Chapter 312: Planting Brown Rice! Exploring the Area Across the Great River! Wild Goats on the Rock Beach

“I remember when we were gathering supplies, we moved several styrofoam boxes to the cellar. Wang Biao, go get a few.”

“Yes, sir!”

Wang Biao headed for the cellar.

Xu Jun looked confused. “Brother Chong, aren’t you going to plant rice? Why are you looking for styrofoam boxes instead of putting the seeds in the paddy field?”

Chen Chong smiled faintly. Xu Jun hadn’t consulted any of the experienced members, so it was normal that he didn’t know the process for planting rice.

‘He himself used to think you just buried the Brown Rice directly in the paddy field’s mud, just like any other crop.’

In reality, that wasn’t the case.

To plant rice, you first needed to germinate the seeds. Only after they had fully sprouted and grown into seedlings of a certain height could they be transplanted into the paddy field…

“Sir, will this do?”

The group gathered in a circle, looking at the Brown Rice arranged neatly inside the styrofoam boxes.

Chen Chong nodded. “This should do. I’m just following the advice of an experienced team member. Anyway, he said it’s pretty simple and that we should see sprouts in a few days.”

“What does cooked rice taste like?” Curiosity was written all over Wang Biao’s face.

Jia Wen and Qi Zhen were just as curious.

“Yeah, I’m so curious. I wonder what the texture is like for a crop our Lord considers a staple food.”

The world they came from didn’t have rice. Their staple foods were other crops, so they had never eaten it before.

Xu Jun thought for a moment. “As for the taste… it doesn’t really have much of one. I don’t know if it’s because I was used to it or what, but before I came to this world, if I went a meal without rice, it felt like I hadn’t really eaten.”

“It’s been eighteen days since I came to this world. Even though eating meat fills me up, it always feels like something’s missing…”

Beside them, Zhang Meng and Huang Mao couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

Chen Chong said, “Don’t worry. You’ll get to eat it in the future. And it’ll be very soon…”

“Alright, the paddy field and the Brown Rice are taken care of. How many of them sprout into seedlings is now up to luck. It’s about time we got down to business.”

Everyone stood up.

Excitement appeared on Xu Jun’s face.

“The other side of the great river… To be honest, I’m not sure why, but the thought of exploring over there is actually making me a little excited…”

…

The scorching sun hung high in the sky. It was noon.

Chen Chong, Xu Jun, Wang Biao, Jia Wen, Qi Zhen, Zhang Meng, and Huang Mao reappeared on the bank of the great river behind the school’s back gate.

The seven of them checked their gear while hastily eating bread and drinking bottled water.

Of course, besides the seven of them, there was also Chen Chong’s little shadow, the Tiger Striped Dog, and standing on its back, the Rock Armor Eagle.

It was hard to tell if it was because it had grown accustomed to being a ground-bound chicken at home, or if it was just a trait of an immature Rock Armor Eagle, but even though its wings were fully developed and it could fly, it was always too lazy to flap them and soar high into the sky.

It would either stay in Chen Chong’s arms or stand on the Tiger Striped Dog’s back.

Unless Chen Chong ordered it to fly, it stubbornly refused to move at all.

It was a good thing the Tiger Striped Dog was good-natured, and also an Extraordinary Creature, otherwise it really wouldn’t have been able to carry the Rock Armor Eagle, which was half the height of a person.

“There are quite a few people around the back gate area, huh,” Xu Jun remarked, watching the figures that occasionally appeared on both banks of the river.

The great river in the back gate area was the most important hunting ground for all the students. After all, fishing in the river or turning over rocks to find shrimp and crabs was far easier than catching animals in the jungle.

Even without a fishing rod, some people managed to catch plenty of fish with just a branch, a bent piece of iron for a hook, and some earthworms from the mud.

Plus, the dense piles of pebbles in the shallows often concealed plenty of fish and shrimp.

However, it was clear that most of them had no intention of going to the other side of the great river. Just as Zhang Meng had said before, for one thing, as ordinary people, it was difficult to cross a river that was over ten meters wide.

For another, even if they got across by swimming or on a raft, they still wouldn’t be able to find many resources if they weren’t strong enough.

In short, for most students, crossing the river wasn’t worth the effort. It was much easier to just hunt on their side.

“The other side of the river… you really can’t see what’s over there without actually crossing…”

Looking from a distance, they could barely make out the riverbank on the opposite side. The rest was completely obscured by dense thickets of trees.

“Let’s go. No more delays.” Chen Chong tightened the backpack on his back to keep it from falling off. “Everyone can swim, right?”

Wang Biao announced, “Sir, I’ve been an expert swimmer since I was a child!”

Jia Wen added, “I also grew up fishing in rivers. Swimming across this one will be no problem at all.”

Zhang Meng and Huang Mao said, “The two of us loved swimming in wild rivers when we were kids. This one is a bit bigger, but it should be no problem.”

Just as Xu Jun was about to speak, Chen Chong ignored him completely.

“Brother Chong, you haven’t asked me yet! Aren’t you worried I won’t be able to make it across?”

“Duh. You have the water-affinity bead I gave you. If you can’t even cross this river with it, you might as well give it back to me.”

“Heh heh heh…”

Xu Jun could only offer an awkward laugh.

“Let’s go…”

Chen Chong was the first to enter the water, and he swam swiftly toward the opposite bank.

The others followed close behind.

As a top-tier hunting hound, the Tiger Striped Dog was naturally a strong swimmer.

The Rock Armor Eagle simply took flight…

As for crossing the river, Chen Chong couldn’t be bothered to make a boat or a raft. Not only would it waste time, but it wouldn’t necessarily be as convenient as just swimming across.

As for how they would bring back any prey they caught on the other side, that was a problem for another time.

The splashing from Chen Chong and his group attracted curious glances from many people on the bank. They were merely curious, not surprised, as if they had already seen plenty of people attempt to cross the river over the past few days.