Chapter 37: Digging for Bamboo Shoots

“Hmm…”
Ye Da rummaged through his backpack for a while before finding a slice of toast.
He had originally planned to eat it if he got hungry while working; as for other food, Ye Da had left it in the treehouse and hadn’t brought it out.
Now, he could only use the toast to trade with Little White for the bouncing mushroom.
“Let’s trade this, alright?”
Little White came forward and sniffed, immediately turning its head away in dissatisfaction, barking twice.
“Woof woof!”
“…”
Ye Da suddenly felt that having a pet with high intelligence wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Especially when it came to not being easily fooled.
“You insist on meat?”
“Woof!”
Little White barked once.
Ye Da was beginning to understand their language: one bark meant yes, two meant no.
Three barks had a more complicated meaning.
But at this moment…
Little White clearly wasn’t agreeing; Ye Da had to use meat to trade for the bouncing mushroom.
“Alright, just wait…”
Ye Da was about to take out the mobile treehouse, planning to use it to fetch some wolf meat.
Hmm…
Wolf meat wouldn’t do; that was its mother.
Ye Da wasn’t so twisted as to make a child eat its mother.
Snake meat would be better—he still had nine portions, sacrificing one would leave eight.
[Hum!]
Just as Ye Da tossed the mobile treehouse onto the ground, the glowing orb shook violently but didn’t unfold.
Instead, a prompt popped up on Ye Da’s screen!
[Failed to deploy!]
[The area of this treehouse is 15 square meters. The owner must find a tree with a diameter greater than 4.5 meters in order to deploy it inside!]
“What the hell?!”
Ye Da stared at the prompt, stunned.
Turns out the mobile treehouse couldn’t be opened just anywhere; moving required specific conditions.
Don’t underestimate this requirement: finding a tree with a diameter of four or five meters was no easy task.

But the treehouse area is fifteen square meters; shouldn’t the diameter be 7.5 meters?
“No, the diameter should be 4.36 meters.”
Ye Da recalled his middle school math, remembering the formula for the area of a circle: S = πr².
Calculating the radius: r = √S/π = √15/3.14 = 2.18
Diameter d = 2r = 2*2.18 = 4.36
That’s it!
Satisfied after his quick calculation, Ye Da nodded.
He liked to think through problems logically, from the ground up.
“Woof woof woof!”
Little White, seeing its owner not producing meat, merely standing there lost in thought, grew very disgruntled.
Ye Da was jolted back by Little White’s barking. “I’d love to give you meat, but the conditions here won’t allow it. How about I owe you for now?”
“I’ll find a place where the treehouse can be opened later, and then give you the meat. Is that okay?”
“Woof woof!”
Little White barked twice.
Two barks meant no!
Ye Da’s professional smile froze; this little brat was quite hard to please!
“Woof woof woof!”
Little White seemed to sense Ye Da cursing it in his heart.
It barked even more fiercely!
“Let me think, let me think…”
Ye Da’s mind spun rapidly, recalling something about prey to the south.
He turned to look south!
South: [2,100 meters ahead, there’s an underground stream. A crocodile has suddenly bitten a wild boar. If you want to profit as a bystander, you can try your luck! There’s also a special treasure chest by the stream; just follow the riverbank to find it.]
A treasure chest in the south?
Ye Da remembered there hadn’t been any chest notifications before; otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered digging for bamboo shoots—he’d have gone straight for treasure.
And there’s also a boar wounded by a crocodile—both valuable finds!
If…
Ye Da hadn’t really considered hunting before, but now, seeing the hunting talent of Little White and Little Grey, he decided to bring them along.
Their killing power was uncertain, but their tracking ability was unquestionable!
“So…”
Ye Da continued negotiating with Little White: “How about I take you to catch a boar later?”
“Boar meat—delicious, fragrant.”

Ye Da spoke in a coaxing tone, as if to a child, soothing Little White.
Little White tilted its head, thought for a while…
“Woof!”
Agreed.
Ye Da rubbed the little creature’s head. “Good boy.”
But in his heart, Ye Da thought…
You little rascal, trying to outsmart me!
Heh.
Since he’d decided to hunt boar first, Ye Da didn’t leave to open the goblin treasure bamboo tube.
First, he found the tube hard to open.
Second, daylight hours for exploring were limited.
Ye Da planned to explore more places before the heavy rain arrived; if luck favored him, he might find another one or two treasure chests.
The treasure could wait; when the rain came, he’d find shelter and study it at leisure.
“Woof woof!”
“Woof woof woof!”
Little White, upon hearing about boar meat, couldn’t wait and began urging Ye Da.
It had to be said, this creature wasn’t especially bright in other ways, but when it came to food, it was exceptionally shrewd!
“I know, I know, just let me finish digging up the bamboo shoots and we’ll go!”
When searching for the goblin’s lost treasure earlier, Ye Da had used his analyzing glasses to locate two bamboo shoots.
Though hunting boar was urgent, Ye Da still wanted to dig up the shoots first.
After all, if he went exploring elsewhere…
Who knew when he’d return to the bamboo forest?
Naturally, Ye Da wanted to take some shoots with him!
Besides…
What good is boar meat without bamboo shoots?
Stir-fried boar with bamboo shoots—just thinking about it was tantalizing!
“Woof woof woof!”
“Yes, yes, soon, very soon!”
Ye Da continued to placate Little White as he moved to dig bamboo shoots.
Meanwhile, Little Grey sniffed the muddy plant Ye Da had unearthed, pondered for a moment, then wandered over and began digging at the ground nearby.