Chapter 17

Gu Qinghuan held the wild vegetables as she entered the kitchen, then quickly stepped into the space.

She opened the vending machine’s sales page.

She clicked to add a product, and the page prompted her to input the product name.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t have time to categorize the wild vegetables before selling them, so she packed them all together and labeled them simply as “wild vegetables.”

Next, she had to take a photo, weigh them, and package them.

She pulled out a handful of thorny buds from inside, preparing to cook them for lunch. The rest of the wild vegetables were all thrown together.

With two clicks, high-definition photos of the wild vegetables appeared on the page, along with their weight—eight pounds and six ounces in total.

She placed the wild vegetables into the machine’s dispensing slot, and the vending machine would package them automatically, no further attention needed.

The last step was pricing.

Gu Qinghuan thought for a moment. Based on the current market price for wild vegetables, these could be sold for around twenty to thirty yuan per pound. With over eight pounds, they should at least fetch two hundred yuan, right?

Converting two hundred yuan from the future to the present, she decided to price them at two yuan. That shouldn’t be unreasonable, right?

So, Gu Qinghuan entered two yuan and clicked “confirm.”

The vending machine displayed: “You have one item for sale.”

After finishing everything, she hurried back to the kitchen. If the children suddenly called for her, it would be easy to slip up.

The stove was too high, and the children hadn’t cleaned up yesterday. Gu Qinghuan rolled up her sleeves, turned on the water, and began cleaning.

She wiped everything inside and out, then cleared the accumulated old ash from the stove, making the entire kitchen usable again.

Behind the kitchen, she found several bundles of firewood left by Wang Laocai, but they were already full of insect holes. Though not ideal, they would have to do for now.

If there was time, she’d figure out a way to gather more firewood from the mountain.

With the cleaning done, she could start making breakfast.

Gu Qinghuan went back into the space. The stove in the house was empty, and Wang Laocai’s iron pot had seemingly been taken by someone. She could only buy two iron pots for herself.

After measuring the stove hole’s diameter, she placed an order for the pots.

The iron pots in the future were cheap, and there was no need for industrial tickets.

She opened the vending machine, and at the bottom, a red notification appeared.

When she clicked on it, she was surprised to find that the product she had just listed had been sold, and the money had already been transferred into her account. She could withdraw it by clicking “cash out.” It was so fast!

Holding the hard-earned two yuan, Gu Qinghuan felt incredibly excited. It was as if a door to a new world had opened for her. She seemed to have figured out how to make money.

What was lacking in the future? Pure natural products. And here, everything she had was purely natural and pollution-free. This was all money!

She couldn’t dwell on it too much, though; the more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She needed to get the meal ready first.

She spent three yuan on two iron pots, one large and one small, which fit perfectly in the stove hole.

Then she began pulling items from the villa, swiftly and quietly.

While the two children didn’t yet know what she had brought over, she hurried to take out as many things as she could.

Various seasonings, the labels were torn off, or she simply poured them into bowls for storage.

She grabbed a bundle of noodles, ten pounds of rice, and ten pounds of white flour.

In addition to the cornmeal, black flour, and brown rice she had bought earlier, this would be enough for a while.

She grabbed about ten eggs.

She took a whole bucket of cooking oil, though it looked a bit conspicuous. The villa’s stock was all ten-pound containers.

In the end, she had to use a glass bottle that had originally contained soy sauce, cleaned it out, and filled it with oil for the time being.

She also brought out extra bowls, chopsticks, plates, and dishes. With the four sets she had bought earlier, there should be enough.

She needed spoons, spatulas, knives, and cutting boards, all essentials for the kitchen. The villa’s kitchen had extras, so she could just take them and use them.

What else did she need? Oh, matches for starting the fire.

The villa only had lighters, which obviously weren’t suitable for her needs.

She placed an order for a big box of matches from the vending machine.

With most of the kitchen essentials taken care of, there were still a few things to be added later. She also needed to figure out how to get a cabinet.

Things like grains and food couldn’t just be left out without a cabinet to lock them up. If rats got to them, it would be a huge loss.

