Chapter 301: Mala Xiang Guo
Chapter 301: Chapter 301: Mala Xiang Guo
Shen Lu was a novice among novices when it came to growing vegetables. ’I suspect this pot of green onions managed to sprout with little help from me,’ she thought. ’It was probably thanks to the buried kitchen scraps and the water provided by the system.’
But of course, she wouldn’t say any of this to Li Qin. She just feigned a look of bewilderment and nodded.
"Is that so? Maybe it’s one of those things that can’t appreciate the finer things in life. It might not adapt well to overly perfect growing conditions."
Li Qin was amused. "You might actually have a point there."
"I’ll put it in the backyard."
"Okay."
Shen Lu carried the small pot of green onions to the backyard. Yang Jing was tilling the soil and, seeing her approach, thought she had instructions, so she hurried over.
"Perfect timing, Mom. Plant this pot of green onions and then give them some water."
"Huh? But... I don’t know how to plant anything," Yang Jing said, a little afraid she would ruin her daughter’s green onions.
"It’s very simple. Just find a spot in the soil you tilled today, dig a hole, take the green onions out of the pot with all their soil, bury them in the hole, and water them. That’s it."
Ever since Shen Lu discovered the magical properties of the ingredients from the System Mall, she had applied to the street administration office to have a water pipe connected.
The pipe was small, and the water bill was quite expensive, but for the sake of cover, Shen Lu had to use a mix of both water sources.
The Liu Family used the local water from the backyard tap, which could also be used for watering vegetables. After all, the soil was good soil, so it didn’t really matter if the water was good or not.
Focused on the task, Yang Jing carefully took the pot of green onions from Shen Lu.
Shen Lu returned to the shop to find Li Qin happily munching on an almond tuile. CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
’Mmm... Just as I’d thought, this little snack is delicious!’
’The tea is also wonderfully fragrant and smooth, not at all the poor-quality flavor I had expected.’
"Shen Lu, you’re a really amazing cook," Li Qin praised her sincerely.
Shen Lu was already used to hearing this. Pretty much anyone who ate her food praised it.
"Thank you. I’m glad you like it."
"It’s much better than the afternoon tea provided at the research institute." After finishing the one in her hand, Li Qin dabbed her mouth primly. "May I take the rest with me?"
She had a feeling that eating a piece when she hit a mental block at night would lift her spirits.
"Of course. I’ll pack a box for you in a bit."
Although Li Qin hadn’t played a major role in the hidden quest, Shen Lu still had a good impression of her.
Getting Shen Lu’s approval put Li Qin in a great mood, and she chatted with Shen Lu even more enthusiastically.
She started talking about her lettuce seedling, which had been growing exceptionally well recently.
"I’ve been investigating for days, but I still haven’t found the reason why it’s growing so well," Li Qin said excitedly. "But that’s okay! It must be some kind of benign mutation. Once it goes to seed, I’ll be able to harvest lots and lots of equally outstanding lettuce seedlings!"
"As long as its condition is stable, maybe all the lettuce eaten in the Imperial City, or even the whole planet, will be a new variety cultivated by me! Just thinking about it is so exciting!"
Li Qin went on to detail all the data on that lettuce seedling, including what kind of pot and soil she used, and how many milliliters of water and nutrient solution she applied at each stage.
Li Qin spoke freely, unconcerned. Shen Lu wasn’t a researcher, so there was no fear of her stealing research results.
However, the more Shen Lu listened, the guiltier she felt.
’Wait... was this lettuce she was talking about the same seedling I’d carelessly sprinkled that Jinkela on?’
’Is Jinkela really that effective?’
Shen Lu licked her teeth. ’If my little vegetable garden can’t grow anything now, I’ll eat my hat.’
’This is great. My costs can go down again in the future. And I won’t have to worry about the Commerce Association trying to cause trouble for me or cut off my supply chain.’
