Chapter 15: Starting the Planting Project

As they neared the house, Xia Ning’an took out 20 pounds of oyster mushroom mycelium and 20 pounds of lingzhi mushroom mycelium from the space. She placed the two wild pheasants at the bottom of the backpack and added a few bunches of wild grapes.

Today, she had spent 160 gold coins from the system to buy 100 pounds of oyster mushroom mycelium and 100 pounds of lingzhi mushroom mycelium. She planned to plant the rest in the space. It wouldn’t be that fast to make wooden boxes outside.

It was already past 5 pm when she got home. She went into the courtyard and saw Xia Ninghao sawing wood in the yard.

“Second Brother, aren’t you supposed to be at work today?”

“I took a day off. I went to the mountains this afternoon and cut down a few trees. I’m back to make wooden boxes.”

“You can’t slack off like that. Where’s Zecheng Ge?”

“He’s in the room practicing calligraphy.”

“Calligraphy? Why practice calligraphy now? Do you need to practice after your eyes get better?” Xia Ning’an walked into the room with a puzzled expression.

As she reached the door, she heard a gentle, cold voice, “An’an is back? How was your harvest today?”

“Full of harvest, hehe.”

“Zecheng Ge, what are you doing?”

“I’m practicing calligraphy?”

“Your eyes will get better in a while. Why practice now?”

“An’an, the doctor said my retina was damaged and can’t be cured.”

Xia Ning’an felt his low spirits.

She walked over and took Lu Zecheng’s hand. “Zecheng Ge, believe me, I’ll find a way.”

“Zecheng Ge, I heard that there’s an ophthalmologist in the provincial capital who has a special medicine. I’ll go to the provincial capital tomorrow and ask around.”

“An’an, don’t go. The experts at the army hospital have diagnosed my eyes. It’s useless. When my leg gets better, I’ll move out. Let’s forget about our marriage.”

Saying these words, Lu Zecheng’s heart ached, but after saying them, he also felt relieved. He didn’t want to let go of such a good girl, but he didn’t want to drag her down either. He couldn’t give her a happy life, so it was better to let go sooner rather than later.

He was like Nan Kang in “I’ll Wait for You Until I’m 35.” He wanted her to be happy more than anyone else in the world, but thinking that this happiness wouldn’t include him made him very sad.

Lu Zecheng was completely dejected at this moment.

“How do you know you won’t be happy with me? Happiness is my feeling. I feel very happy now. So, you have to recover from your injuries. Don’t think about anything else. As long as there’s a chance, we shouldn’t give up easily, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Then can Zecheng Ge help me with something now?”

“Okay.”

“Help me break up all this mycelium.” Xia Ning’an put the mycelium in two baskets and brought one to Lu Zecheng’s writing desk.

The mycelium was now in clumps. They needed to be broken apart. This task was perfect for Lu Zecheng. It would prevent him from overthinking.

“Zecheng Ge, I’m going to cook. Take your time.”

“Okay.”

Xia Ning’an went into the kitchen and threw the two wild pheasants into the space and gave them to Bond. She started steaming rice.

Soon, the wild pheasants were processed. Xia Ning’an prepared to stew the wild pheasant soup first. The soup needed to be simmered for a long time to be flavorful.

There were only two stoves in the house. She would bring back a casserole when she went to the provincial capital. At the end of the month, when the weather got cold, they would have to burn a stove at home. It would be just right to use a casserole to stew soup.

Now that there was a patient at home, it was best to make some soup every day. It could also replenish the family.

People in this era were never overnourished.

Even her second brother, Xia Ninghao, was thin. If the family had better nutrition, maybe she and Xia Ninghao could grow taller. Her body was only 158 cm tall, which was considered normal height in this era, but she still disliked the original owner’s height, as she was 168 cm tall in her previous life.

Looking at Lu Zecheng, who was at least 185 cm tall, she wondered how he grew so tall in this era. Her second brother was only about 175 cm tall. Did he really not eat enough or wear enough clothes when he was young? She would secretly give her second brother some gene optimization agents someday.

Anjie, you can reach your ideal height in a month through gene optimization, and your body proportions will be the golden ratio. Your body will be completely transformed in three months.

