After returning from my cultivation journey, I built a farm through fortune telling.

Chapter 120

"And nowadays kids all stay at home playing on their phones. Unlike when you were kids, you ran wild all over the mountains and fields, picking wild strawberries, wild berries, and wild raspberries. You said you were going to the stream to collect snails, but you were actually sneaking off to swim in the river. You were afraid of being scolded by the adults, and you even knew to bring an extra set of clothes to change into, dry the clothes you took off, put them back on, and bring them back."

"It was really fun when I was a kid. I would always sneak off to go swimming during holidays, especially in the summer. My mom would beat us a lot, really badly."

When Bai Lu recalled her childhood, her memories were actually quite blurry, and she could only remember the general outline. However, she still remembered going to the streams and mountain streams with her classmates to collect snails, and she also remembered secretly swimming in the river. Because the water in the stream could reach up to a child's head, she would get a beating every time she was caught.

Uncle Bai chuckled: "We're done beating you up, but we'll go again next time."

Bai Chen couldn't help but laugh: "Sincerely admitting mistakes is not enough. After being beaten, they will still go again next time. When they were young, they didn't know fear. The more their parents forbade them to do something, the more they would do it. Even if they agreed on the surface, they would still go secretly behind their backs."

The typical person who only remembers to eat but not to be beaten.

Don't be fooled by Qin Xiu's current tendency to only talk and not actually hit; back when they were kids—their family followed the principle of a kind father and a strict mother, and it was Qin Xiu who did the beatings. She broke countless rattan canes and sticks while beating the three of them.

"So you're just going to pay lip service to it!" Bai Wei said as she reached into the mud and sand. Oh dear, bad luck! She didn't catch any snails, but she did catch a handful of mud and sand with two small, centipede-like multi-legged insects in it.

She was speechless for a moment, then expressionlessly tossed the mud and sand aside and reached under the rock again.

Girls are truly amazing creatures; they're afraid of some insects, but not so afraid of others.

Moreover, they behaved differently when faced with the same insect in different situations.

"If I beat you too badly, you'll run to your grandparents to complain and threaten to run away from home. Since five people can't fit on one bed, your grandfather will come and sleep with me," Uncle Bai recalled.

"Really? Why should I sleep with you? Can't I sleep at my place?" Bai Lu was a little confused.

Grandpa Bai laughed as he said, "I'd love to visit you, but you wouldn't let me. You said your grandma and I can't tell your parents anything about you, we can't let them know you're staying with us, it'll drive them crazy! Hahahaha—"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Uncle Bai also burst into uncontrollable laughter.

The three siblings, Bai Lu and her brother: "."

Very good, it's something a naive and innocent child could do.

But they don't remember.

They don't remember many of their embarrassing past experiences; it was the adults who helped them recall them.

As everyone collected snails and chatted, time flew by.

"Alright, it's almost five o'clock. You guys can play a little longer. I'll go back and cook you a big meal!"

After harvesting half a bag of snails, Uncle Bai checked the time, packed up, and went home with Grandpa Bai. The old man was getting on in years and was a bit tired after a day out.

Before leaving, Uncle Bai even turned around and winked at Bailu, making Bailu feel inexplicably flustered...

An ominous premonition arose spontaneously.

A cultivator's sixth sense is very accurate; if it's ominous, it's ominous. But he can't possibly harm her, can he?

The egret shook its head, and Uncle Bai was quickly pushed out by the large snails. The three of them had been searching for snails from the river to the mountain stream. No stone could escape their clutches. They flipped them over, flipped them all over!
They were having so much fun that they were completely unaware of the true value of the "feast" that Uncle Bai had mentioned.

As the last rays of the setting sun bathed the winding mountain path, the people digging the mountain began to pack up. Qin Xiu called them, and Bai Lu and the other two reluctantly pulled themselves away from the temptation under the rocks.

The three of them, their rolled-up trousers soaked through and their shirts dampened by the splashing stream, reached the shore. Circulating their spiritual energy, wisps of white smoke and layers of mist rose from their bodies, quickly drying their clothes. Each of them then carried half a bag of large snails home.

Why half a bag?

Because if you put a whole bag of snails in it, the bag will break, and it's too heavy!
They strolled leisurely home, humming an unknown tune, displaying their wonderful mood. They were so happy that even the mimosa plants by the roadside got a slap!