With everything ready, it was almost eight o’clock. The two little ones had already come to the kitchen a few times, wanting to help. Gu Qinghuan had sent them out to clear the weeds in the courtyard instead.

She quickly tidied up and began making breakfast.

She didn’t have much time today, so she decided to make something simple.

She scooped half a bowl of white flour and half a bowl of cornmeal into a basin, then cracked four eggs into it. She chopped up some Yunnan ham, which she had smuggled out from the space, into small cubes and added them in, along with some chopped green onions, a pinch of salt, and a small bowl of spring water.

She mixed everything together into a golden, smooth batter and set it aside.

Both iron pots needed to be seasoned before they could be used, to prevent food from sticking in the future.

To season the pots, she could use either lard or cooking oil.

Gu Qinghuan simply used cooking oil to season the pots, then started making egg pancakes over low heat.

Da Bao and Bei Bei were working hard pulling weeds outside. Suddenly, they caught a strong scent in the air—something like fried eggs, with a hint of meat.

The firewood stove was hard to control, and the first egg pancake required quite a bit of frantic effort from Gu Qinghuan to prevent it from burning. But she managed, and after some struggle, it was successfully made.

The food cooked over the firewood stove seemed to have a unique flavor. It smelled great, and tasted even better. After taking a bite, she almost felt like her tongue was in heaven.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two little heads sneaking a peek at the door.

Gu Qinghuan waved at them.

The two little ones obediently came inside, waiting for instructions.

They looked adorably clueless, though their image was a bit complicated to describe.

But that didn’t matter. With time, they’d improve.

“Quick, go wash your hands and come eat the egg pancakes.”

Da Bao led his little sister to the wooden tub outside to scoop water and wash their hands.

She tore the first egg pancake into two halves and gave each of the children a piece to eat.

Gu Qinghuan started making the second batch of egg pancakes, and this time, it went much more smoothly. She wasn’t rushing around in a panic anymore.

Bei Bei ate eagerly, almost wolfing down her food, while Da Bao ate more gracefully.

“So delicious, Mom, everything you make is so tasty!” Bei Bei didn’t hold back in showering praise, but she was speaking the truth.

Gu Qinghuan also thought today’s egg pancakes were especially fragrant, probably because she added the spring water.

Da Bao also complimented her, saying: “Delicious.”

His personality was more reserved, so if he said it was good, he really meant it.

He did worry that if their stepmother kept eating like this, their family might soon face starvation.

Rice porridge, roasted chicken, egg pancakes—what kind of family could afford to eat like this?

But he didn’t dare question Gu Qinghuan’s decisions; after all, she was kind enough to make all this delicious food.

Gu Qinghuan pretended not to notice his hesitation, not offering any explanations, and happily relaxed.

Both children were perceptive. After finishing their pancakes, Bei Bei saw Gu Qinghuan was busy managing both the fire and cooking pancakes at the same time. She took it upon herself to handle the fire, even knowing how to control the flame.

Da Bao noticed that the water jar in the kitchen had been cleaned out but wasn’t yet filled, so he went outside to fetch water from the well and poured it in.

Gu Qinghuan was startled, worried he might fall into the well while drawing water.

But she clearly overreacted. Da Bao wasn’t doing this for the first time—he handled it with ease, and his water-fetching skills were even more proficient than hers. Every time, he filled the bucket to the brim.

Egg pancakes kept coming out of the pan, and the smell in the kitchen was intoxicating.

The sweet aroma of cornmeal, the salty fragrance of the ham, and the unique scent of eggs combined into a strange, wonderful smell.

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In the east room, Xu Huai’an, rarely so clear-headed, was awakened by the scent of the egg pancakes. His stomach gave a loud protest—he was starving.

Although he often felt dazed, when he was awake, he had some sense of what was happening around him.

He remembered suddenly having a nominal wife, a “sent-down youth” no less.

He remembered her bringing rice porridge to the two children and even giving him a meat bun.

And yesterday, she used an old bedsheet to preserve his last bit of dignity.

The laughter from outside showed they were getting along well.

It had been a long time since Xu Huai’an had heard the children laugh.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the people from the old Xu family had done something right.

But he did feel a little guilty toward this comrade.