novelraw Chapter 116: Task Completed
Chapter 116: Task Completed
Hehe!
Li Wei did not mind these minor details of Fila's; he was currently enjoying the joy of task completion.
There was no need for Fila to go count it. The moment she received the Table Salt, the task settlement information emerged before Li Wei.
[You received orders in a time of crisis. Carrying the hopes of the entire family, you embarked on an unknown, dangerous journey. In the end, taking a span of eight days, you successfully purchased 4 kilograms of Table Salt for the family. Although you failed to complete the scheduled task, your courage and wisdom still won the praise and recognition of the entire family. You have obtained 40 Contribution points. (This information is now public)]
[Friendly Reminder: There are still 15 days until the end of the month. You may still muster your courage, pay another visit to Kakh City, and purchase enough Table Salt to return.]
—
Tsk tsk, not bad. Exactly as Li Wei had anticipated, the publicly disclosed information only pertained to the current task yields. What had already occurred in the past would only be displayed during the comprehensive settlement at the end of the month.
This detail was very important; it could prevent these Senior Players from colluding in advance. Although Li Wei was no longer afraid of them, if he could avoid them focusing their fire and instead make them wary of each other and slaughter one another, that naturally would be superb.
Hm, to this end, he even deliberately hid one kilogram of Table Salt. Anyway, before the end of the month, he could hand it in at any time. This didn't count as opportunistic trickery, let alone exploiting a BUG—this was making reasonable use of the rules.
Otherwise, 50+50 equaled 100 points straight away, instantly becoming a Family Elder. If the remaining seven Senior Players didn't immediately transform into the Avengers, Li Wei would write his name upside down!At this time, new information emerged again, but none of it was public.
[You have brought back one kilogram of ordinary Flax Seeds from Kakh City. Do you wish to donate them to the family? You will obtain 10 Contribution points.]
[You have brought back five kilograms of ordinary Beans from Kakh City. Do you wish to donate them to the family? You will obtain 5 Contribution points.]
Li Wei directly chose to ignore them.
Donate my ass!
For the next half month, he was going to open up one mu of Private Field and plant all of these.
Additionally, he could conveniently upgrade the Woodcutter Card to two-star along the way.
Just like this, under the accompaniment of his family members, Li Wei returned to the Camp in a considerably good mood. Subsequently, he discovered that during the days he was away, the changes at home were actually quite drastic.
He didn't know which expert it was, but two wooden doors had been installed at the entrance of the Camp. Crafted from log segments, they also featured stone blocks inside used for obstruction and prevention. The wooden doors, over three meters high, required a great deal of effort to both open and close. Now, they never had to worry about night ambushes by black bears again.
Even if a Bandit raid incident like last time occurred, they would be able to hold it.
Of course, the premise was that there must be people patrolling and keeping watch to provide timely warning.
And this would scrutinize the managing capabilities of the new Head of Household.
The family developing, the family surviving, and the family expanding—these were several completely distinct concepts that couldn't be conflated.
How to guarantee survival, decrease the accidental mortality rate, and lower the probability of family members getting injured.
How should family wealth be accumulated, and how could it be effectively utilized to elevate the family's soft power and hard power?
How should external risks be prevented and countered?
After Li Wei went out on this trip, his understanding of these matters couldn't be said to be more refined, but he could definitely think about them more deeply.
"Still have to be a bit conservative. Not making mistakes is the greatest victory."
Li Wei was actually still quite pessimistic. Facing Kakh City's heavily armored Refined Steel Garrison Knights, and facing the bizarre unpredictability of Witches, what did he have to fight back with?
It would be quite good to endure until task clearance and obtain the Bronze Quality Clearance Token. He was quite contented.
Entering the Camp at this time, he saw three additional large vats outside the houses. The vats were filled to the brim with clear water, channeled over from the stream via extending bamboo tube segments. Extremely convenient. Whether it was for washing up or cooking meals, it was quite excellent.
