Chapter 29

Although the forest was teeming with snakes and insects, after circling around, Lin Bei found it truly difficult to recruit subordinates. Lin Bei couldn't communicate with the snakes, and the snakes' intelligence couldn't understand Lin Bei's intentions. The result was like a chicken talking to a duck. It was absurd to think Lin Bei could recruit them. However, when Lin Bei saw a nest of snake eggs, he suddenly had an epiphany. Why bother with adult snakes? If he wanted subordinates, the newly hatched baby snakes should be the best choice.

Imprinting behavior seemed to have nothing to do with snakes, at least Lin Bei wasn't sure. But if he hatched the baby snakes himself, the baby snakes would feel Lin Bei's presence the moment they hatched and would at least feel close to him. Then, by raising them, Lin Bei believed the success rate would be much higher than trying to recruit adult snakes. This would require a lot of time and effort, but time wasn't an issue for Lin Bei. He lacked many things, but time wasn't one of them.

After looking around, Lin Bei noticed that thanks to autumn, snakes generally laid eggs in August or September, so there were quite a few snake eggs. Some were laid in trees, hidden by leaves; some were in shrubs, some in caves, and some were buried in the soil. Some had already been eaten by unknown creatures, but most were still intact and had a chance to hatch.

"Since that's the case, I won't be shy."

Snakes generally don't take care of their offspring; they are left to fend for themselves. Lin Bei, with his python's memory, also remembered being independent from birth, with no concept of parents. Therefore, he had no psychological burden in taking the snake eggs. On the contrary, he felt he was doing a good deed. The incubation period for snake eggs is usually about two months, and without protection, very few eggs successfully hatch. Newborn baby snakes are also prey for other animals, even wild chickens peck at them. With Lin Bei's protection, the survival rate of these baby snakes would be greatly increased.

In one round of searching, Lin Bei brought back nearly a hundred snake eggs. From the appearance of the eggs, Lin Bei couldn't tell what kind of snakes they were, but they were definitely of various types, including silver-ringed snakes, golden-ringed snakes, and vipers. Over the next few days, Lin Bei continued to search, expanding his range. The forest's resources were abundant, and in less than three days, he brought back over a thousand snake eggs.

The hatching rate of snake eggs is related to temperature; the higher the temperature, the higher the hatching success rate. Fortunately, Longtan had plenty of sunlight, especially Lin Bei's wooden house, which was in a place where the sun could shine directly. So Lin Bei placed the snake eggs on the moss on the roof, covering them with leaves when he left. Even so, some snake eggs would often be missing when Lin Bei returned. His presence could make animals retreat, but it couldn't stop the birds in the sky, some of which liked to steal and eat eggs. Faced with this situation, Lin Bei could only be speechless.

Lin Bei was very enthusiastic about recruiting subordinates. He stopped collecting snake eggs only a day before the hunters were due to arrive. In the end, there were about two thousand snake eggs on the roof, and Lin Bei noticed that some of them were showing signs of hatching.

"Once the baby snakes hatch, they will need food. Even if only half of them hatch, that's nearly a thousand snakes. Feeding nearly a thousand snakes is a big project. What should I feed them?"

Thinking about the memories in his head, Lin Bei smiled bitterly. Baby snakes can't catch wild rabbits or frogs, so they usually eat insects like moths and mosquitoes. But clearly, Lin Bei couldn't catch these things. Additionally, snakes also eat eggs, whether they are snake eggs or bird eggs.

"Some of the eggs are painful. I need to separate the newly hatched baby snakes from the snake eggs, otherwise, the snake eggs will be eaten."

Because of these characteristics of baby snakes, Lin Bei planned to stay on the roof 24/7. He needed to let the baby snakes feel his presence as soon as they hatched and prevent them from eating the snake eggs. If he were human, he wouldn't be able to endure such a tedious task, but as a snake, Lin Bei's patience had improved, so he could accept it.

"Sir, Sir?" came the voice of Cui Lan from outside. The time agreed upon with the hunters had arrived.

Lin Bei straightened up and looked outside the fence. This time, there were eight hunters, and Cui Dalang was among them, as he seemed unfamiliar to Lin Bei. Besides the people, Daniu was also following behind.

"Why is Sir sleeping on the roof?" Cui Lan laughed, as their relationship had improved, she could now show concern.

Lin Bei climbed down, picked up Cui Lan, and showed her the roof. Cui Lan was very surprised and said, "Sir, what are these? Are they snake eggs? How many are there? They can't be Sir's, right?"

Lin Bei was speechless and quickly shook his head. If he had that ability, he would be amazing.

"Is Sir planning to hatch all of these? I wonder if these little ones will be as powerful as Sir." Cui Lan then introduced the young man who looked unfamiliar to Lin Bei: "Sir, this is my elder brother. He came to thank Sir."

Cui Dalang, who still limped, bowed to the ground: "Sir, thank you for finding the bone-growing herb for me. Your kindness is unforgettable."

Lin Bei couldn't accept the ancient custom of kneeling and kowtowing, so he quickly moved away, first shaking his head, then pointing to Cui Lan, and gesturing to indicate that it was just a transaction, and both parties were equal, with no need for such gratitude.

"Elder brother, Sir has a good character and can't stand such formalities. Sir, you haven't cleaned up the surroundings these days, right? The wild grass has grown again. Let's help Sir clean up."

Lin Bei had indeed been busy these past few days and hadn't had time to deal with these trivial matters. Cui Lan then began to assign tasks, with several hunters pulling weeds for Lin Bei. Cui Lan and Jiu Lang lifted a large basket from Daniu's back and gently placed it in front of Lin Bei, wiping the sweat from her forehead: "Sir, these are the items you wanted, all of the best quality."

Lin Bei had asked for pots, bowls, and other kitchenware. Cui Lan didn't take it lightly and bought the best ceramics from the Zhen family's trading house. There was also a large iron pot at the bottom.

Lin Bei looked at the colorful ceramic bowls and pots, which were clearly high-quality items. When he left Dongshan Village, he saw many farmers using wooden or earthenware items, which were of much lower quality compared to these. These could be considered antiques, and if placed in modern times, they would be worth hundreds of thousands.

Seeing Lin Bei's satisfaction, Cui Lan quickly put the items in the wooden house and then exclaimed, "Sir, there's no bed or cabinet in the house? Let's have A Mu make some for Sir."

A young man outside responded.

Farmers in this era were actually very skilled, having to master various crafts, such as carpentry, weaving, and construction, to be self-sufficient. A Mu was likely the best carpenter among them.

The hunters worked diligently, making Longtan seem very lively. They pulled weeds, watered the taro fields, and repaired the wooden house. Lin Bei also gave guidance, expressing his intentions, such as the uneven ground, and the hunters didn't slack off.

The hunters worked hard, and Lin Bei naturally wasn't stingy. He went out twice and brought back twelve wild chickens, giving them to Cui Lan to slaughter. He then demonstrated how to make beggar's chicken, which was very simple, and Cui Lan quickly learned. The rest was left to her to prepare, as it was their food.

While Cui Lan was making the beggar's chicken, Lin Bei prepared to go out again. He needed to find something for the hunters. He had already set his sights on a patch of lingzhi mushrooms he had seen while collecting snake eggs.

PS: I must admit, I've been a bit lazy, so now I update once a day. However, I have a recommendation tomorrow, even though it's just a new book recommendation. I will still try to update twice, and if I can manage three, that would be even better.