Chapter 30: The Quilt

Pioneer’s Cabin.

After finishing the day’s log, Chu Jiu received 900 Pioneer Points in one go. Such a high reward must be because the recorded content was exceptionally rich! Chu Jiu thought with satisfaction.

Just as he put away the small mirror, a notification popped up: [Video recording device is undergoing maintenance; temporarily unavailable.]

Broken again? Chu Jiu didn’t mind. After all, the reward from one recording now was equivalent to a whole month’s worth in the past; he hadn't lost anything at all.

Chu Jiu stood up to stretch and was about to lie down when he caught a glimpse of Can-Can, who had already been settled on the pillow, darting nimbly to the windowsill. After scratching at the ledge a few times, it jumped onto Chu Jiu’s shoulder and whispered, "There’s something outside! It doesn't feel right!"

Something outside? And it doesn't feel right? The courtyard had an "Anti-Monster" effect, so it couldn't be a monster. Could the Dodo bird have had a bad stomach and be flapping about? Thinking this, Chu Jiu rushed downstairs and ran out of the cabin.

The Dodo was curled up quietly by the fence, looking sound asleep.

Can-Can: "Not the Dodo! It's under the window!"

*

The autumn rain heralded the coming of deep autumn, meaning "each autumn rain brings a new chill."

Granny Hao, who often suffered from aching knees, found them hurting even more on rainy days. To make matters worse, she had recently thrown out her back after a fall. Now, her knees ached, and her waist felt sour and numb, leaving her with no strength at all. Even though the thatch wasn't warm enough, even though her joints rattled with cold and pain, and even though she couldn't sleep at night due to the chill in her hands and feet, Granny Hao remained determined not to complain to anyone.

Just then, a knock came at the door.

Granny Hao stood up with her cane and called out, "The door is unlocked—"

"I spoke with the Village Chief. Since I heard the village elders might need these, I brought them over for you to try out and see if they suit you."

Chu Jiu, a young pioneer who didn't look very wealthy himself, was giving her something so expensive?

"If you find it useful and decide to keep it, we can have the Village Chief guarantee it. Next time Marco buys beans, he can pay one-tenth less to you and pay that portion directly to me until the quilt is paid off."

This was a method Chu Jiu and the Village Chief had painstakingly devised to let her accept the quilt while preserving her dignity.

Granny Hao had never heard of "cotton." But when she pressed down on the fluffy quilt, she immediately knew: this thing would be warm enough! And it was far more comfortable than dry hay!

*

It turned out that from the very beginning, this village was simply a group of elderly people in their twilight years adopting a crowd of helpless, orphaned children.

Chu Jiu decided to head back to investigate. If he were to refuse in such a situation, he would truly be ungrateful.

After much deliberation, Chu Jiu decided to spend 5,000 Pioneer Points to unlock the "Honor Zone."

[Congratulations to the Host for achieving a major milestone!]

[If facilities are built or population flows into the "Honor Zone" under the Host's guidance, the Host's "Regional Development" will increase synchronously.]

Chu Jiu smiled. "Of course."

*

The next day, Chu Jiu spent a long time working on the "Virtual Assembly Line." First came the "cotton gin," then the "cotton-bow," followed by "fluffy cotton," and finally, a "rough but practical quilt."

He had spent the entire day working until his spiritual energy was depleted, leaving him drenched in a cold sweat and nearly collapsed.

Chu Jiu didn't receive a single copper coin in cash, but he did receive a full 1,900 Pioneer Points. To him, these points were more attractive than 19,000 copper coins.

He accepted the kindness of his spirit beasts and didn't prepare anything elaborate, just taking some dry rations from his inventory for a simple dinner.

"Wait until I recover tomorrow, then I’ll make you all a feast!" he told the three little ones while he ate.

*

Chu Jiu had noticed that the Howl-Howl Rabbit, which usually wore a little heart icon over its head, was uncharacteristically displaying a "large cold sweat" icon.

"I guess... the soil fertility is about to be exhausted."

Upon hearing Chu Jiu’s deduction, the Howl-Howl Rabbit became even more anxious, its ears actually tying themselves into a knot. "Howl-howl-howl, what do we do? We can't open any other fields right now, and this is the cotton Chu Jiu worked so hard to bring back, howl-howl-howl..."

Chu Jiu’s heart sank. He looked at the "Honor Zone" statistics.

[Currently, only 5,000 Pioneer Points are required to change "Bean Village" into the Host's "Honor Zone."]

He realized that "not being able to arrange for spirit beasts to work in the Honor Zone" was a severe limitation. After all, Bean Village had no strong labor force. The current population could barely maintain the status quo by growing beans and corn; they couldn't spare anyone to build other facilities.

How to solve the labor problem? Perhaps he could discuss it with Marco and Reg. If the village was short-handed, what about other villages or towns?

Chu Jiu believed that a solution could always be found.