Chapter 374 - 255: Slaughtering the New Year Pig, Cow, and Deer
Chapter 374: Chapter 255: Slaughtering the New Year Pig, Cow, and Deer
Li Xiang had looted countless resources in Japan. Besides the Six Major Conglomerates, he had also raided many other corporations and wealthy families, including some of the Twelve Ancient Surnames, like the Shimazu and Maoli, who were descendants of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Twelve Divine Generals.
In addition, he didn’t spare the wild sika deer, taking more than three million of them, along with over two million Wagyu cattle.
His warehouse was nearly full, with only about 600,000 cubic meters of space left.
With this remaining 600,000-odd cubic meters of space, he planned to go to Thailand and collect around 500,000 tons of authentic Jasmine Rice. After all, wasn’t the Thai Fragrant Rice harvest about to begin?
He only wanted new rice, not old stock.
In reality, Thailand’s annual production of Jasmine Rice (Hom Mali 105) wasn’t that large, only about 1 to 1.5 million tons per year, mainly for the high-end market. In a broader sense, the annual production of Thai Fragrant Rice (which might include other varieties) was about 6 to 8 million tons, accounting for about 30% of its total rice output.
As for Thailand’s total rice production, it was around 20 to 25.7 million tons.
Perhaps production would be lower this year, but Thailand was in Southeast Asia, farther south, so its climate was relatively less affected. It wasn’t excessive for Li Xiang to just scoop up 500,000 tons of authentic Jasmine Rice.
Li Xiang arrived home in the middle of the night. The moment Er Huang and the Little Fox saw his figure, they immediately flew over to greet him. Since it was the middle of the night, the two little things didn’t bark or cry out, but just ran around excitedly, rubbing against him.
"You’ve both gotten a lot sturdier," Li Xiang said, patting Er Huang’s head and stroking the Little Fox, feeling very pleased. These two little things were so affectionate, his loyal sidekicks.
The kittens and the little hedgehog also came over.
The little hedgehog hadn’t hibernated. It had eaten plenty of Spiritual Medicine, and with no shortage of delicious food at Li Xiang’s house, it had no fear of hunger or cold.
It used to like hiding with the goslings, but perhaps finding the goose pen too smelly, it moved into the vegetable garden. It dug its own nest and lined it with soft straw.
The vegetable garden had a greenhouse built over it, and a fire was lit daily to keep it toasty warm. Not only did the little hedgehog like it, but the kittens also often went there to play. Over time, it had become quite familiar with the kittens.
Of course, the little hedgehog still played with the goslings during the day; it just didn’t sleep in the goose pen at night anymore.
Afterward, Li Xiang went to the back mountain to check on Tuantuan and the others. They were all doing well, but Li Xiang didn’t show himself.
This was because Tuantuan and Yuanyuan were at it again, doing something shameless. ’If all pandas were like you two,’ Li Xiang thought, ’they probably wouldn’t have become an endangered species.’
In fact, Tuantuan and Yuanyuan hadn’t done it that many times in total; Li Xiang had just happened to walk in on them a few times.
Huanhuan and Lele were sound asleep, while Tuantuan’s mother was listlessly chewing on bamboo not far away.
Yao Yao sometimes fed them sugarcane, which was naturally tastier than bamboo. Unfortunately, it was too high in sugar to be eaten every day, so their diet was still mainly bamboo.
Tuantuan and Yuanyuan were completely lost in the moment, especially Yuanyuan, whose little face wore an expression of pure, satisfied enjoyment.
Li Xiang was utterly speechless and decided not to disturb their good time. He would come see them tomorrow during the day.
He bathed, changed his clothes, and went to bed, but he couldn’t sleep. He was brimming with excess energy.
An earthy yellow glow enveloped his body, and he sank into the ground.
Arriving about a hundred meters beneath his house, Li Xiang hollowed out a small space, creating what was essentially a basement.
He used the Rock Armor Technique to reinforce and harden the walls, then placed the Obsidian Black Gold Holy Cauldron inside. It could protect an area with an 800-li radius from earthquake disasters.
He sat cross-legged on the solid, smooth Rock Armor floor, activated the Earth Pivot World Record, and began to practice its Crystal Vein Armament Skills, condensing Armor and Spiritual Soldiers.
Whenever he "Forged" a piece, he would carefully review his work, analyzing every detail to see where he had fallen short, striving to improve on the next attempt.
By the time dawn was about to break, he had only managed to condense two sets of Obsidian Armor and one Obsidian Longsword. Aside from the first set, which wasn’t an Extraordinary Item, the latter two pieces were.
Since there were a lot of girls on his team, Li Xiang figured he could design some exquisite patterns on the armor and make the styles more suitable for women. For example, relatively thin and form-fitting.
It didn’t need to cover the entire body; some parts could be left exposed to balance Defense, aesthetics, and flexibility. The weight would also need to be customized, designed according to each person’s strength.
Thinking about it, Li Xiang felt it was too much trouble, and what he came up with might not be to their liking. So, after eating breakfast and feeding his pets, Li Xiang headed to the scenic area.
First, he did some morning exercises with the employees, then he called a meeting with the middle management. Besides Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, and Lei Jiaming, there were a few new faces, such as Lei Xiaonan and several other girls who took over their duties when they were away.
When Yao Yao and the others were present, these people acted as their deputies. When they were absent, they took over as the main leads.
After the meeting, Li Xiang had Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, Lei Xiaohui, and Lei Jiaming stay behind. He then tossed Lei Jiaming a Tier Five Obsidian Battle Armor and a Tier Ten Big Saber.
