Chapter 59: A Pleasant Surprise

After lunch, the villagers left the Wang family’s home with contented smiles, carrying a few meatballs to take back to their children. It was a rural custom to bring some food back home after a feast, and the hosts didn’t mind this practice.

Fortunately, considering the Wang family’s modest means, there wasn’t a large gathering of people. If it were another family, it would have been a grand affair with the entire extended family present, each bringing a gift. Zhang Lan was especially grateful for the understanding and silent support of the villagers.

Once everyone had left, there was hardly anything left on the table. Wang Qian and her elder sister helped to clear the dishes, placing them in a large basin to be washed and returned to the neighbors.

After everything was tidied up, the borrowed items were returned one by one. Han Cui noticed some leftover oil meatballs in the kitchen and urged her sister-in-law to take some back. However, Wang Juan felt hesitant, expressing concern about their sister-in-law’s family’s financial situation and the need to save some food for the evening meal for the workers.

Seeing her sister-in-law’s hesitation, Han Cui became anxious. “Sister-in-law, I’ll ask sister for some. If you don’t take it, I won’t be responsible.”

She then went outside to find Zhang Lan. After exchanging greetings with everyone, she pulled Zhang Lan aside. “Sister, there are some meatballs left, and I want to take some back home for the children.”

Zhang Lan realized that there were still things to be done. After informing her parents, she followed Han Cui back inside. “Sisters, there are some meatballs left. Please take some back for the children. Let me see if there are any leftovers. If there are, you can take some as well.”

After searching around, she found some clams and distributed them to everyone. Although the sisters-in-law and cousins-in-law felt a bit embarrassed, they happily took the food home, promising to return the plates later.

Geng Lianhua, seeing that her daughter had finished her tasks, took her hand and said, “Child, building a house will certainly be a strain on the family. Don’t get upset. We can slowly repay the debts. Don’t burden the children because of this. Eat and drink as you please. If we’re short of money, you still have us.”

Zhang Lan knew her mother was trying to comfort her, fearing that she might become overly frugal in the future and cut back on food expenses. Although the family had faced hardships due to the house construction, Zhang Lan was confident that with her precious daughter, the future would only get better. She couldn’t bear to mistreat her children and wouldn’t do anything foolish.

“Mom, don’t worry. Zhenhe and I will earn money slowly. I won’t skimp on food,” Zhang Lan reassured her mother.

Her eldest brother, Zhang Wei, added, “Sister, if you ever crave seafood, come and take some. We may not offer much, but we can always share our seafood with you.”

After a brief conversation, the elderly lady suggested that they should head back. “Lan, you don’t need to prepare anything for us. As long as you and Zhenhe have a good life in the future, that’s all that matters,” she said, concerned about her children’s well-being.

“Mom, sister, there really isn’t much left today. We gave the remaining meatballs to the sisters-in-law to take home. But I’ve prepared something else for you,” Zhang Lan said.

She had prepared some extra food when she made the dough yesterday, and she had kept it in a large cabinet. She took out the prepared food, a paper-wrapped package containing two steamed buns made from the extra dough.

Upon seeing the food, Zhang Hua’s initial disappointment turned into a smile. “Sister, you’re too kind. What else could a family ask for?” Although she said this, her actions were swift as she eagerly accepted the food.

“Mom, please take these. I prepared them especially for you. It’s getting late, so I’ll see you off. Don’t leave too late, or you’ll have to travel in the dark,” Zhang Lan said.

After seeing off the last group of guests, Zhang Lan lay down on the kang to rest for a while. Meanwhile, Wang Zhenhe had already gone to help at the construction site.

Zhang Lan was exhausted and didn’t feel like moving. Mingcheng and his siblings had gone out to gather grass, while Wang Qian had been resting in the kitchen after a brief period of activity. As Zhang Lan lay there, she felt her mouth becoming moist and drowsily drifted off.

“Mom, open your mouth. This is sea cucumber. I just prepared it. You should eat some every day to keep yourself healthy,” Zhang Lan said, offering the sea cucumber to her mother.

Zhang Lan opened her mouth and ate it in one go. She was truly content with her child’s thoughtfulness.

After eating the sea cucumber, Zhang Lan didn’t feel like lying down anymore. She had to prepare dinner for the workers who had helped with the construction. Although the topping out ceremony had taken place, the house was not yet completed. The afternoon was spent on the rafters, and she estimated that they would be ready to lay the roof the next day.

“Mom, don’t you want to rest a little longer?” Wang Qian asked.

“No, I still need to prepare dinner for tonight. Later, go to the space and see how much seafood is left. I’ll make some soup for tonight,” Zhang Lan replied.