The silhouette of his old childhood sweetheart Sophie flashed through Li Wei's heart. It was most likely her! But it could also be his sister Penny.
Looking again at the Warehouse and the Operations Room, he couldn't see the former clearly, but inside the latter hung strips of air-dried fish, as well as various air-dried beast meat. Needless to say, this was also the handiwork of the Three-Star Hunter Old John and the Three-Star Fisherman Braised Egg Pete.
Looking further south, that was the Industrial Zone. A brand-new Small Blast Furnace was actively under construction, and even the shed of the Blacksmith Shop had been replaced with one built of logs—sturdier and more solid.
The family's handicraft industry was booming.
There was also the Charcoal Kiln, Brick Kiln, and Lime Kiln, all emitting pitch-black smoke. Just by looking at it, a massive wave of development was impending.
Not to mention the soon-to-be-completed Stone Arrow Tower.
As well as other details he didn't have time to look at.
Li Wei could only marvel. These Senior Players truly weren't just blowing hot air.
Next, he put his personal items away. In particular, that Two-Star Composite Bow and the Two-Star Bloodthirsty Spear both had to be kept securely. Taking off his Leather Armor, Li Wei washed up thoroughly to his heart's content. It really was good to be home.
However, as for what sort of moods those Senior Players were in, he wouldn't bother considering.
After eating dinner in silence and resting for a moment, Li Wei donned his Leather Armor, gathered his bow, arrows, Iron Spear, and Wooden Spear, and climbed the ladder to ascend the city wall.
The two-meter-wide wall was already sufficient for daily patrols atop it. Facing the cool evening breeze, with starlight overhead, he truly felt somewhat emotional. That guy Thomas was genuinely quite awesome.
"George, you've only just returned, why aren't you resting?"
Head-on, Old John's figure walked over from the other side of the city wall, similarly fully armed, completely equipped with Leather Armor, bow, arrows, and Iron Spear.
Without a doubt, Li Wei wasn't the only one maintaining vigilance and searching for opportunities. If enemies attacked on such a night, or if wild beasts ruined the crops, these were moments to earn massive profits in Contribution. In order to compete for the Head of Household position next month, all the big shots were acting like the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, Each Showing Their Power.
"Uncle, I'm finding it a bit hard to sleep, just perfectly timed to check on that wheat. It can be harvested next month, but the closer it gets to this time, the less we can let our guard down."
Li Wei answered smoothly. Anyway, he was currently the sole Three-Star Farmer in the family. Regarding the farmlands, his priority was the highest. Unless he was eliminated, absolutely no one should think of getting their hands on it.
"Rest assured, it'll be fine."
Old John smilingly said a sentence, passing by Li Wei. But following this, he solely patrolled the southern and western city walls.
Meanwhile, as if sharing a tacit mutual understanding, Li Wei took charge of the northern and eastern city walls, because closely bordering this side were precisely those few mu of farmlands.
At this time, the night curtain hung low, so the condition of the Wheat Field couldn't be seen clearly. However, the fences and stone walls Li Wei had built previously were still there. The night breeze blew gently, wafting bursts of wheat fragrance over; this was the smell of harvest.
Speaking of which, the current weather was already no different from summer. The highest daytime temperatures could reach over thirty degrees above zero, and nighttime temperatures could be maintained around the tens of degrees. It was truly a fine season.
He would go open up the Private Field tomorrow! At the same time, he would upgrade the One-Star Woodcutter Card to two-star this month, which would land him another 5 Free Attribute Points.
No matter what, he had to possess the capabilities to protect himself and flee.
This thought flashed through Li Wei's mind, yet he also felt he ought to scout around Kakh City for another two days to figure out exactly how many of those Garrison Knights Kakh City had?
But thinking again, fortunately he had returned in time, because that black-robed Witch who could control crows had clearly recovered from her injuries. Who knows, perhaps at this very moment she was searching for his tracks around Kakh City.
