Siegfrieda looked at the curious eyes of Ellin and Amu and began to explain: "In the errand-running business, I, Freya, have been working for decades; I am highly experienced, naturally knowing much more than you two newcomers who haven't even started yet."
Ellin looked at Siegfrieda, who was about her age, and couldn't help but retort: "Sister, how old are you? Decades in the business?"
Caught in her lie, Siegfrieda remained completely unfazed and calmly explained: "I was exaggerating a bit, but I do know more than you two. You have to admit that much, right?"
Amu: "Admit, admit! Freya, just hurry up and tell us, stop keeping us in suspense."
Siegfrieda sighed and explained: "Do you think I don't want to work and earn lots of Mora?"
"When I was running errands between Springvale and Mondstadt before, most of my time was spent looking for customers. Since then, I've summarized my experience."
"To get more customers seeking our services in this line of work, we need to advertise more."
"For example, our delivery team, consisting of myself and Amu, has absolutely no reputation in Mondstadt or Springvale, so naturally, we don't get any delivery requests."
Ellin looked at Siegfrieda, who was squatting on the ground drawing circles dejectedly, and asked: "But I saw you two had a lot of cargo yesterday? A cart that big was full; wasn't business quite good? Why are there no requests today?"
Siegfrieda glanced at Amu, who was listening attentively, and explained: "Most of the customers yesterday were Amu's friends from the Patrol Team, and the rest were my old regular customers."
"Customers don't need deliveries every day. Just like my regulars and Amu's friends, after delivering their goods yesterday, under normal circumstances, they won't place orders with us again for a while because they don't have anything to deliver to Mondstadt."
Ellin thought for a moment and then said: "I think this is because you have too few customers. If you could get more customers, then even if only a small portion of them needed deliveries, you wouldn't be left without work."
Siegfrieda sighed: "Too few customers, of course I know that. But getting more Mondstadters to become clients of Amu and my delivery company requires constant advertising. At least, I don't have a way to gain a large number of customers in a short time."
"Today, I've only taken on two requests; I don't even need the cart."
"Never mind all that. Speaking of which, Ellin, why aren't you training with Mr. Arkz today?"
Ellin replied: "Uncle said we need a balance between work and rest, and his carrot field is almost ready for harvest, so he doesn't have time to train with me."
Amu waved the shovel in his hand and said: "Since that's the case, let's go dig for treasure together."
Time passed as the three of them dug for treasure...
Sniff, sniff.
Siegfrieda, who was vigorously swinging her hoe, suddenly stopped her movement. Her small nose twitched slightly as she carefully sniffed the sweet aroma coming from the surrounding air.
Siegfrieda asked: "Ellin, Amu, do you smell a fragrance?"
Amu shook his head and asked: "What does fragrance smell like?"
Siegfrieda paused for a moment and apologized: "Sorry, I forgot you don't have a nose, Amu."
Amu touched his nose and suddenly shouted: "Hey! I don't have a nose! Did Arkz forget to add one when he sculpted my face?"
"Nose! Nose! My lovely nose!"
Ignoring the suddenly frantic Amu, Siegfrieda tracked the scent, trying hard to judge the direction, then declared firmly: "That scent seems like the fresh fragrance of vegetation. The direction appears to be coming from... over there!"
Ellin's delicate nose twitched slightly, and she sniffed the air. Indeed, there was a fragrance mixed in with the fresh earthy aroma. Ellin exclaimed excitedly: "I think I smell it too!"
Ellin followed the direction of Siegfrieda's finger and immediately shouted: "That direction is—Uncle Arkz's carrot field!!!"
"Could it be that the carrots are ripe!!!"
"Strange, why would ripe carrots have a fragrance?"
Siegfrieda, smelling the sweet scent of the carrots, suddenly felt hungry again. So, she grabbed Ellin and Amu and dashed toward the carrot field.
As she ran, she said: "There are many strange things on this farm!"
"These carrots smell so good; the taste must be great too. Slurp."
"Let's go help Mr. Arkz harvest the carrots, and while we're at it... we can snag a couple to eat."
Upon hearing this, Ellin immediately overtook Siegfrieda. The group changed from Siegfrieda pulling the two of them to Ellin pulling Siegfrieda and Amu, as Ellin ran so fast that the remaining two floated behind her like flags.
"Aaaah!!! Ellin, slow down!!!"
"Uncle Arkz, we've come to help you harvest the carrots!"
Three days ago, Arkz had bought 100 carrot seeds at Blanche's shop. Now, these seeds had grown and matured, their lush green leaves covering the ridges as far as the eye could see.
When these carrots began to emit a strange fragrance, just like the rare heavenly treasures and spirit plants in a fantasy world, Arkz knew they were ripe.
