Chapter 15: The Greenhouse is Done, Time to Start Transplanting

After more than half a month of effort, the greenhouse was finally completed.

Seeing the rows of greenhouses, the joy she felt was beyond words.

In Northeast China, it’s impossible to normally grow vegetables during winter. Every year, snow starts falling around early November according to the Gregorian calendar. The first snow of 2024 arrived slightly later than usual…

The seedlings her brother ordered would also arrive tomorrow.

Today, she and her parents planted seedlings of eggplants, chili peppers, green beans, scallions, strawberries, persimmons, and large tomatoes.

Because they had been carefully watered with the spiritual spring water in her space, the seedlings were more resilient than usual.

Wang Yi wasn’t worried at all—if anything went wrong, she could just water each seedling with spiritual spring water at night.

All nine members of her family came to help. Her grandparents were old hands at farming, able to solve any problem—truly a living agricultural encyclopedia!

Looking at everyone, it was clear that books alone weren’t enough; only practice could produce real knowledge.

With so many people, there was still plenty of work. Finishing even one greenhouse today would be a good achievement.

Wang Yi decided that in the evening she would discuss with her parents about hiring a few workers to finish everything before the snow fell.

At noon, with the greenhouse’s fire wall burning, it was especially warm—half-sleeve clothing was sufficient inside.

As lunchtime approached, Wang Yi started thinking about the meal. She remembered the rabbit her eldest uncle had given her and planned to make a small chicken stew with rabbit, serve some flatbreads, and steam a few twisted rolls.

Without hesitation, she rode her electric bike home to get started.

Her mom and the others already knew what she was up to—they just waited to eat.

At home, she caught one chicken and one rabbit, then went to Uncle Sun’s house in the village. They raised chickens, ducks, and geese, and selling a plucked bird cost 3 yuan each. You could also get it with feathers; the choice was yours.

Wang Yi chose the plucked option, and within 10 minutes, everything was done—very fast.

On her way home, she passed a store and bought 15 twisted rolls for 5 yuan. She didn’t have to rush with the dough—it had already fermented properly.

At home, she prepared the cornmeal dough and started chopping the chicken and rabbit.

Since it was her first time chopping, the sizes were uneven—some pieces big, some small—but it didn’t matter since it was for her family.

She started heating the big pot. Today she would cook corn kernels.

Seeing the corn kernels gave Wang Yi a psychological shadow.

When she was 13, her mom steamed bean buns, and she was responsible for the fire. Back then, she had to burn corn kernels, and the best result was achieved when it was burned clean, so she didn’t have to keep filling the stove pit.

But…

The trickiest part was figured out by Wang Yi herself. She had stuffed a lot of corn cobs into the stove pit. To play around a bit more, she started wedging corn cobs into a narrow crack. The first three or four went in fine, but the last one wouldn’t fit no matter what she did.

Wang Yi, full of determination, pushed with all her strength, and the cob went in—but there was a price. She accidentally hit the countertop.

“Crack!”—her front tooth came out, and blood started pouring. Her mom was terrified, thinking something serious had happened!

Seeing Wang Yi’s missing tooth, everyone else couldn’t help but laugh.

Wang Yi thought she might have to live with a gap tooth, but fortunately, it grew back later. Back then, there were no porcelain teeth; people used metal plates hooked to adjacent teeth for repairs.

“Oh my gosh!” Wang Yi shivered at the image—her smile had a shiny metal tooth—but thankfully, it grew back eventually.

Now, when Wang Yi cooked corn cobs, she didn’t dare overfill them.

Once the pot was hot, she tossed in the chickens and rabbits to stir-fry. She cooked them until slightly charred, without blanching. This was how she had always done it since childhood—it was especially fragrant. Blanched meat never tasted the same.

When stir-frying was done, she added the other ingredients to stew. These two needed longer cooking; otherwise, her grandparents wouldn’t be able to chew them properly.

Wang Yi went to her space to pick some previously grown cabbage and added some sauce. She could make rice wraps using steamed buns or flower rolls—different from plain rice or pancakes.

When she was a child, the family couldn’t afford much, so rice wraps were made with pancakes, but they were still delicious. Back then, she was small, and her parents weren’t old yet.

After stewing for 35 minutes—the big pot was faster than a gas stove—she laid the pancakes on top and put flower rolls on the rack to warm. After another 15 minutes, the meal was ready.

She packed the cabbage, green onions, cilantro roots, and garlic in bags, along with an egg sauce.

With the meal packed, she headed to the field. She even brought some small homemade sorghum liquor for her grandfather, already imagining how happy he would be.

Although it wasn’t snowing, riding the bike was still chilly. The north wind blew so hard that her face went numb, and Wang Yi’s tongue felt frozen.

“Ahhh, can’t take it!” Wang Yi shouted, feeling dazed.

Her brother, not being very kind, laughed: “You can take it!” hahahaha.

Wang Yi wanted to strangle him, but her hands were a bit unsteady now. She decided to wait—later, she could see whether to beat him or not.

Laughter also came from the greenhouse, and Wang Yi could only sigh in resignation.

“…Alright, teasing you all for a laugh is also her skill.”

After a few years away, it was a bit tricky to figure out how to dress for the cold, too.

Wang Yi was amazed at how efficient her family was! By the time she finished preparing lunch, they had already done more than half the work. Truly impressive—these were real workers.

Her sister-in-law asked Wang Yi to warm up by the fire wall while she laid out the meal.

“Little sis, amazing! How did you make such delicious food?” her brother said teasingly.

“If Auntie doesn’t let my brother eat, she’s too mean!” Wang Yi shouted.

Her aunt replied quickly, “Fine, let him starve! Let him learn not to bully his little sister.”

Her grandparents laughed, watching the kids play around. They didn’t interfere; their role was just to supervise. Roughhousing showed how close the family was.

Wasn’t their wish always for the brothers to be united?

During the meal, her brother ate the most. Wang Yi wrapped some food in a large pancake for him—it was delicious.

After eating, Wang Yi gave each of them a cup of warm water infused with spiritual spring water. Her brother said, “Wow, I feel so much lighter! How should I describe it… like being recharged, full of energy.”

Her grandparents nodded, seeing clear improvements in their bodies. Her grandfather’s previously injured leg didn’t hurt this year despite the cold, even though he had tried medication and patches without effect.

This was exactly the effect Wang Yi wanted. She hoped her family would be healthy—that was also her purpose in returning home.

Her sister-in-law tugged at her brother’s ear: “Charged up, but still not working? The sooner you finish, the sooner you go home. Hurry up!”

He couldn’t slack off. Wang Yi kept pushing him, teasing, “Big brother, do you know how the geese sound?”

“How?” he asked, puzzled—of course he knew, he wondered if his sister was joking.

“Gai… Gai!” Wang Yi laughed as she said it.

Everyone laughed. Those two were such mischievous kids.

By around 5 PM, they finished the remaining work. The weather wasn’t too cold—maybe because of a mild winter? It was strange.

Wang Yi had made improvements to the fire wall.

Typically, a household fire wall is connected to the kang (heated bed) so it heats up when the kang burns. Her greenhouse didn’t have a kang, so she built a wide fire wall, filled most of it with wet sawdust, and placed corn cobs on top to ignite. This way, filling it with sawdust twice in winter was enough.

No need to worry about freezing when unattended. Her father was clever, and she was clever too—the whole family was smart. Hahaha.