Chapter 13: Vitatoes
Zar thought for a moment and began speaking. “Well senior, these have a good story behind them.”
“Oh yeah?” Asked the old man initially with some scepticism, “well I like a good story, but if you’re attempting to make a fool of me...”
Zar prepared his lie in his mind which had been working quite well due to the effects of Mineral Qi. “After the kindness you displayed, I promise that this is not so. The story goes like this:
I was about in my travels and I stumbled upon an isolated farm in the middle of nowhere where a lady lived, she was old and wrinkled. I needed a place to rest my tired body so I requested stay at here quarters. She agreed, at supper she served me these massive, what I thought was potatoes, but upon tasting them, I realised that these were too delicious to be potatoes. I asked her about it and she replied.
“No little one, these are not potatoes, these are vitatoes. Difference being that these restore your vitality, make you feel good! Only I know how to grow them and harvest them and NO I will not tell you the secret. After you sleep here, off with you, I don’t like your kind, always looking to get my secrets out of me.”
“And that was it!” Zar finalized.
“Prove it!”
“Eh?!” Replied Zar somewhat shocked.
“Looky here in this old man’s eyes, I know a trickster, but one thing tricksters hate is when ya find out their trick hehe. Now, prove it. Bake one!”
“I only have a few in here, they are mighty large and heavy! Cooking an entire one might result in a waste since they are so filling”
“Well, here’s a knife, cut a serving for me and you, cook it at my place tonight - I'll let ya stay. If you prove to me that these are worth my while, I'll by the load off you for a good price, or trade it for whatever you want. How’s that?”
“Agreed!” Zar replied admirably.
“Right, I gotta business to run, you go off and do whatever you want, come here when the shadows stretch this long, alright?”
“Yep.”
Zar went off looking around whilst old man Po settled matters of business with customers. When the length of the shadows grew with the passing day, Zar went back to the oldman to continue business and exchange of friendship.
“Right, come with me young buck, let’s get these vitatoes in our stomachs and see if your story checks out. If I can feel a little vital with these old bones, then that will be good for me. Vital huh? Vitatoes... I see what she done with the name, funny old gal.” Zar laughed nervously at the irony of Po’s sentence... Eventually they reached the old man's living quarters, he lived well. “No time to waste young one, go and do your work in the kitchen!”
“Hmph...” Zar went off feeling a little emasculated somehow and cut off a portion of a vitatoe he was covering to feed and fill both himself and the old man. He then put them by the fire to roast. Some time passed and they finished roasting.
“Wow, this aroma is extremely intense for a tuber I must say!” The old man noted. “Maybe ya aren’t fibbing! Let’s try it out though.”
Zar and the old man begun eating, Zar easily eating the entire thing and the old man barely being able to finish it. Zar grew concerned, thinking privately. “Ah shoot! Did he not enjoy it, or something such as this? How concerning, whatever will I do now. I think my covers been blown!” Zar then noticed the old man looking at him sternly, he could not read his expression. The old man then got up and went to bed. Zar with thoughts swirling to the various possibilities went to bed also, ensuring to take his belongings with him.
The morning came and Zar was awake, he went to the local lake to wash and noticed many of the villagers did also, he had a chat with the locals out of convenience – they noted on how well spoken Zar was, they had no idea of course that he as a Grand Elder had to be well spoken for his sect village. Zar never revealed his name and simply asked people to refer to him as a young hermit. After a bath, Zar headed back to the old man's house expecting him to be awake now that the morning was getting on, but he wasn’t.
“Did I kill the old man? Oh no! OH NO!” Zar thought to himself. Zar begun pacing back and forth, back and forth wondering at all the things that could be happening. “This did not happen to the villagers, what is happening to the old man?! Was Tar right? Are the tubers different this time? Do they have more Mineral Qi in them due to the previous imbuement?” Thoughts again were vortexing in Zar’s head, he did not know what to do with himself. He just sat, waiting, closed his eyes and calmed down.
*Tap, tap* “YOUNG BOY, UP YA GET! We gotta talk business!”
Zar awoke to see an old man who somehow looked a little more youthful all of a sudden tapping him awake. “What did you say, sorry?”
“Young boy! You said you got these potato things from that old woman, right?”
“Correct.”
“You must remember where she lives correct?”
Zar, realising that a lie was now being strengthened thought deeply before replying, and then said. “Yes, I do recall.”
“Now, I got a business opportunity for ya! If you source me vitatoes, I will make you and I a FORTUNE!”
“Senior Po, did something happen? You are shouting.”
“Boy, I haven’t felt this young in years, YEARS I tell YA, YEARS!”
Zar did not know whether to smile or be concerned, he was aware that this may possibly backfire. “Senior, as much as I would love to go into business with a wise man such as yourself, I am a humble young hermit, I travel from place to place. It was by luck I stumbled upon these vitatoes from that old lady. I am here to make a little money or trade some resources for my later travels, what say you Senior Po? Do you mind this humble hermit skipping on this opportunity?”
“Well yes, I figured it would be too good to be so.” Thought the old man in a solemn expression. “Alright, whadya want? Coin?”
“I wouldn’t mind in actuality, a variety of seeds and grains for growing.”
“Yes, that’s no problem, they have some reasonable value as of recent, give me a moment - I will go and collect the basics, such as rice and other greens and some other valuables too.” A few moments passed and the old man came back with a few sacks. “Here you go.” *BOOSH* as the sacks landed on the floor.
“Senior, how do you expect me to carry that?” Asked Zar with some excited concernment.
“You figure it out, you are a wandering hermit after-all, assuredly your back muscles are strong, no? I got here an all variety of things. Specifically:
Rice
Barely
Cabbage
Spinach
Corn
Broccoli
How about it? You want em?”
“Yes, this is very valuable, you sure old man, these are sacks of seeds. I was just expected a small bag.”
“Oh just feed em to the birds if ya don’t want em all! Hehe, these vitatoes, I can make a fortune. Go on, pass em over!” Zar passed the vitatoes slowly and the old man snatched them off him quickly with a greedy stare. Zar loaded the sacks of seeds into his basket and prepared to head off. “Now, if you ever stumble upon more of these vitatoe thingy's, you come back here quick alright!”
“Right senior, I will do so!”
“Good, good!”
End of Chapter 13
(Author Note:
So, so sorry for late chapter. I am having an annoying health issue that is somewhat inhibitting the usual flow of things, stay tuned for next chapter - hope to release it within 1 - 2 days as usual, thank you for reading. ｡^‿^｡189Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEo2zzpHMCy
)
ns 15.158.61.8da2