Mimosa pudica: "..."

baffling!

He was growing up perfectly fine by the roadside when he suddenly got beaten up!

When they got home, Grandma Bai and Aunt Bai were busy in the kitchen, and Uncle Bai was also there, stirring something in the pot with a spoon.

How strange.

"You're back!" Uncle Bai smiled. "Perfect timing, dinner's ready!"

"Okay!" Bai Wei replied and went to help set the table.

Bai Lu and Bai Chen then grabbed two plastic buckets—the kind that's red—filled them about halfway with water, poured all the river snails in, and stirred them. The earthy, fishy smell hit them immediately, quite unpleasant, and the water used to wash the snails was full of flocculent filth. This is why river snails need to be kept in clean water for several days before they can be eaten.

So dirty!
After changing the water four or five times, the water that came out was finally a little cleaner, but this was only superficial. In the next few days, the water had to be changed several times a day so that the snails could expel all the sand and dirt from their bellies.

The cleaned snails were divided into two red buckets, and Bai Chen and Bai Wei each took a basin and covered the buckets.

Don't be fooled by their current cowardly appearance. When the night is quiet and they are unaware of the danger, they will resurface and crawl all over the house. If any lucky one manages to hide in a corner and not be found, it will dehydrate and die, slowly dying and rotting in its hiding place.

It stinks, it's both fishy and foul!
These are all based on experience.

But covering the basin wasn't enough to ensure safety. Don't underestimate the combined strength of the snails; the basin was too light and might be knocked off. So the two of them also placed a stone on the basin, leaving only a tiny gap for ventilation.

After finishing her work, she washed her smelly hands thoroughly with hand sanitizer and prepared to eat. However, before she could even dry her hands, she heard Bai Wei gagging in the kitchen.

Bai Lu and Bai Chen exchanged a glance and stopped in their tracks. Less than two seconds later, Bai Wei rushed out of the kitchen. She looked at Bai Lu, pointed to the dining table, and then gagged, tears welling up in her eyes.

Bai Chen nudged Bai Lu: "Sister, go see what Grandma and the others cooked! Look how scared Second Sister is!"

When the egret looked at the dining table, its heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.

Uncle Bai looked regretful: "You still don't dare to eat it? It's such good food! It's already cooked and won't move anymore. Don't worry, have two bowls, it's very nourishing."

The egret silently walked away.

Uncle Bai took all the bee pupae out of the hive and cooked them into porridge with white rice. White rice, bee pupae—who could tell them apart?

Very good. It's estimated that for a long time, egrets won't be able to look at white rice porridge the same way.

What kind of inhumane recipe is this?
Bai Lu is fasting tonight, along with Bai Wei and Qin Xiu. Her mother can't accept this kind of food and can only eat other things, but Bai Chen has already started eating his third bowl of bee larvae porridge.

While there was still daylight, Bai Lu and Bai Wei, who were fasting, carried the bee-collecting cages to the rooftop.

There's a beehive on the roof of Bailu's house. Once upon a time, Baijiang also kept bees, but when the bees split up, they weren't very harmonious. They fought and killed a large number of them, and the remaining bees left this sad place, so the beehive was left unused. But it was cleaned up a couple of days ago, which is a good new home for the wild bees that were brought back.

"Do you guys even know how to do this? Don't let the bees escape! Otherwise, we'll have to wait until we finish eating before we can deal with them!"

Bai Jiang said worriedly, "What if all the bees I went through so much trouble to bring back just ran away as soon as we got home? I really won't be able to sleep tonight."

"It's alright, we can manage. You guys go ahead and eat!" Bailu said confidently.

We can't keep the bees in the beehive for too long. If we wait until they finish eating, it will be dark, and then it will be even more difficult to handle them. Besides, who is Bai Lu? How could he not be able to handle such tiny bees?

"Okay, then be careful, put on your mask and gloves, don't get stung."

"Know it!"

The two hung the bee collection cage next to the beehive. The beehive contained five honeycomb frames, a very simple frame with only four steel wires on it, making it easy for the bees to build their nests and make honey. They coated the frame with some honey and beeswax taken from the old honeycomb to attract the bees. To ensure everything went smoothly, the egret also attached a wisp of spiritual energy to the frame.