“What’s the range of ideal height?”

“We adjust the optimized height of women to be between 165-175 cm. So, Anjie, don’t worry. Your minimum height can reach 165 cm.”

“So, I’m only eligible for the lowest tier? I don’t care, I want at least 168 cm, no less than my previous height. Otherwise, you’re responsible.”

“…”

Xiaomiao in emo.

Although Xia Ning’an was talking to Xiaomiao, her hands didn’t stop. She skillfully peeled potatoes. After the rice was cooked, she made a wild pheasant, potato, and vermicelli stew.

She went to the backyard and picked the last few tomatoes that were left in the garden. They were probably not fully red. She would use them to stir-fry meat slices.

She picked a large pumpkin. There weren’t enough pots, so she would make a steamed pumpkin with cured meat. Steamed pumpkin with ribs is tender and juicy, one of her favorite dishes, but she didn’t have the conditions now. Ribs weren’t something she could eat all the time, so she had to use cured meat instead.

She washed the cured meat, cut it into slices, added soy sauce, cooking wine, starch, oyster sauce, sugar, and a little oil, and mixed it well. Then, she added minced garlic and marinated it for 15 minutes. She cut the pumpkin into pieces, spread them on the bottom of the plate, and then spread the marinated cured meat evenly on top of the pumpkin.

After the rice was steamed, she put it in a basin, washed the pot, added soybean oil, bay leaves, star anise, cinnamon bark, star anise, peppercorns, and sautéed them. Then, she added the wild pheasant meat and stir-fried it. She added rock sugar and stir-fried it until the meat was golden brown. She added scallions, ginger, and garlic and continued to stir-fry it. Then, she added soy sauce, dark soy sauce, cooking wine, and water. She placed a steamer rack on top and put the plate of pumpkin and cured meat on it. She covered the pot, brought it to a boil over high heat, and then simmered it over low heat.

After half an hour, she took out the pumpkin and cured meat. She added potatoes and vermicelli to the pot and simmered them over low heat for 20 minutes.

She took out two pieces of chicken breast from the space, cut them into slices, sprinkled them with pepper and starch, and mixed them well. She would use them to stir-fry green tomatoes.

Fresh pork was not easy to take out, so she would use chicken meat as a substitute. Whether they could tell the difference didn’t matter. Just pretend to be stupid.

Hearing the sound of the villagers returning from work, Xia Ning’an put the chicken soup in a basin and covered it. She started stir-frying the chicken meat and green tomatoes.

She had just finished plating the food when Li Fang and Xia Changhai arrived home. The timing was perfect.

She went into the house and saw that Lu Zecheng had already broken up the two baskets of mycelium. She walked over, took the baskets, and brought a basin of water for Lu Zecheng to wash his hands.

After he had washed and dried his hands, Xia Ninghao came to push him.

The food smelled delicious again today. His mouth was watering. The food these past three days had been so good, better than during the New Year. They had been eating fine grains every day, with meat in every meal. There were even several fish in the tank at home. If life could always be like this, it would be great.

Xia Changhai and Li Fang washed up and sat down at the table, looking at the abundant food on the table.

“Daughter, it’s so lavish again today!”

“Little Sister, this pumpkin is so delicious. This is the first time I’ve eaten it prepared this way.”

“I saw it in a cookbook. This is the first time I’ve made it. It smells pretty good.”

“It really is. It’s delicious and doesn’t use much oil.”

“The chicken soup is also very flavorful. Zecheng Ge, drink more.” She said this and placed the cooled soup bowl next to him.

“An’an, did you catch this wild pheasant?”

“Yes, I caught two wild pheasants in the mountains today. The rest were picked from the backyard. I didn’t spend any money.”

“My daughter, when did you become so amazing? You can even catch wild pheasants.”

“Yes, I made a net today. It’s very convenient to catch wild pheasants with it.”

“Little Sister, where’s your net?”

“I hid it upstairs.”

“When will you bring it back? Let’s go to the mountains together to catch wild pheasants.”

“Okay.”

The family chatted while eating, the atmosphere warm and cozy.