Beast World: A Fragile Beauty Blessed with Many Children-Chapter 367 - 366: A String of Tagalongs

Xu Chi and Yin Jiang had gotten used to their rhythm of returning home every three days to spend time with the cubs and their little female. When traveling or hunting, they were on high alert, giving it their all. But when they returned home, they could completely relax, enjoy delicious food, and absorb Crystal Stones to settle their cultivation. This routine allowed them to faintly sense their cultivation slowly advancing, something they had rarely been able to perceive during hunts in the past.

And they weren’t the only ones. The males of the family were also incredibly busy. Besides their duties at the Beast Soldier Camp and guarding Beast City, Zhi Le and Wei Ce also had to tend to the fields and Bamboo Forest Mountain. Gong You and Xiao Cheng were in charge of the family’s workshops, the school, and the stationery shop. Ji Liang had begun training the staff at the Hai Yun Lai Restaurant. They also had to leave one or two of their number behind to stay with their little female and the cubs. If it weren’t for Zhi Le’s two doppelgangers, they would never have been able to manage it all.

Si Shuo, without fail, spent her mornings on cultivation. She would use up her Replication Ability, then draw talismans, ensuring not a single shred of her superpower or spiritual power went to waste.

’My future self will definitely be grateful for how diligent I am every day!’ she believed.

With the Fathers and Mothers all striving so hard for their little family and setting such a good example, the cubs, despite their usual mischief, were absolutely serious when it came to their studies and cultivation. They reported to the school and the Martial Arts Hall on time every day, and their self-discipline was a source of great comfort to the adults.

Inspired by the little ones, the students at the school and the Martial Arts Hall were highly motivated in their studies and cultivation, making visible progress. Seeing their efforts pay off spurred them to work even harder, creating a virtuous cycle of positive improvement!

The cubs’ progress, meanwhile, was spread by word of mouth among their parents, attracting a new batch of students...

One day, Xiao Cheng rushed home excitedly and held out a large, folded sheet of paper to Si Shuo. "Si Shuo, look at this!"

Si Shuo was eating fruit with the kids. She turned her head to look. ’This is...’

"A newspaper!" Jiao Tang exclaimed first. "Father Xiao Cheng, you’re amazing! You actually made a newspaper!"

Si Shuo quickly washed her hands, walked over, and took the newspaper. The paper was a bit rough compared to the paper of later generations, and slightly yellowed. Neatly printed on it were several recent major events: spring planting, the distribution of fields outside the city, the spring hunt, animal husbandry, and so on. There was even an advertisement for the opening of their Hai Yun Lai Restaurant. It was covered front and back with dense print. What was even more thoughtful was that the articles were accompanied by illustrations, and the Beast Text had pinyin written above it.

Xiao Cheng scratched his head and smiled. "Well, I was thinking that popularizing Beast Text will still be a bit difficult over the next three to five years. And the cubs enrolled in the school only know a limited number of Beast Text characters. But the first thing they learn is pinyin, and as we asked, they’ve been teaching their parents at home."

"Pinyin is quick to pick up, and the spelling rules are simple. When the cubs read the paper, they can sound out the words without needing a dictionary. It’s a little more work for us, at most. But this thing, which seems time-consuming, laborious, and not very profitable, can bring us great benefits in the future."

At this, he turned to the cubs, who were listening intently, and asked with a smile, "Cubs, what benefits do you think there are?"

The cubs all raised their hands to answer. "Father, I know! It can let the students practice pinyin, and they can learn more Beast Text while reading the paper..."

"It lowers the barrier to reading, so more Beastmen will be willing to learn pinyin because they want to know what’s new..."

"We can also start accelerated pinyin classes and reading literacy classes for adults... If more people read the paper, our newspaper sales will be better, and we could even publish books later on..."

"We can put advertisements in the newspaper..."

Some of these were things Xiao Cheng had already considered, but some he hadn’t even thought of. The kids’ words opened up new avenues in his thinking.

He quickly took out a pen and paper and started scribbling furiously, laughing as he did. "See? Other people might think we’re being foolish, but we’re actually going to be the big winners!"

Si Shuo nodded, her eyes glinting. She pulled him aside and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Cheng, is there going to be a new City Lord this year?"

"This is perfect. We can test the waters with the newspaper and see how everyone accepts it, while also printing more basic books in preparation for opening a bookstore later..."

Xiao Cheng nodded. "That’s right. After the hunt ends and the hunting parties return, the grand competition for Beast Soldiers and Generals will be held. A new City Lord will be elected then."

"With Ni Chang holding the fort before, the City Lord was basically always someone from the Ni Family. But now that Ni Chang is dead, it’s time for someone else to take the position. So this year’s competition is sure to be fierce."

"Have Father Wei Jin hand over the movable type printing technology at a suitable time. The credit for it can only be his; don’t let anyone else claim it," Si Shuo said with a light laugh. "Whether it’s for printing newspapers or books, the market is huge. Even if we hand over the printing technology, it won’t affect us much. In fact, we’ll be getting rid of a hot potato. And in the future, if they want to print anything, they’ll have to buy paper from us."

Xiao Cheng gave her a big thumbs-up. "Si Shuo, you’re truly amazing, and so magnanimous. A method with such far-reaching influence... most people would want to hide it away and pass it down for generations, making it the foundation of their family’s standing."

"But you? You’re just handing it over on a silver platter."

Si Shuo smiled. "Once movable type printing is widely adopted, our family’s small paper-making workshop won’t be enough to keep up with demand."

"How about this? Sometime soon, let’s talk to your Three-tailed Blue Fox Clan and have them become our contract manufacturer. What I mean is, they’ll work for us. The paper they produce can’t be sold privately and can only be supplied to us at a very reasonable price. What do you think?"

Xiao Cheng froze, asking in disbelief, "Si Shuo, are you talking about my entire Three-tailed Blue Fox Clan?"

"Yes. Didn’t you say Zhuan City isn’t far from here? You haven’t been back in over a year, have you? How about you take me there for a visit sometime soon?" Si Shuo nodded.

Xiao Cheng couldn’t help but let out a cry, sweeping Si Shuo into his arms and spinning her around in circles. "Thank you, Si Shuo! You’re the best! I love you so much... Father and Mother will be so happy when they find out you’re coming..."

"The members of our Three-tailed Fox Clan are serious, meticulous, and quick learners. We’ll definitely be able to make this paper manufacturing operation a booming success..."

Most importantly, he was in charge of the family’s paper-making workshop, so Xiao Cheng knew exactly how profitable it was. Even if his clansmen only got ten or twenty percent of the profits, it would dramatically improve their clan’s situation.

All Si Shuo knew was that this fox was a very fast learner. He seemed to have learned twelve-tenths of all her sweet-talking tricks!

Seeing his undisguised joy, she smiled, pressing her lips together. "When we go, we’ll have Tuanzi leave a mark there. Then you’ll be able to travel back and forth to Zhuan City every month."

Xiao Cheng hugged her affectionately. "Will you come with me, Si Shuo?"

Si Shuo raised an eyebrow and pointed to the group of cubs behind her. "Do you mind if we bring them along?"

Each of the cubs blinked, looking at him with immense anticipation.

’We’ve only been on one long trip before. The Beast World Continent is so big! We really want to go out and explore with Mother and the Fathers...’