Are you really sure about it?"

Bai Qingyu stopped in her tracks: "What will it take for you to believe me?"

Ling Chengen looked at his serious and earnest face, and paused for a moment: "I don't know either."

Bai Qingyu pulled her along and said, "Let's take it slow."

Ling Chengen felt that some things needed to be made clear in advance: "I'm still young. Even if I agree to be your partner, I don't plan to get married to you before I turn 18."

Bai Qingyu paused for two seconds, her ears slowly turning red, but she didn't turn around. She pretended to be calm and said, "Did you say the same thing to Chongzhen and the others?"

“I treat everyone the same, but I haven’t told them yet. However, they don’t dare to approach me casually,” Ling Chengen said nonchalantly.

Upon hearing the answer, Bai Qingyu almost couldn't suppress the smirk on her face: "Then I accept."

“How about we hold a ceremony to mark our union when we get back?” Bai Qingyu led her up a high earthen slope, casually parted a patch of tall weeds, and revealed a hole more than a meter high.

Ling Chengen was a little surprised that he could find such a hidden entrance to the cave: "Have you been here before?"

“I’ve been here before. This is an abandoned burrow of the Gray Rabbit tribe.” Bai Qingyu bent down and crawled in first, pointing to a plant with pale purple flowers near the entrance. “This is a plant that can repel snakes. In most rabbit tribe burrows, this plant is planted at the entrance.”

"It's easy to tell."

"However, although this land is rich in food, it is too dangerous for the rabbit tribe, especially since the eastern forest wolf tribe was wiped out and the scattered wolf beastmen migrated from east to west in large numbers."

"The rabbit tribe is very afraid of the wandering wolf beastmen, especially after a few forest wolves occupy their caves or force them to hand over their supplies, they have to move to a more secluded and safe place to live."

"These rabbit-tribe beastmen are very good at digging burrows. Because most rabbit females are highly fertile, the rabbit tribe has always had a large population, sometimes exceeding a thousand. In such cases, a portion of the tribe will be sent to find a more suitable place to settle down."

Ling Chengen said thoughtfully, "Isn't this because they couldn't support so many people on their own, so they separated a branch and let them develop independently?"

Bai Qingyu chuckled and said, "You could say that."

"With the increase in the number of rabbit-like beastmen, their territory may not be able to provide enough food. Even if they are vegetarian, they can't just eat all the vegetation in their territory."

Looking at the dark cave, Ling Chengen wondered why he was continuing to go further in: "It will only get darker inside. You can rest at the entrance. I'll keep watch for you."

Bai Qingyu just smiled and said mysteriously, "Come with me, and you'll know the reason in a moment."

Ling Chengen felt he had walked at least a hundred meters. The interior of this abandoned rabbit clan cave was truly astonishingly large. Bai Qingyu finally stopped, raised his hand and suddenly grabbed something, moving a pile of things aside. Golden light shone down from the hole directly above.

The darkness within the cave was dispelled.

Only then did Ling Chengen see the layout inside the cave.

Flat and wide, even the earthen walls are very smooth, and the interior of the pit is generally about two meters high.

The place Bai Qingyu chose had a ceiling height of about 2.5 meters and an area of ​​about 50 square meters.

There were piles of hay and wood around, and many dried bouquets hung on the walls.

The space looked spacious, but it was very clean.

Bai Qingyu spread out the dry grass and let Ling Chengen sit down to rest: "During the dry season, the river channels near Hanshan will gradually dry up, and the hunting team will have to choose to hunt far away, so it is difficult to make a round trip in one day. When hunting far away, they usually choose to stay overnight in relatively high caves or caves abandoned by other tribes."

"Over the years, our hunting teams have explored many abandoned tribal sites. When we leave, we clean the caves and prepare some firewood and hay for our next overnight stay."

This was the first time Ling Chengen had heard of the crane tribe's tips for finding accommodation when hunting in distant places.

It has to be said that these orcs of the Crane Clan really know how to live a good life.

"If we harvest the tree wheat next month, this place can serve as a base. After all, the journey from Shilin is too far, and going back and forth every day is a waste of time."

Ling Chengen nodded: "Indeed, this place is very suitable."

"However, the barley needs to be threshed after harvesting."

"After threshing, the grain needs to be turned over and dried until it is completely dry in order to preserve it for a long time."

"To dry... does that mean to spread them out on the ground to dry?" Bai Qingyu asked, puzzled.

Ling Chengen: "More or less."

"Why not just use fire-based abilities to bake it?" Bai Qingyu asked, seeing her stunned. "Can't we just use abilities to bake it?"

“Okay.” Ling Chengen lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. “However, this task is very demanding, and baking also tests one’s control over their superpowers. If one’s control over their superpowers is slightly weak, it is easy to burn the food.”

Bai Qingyu spread her hands towards Ling Chengen: "Take out the bundle of tree wheat I just gave you, let me try it."

Ling Chengen placed the bundle of barley in his hand and watched as it slowly lost its moisture. The barley grains gradually dried out and their size rapidly decreased.

Bai Qingyu felt that it was about time, so he immediately stopped and handed the wheat in his hand to her.

"Look, is this level acceptable?"

"It's alright, but it might not be ripe yet, so the grains have shriveled and become dry."

Bai Qingyu breathed a sigh of relief: "That's fine then. Let's try again before the harvest. Actually, we can put the crops directly into storage after harvesting. We just need to use our special abilities to dehydrate and dry them, and long-term storage won't be a problem. We can even keep the warehouse dry indefinitely, as long as fire or water-type warriors look after it regularly."

This is indeed much more convenient.

She only briefly mentioned what needed to be done after the harvest, and he had a complete plan for the whole process.

Ling Chengen couldn't help but glance at him a few more times. Before he could look at her, she slowly looked away and gently rubbed her fingertips together.

(End of this chapter)