Then, he enveloped his hand with spiritual energy, reached deep into the bee swarm in the bee cage, gently took out the queen bee cage, released the queen bee, and a wisp of spiritual energy overflowed from his fingertip. The queen bee's big bee eyes lit up, and she immediately wagged her tail at the egret. Her cute appearance made the egret laugh.

She moved her fingers and said to the queen bee, "Go in, take your children and grandchildren with you."

I don't know how the bees communicate, but after a while, one bee after another began to fly into the hive. They hovered in the air for a while, seemingly to confirm the location of the queen bee, and then flew in one by one.

Before long, all the bees in the beehive were moved into the hive. There were several small holes at the bottom of the hive to allow air to come in and out when they went out to work. At this time, many worker bees were already peeking out, as if they were on guard.

"Alright, now all we have to do is wait." Egret clapped her hands, looking at her masterpiece with satisfaction.

"Wait? Wait for what? How long do we have to wait?" Bai Wei asked curiously.

"Bees need time to adapt to a new environment and will only start building their nest here after confirming the queen's safety," the egret explained. "As for how long it will take, it's hard to say. It could be as quick as a day or two, or as slow as a week."

Bai Wei nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Won't these bees run away?"

"Did you take biology in high school?" Bai Lu rolled her eyes at her. "Don't worry, as long as the queen bee is there, they won't leave unless a new queen bee is born. But these are newly swarmed bees, so that won't happen for now. So, don't worry!"

"I'm relieved now. After all, I would have been disgusted if the bees I brought back from over mountains and rivers had gotten away!"

"No, once they've settled in, we'll be able to enjoy the spirit honey."

Thinking of the few times she had tasted the Spirit Honey in the cultivation world, Bai Lu showed a longing expression, which made Bai Wei drool as well, and she also became expectant.

If the vegetables grown with spiritual energy taste so good, the honey made from them must be delicious too!
"Hey, sis, were you really talking to the bees just now? And the bees seemed to understand you. You even know animal language? Ancestor, you're learning quite a lot over there! I want to learn too," Bai Wei said.

"What do you mean by animal language? Bees belong to the insect family!"

The egret said, "As for why the bees can understand me, I think it's something you have to figure out!"

Bai Wei: "Okay, I understand."

The egret closed the lid on top of the beehive. Bai Wei suddenly remembered something: "Sister, weren't we going to move the bees to the orchard? What if they can't adapt to the new place and environment? What if the bees that leave can't find their way?"

"No, the queen bee will guide them."

The egret said, "I forgot to bring the beehives this morning. I can't possibly go up the mountain in the dark. The caterpillars on the mountain were just sprayed with pesticide, and they won't all die off so quickly. Getting hit by a couple of feathers is enough to make you suffer! It's only for a night or two, it's no big deal. As bees, don't we have this much adaptability?"

Bai Wei: "."

That's why bees need this kind of adaptability.

But her sister is right. Cultivators who haven't reached the Foundation Establishment stage are all mortals. If they weren't precisely blocked with spiritual energy, they would suffer just as much damage. Let the bees suffer a little. Anyway, it's only one night. They'll recover quickly and have a good night's sleep!

The egret sighed again: "That's the downside of farming. You'll always encounter all sorts of insects. If you're a bit delicate, you really won't be able to earn this money!"

"For example, us?"

Bai Wei pointed to her nose.

She was quite afraid of caterpillars that could fly, and she really couldn't stomach bee pupa porridge.

Egret: "."

She paused for a moment. Her intention was to highlight that ordinary people couldn't make money in agriculture, but she could. However, she didn't expect that her attempt to show off would backfire and the boomerang would end up back at her.

As darkness fell, the bees that had flown out gradually returned to their hives, and a soft buzzing sound came from inside.

"Is it all done?"

Bai Jiang and the others hurriedly finished their meal and rushed up, only to find that Bai Lu and the others were already preparing to go down. They looked at the beehives—they couldn't see anything, but they could still hear a faint buzzing sound.

"Sure, Lulu!"

Uncle Bai exclaimed in exaggerated admiration, "You even know how to change beehives! That's amazing!"

Egret: "Uncle, I've grown up now, you don't need to praise me like that anymore!"

It's so embarrassing that you'll want to carve out a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment!
Laugh out loud.

The egret itself laughed.

She really likes the current family atmosphere; it's relaxed and comfortable. Although everyone is quite tired every day, they feel at ease as long as they can earn money.

(End of this chapter)