This Big Saber was not condensed using Crystal Vein Armament. It was a system reward he had received while hunting fierce beasts in India. It was an upper-Middle Tier Extraordinary Spiritual Soldier that weighed three hundred kilograms and had an Extraordinary Attribute called "Gale." When wielded, the saber’s momentum was like a howling gale and a torrential downpour—unstoppable.
Lei Jiaming had performed with a Big Saber during last year’s village New Year’s gala. After receiving instruction in various Martial Arts from Li Xiang, his skills had improved daily, but he was still best with heavy weapons like the Big Saber and Giant Axe. This Big Saber was a perfect fit for him.
"Thank you, Brother Xiang," Lei Jiaming said, incredibly excited. He had actually known for a while that his sister and the others had received Extraordinary Spiritual Soldiers, but he had been too embarrassed to ask Li Xiang for one. How could he take the initiative to ask for something so valuable? He wasn’t a girl who could just get one by acting cute. So, all he could do was envy them. He never expected Li Xiang to give him one on his own initiative, and two items at that.
Li Xiang taught him the trick to absorbing Extraordinary Items into his body. Lei Jiaming couldn’t wait to leave and play with his two new pieces of equipment.
"I’ve awakened a new Superpower. I can condense Crystal Vein Armor," Li Xiang said.
"Huh? You awakened another Superpower?" Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui all showed expressions of surprise and admiration. ’Brother Xiang really is amazing,’ they thought, ’awakening new Superpowers all the time. Not like us, we only have two so far.’
Li Xiang gave a faint nod, briefly explained the function of this Superpower, and said, "I had you stay behind because I want to see what kind of Armor you want. Hmm, you can design it yourselves, and I’ll condense it. The finished product will be like that black Battle Armor I just gave Lei Jiaming."
"Amazing, amazing! Bro, I love you to death!" Yao Yao’s eyes sparkled.
Zhao Xueqing and Lei Xiaohui couldn’t help but purse their lips. ’This Yao Yao is so shameless,’ they thought, ’throwing around the word ’love’ so casually.’ They wanted to say it too but were a bit too shy, unable to be as natural as Yao Yao.
"Then we’ll have to design them carefully," Zhao Xueqing said.
"Mhm, come find me anytime after you’ve finished your designs."
The three girls left to draw their own designs. Their hand-drawing skills were quite good, though they were still not proficient with computer-aided design. But hand-drawn designs were often more beautiful.
Yao Yao was the first to come to Li Xiang with a design. "Bro, take a look. Will this one work?"
Li Xiang only needed a single glance before shaking his head.
"What? Is it ugly?" Yao Yao pouted.
Li Xiang couldn’t help but pinch her smooth, soft cheek and said, "Girl, I asked you to design Battle Armor, not a bikini."
"Haha, I was just teasing you. This is my real masterpiece," Yao Yao said, unable to hold back her laughter. She took out another design to show Li Xiang.
"Hmm, this is more like it."
"Bro, just tell me, was the bikini I designed just now pretty or not?" Yao Yao pressed.
"It was."
"I’ll wear it for you next time, then."
Li Xiang changed the subject, asking, "How’s your Clone Technique practice going?"
"She’s grown a tiny bit," Yao Yao replied, demonstrating immediately. Indeed, the previous Thumbelina had grown a little taller, but she was still less than ten centimeters.
Li Xiang pondered for a moment. "Maybe you need to eat more. If this girl is going to grow to your size, think about how much flesh and blood she’ll need to be made of."
Yao Yao’s Clone Technique was different from Chiba Yuki’s Shikigami. The Shikigami Chiba Yuki summoned were Spirit Bodies, whereas Yao Yao’s Clone Technique created a real body of flesh and blood.
"That’s true! Haha, then I won’t have to worry about getting fat. I can eat whatever I want!" Yao Yao exclaimed, as if she had discovered a new world.
Although becoming an Extraordinary Being and exercising frequently kept their weight from spiraling out of control, they still couldn’t eat with complete abandon. A high activity level also meant a bigger appetite. If they ate whatever they wanted, they would still become very fat.
So, Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui all dieted appropriately. It couldn’t be helped; girls care about their appearance.
And now, Li Xiang’s words were a revelation for Yao Yao. Oh, so it turned out she just wasn’t eating enough.
"How about this, I’ll send you a few Wagyu cattle and a few sika deer later. You can go home and stew them every day." Since Li Xiang had obtained so much food, he naturally had to share it with his good friends.
Wagyu wasn’t just for stewing; many cuts were also perfect for grilling as steak. Japanese Wagyu was world-famous, after all.
Yao Yao’s eyes lit up when she heard this. Anything her bro gave her was bound to be good stuff.
It was just that butchering whole cattle and deer was inconvenient, as Yao Yao’s family didn’t have that many tools.
Li Xiang thought it over and simply called over Lei Jiaming, Lei Xiaonan, and a few other young men from Li Family Village. He had them borrow the necessary tools and prepare to slaughter the cattle and deer, distributing some New Year’s goods to everyone in advance.
Then Lei Jiaming mentioned they had also hunted a lot of wild boars recently. Most had been sold back to the government for collection, and some had been sold to restaurants, but there were still seven or eight small piglets left. They could be slaughtered together.
And so, even before the twelfth lunar month had arrived, the boisterous activities of slaughtering the New Year’s pigs, cattle, and deer began.
Li Family Village became lively once again.
Since the scene was too bloody, it naturally couldn’t be held in the scenic area. Instead, they chose the open space in front of the Li Family Village ancestral hall. The heads of the cattle, pigs, and deer could conveniently be used as offerings to their ancestors.