Chapter 3
Kitchen Supplies
In the evening, Jian Qingqing lay on the bed, closed her eyes, and ‘played’ in her kitchen. She found that objects could not only be taken out, but also put in. She did not need her entire consciousness to go in. She could control the entry and exit of objects with her mind, moreover, time was not lost here. Her soup was still warm.
At this time, she was counting the things in the kitchen. In order to lose weight, she did not like to eat staple foods, so she bought a lot of sweet potatoes and corn and kept them at home. Corn was tender corn, so of course, she could not use it to grow more. However, she had bought some dry corn in the countryside to make popcorn. There were still more than two catties left, which could be used to grow.
Sweet potatoes could be grown. In addition, there were three yams and five potatoes. These two could also be grown. Although there was not much, there would be everything that needed to be planted slowly.
There were also some vegetables, meat eggs, and a bag of tomatoes in the refrigerator. The tomatoes could be planted after the seeds were dug out.
There were a lot of seasonings. Not to mention the soy sauce, food, and wine, there was not much left and there was no reserve. However, there were still two barrels of oil and more than 50 bags of salt. Salt was very important. In this era, there was only crude salt. Fine salt was very expensive, it was not something that ordinary people could afford. Although illegal salt was cheaper, it was crudely made and had a lot of impurities. Their family had bought illegal salt before the disaster. However, even fine salt was also not very good compared to the 21st century.
Most importantly, she still had a bag of dried chilies. Half of the bag were string peppers, and the other half were Chaotian peppers. Chaotian peppers or chilies were the spiciest, so they were very good for making chili sauce. She usually put the string peppers in stir-fried vegetables.
As long as the chilies were planted well, it would not be a problem for her to get out of poverty and become rich.
Jian Qingqing put aside the things that could be used for planting. These were the foundation for her to become rich in the future, and she absolutely could not use them to eat now.
Jian Qingqing spent more than an hour sorting out these things before she regained her consciousness. Beside her, Xiao Ye was already sound asleep.
There were only three thatched cottages in the house. The main house was where the Jian family’s parents lived with Xiao Lang. They usually ate and cooked there too. They used a thatched curtain to separate the bed. On the left was the room where Old Man Jian slept with Xiao Hu, the room on the right was originally Xiao Ye’s parents’ room. However, his parents had gone, so Old Man Jian let Jian Qingqing and Xiao Ye sleep together.
The next day, when Jian Qingqing woke up, her family was already gone. The adults should have gone to the fields, and Xiao Hu had brought two small pieces of wild vegetables with him. This was the source of food for the family.
The first step to becoming rich was to take charge of the kitchen at home. Only when she cooked, could she quietly took out the things in the kitchen for them to eat. She had to nurture their health before the summer harvest.
After washing her face, Jian Qingqing planned to go out to look for Xiao Hu and the others. The place where they dug the wild vegetables was not far from their house, on the outskirts of Dongshan. There was a small hillside with a lot of wild vegetables growing on it, it was only a quarter of an hour’s walk.
Along the way, Jian Qingqing saw farmers who looked as skinny as the Jian Family. They worked hard in the fields. Although it was hard, their eyes were shining with joy.
Jian Qingqing was very worried. If she had the chance, she would do something for the villagers as well.
When Jian Qingqing arrived at Dongshan, there were a few children scattered everywhere. Every family in the village was like this. The adults worked in the fields while the children came out to dig wild vegetables.
Dongshan was very big, and it was one of the biggest mountains on the eastern side. Deep in the mountain was a primitive forest. It was full of dangers. Not only were there dangerous animals such as tigers, wild boars, and wolves, but they could not find their way out once they entered. Very few people could come out alive.
Last year, when the great drought almost killed them, it also affected the mountain. The drought was not only on the outside of the mountain but also on the inside of the mountain. Before anyone could enter, one night, the wolf pack in the mountain suddenly ran out and attacked a nearby village. More than ten people died in the village next door.
Once this happened, no one dared to enter the deep mountain. They would rather starve to death. This way, at least, they would have a corpse for burial.
Jian Qingqing looked at the mountain thoughtfully. Of course, she did not dare to enter. She did not know if she could come out, but she was very afraid of the snakes in the mountain, she only thought that this mountain could provide a good cover for the things in her Spatial Kitchen that did not belong to this place.
Jian Qingqing walked around the mountain for a while before she finally saw her three younger brothers at the boundary between the outer and inner mountains. At this time, Xiao Hu was fighting with another child that was about the same age as him.
Seeing that Xiao Hu was about to be pushed to the ground by another child, Jian Qingqing quickly said, “What are you doing!”
The two children immediately stopped, but their faces were full of anger.
Jian Qingqing looked at this and then looked at that, and silently sighed in her heart. “Tell me, why are you fighting?”
Xiao Hu was not afraid of his sister in the past, after all, the two of them were born around the same time. However, looking at Jian Qingqing’s darkened face today, he still felt apprehensive and stammered, “I saw this wild vegetable first, and he insisted on coming over to snatch it.”
The other one was also not convinced. Although he did not believe that Jian Qingqing would help him. However, he still defended himself. “It was clearly me who ran over to pick it first. Who asked you to be slower than me! If I came here first, it would be mine!”
Jian Qingqing looked at the cluster of wild vegetables on the ground, then, she looked at the child who was fighting with Xiao Hut. This child’s name was Jian Rong. His family’s situation was even more difficult than the Jian Family’s. There was only a widow’s mother and an elderly grandmother. With the Spatial Kitchen in hand, she naturally did not want to snatch things from the child. Thus, she said, “Then I’ll give them all to you. We’ll go and look for something else.”
“Really?”
“Sister!”
Jian Qingqing ignored the angry Xiao Hu and said to the surprised Jian Rong, “Of course it’s true.”
This time, Jian Rong was embarrassed. He did not think that Jian Qingqing would help him, so he said, “Why don’t we split it 50-50.”
“No need, we’ll just go find the others.” As she said that, she pulled the unwilling Xiao Hu away.
Jian Rong quickly asked, “Sister Qingqing, where are you going?”
Xiao Hu also had a look of doubt on his face. “That’s right, sister, where are you going?”
Jian Qingqing pointed to the other side of the ravine. “Here.”
There was a ravine between this hillside and the inner mountain. The adults also dared to go a little deeper, but within two kilometers, they did not dare to go any deeper. Children were strictly forbidden to cross this ravine.
Xiao Hu turned pale with fright. “Sister! It won’t do! Father and mother won’t let us go there.”
“What are you afraid of? We’ll only circle outside and not go inside. There are so many mushrooms in spring. Don’t you want to eat them?”
Thinking of the smell of mushrooms, Xiao Hu gulped, but he still remembered his parents’ words. “But, but…”
“Hey, what are you afraid of? Just like Sister Qingqing said, we’ll only look outside. Nothing will happen. If you don’t tell your parents when you go home, who will know that we went in? Let’s go, Sister Qingqing. If he doesn’t go, I’ll go with you. Jian Xiao Hu is a coward!”
“Who says I’m a coward! Hmpoh! Let’s go, Sister. I’ll go in with you. I won’t bring him!”