If he had delayed another day, he couldn't guarantee whether or not he would be intercepted and hunted down by three mutated blood wolves.
After patrolling the city walls like this for a while, Li Wei sat down in the location closest to those two mu of winter wheat and closed his eyes to doze lightly. He had walked nearly sixty kilometers during the entire day today, yet he didn't feel too much exhaustion.
12 points of Agility had truly exerted a rather important effect, at least sparing him from consuming 30 points of Stamina.
Especially after consuming white bread at dinner, his Stamina value recovered even faster to 100 points. Staying up to keep watch for another whole night wouldn't be a major hindrance. Just sleeping until noon tomorrow morning would be enough.
In short, these were the most crucial days before the harvest. There was nothing he could do about the first half of the month; lacking the conditions, it was what it was. But that didn't mean he could rely on flukes the whole way.
There are no flukes in success.
In the second half of the night, half-asleep and half-awake, Li Wei suddenly heard a burst of very faint footsteps. Exceedingly light and graceful, like a startled swan goose landing on snow.
He abruptly woke up, grasping that Bone Skinner dagger at the very first instant. Since the comer's Agility was very high and extremely flexible, whether he drew his bow to rapid-fire, or threw/thrust his spear, it wouldn't bear any meaning.
Conversely, the movement amplitude of this action was the smallest, basically equivalent to maintaining his original state. He could gamble on whether the other party had discovered him or not.
After all, the hiding spot he had found could be considered meticulously chosen, and the two-star Leather Armor also inherently carried a certain degree of concealment. Coupled with the heavy curtain of night, unless it was one of his own people, the probability of him being discovered all at once wasn't high.
Sure enough, Li Wei won the gamble.
"George! Are you here?"
It was Sophie's voice. She had failed to spot Li Wei, but she knew that Li Wei was definitely somewhere nearby. As a Three-Star Farmer, these two mu of winter wheat were simply his lifeblood.
Li Wei loosened his right hand gripping the Bone Skinner dagger. Pretending to have been rudely woken up, he let out a yawn and clumsily climbed up. His legs were numb.
"Sophie? Why haven't you rested? The wind is strong at night, and it's cold too. Go back quickly."
Li Wei spoke indistinctly. He himself had never imagined he could handle this so naturally.
But he never expected that in the next second, Sophie leaned in, throwing herself into his arms like a swallow returning to its nest, allowing Li Wei to experience what was called 'soft jade and warm fragrance, breath like orchids.'
Tsk tsk!
So fragrant!
So soft!
So bouncy!
Li Wei practically couldn't even resist. Truly unimaginable—one day he would actually be able to experience this sort of super welfare.
Do I agree, or do I agree? Disagreeing would cause an NG, right?
After all, this was his cute little childhood sweetheart; she was even possibly his personal little maidservant once upon a time.
He definitely didn't want to inexplicably lose a point of attributes.
However, heavily half-yielding, when he cooperated with Sophie and sat down in the corner, his entire person was suddenly covered by Sophie's Cloak. Hm, just one Cloak, two heads underneath.
Then, a line of information abruptly emerged.
[Family member Sophie has used a One-Star Conspiracy Card on you. You may now engage in a conspiratorial conversation.]
Fuck!
And here I thought we could do it for real under the guise of fake play.
So it was still this.
Li Wei grumbled in his heart, yet still shifted into a comfortable posture. If there's welfare, might as well enjoy it; once expired, the offer stands void.
Meanwhile, merely five centimeters away from him, Sophie spoke rapidly.
"George, I am one of our own. My direct superior is the four-star Internal Affairs Officer, the ghostwriter Night Owl. If you trust Night Owl, then you can trust me."
Yikes! You could even do it like this?
Li Wei was instantly intrigued. That Night Owl had previously stated that once this mission was cleared and settled, he would become her direct subordinate.
"So I can ask you any question?"