bookbashuk Page 67
Page 67
The surviving soldiers frantically lifted the seriously wounded colonel and fled towards the warship without looking back, not even bothering to pick up the fallen weapons.
Nozigo, like a startled bird, rushed to Bellemere's side and hugged her tightly. Only when she felt her mother's warm embrace did the tears she had been holding back finally burst forth.
"Belmel! I'm so glad you're alright! Did they hurt you?"
Nokiko's voice was choked with sobs, her little hands gripping her mother's clothes tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, her mother would disappear.
Bellemere hugged her daughter back, her eyes also welling up with tears. She recalled that when they were being escorted away, her biggest worry was that Nochiko would be implicated.
"Silly child, I'm fine."
She gently stroked Nojiko's hair, her voice slightly choked, "Just now... just now I was most afraid that you would be found by them too. Seeing that you are alright, I am a little relieved."
She cupped Nochiko's face in her hands, wiped away her daughter's tears with her thumb, but her own tears couldn't help but fall.
"Promise me, no matter what happens, you must take good care of yourself. You and Nami are the only reason I live."
Nokiko nodded vigorously, buried her face in Bellemere's arms again, and said in a muffled voice, "We'll be alright, Bellemere. Uncle and the manatee will protect us, and we'll never be separated again."
Bellemere, still shaken, stared at the manatee that had obediently returned to Liu Jiu's side, hardly believing her eyes.
"It's you? What...what's going on?"
Nojiko lifted his head from his mother's arms, tears still glistening on his face, but a joyful smile already spreading across his face: "Uncle tamed the manatee! It listens to Uncle now!"
The manatee responded with a soft moo.
Standing amidst the wreckage of the Evil Dragon Park, Liu Jiu watched the fleeing navy figures and said calmly:
"From now on, the navy probably won't send soldiers to bother us anymore."
Afterwards, three more naval warships were seen sailing away in a disheveled state.
Bellemere took a deep breath and forcefully wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. She strode up to Liu Jiu, put her hands on her hips, and resumed her usual dashing demeanor.
"Man!" her voice was loud and clear, with an undeniable certainty, "I approve of you!"
She pointed towards her own little house, her movements crisp and decisive: "Stop dawdling, come home with us!"
Nokiko's eyes lit up, and she immediately ran over, her eyes sparkling as she grabbed Liu Jiu's other hand, nodding vigorously, "Yes, yes! Uncle, come home with us! Our home may be small, but it's very warm!"
Liu Jiu stared blankly at the mother and daughter, who were standing on either side of him with a tough attitude, a rare look of surprise on his face. Before he could even speak, he was pulled forward by the enthusiastic Nojigo, while Bellemere stood on the other side with an expression that said, "Try refusing if you dare."
"Wait..." Liu Jiu tried to say something.
"What are you waiting for!" Bellemere interrupted abruptly. "You've helped us so much, do you really expect to camp out in the wilderness?"
"That's right!" Nojiko hugged his arm tightly. "Uncle has to come to our house!"
And so, under the mother and daughter's unsolicited "coercion," Liu Jiu was almost half-pushed and half-forced to walk towards that familiar house with a small courtyard.
The manatee, unaware of what was happening, let out a low moo and slowly jumped into the seawater-filled swimming pool, where it waited patiently.
Three days later, Liu Jiu learned from Bellemere that it was Bellemere who had taken the initiative to let Nami and the others continue to go out to sea to avoid trouble.
"We can't let the children get taken away by the Navy," Bellemere said while hanging up laundry. "They'll come back when things calm down."
So Liu Jiu was forced to stay by the mother and daughter.
The cabin was indeed small; at night, the three of them had to squeeze onto one bed to rest.
Bellemere slept on the outermost side, and before falling asleep, she would always say, "There aren't many men who can be recognized by me, Bellemere, so don't even think about running away."
Nokiko huddled close to Liu Jiu and whispered, "Yes, Uncle, you have to stay here forever."
And so, Liu Jiu settled down in this small house with a courtyard.
Firstly, he didn't know where Kuina, Robin, and Nami had gone;
Secondly, every day when Nokiko wakes up, she likes to stick to him and follow him everywhere. Sometimes she will even pretend to cry and say, "Uncle, can you leave a little later?"
Three months passed by in a blink of an eye.
In the orange grove at dawn, the three had already developed a unique understanding.
Liu Jiu was in charge of pruning the taller branches, Bellemehr took care of the weeds at the bottom, and Noki Gao followed behind to water the plants.
"The one on the left needs fertilizing," Bellemere said without looking up.
Liu Jiu silently picked up the fertilizer bag. Nuoqi happily followed, trying to do more harm than good, just like an adult.
Sometimes Bellemere would recount amusing anecdotes from their naval days, and Liu Jiu would occasionally respond. Nojiko loved these moments; she would sit between the two, listening to their stories while observing their tacit interaction.
As the sun sets, the three of them would sit in the courtyard to rest.
Bellemere brewed orange tea, while Noki leaned against Liu Jiu looking at picture books.
Manatees occasionally peek out from the seashore and moo as if they are hungry.
Chapter 76 The Sales Channels of Oranges
The days quietly passed through several dawns and dusks in the orange grove.
Bellemere still sported that dashing short red hair.
She had a habit of lighting a cigarette after work, taking a deep drag, exhaling, and then putting it in her mouth. The white smoke rose gently, blending into the surrounding environment.
