Chapter 17: Trying to Plant Vegetables in the Backyard

“Ke He Jie, who is that Miao Xiaohua person?” On the way back, Lin Momo couldn’t help but ask Ke He.

“She? Her husband, Liu Shuanggui, is the battalion commander at the military district. Both of them are the same, arrogant and look down on others,” Ke He shook her head as she spoke.

“But, Momo, you were really impressive today. With just one sentence, you put her in her place.” Ke He lifted the basket while holding some eggs in her hand, otherwise, she would’ve wanted to give Lin Momo a thumbs up.

“It’s nothing. I’ve met people like her before,” Lin Momo smiled. Back in her past life when she worked at the mall, she’d seen all kinds of people.

Ke He helped Lin Momo carry the basket to the courtyard gate before heading back home.

“Cheng Jinghao, come help me lift this!” Lin Momo shouted loudly toward the yard.

Ke He, who had just entered her own yard, couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing Lin Momo’s voice. This girl was pretty interesting.

“How did you bring back so many vegetables?” Cheng Jinghao asked as he carried the basket into the yard with one hand.

“I carried them back with Ke He Jie,” Lin Momo followed him into the yard.

“If I had known there would be so many, I wouldn’t have let you go,” Cheng Jinghao said, handing her a cup of spirit spring water.

“I didn’t know that one pound of brown sugar would get this much,” Lin Momo took the cup and drank the sweet spirit spring water. It was actually quite delicious.

“Aunt Liu is a straightforward person,” Cheng Jinghao commented.

“Yeah, but I also met an annoying person,” Lin Momo shared her encounter with Miao Xiaohua.

“Put her in her place! Teach her a lesson!” Cheng Jinghao seemed a little excited. Liu Shuanggui might want to train tomorrow, but he’d better be careful.

“Stay out of women’s business. She better not provoke me, or she’ll regret it.”

Lin Momo placed her hands on her hips and struck a pose, which made Cheng Jinghao laugh.

“I’ve already finished turning the soil. In the afternoon, I’ll go chop some firewood. It looks like it’s going to rain soon.” Cheng Jinghao started sorting out the vegetables in the basket to prepare for lunch.

“Okay, thank you, Jinghao-ge,” Lin Momo smiled as she walked up to him.

“Heh.” Cheng Jinghao reached up and ruffled her hair.

“You messed it up again,” Lin Momo said, swatting his large hand away.

After lunch, Cheng Jinghao left with his basket.

Lin Momo looked at the freshly turned soil in the backyard and thought about what vegetables to plant. Military families typically grow things like leafy greens, potatoes, and peppers, but she wanted to try something different.

Lin Momo went to the shopping mall’s seed section and picked out some seeds for summer vegetables.

In the end, Lin Momo planted cabbage, peppers, radishes, potatoes, and water spinach. She also found seeds for cucumbers, loofahs, tomatoes, and bitter melons—plants that would require trellises, so she’d have to wait for Cheng Jinghao to return before she could set those up.

When Cheng Jinghao came back, Lin Momo was waiting for him in the yard.

“Jinghao-ge,” Lin Momo looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes.

“Momo, if you need something, just say it. You’re making me nervous,” Cheng Jinghao said with a dry laugh. When they were kids, if she called him “Jinghao-ge,” it usually meant trouble was coming.

“Well, okay, can you help me set up a few trellises?” Lin Momo pointed toward the backyard.

“What are you going to plant?” Cheng Jinghao asked, unsure of what could be grown in this region. There weren’t many vegetables that could thrive here, and even fewer that needed trellises.

“I want to try growing cucumbers and such. If we can grow them, we can spread them to the southern Tibet area, right?” Lin Momo said enthusiastically.

“Good idea. I’ll go do it now,” Cheng Jinghao nodded.

“By the way, there’s a chicken and some eggs in the basket.”

“Found it in the mountains?” Lin Momo peered into the basket. The chicken looked different from the usual ones she saw, with a more vibrant color, but it was hard to tell if it was dead or just fainted.

