Chapter 13: Entering the Mountains

Xia Ning’an pushed Lu Zecheng to the kitchen door, then took out the towel blanket she had bought yesterday and covered his legs with it before going to the kitchen to cook.

“Would you like leek boxes and millet pumpkin porridge?”

“Are there any fresh leeks now?”

“Yes, I saw some yesterday and bought some. They’re still fresh. I also had leek and egg dumplings at the state-owned restaurant yesterday.”

“Oh! Then I’ll eat more today. It’ll be hard to eat them in the next few months.”

“Zecheng Ge, it’s not impossible to eat them.”

“Oh?”

“We can just get some wooden boxes, fill them with soil, and put them next to the kang. When it’s cold, we can heat the kang, and the temperature in the room will be high, so the leeks can continue to grow.”

“That makes sense. We can try it.”

“Yes, I’ll ask Second Brother to go to the mountains to cut some wood and nail some boxes tomorrow.”

“Then I’ll wait for An’an’s box vegetables.”

“Actually, we can not only grow vegetables, but we can also grow mushrooms. We just need to get some mycelium from the mountains. Once we reach the humidity and temperature suitable for mushroom growth, the mushroom bags will grow mushrooms.”

Lu Zecheng leaned forward slightly, as if he wanted to hear more clearly.

“An’an, is that true?”

“It’s true!”

“Have you grown them before?”

“We can try. I’ll go to the mountains this afternoon to find some mycelium. Let’s try it.”

“Okay!”

Xia Ning’an was thinking about how to make money openly, and now she had an idea. The weather was getting colder and colder. In the northeast, there weren’t many fresh vegetables besides cabbage, potatoes, and radishes in winter. It would be a good idea to grow mushrooms with the villagers.

It seems that business ideas come from chatting. No wonder the big shots in the future love to have gatherings. Besides bonding, they can also get more business ideas through chatting.

While they were chatting, Xia Ning’an didn’t idle her hands.

She fried the eggs, took out a roll of soaked vermicelli from the space, chopped it up, chopped the leeks, and prepared the seasonings.

She took out the dough from the space.

She made 20 flatbreads, put the filling on them, folded them in half, and pressed them down. She put four in a pot and put the rest in the electric pancake griddle in the space to make them.

She slowly baked them over low heat. Soon, the aroma of leeks wafted out.

“An’an’s cooking is so good. It smells delicious.”

“Then you have to eat more later.”

How could it not be fragrant? The leeks and eggs were from the space, with spiritual energy.

Xia Ning’an first ladled out the millet pumpkin porridge and let it cool.

She added a little water to the pot, covered it, and simmered it for a minute. She opened the lid, and the leek boxes were already golden brown on both sides.

She took them out of the pot along with the ones in the space.

She carried everything to the main room and they sat down to eat.

Lu Zecheng seemed to especially like today’s breakfast. He ate faster than usual, but even when eating quickly, handsome people were still handsome.

In the end, Xia Ning’an ate one leek box and a bowl of porridge.

Lu Zecheng ate two bowls of porridge and 10 leek boxes.

It was a good thing he couldn’t see. If he could, he would probably be embarrassed. After all, their appetites were so different.

Seeing that he had eaten so much today, Xia Ning’an didn’t let him go back to his room to lie down.

She suggested pushing him outside for a walk.

“The road outside is uneven and not easy to walk. We can just walk around the yard.”

Xia Ning’an had a black line on her forehead. He was the one who ate too much, but why was she the one doing the labor?

After walking around twice, they returned to the main room.

They sat there for a while, and Xia Ning’an found a children’s book from the bookshelf, “Thirty-Six Stratagems.”

Although it was a children’s book, the principles were the same. She might as well treat it as a story.

She thought that soldiers would be interested in this.

So, she started reading it to him.

Thirty-Six Stratagems – Waiting for the Enemy to Tire Themselves Out

“In the twenty-seventh year of King Xuan of Zhou, the State of Wei, in alliance with the State of Zhao, attacked the State of Han. The State of Han hurriedly asked the State of Qi for help…”

Her voice was modulated, sweet and clear, making people want to get lost in it.

That’s how the two of them spent the morning, one reading and the other listening attentively.

For lunch, Xia Ning’an made a pot of sweet potato rice, braised grass carp, a stir-fried potato with vinegar, and took out a large bowl of red dates and black fungus dessert from the space. This was the best for replenishing blood.

Xia Ninghao smelled the delicious food from home early and ran back early. The three of them ate lunch together. It was harvest time, so Li Fang and Xia Changhai brought their lunch and didn’t eat at home.

“Second Brother, do you have time to go to the mountains this afternoon to get some wood and make some wooden troughs? I need them.”

“Okay, are you in a hurry?”

“Yes, it’s related to my money-making plan.”

“Little Sister, tell me quickly. What money-making tricks do you have?” Xia Ninghao’s eyes lit up when he heard about making money.

“Growing mushrooms and vegetables in winter. Do you think they’ll sell well?”

Xia Ninghao slapped his thigh. “Of course they’ll sell well. Who isn’t tired of eating cabbage and radishes in winter? No, Little Sister, can you really grow them?”

“Of course, don’t you trust me? We’ll start planting as soon as the boxes are ready, and then we’ll make soap.”

“Okay, don’t say anymore. I’m going now.” He said this and ran out with his tools in a hurry.

Xia Ning’an shook her head. This money-obsessed…

“Zecheng Ge, I’m also going to go into the mountains to find mycelium. Can I push you back to the room?”

“Okay!”

After settling Lu Zecheng, Xia Ning’an changed into her old clothes, put on her backpack, took a machete, and went into the mountains.

Xia Ning’an wasn’t like the heroines in time-travel novels. She wasn’t from the apocalypse, nor did she practice martial arts in her previous life. She was just a novice and didn’t dare to go deep into the mountains easily. She just planned to wander around the shallow mountains. If she found pine nuts, chestnuts, or something like that, that would be great. After wandering around for two or three hours, she would buy some mycelium from Xiaomiao and go back.

With her strategy in mind, Xia Ning’an strolled leisurely into the mountains.

The autumn forest was simply a colorful season, with the leaves turning red. It was a good mood to walk in such scenery.

Xia Ning’an decided to come here more often when she had time. Not only was the scenery beautiful, but if she encountered any mountain goods, she could pick them and take them back to eat as snacks in winter. Pine nuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts, and walnuts from the northeast were very expensive in the future.

Sure enough, she didn’t walk for long before she saw a crabapple tree. The red fruits hung on the tree, looking very beautiful. Maybe because the tree was too tall, no one had picked the crabapples. This stumped Xia Ning’an. She couldn’t climb trees!

“Xiaomiao, is there any way to pick the crabapples from the tree?”

“Anjie, you can try to use your mind to pick them while touching the tree. If that doesn’t work, you can put the fruit tree into the space and then use your mind to pick them.”

What? It can be done like this? She excitedly reached out her not-so-evil little hand towards the trunk.

“Pick the fruit.”

The fruit tree swayed, and it actually collected all the fruit into the space.

“Xiaomiao, I love you to death. Mwah.”

Hmph, when you need someone, you’re sweet as honey. When you don’t, you’re cold as ice.