Then, Shi Qingluo took out the farm tools from her space and began to dig in the land near the wall.
She started planting pepper seeds after reclaiming the land.
Then, she planted the corn seedlings some distance away.
This was the corn-pepper interplanting method, which was in line with the principle of symbiosis for mutual benefit.
End-July coincided with the last wave of corn planting.
The corn would be ready for harvesting by the end of October.
This new species of corn was developed by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, where she pursued agriculture studies.
It was cold-resistant, drought-resistant, had a high yield, and tasted great.
Chilli planting was usually between March and July. Now was a good time to plant them.
These chilies were also a new species.
In the early stages, they were resistant to high temperatures, but in the later stages, they were resistant to low temperatures.
They were disease-resistant and had good vitality.
She watered them all with the spring water again and left.
She placed the urn of ashes in the main hall that was burned down.
She planned to wait for her young husband to return in a few days' time and go to the county town together to invite the fengshui master to pay a visit.
After leaving the Taoist temple, Shi Qingluo wandered around the nearby mountains to see if she could find anything along the way.
However, there weren't any deep mountains nearby.
Hence, she didn't find anything aside from the wild vegetables she didn't like to eat.
Just as she was about to descend, she suddenly heard the sound of a goose.
She thought for a moment and followed the sound.
She saw a black wild goose entangled by a not-too-large python.
It kept pecking the python ferociously, but as the entanglement became stronger, it struggled less.
Shi Qingluo's appearance also attracted the attention of the python and the wild goose.
The python flicked its tongue at her, and the wild goose looked over.
Shi Qingluo saw the wild goose's perseverance and desire for survival as it struggled.
It was still pecking at the python ferociously.
Its actions and the expression in its eyes moved Shi Qingluo.
She liked its boldness.
Hence, she walked up quickly and pinched the python's vital points as fast as she could before forcefully rescuing the wild goose.
After rescuing it, Shi Qingluo did not kill the snake.
Instead, she threw it far away.
Their house wasn't lacking any meat, and she wasn't interested in snake meat, so she released it.
The python might have sensed the danger from her and circled around the place where it was thrown, but it still crawled away eventually.
Seeing this, Shi Qingluo sat down and took out an empty bowl from her space.
She poured some spring water and fed it to the wild goose that looked like it was about to collapse.
The wild goose didn't struggle in Shi Qingluo's arms, probably because she had just saved it.
When it saw the spring water, it cleverly reached into the bowl and drank it.
Shi Qingluo had already discovered that this wild goose was more quick-witted than other ordinary geese.
After it finished drinking, she said, "Why don't you come back with me and guard my house?"
She had watched videos of big white geese watching the house more than dogs several times.
If not for the fact that she had often eaten and lived in the research institute, she would have wanted to raise a big goose.
This black wild goose had also struck her favorite hobby.
It did not look like an adult yet, but it wasn't too small.
So, she decided to abduct it and raise it into a large goose to guard her house.
That was why she had given it the spring water.
The spring water could only strengthen human bodies and have greater effects on animals.
If they drank it frequently, they would be smarter and healthier than their peers who didn't.
They would also grow bigger.
The wild goose turned its head to look at Shi Qingluo.
It did not understand her words and was very confused.
Its silly and cute appearance, a strong contrast to its previous ferocity, fulfilled Shi Qingluo's checklist again.
Shi Qingluo pointed at the emptied bowl, and then at the wild goose and her own basket. "Follow me, I'll give you water every day."
It roughly guessed what she wanted to say.
The black goose tilted its head and seemed to be in deep thought.
After a moment, when its body strength recovered a little, it jumped into Shi Qingluo's basket.
It only had one thought – with that kind of water to drink every day, just follow this two-legged monster.
Thus, Shi Qingluo successfully abducted the black goose.
After returning home, Shi Qingluo carried it out of her basket.
Xiao Erlang's eyes lit up when he saw this. "Sister-in-law, are we eating goose meat today?"
Maybe his deep malice to eat it was too obvious, the black goose rushed over and wanted to bite him.
Xiao Erlang was shocked and immediately ran to hide behind Shi Qingluo.
The black goose did not give up and chased after him, but was stopped by Shi Qingluo.
"Next time, don't bully the people in this courtyard. Else, I'll teach you a lesson."
Shi Qingluo tapped the goose's head, pointed at Xiao Erlang, and tapped its head again.
The black goose looked as if it had been wrongly accused and stopped chasing.
This made Xiao Erlang and the other two curious.
Xiao Erlang stretched out half of his body to look at the goose and asked, "Sister-in-law, this goose is too smart. Where did you get it from?"
Shi Qingluo smiled. "I saw it on the mountain, nearly eaten by a snake. So, I rescued it and brought it back."
She added, "From now on, it will be a part of our family, exclusively for household use, so don't think about eating it."
Xiao Erlang was very sensible and obedient, so when he heard her, he nodded. "Alright, I'll listen, sister-in-law."
He asked, "Then should we give it a name?"
Shi Qingluo thought for a moment and said, "We should, why don't we call it Dumby?"
The goose was in its adolescence. How adorable it was.
Xiao Erlang nodded. "Sure, Dumby is good."
So, the black goose stayed at home.
With Shi Qingluo's warning, it was too prideful to bother with Xiao Erlang and the other two.
Every morning, it would go around the yard first as if it was inspecting its own territory.
Other than Shi Qingluo and the other three, if anyone dared to step into the front yard, Dumby would show a fierce look and bite them.
Every time, Shi Qingluo would reward it with some spring water and millet.
The villagers who came to make tofu praised that this goose was very intelligent.
Five days later, Xiao Hanzheng had just pushed open the door when a black shadow suddenly pounced on him.
Xiao Hanzheng instinctively reached out to grab it.
Dumby was initially smart.
After drinking the spring water for a few days, it became even smarter.
Sensing his murderous aura, it immediately stopped in its tracks.
However, it still looked at him fiercely, as if it was prepared to bite him if he came over.
Xiao Hanzheng kept calling, hoping that Shi Qingluo and others would come out.
When Shi Qingluo heard the goose's scream, she immediately walked out of the room.
Then, she saw her handsome and refined little husband confronting the goose in his green robe.
She smiled and shouted, "Dumby, come here."
Dumby turned to look at Shi Qingluo in a daze.
As she waved again, it walked towards her unwillingly.
Xiao Hanzheng was a little confused. Why did their house have such a fierce black goose?
Most importantly, it was too smart. Does it understand what his little wife was saying?
As he was thinking, those behind him exclaimed in surprise, "This goose is really smart!"
Shi Qingluo heard others talking and looked over.
Then she saw another handsome and elegant young man dressed in a moon-white brocade robe walking in.
It was obviously someone her young husband brought along.
Xiao Hanzheng looked at Shi Qingluo with a smile in his eyes and asked, "Is this your goose?"
With the goose's personality, it seemed like something his young wife had raised.