“Oh my! I’m so nervous…” Zinnia clasped her hands, which felt cold.
She picked up a pair of fairly thick gloves, then began transferring the seeds, ready for planting, into the wheelbarrow.
After finishing transferring the seeds, Zinnia realized she had about 47 seeds ready to be planted in the ground.
Slowly, she began pushing the wheelbarrow toward the prepared soil.
Zinnia then squatted down next to the soft soil, which had been prepared in a 1.2-meter-wide strip.
Zinnia picked up the small shovel she had prepared, then began digging into the soft soil.
She took a potato seed from her wheelbarrow and placed it into the small hole she had dug.
Carefully, Zinnia covered the small hole with soil, making sure the seed wasn’t buried too deeply.
“Phew! I’m so nervous, especially with these tiny, delicate leaves,” Zinnia said, finally letting out a breath.
Throughout the planting process, Zinnia had unconsciously held her breath because she was so nervous about doing this, her very first time planting.
As a beginner, Zinnia was afraid she might do it wrong and end up killing the seed, just like before.
That’s why this time, Zinnia made sure everything she did was correct and followed the Guide the System had provided for her.
Once she got the hang of it, Zinnia’s pace began to pick up.
She spent the entire day busily tending to her plot with great enthusiasm.
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“Phew… I’m so tired,” Zinnia said, stretching her body and yawning.
Cassian, who saw this, simply shook his head slowly, choosing instead to focus on eating his dinner.
“Hey, you.” Zinnia tapped the side of the table near Cassian, trying to get his attention.
“What?” Without turning around, Cassian replied briefly.
“Earlier, I was so panicked that I forgot to ask this. But what did you do to distract those two people in the cave that day?” Zinnia now looked at Cassian curiously.
Zinnia propped her chin up with one hand as she stared at Cassian with her piercing eyes.
“Also, are you a beast?” Before Cassian could answer, Zinnia had already fired another question at him.
Cassian’s hand, which had been scooping up food, froze mid-air; he slowly turned his head to meet Zinnia’s gaze.
“If I’m not a Beast, then what do you think I am? A human?” Cassian replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes lazily.
“Isn’t it only natural for me to ask? I don’t see anything unusual about you; you look just like a human!” Zinnia began to get annoyed at the mocking tone in Cassian’s voice. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Cassian paid no attention to Zinnia’s rambling; he continued eating his dinner.
“Hey, you haven’t answered my question yet?!” Zinnia was no longer resting her chin on her hand; she sat up straight with her arms crossed over her chest.
Apparently annoyed by Zinnia’s constant pestering, Cassian moved his hand, and the shadow of a rat was seen darting across the dining table.
“Arrgghh!” Zinnia’s eyes widened in shock, and she jumped to her feet.
Even Anna, who rarely reacted, did the same; she jumped in surprise at what Cassian had done.
“A shadow?” Zinnia muttered softly, deep in thought.
Ever since becoming Zinnia, she had gradually regained her original memories, so information about the Beasts was now second nature to her.
It wasn’t hard for her to identify which tribe Cassian came from; there were only three tribes associated with shadows, and most of them were known for their strong, mysterious personas.
“Ahh! So you were the raven I heard this afternoon?” Zinnia had now sat back down after calming herself.
In response, Cassian simply shrugged indifferently.
“You!” Zinnia could feel the back of her neck stiffen at Cassian’s annoying behavior toward her.
Shortly afterward, the tinkling of a bell was heard from the direction of the Manor’s gate.
“It seems Old Bailey has arrived. Anna, please bring Old Bailey in; I’ll meet him in the living room.” Zinnia no longer wanted to talk to that annoying Cassian.
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“Are you planning to tell Old Bailey about our discovery?” Cassian was intrigued this time; he hadn’t expected Zinnia to call for Old Bailey so soon.
“You know everyone in Greenmarch needs clean water right now. It’s true we still don’t know what’s really happening in the mountains, but…” Zinnia paused for a moment.
“At the very least, we have to do something to improve the water quality in the Lume River. I’ve been thinking of something, but I can’t do it alone,” Zinnia continued.
“I understand what you mean, but it would be very dangerous for the villagers to go near the Lume River area.” Cassian knew the situation was urgent, but he couldn’t just stand by while danger loomed over them.
“That’s why I called Old Bailey over here. If you don’t mind, come with me to talk to him.” Zinnia gave a small smile, then walked toward the living room.
For a moment, Cassian remained silent in his seat, still unsure whether he should trust Zinnia’s words.
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“I didn’t expect you to call me again so soon, Miss.” Old Bailey, with his hunched back, sounded pleased.
“Well, you know there’s something I need to discuss with you,” Zinnia replied, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
“So, do you already know what problem has befallen the Lume River?” Old Bailey looked impatient.
Before answering that question, Zinnia took a deep breath, glancing out of the corner of her eye toward the door, hoping someone would appear from behind it.
In the end, however, Zinnia could only sigh when she realized that the person she was hoping for hadn’t come.
Well, Zinnia could handle this problem on her own, so it didn’t matter if no one helped her.
“I’ve discovered that the problem isn’t the Lume River itself. It’s the water flow from the mountain streams that’s the issue,” Zinnia began her explanation.
“You mean the water flowing from the mountains?” Old Bailey looked surprised.
“Yes, there’s a problem there that I haven’t been able to fully figure out yet. We can think about that later; the most important thing is that we have to save the Lume River,” Zinnia continued.
“Forgive this useless old man, Miss. But what can we do?” Old Bailey looked helpless, his face full of hope.
Seeing this, Zinnia sighed again; she was quite nervous right now, and on one hand, she wasn’t very confident in her own ideas.
“I was thinking of diverting that water flow and filtering it through a strainer. That way, the water flowing into the Lume River will be much cleaner, though this is only a temporary solution. I’ll try to figure out what’s polluting the mountain spring,” Zinnia replied, still unsure.
“It’s just that, as you know, I can’t do this alone, and I’m not really sure how to set it up. That’s why I called you here to discuss this issue,” Zinnia continued quickly, her nervousness clearly evident.
“Actually, we’ve been trying to filter the water all this time, but it hasn’t been very successful. We’ve only been doing it at the water source at home; there’s no harm in trying it on the river flow.” Old Bailey tried to take Zinnia’s suggestion on board.
“I see. Don’t worry, this will be different. I’ll give you the details later,” Zinnia replied.
“That would be a huge help, Miss!” Old Bailey looked cheerful again after hearing this.
“Is that so?” Zinnia blinked slowly; she hadn’t expected such a positive reaction.
Just then, the sound of a door opening could be heard from outside, and Cassian walked into the living room.
“If you’ll allow it, I’ll help them work on the Lume River, Miss,” Cassian said earnestly.
Zinnia was taken aback; she hadn’t expected Cassian to show up and offer to help her.
“We’d really appreciate having a young man like you around!” Old Bailey exclaimed enthusiastically, his eyes even sparkling.
Zinnia chuckled softly as she rubbed the back of her neck.
“If you don’t mind, your help would be greatly appreciated,” Zinnia replied, then felt a little awkward around Cassian.
Especially when Cassian looked straight at her, Zinnia quickly looked away, avoiding his gaze.