“Yeah. Leave it there for now. I’ll slaughter it after I finish the trellises.”

Since there were no bamboo shoots here, Cheng Jinghao was using wood to make the trellises.

“You really know how to do a lot of things,” Lin Momo said as she sat on her small stool, watching Cheng Jinghao work on the trellises.

“The army teaches you a lot of things.”

Cheng Jinghao glanced at her, “You should go take a nap in your room.” How could he work if she kept staring at him?

“I’m not going. I slept this morning, and I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

At that time, there weren’t many activities. Her space only had electricity, no internet, and no electronics to pass the time.

Cheng Jinghao realized he couldn’t persuade her, so he just let her be.

Lin Momo took a book from her space and began reading.

“What book are you reading?” Cheng Jinghao asked.

“An agricultural book. I’m seeing what else can be grown in southern Tibet. I’m doing some research,” Lin Momo raised her head and said.

“Mhm, and while you’re at it, help me find a few military books,” Cheng Jinghao spoke up. Many books from this era were banned, so they couldn’t be read freely.

“Okay.”

Cheng Jinghao set up the vegetable rack, chopped the firewood, and brought two buckets of water. He then slaughtered a chicken and began making chicken soup.

“Cheng Jinghao, you’re so cruel. You killed its mother and brought the chicks here,” Lin Momo counted the eggs and found 16.

“That wasn’t its mother, it was its father. And these are two different sets of eggs, not from the same chicken,” Cheng Jinghao replied.

“So, the chicken should be killed, but where are the chicks?”

“Did I say these eggs were from the rooster’s offspring? Hens lay eggs without needing a rooster, right?” Cheng Jinghao looked at her. Was she going to eat or not?

“Shut up and cook your chicken.” Lin Momo collected the 16 wild eggs.

“…” It was hard to win. If he didn’t speak, it was wrong, and if he did speak, it was still wrong.

“Cheng Jinghao, I’m going next door, I’ll be back soon.”

Lin Momo remembered that Li He had helped her carry the vegetables earlier, and she hadn’t thanked her yet. So, she took half a pound of egg cake and went next door.

Just as she arrived, Li He’s two children had come back from school. It was Zhao Zhigang’s eldest son, Zhao Dabao, who opened the door.

“Auntie, who are you looking for?”

“I’m Aunt Lin from next door. Is your mother home?” Lin Momo smiled at Zhao Dabao.

“My mom’s cooking, you can come in.”

“I’ll just wait outside. Please give this to your mom. She helped me today, so I’m here to thank her.” Lin Momo handed the egg cake to Zhao Dabao, but he refused to take it.

“Auntie, my mom says we shouldn’t take other people’s things. You should go in and give it to her yourself.”

“This child, so well-behaved.” Lin Momo had no choice but to enter the yard.

“Dabao, who’s here?” At that moment, Li He came out from the kitchen.

“It’s Momo, what’s up?”

“Sister Li He, thank you for helping me carry the vegetables today. I brought some egg cake for the kids.” Lin Momo handed the egg cake to Li He.

“Oh, no need for this, just keep it. It’s no big deal.” Li He tried to refuse.

Seeing this, Lin Momo quickly left and ran back to her own house.

“This girl,” Li He watched Lin Momo leave and couldn’t help but smile.

In the evening, the wind had started blowing outside, and the sky, which was bright earlier, suddenly darkened.

Cheng Jinghao kept looking outside, then quickly finished his meal and stood up.

“Momo, it’s going to rain soon, and it looks like we won’t be able to harvest the barley in time. I need to go help the villagers with the harvest. You stay inside and don’t go out.” Cheng Jinghao took the raincoat and conical hat from the wall.

“Are you going now?” Lin Momo also stood up, a little concerned.

“Yes, wear more clothes so you don’t catch a cold.” Cheng Jinghao gently touched her hair before heading out the door.