Nojiko curiously leaned closer: "Bellmere, let me try it too!"
"No way!" Bellemere immediately took the cigarette away. "The kid can't learn this."
"I'm all grown up now, not a little kid anymore. Look, I can help with chores!"
"Really? How about I buy you a juice drink tonight?"
"Okay, I'll take the large bottle!"
"See? He still says he's not a kid? Only children like drinking juice!"
"Belmel is too cunning!"
"Ha ha……"
At this moment, Liu Jiu walked over.
He casually took the cigarette from Bellemere's mouth and stubbed it out in the dirt: "Don't corrupt the children."
Nochiko immediately made a smug face at his mother.
Bellemere was taken aback at first, then threw her head back and laughed loudly: "Great! I'll quit smoking from now on!"
She ruffled Nokiko's hair vigorously, then turned to Liu Jiu and winked: "But you have to find me some other entertainment."
From that day on, Bellemere never touched a cigarette again. Sometimes she would still habitually reach into her pocket, then laugh self-deprecatingly, and pick up her pruning shears to tend to the orange tree.
Noki Gao lost interest in smoking and instead started imitating Liu Jiu's quiet way of watching the sea.
Bellemere once joked, "Well, now we have two more taciturn people in the house."
The sea breeze still carried a salty smell, but the air inside the cabin felt exceptionally fresh.
That year, the oranges had an unusually bumper harvest, with golden fruits bending the branches, but Bellemere was full of worry.
"It's all over..." she sighed, looking at the orchard full of ripe oranges. "This year's harvest is too good; we simply can't sell them."
Noki was also extremely anxious: "The fruit stalls in town all say they have too much stock and refuse to take any more."
Seeing the plump oranges about to rot on the branches, Bellemere stroked the fruit with heartache: "These were all so hard to grow..."
Seeing the anxious looks on the mother and daughter's faces, Liu Jiu asked, "How did you handle this in previous years?"
"In previous years, the harvest wasn't this good, and the town could handle it all," Bellemere shook her head helplessly. "The ones that couldn't be sold could only be made into marmalade, but that doesn't keep for long..."
Nokiko added, "Uncle, we also dry oranges, but... every household does it this way, and it's not worth much at all."
The three walked and looked around in the orange grove.
Bellemere picked a slightly soft orange, broke it open to reveal the still plump flesh.
"What wonderful oranges..." she said regretfully.
The manatees seemed to sense their distress and let out a low moo from the shore.
Liu Jiu thought for a moment: "Didn't you ever think about shipping them to other islands to sell?"
Bellemere shook her head: "The situation is similar on the nearby islands; once there's a bumper orange harvest, there's no shortage of fruit anywhere."
Liu Jiu silently looked at the fruit that was about to go to waste in the garden, lost in thought.
"Loguetown is the last stop on the route from the East Blue to the Grand Line. It has the most diverse and largest population. The consumption there is incomparable to that of a small village like this. If we transport these oranges there, we won't have to worry about selling them."
Bellemere's eyes lit up as she listened, but then dimmed again: "Roggetown... is too far. We only have small fishing boats; we can't possibly travel that far by sea. Besides, even if we did get there, we wouldn't know anyone. How would we sell our goods? Set up a stall? How long would that take?"
Liu Jiu looked at Moo Moo, a manatee lazily sunbathing on the shore.
"The boat isn't a big problem," he said calmly. "With it, even if all the fishing boats are chained together, it can become a fast boat."
The manatee seemed to hear the moo, and proudly flicked its tail, splashing water everywhere.
Noki jumped up excitedly: "That's right! Manatees are so strong, they can pull boats! It's definitely much faster than a sailboat!"
Bellemere was moved. She looked at the garden full of golden leaves—the result of her and her daughters' hard work, and perhaps the hope of the entire village for the year.
Yes, it's not just her family; other families in the village that grow oranges are also facing the predicament of unsold produce this year. They may not say it, but the worry in their eyes is undeniable.
She took a deep breath, looked at Liu Jiu, her eyes filled with determination and a hint of pleading: "Alright, if... if we really have to go to Rogge Town, could you... bring all the oranges from the village with you? We can sell as many as we can; it's better than them rotting in the fields."
This is no small decision. It means that the workload, risks, and responsibilities will increase exponentially.
It even includes the possibility of ungrateful customers appearing once sales channels are established...
Liu Jiu looked at Bellemere; this woman's kindness and sense of responsibility were always evident in such ways. He nodded, saying nothing more: "Okay."
The news quickly spread throughout Cocoa West Village.
At first, they were skeptical, but when they saw the enormous manatee mooing obediently with its reins, pulling a dozen or so modified fishing boats laden with oranges, their skepticism turned to astonishment, and then to ecstasy.
"When did the Bellemere family get an extra man?...What can he do about it!"
"It's a manatee! The manatee from the Arlong Pirates that was captured! It actually listens to him!"
"God, our harvest this year is saved!"
The villagers brought out almost all their savings; baskets of golden oranges were carefully loaded onto the boat, piled up like small mountains. Their eyes, as they looked at Liu Jiu, were filled with gratitude and an almost superstitious trust—
This man unintentionally captured Bellemere's heart (according to the villagers), scared away the navy, and now he can even tame sea monsters. What's selling some oranges compared to that?