Upon hearing her mother’s instructions, she quickly entered the space. The seafood brought from her grandmother’s house was almost gone, with only some seaweed and oysters left. As she looked inside the space, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the grapevine she had planted was starting to sprout, and the vegetables they had planted were also beginning to grow.

Excitedly, she  went out and called Zhang Lan over. “Mom, come and see. The seeds have sprouted. I can see the little seedlings.”

Both of them had planted the seeds with hope, but they weren’t sure if anything would grow. Zhang Lan had planted the seeds with a determined heart. Today’s discovery brought them both joy and excitement.

“Take me inside,” Zhang Lan eagerly requested to see the fruits of her labor.

They both entered the space and were greeted by a lush greenery. Overwhelmed with emotion, Zhang Lan couldn’t help but shed tears. Now, her children would have enough to eat.

“Mom, should we thin out the seedlings?” Wang Qian asked, knowing it was a necessary step.

Zhang Lan wiped her eyes and smiled. “Silly girl, didn’t I tell you to sow one seed in each hole? We won’t need to thin them out. I need to see how the seedlings are doing.”

After checking each area, Zhang Lan was pleased to find that all the seeds had sprouted. She also made an unexpected discovery—there were quite a few mushrooms growing in the soil.

“Wang Qian, come and see what this is,” Zhang Lan called out, holding up a mushroom to show her daughter.

“Mushrooms?” Wang Qian was taken aback when she approached, but after a moment’s thought, she realized the reason.

“Mom, I got the soil from the mountains. I think there were mushroom spores in the soil, and the warm environment inside the space is perfect for them to grow. Now we can have mushrooms for dinner. But, Mom, do you know if these mushrooms are poisonous?” Wang Qian knew how to eat mushrooms, but she wasn’t sure how to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous ones.

Zhang Lan felt a sense of pride this time. “Of course, I used to pick mushrooms in the mountains since I was a child. I know which ones are safe to eat. I’ll take care of the mushrooms. If they’re poisonous, we’ll just throw them away so they won’t take up space here.”

Following her mother, Wang Qian also learned to distinguish between poisonous and non-poisonous mushrooms. Indeed, there were poisonous mushrooms growing in the space, and Zhang Lan removed them, disposing of them as a form of pest control.

After leaving the space and checking the time, Zhang Lan realized it was still early to start cooking. She took out the money she had received as gifts and counted it to see how much she had collected.

After counting twice, they found that they had received a total of 162 yuan. This amount exceeded Zhang Lan’s expectations. Upon reviewing the gifts, they noticed that many families had given two yuan.

Wang Qian wasn’t sure if this amount was significant, and seeing her mother’s puzzled expression, she asked, “Mom, did we receive less money?”

Zhang Lan smiled and said, “On the contrary, it’s a bit more than expected. This is great. We can use it to settle some debts.”

Hearing Zhang Lan’s words, Wang Qian didn’t think much of it. More was better, as it meant their social obligations would increase in the future. Otherwise, they would be at a disadvantage.

Wang Qian remembered that she needed to water the soil in the space. “Mom, I’ll go and water the soil. You stay here,” she said.

Zhang Lan knew that her daughter was referring to the soil in the space. After cautioning her to be careful, she let her go.

Wang Qian headed straight to the reservoir, where there was plenty of water. She had never seen the reservoir before.

She jumped from the stone slabs in the river and walked to the edge of the reservoir. It wasn’t very large, but it was still substantial, about a hundred meters long and fifty meters wide. The water inside was clear and blue, and fish were swimming near the shore. She placed her ring in the water and was surprised to see the water continuously flowing into the space. Unexpectedly, many fish were also being drawn into the space, and they were much larger than the ones they caught in the small river. She decided to stew them for dinner. After the water had been drawn into the space, she ran back home to retrieve the fish.

Meanwhile, Zhang Lan was picking mushrooms in the house when she saw her daughter rush in, panting.

“What’s wrong? Is someone chasing you?” Zhang Lan asked, seeing her daughter’s flushed face and feeling a pang of concern.

Wang Qian closed the door before explaining, “Mom, when I was drawing water, a lot of fish got into the space. We need to take them out quickly. It’s perfect for adding to our dinner tonight. It’ll be inconvenient once the others return.”

Wang Qian hadn’t taken the fish out earlier because she was worried about being seen. It was best to keep such matters discreet. You never knew who might be lurking around.

After understanding the situation, Zhang Lan took a basin and went with her daughter to retrieve the fish. To their surprise, there were quite a few fish inside. They picked out six large fish and a bowl of small fish. Five of the large fish were placed in a tank for later use. Zhang Lan had intentionally bought them to keep in the space. She took out one large fish and the bowl of small fish, which would be enough for making soup.