Chapter 77: Growing Vegetables in the Space, Preparing for the Unexpected

After clearing the snow from the roof, courtyard, and the small path outside, Ming Dai led Zhou Sinian into her space, carrying the goods they had received from Aunt Huang.

Once inside, she changed into clean clothes and headed to the kitchen. She checked the sink, where the venison had been soaking in water. The meat had turned a light pink, with most of the blood drained out.

Satisfied, Ming Dai nodded, took the meat out, squeezed out the excess water, and set it aside.

Meanwhile, Zhou Sinian sat on the sofa, happily eating the yogurt Ming Dai had made for him. The crunch of nuts echoed as he bit into them.

Ming Dai then prepared the marinade—she sliced a piece of old ginger and a stalk of green onion, mixed them with salt and cooking wine, and rubbed the seasoning evenly into the strips of meat. She let them marinate for fifteen minutes.

Next, she poured some refined soybean oil into a bowl, then mixed in a one-to-one ratio of sweet potato starch and flour. To this, she added two spoonfuls of Sichuan pepper powder.

To make sure the fried coating would be crispy and stay that way, she avoided adding water to the batter. Instead, she poured in a small amount of beer and cracked in two egg yolks. This technique ensured the fried meat would have the perfect crunch.

Once the batter was mixed and ready, she went to the storage room to fetch a large bucket of soybean oil. She poured half of it into the pot and started heating it.

When the oil reached medium heat, she removed the ginger and green onion from the marinated meat, then dipped each strip into the batter, coating them evenly.

With a sharp sizzle, the first strip of battered meat hit the hot oil, sending tiny golden bubbles rising to the surface.

The familiar sound of frying immediately caught Zhou Sinian’s attention. Curious, he walked over and watched as Ming Dai carefully placed each battered meat strip into the pot. The pale yellow pieces quickly turned golden brown as she flipped them with long chopsticks.

Soon, the rich aroma of fried meat filled the entire kitchen.

Zhou Sinian’s chewing slowed as his eyes locked onto the crispy, golden meat being lifted from the pot and placed into a bowl to drain. Unable to resist, he reached out to grab a piece.

Smack!

Without hesitation, Ming Dai tapped the back of his hand with her chopsticks. Meeting his aggrieved gaze, she warned, “It’s hot! Wait a bit longer. I still need to fry them again. Go play for now.”

Zhou Sinian, however, refused to leave. He stood to the side with his yogurt bowl, scooping spoonfuls into his mouth while his eyes remained fixed on Ming Dai’s chopsticks, following the meat strips as they moved back and forth.

By the time all the meat strips were fried, the bowl had turned into a small mountain of crispy goodness.

Ming Dai then fried them a second time. The color deepened, the aroma intensified, and the crispiness reached perfection.

When the first batch was done, she placed them in a small dish and handed it to Zhou Sinian, who was practically drooling with anticipation.

“Take some chopsticks and eat at the dining table. Be careful not to burn yourself.”

Zhou Sinian pursed his lips and nodded hastily. He took the plate with light, quick steps, as if afraid it might disappear if he waited too long.

Ever since that snowy day incident, Ming Dai had gained a better understanding of Zhou Sinian’s protective attitude toward food. But she also began to subtly adjust some of his small habits to prevent him from overeating and upsetting his stomach.

After finishing all the frying, Ming Dai tried a piece herself. The outer layer was perfectly crispy, while the meat inside was tender and juicy. Compared to traditional fried pork, the venison had a firmer texture and a delightful chewiness. The slight numbing fragrance of Sichuan pepper added a rich depth of flavor, making it both delicious and not greasy at all.

For lunch, the two of them enjoyed the crispy fried meat with pickled radish. The contrast of flavors was both satisfying and refreshing.

Zhou Sinian was more than content. He eagerly suggested having the same dish for dinner.

Ming Dai readily agreed—there was still more than half a bowl left in storage, enough to last them a few more meals.

After resting for a while post-lunch, they decided to stay inside the space and get some work done instead of going outside.

Ming Dai first organized the supplies given by Aunt Huang, planning to start some seedlings in the space.

Leeks were the easiest to grow—all they needed was a bit of simple preparation before planting.

She carefully trimmed and cleaned the leek roots, then instructed Zhou Sinian to fetch half a basin of water. She added a small amount of sugar to the water and stirred until it dissolved before soaking the leek roots in the mixture.

After that, she took Zhou Sinian outside to collect a good amount of wood ash from the kitchen and brought it back into the space.

Wood ash made an excellent fertilizer. Rich in potassium salts, it helped boost plant growth and increased the yield of crops. Additionally, it worked as a natural pesticide, making it one of the most accessible and effective organic farming materials.