He tried pulling out one carrot. The earth was tightly gripped by the root system, but it could not resist Arkz's immense strength. The patch of earth instantly cracked apart as if shaken by an earthquake the moment the carrot was pulled out.
With a crisp 'crack.'
Arkz thought something was wrong and looked closely. Sure enough, the growth was excellent; the carrot, as thick as an adult's forearm, had snapped in half, with one part remaining in the soil. Such a broken carrot definitely couldn't be sold; he might as well keep it for himself.
"Ah! What a pity."
Arkz dug out the remaining half, washed it clean, and took a bite. It was tender, juicy, sweet, and delicious, with a crisp texture that made him want to keep eating—he couldn't stop.
Crunch, crunch. In the blink of an eye, Arkz had finished the entire carrot.
Just as Arkz was savoring the taste, he was startled by three pairs of wide eyes in front of him.
Ellin and the others were looking at Arkz with drooling anticipation. Stars twinkled in their eyes, their eager gazes making it impossible to refuse.
Arkz: "Go ahead, go ahead. If you want to eat, go dig them up yourselves."
"Just remember to be careful when digging, don't break the carrots!"
"We know—!"
After receiving Arkz's permission, the three rushed excitedly towards the carrot field and began digging up the carrots.
Among the three, Amu was the most excited. Usually indifferent even to the lavish meals Arkz cooked, he now looked like a glutton who hadn't eaten in ages, his eyes full of appetite, saliva constantly dripping.
"carrots, carrots, delicious carrots~~"
Like a pilgrim, Amu carefully cleared the soil around the carrots, striving to dig them out completely. His movements were so gentle and meticulous, as if he were afraid that applying too much force would harm the carrot.
This presented a stark contrast to Ellin and Siegfrieda beside him.
Ellin directly grabbed her hoe, roughly estimated the carrot's hidden location, and dug forcefully, excavating the carrot along with the soil that encased it. She would then find the carrot within the dirt.
Of course, this method sometimes led to misjudgments, where the hoe would slice the carrot right in half. However, Ellin never minded and ate the pieces with great relish.
Siegfrieda's method was even rougher. She directly grabbed the carrot leaves and used brute force to pull the carrot out. Luckily, the soil here was soft and the leaves were tough enough; otherwise, she would have certainly fallen on her rear.
Holding the dug-up carrot above her head, Siegfrieda gazed at the beautiful, ruby-like carrot under the sunlight. She could no longer restrain herself, brought the carrot to her lips, and took a bite. The sweet juice and the crisp flesh were simply supreme enjoyment.
Siegfrieda had certainly eaten carrots before. There was a small patch of carrots planted in front of her home, and sometimes, when she was out of Mora and desperately hungry, she would pull one from her own patch and eat it raw.
But this was the first time she had ever tasted such a delicious carrot.
Tears flowed down!
These were tears of emotion, tears of excitement. These tears were filled with deep affection and love for this land.
In that instant, Siegfrieda thought of many things: the earth, the Seven Gods of Teyvat, the Hilichurls dancing around bonfires in the wilderness, the bustling streets of Mondstadt, and the leisure and tranquility of Springvale.
Siegfrieda seemed lost in thought, as if in a grand dream, until the movement beside her brought her back. In front of her was the half-eaten carrot, still bearing her teeth marks.
She turned to look and saw Amu frantically shoving the carrot, dirt and all, into his mouth, while Ellin was trying hard to stop him.
Ellin grabbed Amu's clothes, trying to pull him back while shouting: "Amu, you can't eat dirt! Wash the carrot before you eat it, you'll get sick!"
Amu kept stuffing the carrot into his mouth, mumbling unclearly: "I'm a wooden person; what's wrong with eating a little dirt? I even dare to eat fertilizer as a meal!"
Upon hearing this, Ellin froze. She exchanged a look with Siegfrieda, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.
"It seems... Amu has a point there, huh."
Ellin immediately let go, the tension on her body suddenly easing. Amu tumbled into the carrot field and began ravenously devouring the carrot.
Arkz was directing the Wooden Ones to harvest the carrots. He happened to turn around and witness the trio's spectacular performance, causing his mouth to twitch. Even a large carrot field couldn't withstand this kind of abuse!
Arkz originally thought the three of them would just dig up a root or two to taste, but judging by the current scene, they looked like they intended to eat the entire field bare.
And Amu, don't you not have a sense of taste? You wouldn't even spare a glance at the fine meals I cook, yet you're munching on raw carrots so enthusiastically.
Hey! You're eating the leaves too! Dirt! Mud! You're shoving it all in your mouth! It's like I usually mistreat you and don't give you food to eat.
Amidst his speechlessness, Arkz secretly sped up the rate at which the Wooden Ones were pulling out carrots.
The carrot-pulling competition officially began!!!
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[email protected]/Rexlent
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"