Chapter 116: Confirming the Partner

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Confirming the Partner

When the bamboo rice dumplings were placed on the table one by one, the visiting young females finally believed that Ophelia was really treating them to rice.

Ophelia taught the females how to eat the bamboo rice dumplings and reminded them to be careful of the heat.

"This rice is so delicious! It’s whiter than any rice I’ve ever eaten," one said.

"Yeah, and it has a fresh hint of bamboo. I can’t believe it can be cooked like this," another agreed.

"I heard that Ophelia harvested a full two thousand catties from this batch of mature rice. That’s more than the Mountain Goat Clan’s harvest for two whole years!"

The young females chattered animatedly among themselves, while the males gathered around the bonfire to roast meat.

Seeing that everyone was almost done eating, Ophelia asked Tyler to light the bonfires near the pigpens, chicken coops, and rabbit hutches. As soon as the fires were lit, they drew the attention of everyone present.

"Are... are those pigs?"

"Oh my god, how are there so many rabbits? Did someone bust open a rabbit warren?"

"And so many chickens! Did the young female raise all of these?"

Some males had heard that Ophelia was breeding prey, but they never expected her to actually succeed. Seeing no less than a hundred rabbits in the hutches, the males were astonished. They were even more fascinated by the few pink and tender pigs.

"If we also mastered the method of breeding prey, we wouldn’t have to work so hard hunting in the mountains every day," a male said, his eyes filled with envy.

"Being a member of the Fuzu Tribe must be so blissful."

"Yeah, I’m kind of tempted to join the Fuzu Tribe myself," a single male said, his heart fluttering with the thought.

Seeing that everyone was gradually accepting this reality, Ophelia slowly spoke up. "As you can see, I have successfully mastered the method of breeding prey. If you are willing, I can partner with you to raise rabbits and chickens."

Ophelia’s words left everyone present in shock. None of them had expected that she had no intention of keeping the breeding methods to herself. However, even those who were interested in breeding held back from asking questions because of the large crowd.

Watching from the sidelines, Zerev looked displeased. "You kindly offered to teach them how to breed prey, and they don’t even appreciate it. They really don’t know what’s good for them."

Ophelia smiled faintly. "No need to rush. Those who are interested will naturally come to us."

It wasn’t until the moon rose high above the trees that the guests attending the Harvest Festival gradually departed. Although no one had taken the initiative to ask about breeding prey, Ophelia wasn’t discouraged. After today, the Fuzu Tribe’s reputation would be well and truly established.

The night before, Zerev had still been angry at the crowd for being ungrateful, but early the next morning, a guest came knocking. And it was an acquaintance—the elderly male from the Golden Dragon Clan who had helped build their houses earlier, Hai Rui.

With an anxious look on his face, Hai Rui asked cautiously, "Ophelia, I’d like to partner with you to breed prey. I wonder if that would be possible?"

"Of course!"

It was only then that Ophelia realized something: males with normal hunting abilities would never stoop to raising small prey like rabbits and chickens. She had targeted the wrong audience from the very beginning. The practice of raising rabbits and chickens should be left to the elderly males in the tribes. This way, the elderly males wouldn’t have to rely on the tribe’s provisions to survive every day. They could acquire more prey and even make it through the winter on their own. Moreover, raising rabbits and chickens didn’t require much physical effort. As long as the elderly males could still walk, they could easily manage it.

"Then... do I need to pay any compensation?" Hai Rui was still a little nervous. Since the method of breeding prey was so important, he assumed the required payment would be steep. He just didn’t know if he could afford it.

Ever since he lost his ability to hunt, he had been living off the daily rations distributed by the tribe. He felt as though he had lost all motivation to keep living. Now, the possibility of surviving by raising his own prey had reignited his hope for the future.

"It’s very simple. From now on, all the rabbit pelts you produce will belong to me, and you’ll have to pay me ten eggs per chicken as compensation," Ophelia replied.

From the start, Ophelia had never intended to teach for free. She didn’t want to inflate these people’s appetites, only to put in a lot of hard work and get bitten in the back in the end.

"Deal. I’ll save all the rabbit pelts for you." Hearing how simple Ophelia’s demands were, Hai Rui’s eyes turned red with emotion. For such a wonderful breeding method, it would have been worth it even if she asked for half of his prey.

"Then... can I have the other elderly males in my tribe raise them with me?" Thinking of his old friends who were also unable to hunt, Hai Rui asked tentatively.

"Of course. But you must pay attention to hygiene. Otherwise, the rabbits and chickens can easily get sick, and all your efforts will be in vain."

"Thank you, Ophelia. You really are a good person." Hai Rui was so overwhelmed with excitement that he wanted to drop to his knees and kowtow, but Ophelia quickly stopped him. She simply couldn’t accept an elder kowtowing to her.

Next, Ophelia had Tyler take Hai Rui to observe the rabbit hutches and chicken coops. She told him to return to the Golden Dragon Clan first and build the necessary facilities before discussing anything else.

Hai Rui naturally listened to whatever Ophelia said. As soon as he returned to the Golden Dragon Clan, he called upon his old friends to go up the mountain, quarry stones, and build their own rabbit hutches and chicken coops.

The news that Hai Rui had come to the Fu Clan early in the morning to learn how to breed prey quickly spread among the surrounding tribes. Of course, this only spread with Ophelia’s tacit approval.

Consequently, over the next few days, people from several nearby tribes came to ask Ophelia about her breeding methods. However, most of them were deterred when they heard that they would need to go up the mountain every day to gather fresh grass and frequently clean the chicken coops and rabbit hutches. They figured that with the free time required to do all that, they could have easily hunted down prey already.

Since she had already identified her target demographic for breeding, Ophelia didn’t bother trying to persuade those who lacked determination.

Following the success of the rice harvest and the prey breeding, the Fuzu Tribe’s reputation soared. During this time, the Fuzu Tribe welcomed another wave of new members. There were fifty new members in total, including twelve young females and thirty-eight males, twenty of whom were single. Ophelia was highly gratified to see the Fuzu Tribe expand even further.

A few days later, an unexpected guest arrived at the Fuzu Tribe. It was the former Clan Leader of the Snow Wolf Clan, Soro.

"Why are you here? Our Fu Clan does not welcome members of the Snow Wolf Clan," Ophelia said, her good morning mood instantly evaporating at the sight of her former father-in-law, Soro.

Seeing the blatant impatience on Ophelia’s face, Soro hurriedly said, "Ophelia, don’t be in such a rush to chase me away. I’m here to discuss a partnership with you. Aren’t you looking for partners to breed prey right now? I can help you with it."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Come on, Ophelia, don’t be so quick to refuse. I know that the people partnering with you lately are just the elderly males from the various tribes. They’re only playing around on a small scale; they can’t really help you much. If you’re willing, I can dedicate an entire acre of land specifically for breeding prey."