While the chive roots were soaking in the basin, she took Zhou Sinian to sort out the sprouted potatoes. She taught him how to cut the potatoes into pieces, making sure each piece had at least one small sprout. Then, they rolled the pieces in plant ash to coat them evenly.

Sweet potatoes were much easier to handle. She simply picked out the larger, healthier ones and planted them directly into the soil. Later, she could propagate more by inserting sweet potato vines into the ground.

As for the other seeds, she decided to start with seedling cultivation first. Since she didn’t recognize them, and the small paper packets given by Aunt Huang had no labels, she had no way of knowing what kinds of seeds they were.

She figured she would just wait and see what sprouted.

To be safe, she went to the storage and took out some labeled seeds. She made sure to plant common vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, baby greens, and spinach. Additionally, she grabbed watermelon, strawberries, muskmelon, and Hami melon seeds, intending to plant them all. With this, she wouldn’t have to worry about fresh vegetables and fruits in the future.

Outside the villa, the fruit trees she had transplanted were growing well, ensuring she wouldn’t lack fruit either.

Having a planting space was amazing!

After painting a beautiful picture of the future for Zhou Sinian, his eyes sparkled with excitement. Without hesitation, he rushed into the storage and brought out a pile of farming tools at lightning speed.

Unfortunately, there were no agricultural machines in the warehouse, so they had to rely on manual labor for land cultivation. However, thanks to Ming Dai’s inspiring vision, Zhou Sinian was highly motivated. He swung his arms and dug the soil with incredible energy—his speed was something that Ming Dai, with her weak physique, couldn’t even hope to match.

In the end, Ming Dai gave up on digging altogether. Instead, she took a shovel and spread plant ash over the soil Zhou Sinian had tilled. Then, she arranged the land into neat ridges according to the types of crops they planned to grow.

By the time the afternoon ended, they had prepared all the land for planting.

Ming Dai carefully took out the chive roots and arranged them neatly in the freshly dug trenches. She held the chive roots steady while Zhou Sinian filled the soil back in.

By the time they finished, Ming Dai felt like her waist was about to break, while Zhou Sinian remained perfectly fine. She couldn’t help but admire him—there was indeed a huge difference between people.

With the chives planted, the rest of the seeds were simply sown into the ground.

The potato pieces, coated in plant ash, were buried in pairs along the soil ridges. The sweet potatoes were even simpler to plant—there was no need for ridges at all. A half-meter-long, one-meter-wide patch for each was enough. They only needed to be buried and left to sprout.

The remaining task was seed cultivation. She and Zhou Sinian divided a large plot of land into more than thirty smaller sections, each separated by ridges. They evenly scattered the seeds in each section, then wrote down the names of the seeds on paper and attached them to small wooden sticks, which they placed at the edges of the plots to avoid forgetting what was planted where.

Finally, Ming Dai connected a water hose and carefully watered all the crops according to their specific needs. With that, their planting work was finally complete.

She and Zhou Sinian sat on the grass, looking at the dark, freshly tilled soil, smiling with satisfaction. They eagerly anticipated the day when the entire field would be covered in lush greenery.

That evening, to reward themselves for the hard work—and also because she was too exhausted to cook—they had hotpot for dinner.

Since Zhou Sinian was taking medicine, they opted for a mushroom broth base. With the warehouse stocked full of fresh ingredients, they enjoyed the pure flavors of their meal and felt incredibly content.

If not for the fact that Zhou Sinian had to drink another dose of bitter medicine before bed, he would have considered this day absolutely perfect.

Both of them were completely exhausted. After heating up a pot of water to let the chimney release some smoke outside, they returned to their space, took a relaxing bath, and then went to sleep.

The next morning, when Ming Dai woke up, her entire body ached. Her muscles were sore, and her bones creaked with every movement. The pain was intense but oddly refreshing.

She really needed to exercise more!

In contrast, Zhou Sinian seemed completely fine. After breakfast, he immediately started cleaning the small pasture. He threw the animal waste into the fermentation pit and then used a military knife to shear the sheep.

Watching the now bare-skinned sheep, Ming Dai rubbed her nose in amusement. She seemed to remember mentioning something about knitting sweaters from the wool yesterday.

Seeing Zhou Sinian’s swift movements and the stiff, terrified sheep, she secretly adjusted the temperature in the sheep pen, raising it a little.

“Sorry, little ones. This is the best I can do for you!”

On the side, a foolish-looking deer curiously observed the scene, shaking the white fur on its backside.

“Good thing our fur is short!”