’I can grow my own produce, sell it myself, and be completely self-sufficient. I can plant whatever vegetables I want. It’s just too perfect.’
Li Qin paused, and seeing the smile on Shen Lu’s face, she assumed Shen Lu was happy for her.
"Shen Lu, it’s been really nice talking to you."
Shen Lu snapped back to reality. "Me too."
Li Qin glanced at the time. "Unfortunately, I can’t stay out for too long. I’ll come find you again when I have time."
Chatting with Shen Lu made her let her guard down without even realizing it. It had been a long time since Li Qin had such a thoroughly enjoyable conversation with someone.
Now that it was time to leave, she felt a little reluctant.
"Work is more important." Shen Lu went to pack up the almond tuiles she had promised Li Qin. She didn’t give her too many, just four or five pieces, an amount that could be finished in one sitting.
It wasn’t that Shen Lu was being stingy; she was just afraid that giving too many might lead to unnecessary accidents.
After seeing Li Qin off, Cai Su came over to call Shen Lu for a meal.
After eating, Shen Lu went to the backyard to check on how the newly planted green onions were doing.
Yang Jing was very efficient. She had followed Shen Lu’s instructions and transplanted the pot of green onions.
The previously somewhat limp green onions immediately perked up after being moved to the good soil and watered.
Shen Lu told Yang Jing to continue tilling the land while she herself squatted down, slightly blocking Yang Jing’s line of sight, and sprinkled a little Jinkela on the green onions.
Just a few grains. She didn’t dare to sprinkle too much, afraid that the effect would be too good to explain.
After doing this, Shen Lu dusted off her hands and returned to the kitchen to prep ingredients.
These days, they couldn’t use all the vegetables delivered in the morning by lunchtime. So in the afternoon, Shen Lu would have her staff clean all the vegetables and put them in the pantry, ready to be used the next day to save time.
If there was no more room in the pantry, or if the ingredients didn’t keep well, she would put them in the System Warehouse and take them out when needed.
In the kitchen, they were slicing white radishes to make dried radish. Shen Lu had been worrying about where to find a place to sun-dry them, but now with the large greenhouse, she could just set up some racks and dry as much as she wanted.
Many hands make light work. By a little after five, all the white radishes were sliced and laid out to dry, and all the vegetables that needed prepping were finished and stored in the pantry.
Once the work was done, Shen Lu let them leave early.
For dinner tonight, Shen Lu wanted to be a little lazy and not make so many dishes. She planned to make a big pot of spicy numbing stir-fry pot.
There were no limits on the ingredients; you could throw in whatever you liked to eat.
"Sausage, lotus root slices, pork balls, fish balls, beef balls, sweet potato noodles, instant noodles, baby bok choy, chives, shiitake mushrooms..."
Shen Lu used whatever vegetables she had in the pantry, and for those she didn’t have, she bought them from the System Mall.
Before she knew it, she had picked out more and more ingredients, so many that they wouldn’t all fit in a single pot.
Shen Lu pressed her forehead in frustration. ’Why do I want to eat so many things?’
If you asked her to remove any one item, she would have a hard time choosing.
Then, Shen Lu had a sudden realization and felt she was just making things difficult for herself.
’I’ll eat what I can, and whatever’s left over can be a midnight snack or eaten the next day. There’s no problem at all!’
So, Shen Lu enthusiastically added a few more ingredients she wanted to eat. She started boiling what needed to be boiled and frying what needed to be fried, then stir-fried the spicy pot base and combined everything into two separate pots.
As she brought the dishes to the table, she saw Xue Can and hissed softly.
’I’d forgotten about the patient.’
All of tonight’s dishes were spicy; none of them were suitable for Xue Can.
"I’ll go make a bowl of noodles for Mr. Xue," Shen Lu said, turning around and heading to the kitchen to cook a bowl of simple egg noodles.
Xue Can’s lips curled into a smile he could barely contain.
’See? Shen Lu does care about me after all.’