Chapter 272: Hardworking Xiao Ningning
Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Hardworking Xiao Ningning
As the weather grew colder and colder, people both inside and outside the city were constantly freezing to death.
Some even managed to stumble to the entrance of Xiangyun Village, only to collapse before they could even call for help, never to rise again.
Shen Ningning couldn’t bear to see this. She felt she had to find a type of food that could sustain everyone.
So, the little girl began rummaging through everything in her Immortal Realm.
Her Immortal Realm, on the other hand, was a paradise where food and drink were never a concern.
Shen Ningning noticed a plant called the sweet potato. It established itself incredibly quickly.
If she didn’t check on it for a day, it would already be sprouting vines and budding.
Plus, with the occasional spirit rain that drifted through the Immortal Realm, its growth was even faster.
Usually, after six hours, she could check again and find a whole pile of them had formed in the soil.
Shen Ningning’s sweet potato patch could usually produce about a hundred of them in half a day.
They were crowding the nearby grapevine trellis so much it was about to fall over.
The little girl had no choice but to take the sweet potatoes out and share them with the villagers of Xiangyun Village.
"Ningning, these sweet potatoes of yours are amazing. They’re so fragrant when roasted."
The villagers gathered in the courtyard of Grandma Qin’s ancestral home, each holding a steaming hot sweet potato.
The little girl was also cupping one in her hands as she ate, saying, "That’s all because my sweet potato vines are good."
"Oh, right! Uncles, why don’t you all take some of my sweet potato vines to plant?"
’Since this thing is so easy to grow, and one vine can yield so much, it’s the perfect food for winter. It could keep people from going hungry.’
Unexpectedly, the villagers just laughed.
Uncle Liu said, "You can’t plant them this winter. Sweet potato vines aren’t cold-hardy. As soon as they freeze, they stop growing."
Especially now, with this cold disaster, no crops could survive.
Shen Ningning looked at the delicious, reddish, roasted sweet potato in her hand and fell silent.
She decided to give it a try.
The little girl found a flowerpot specifically to test-plant her sweet potato vines.
With the help of the Black Wolf King and his pack’s paws, she dug up some hard soil from the mountain and filled the flowerpot.
After leaving it in a warm room for two days, Shen Ningning moved the flowerpot back outside.
And in it, she planted a vine cutting.
For the experiment, Shen Ningning deliberately placed the flowerpot at the base of the courtyard wall, in a spot sheltered from the wind.
After observing it for two days, she saw that the vine cutting still hadn’t sprouted from the soil.
For the next several days, whenever Shen Ningning came home, she would eagerly squat by the flowerpot to check on it.
"Why aren’t my sweet potato vines growing yet? Did they freeze to death?"
It got to the point where the Black Wolf King and his pack started treating the flowerpot like a family treasure, carefully protecting it.
Especially Lang Si, whom the Black Wolf King had called over, howling and lecturing him sternly not to give in to his cravings and eat the dirt in the pot.
And so, eight or nine days passed. Just as Shen Ningning was about to give up...
One morning, the Black Wolf King pulled her out of bed, "AWOO!"
He was saying the flowerpot had changed!
Shen Ningning threw on her clothes, slipped on her shoes, and eagerly ran outside.
Sure enough, on the little wooden trellis in the flowerpot, a vine had finally broken through the soil. Slender and tender green, it was tightly wound around the base of the wooden stake.
Shen Ningning was overjoyed. "It worked! My sweet potato vines can survive!"
She just knew it. The seeds from the Immortal Realm were a little hardier than any of the ones in the mortal world.
Next, the little girl tried two more experiments.
She used two separate flowerpots to test the difference between a sweet potato vine watered with Spiritual Spring Water and one that was not.
After ten-odd days, Shen Ningning discovered that the vine watered with Spiritual Spring Water was more cold-resistant and grew faster.
However, in the end, she gave up on the pot she had been watering with Spiritual Spring Water.
After all, she intended to benefit everyone, and it was impossible for everyone to raise them with Spiritual Spring Water like she could.
On this day, after class at the National Academy let out, Shen Ningning was, as usual, eager to get home and check on the growth of her sweet potato vines.
But she was stopped by Ye Shangyi.
"Commandery Princess, will you be free the day after tomorrow? I’d like to invite you and four other young ladies to stay at my family’s old mountain residence for a few days."
Ye Shangyi looked awkward and strange as she said this.
Shen Ningning blinked her big eyes. "What are you inviting me for?"
Ye Shangyi said in a calm tone, "Because my grandfather is preparing to sell this residence. He plans to donate all the silver from the sale to disaster relief."
"But the residence is deep in the mountains, and not in the suburbs of the capital, so very few people have come to inquire about the price. That’s why I came up with this idea."
"If you stay in the residence, we can market it as an auspicious home where the blessed girl has stayed, and then we’ll be able to sell it."
Shen Ningning narrowed her sparkling eyes, watching Ye Shangyi’s guilty expression.
The little girl asked, "Is it that simple? You’re not lying, are you?"
"O-of course not," Ye Shangyi said. "I’m just asking. If you don’t want to go, then forget it."
Shen Ningning pouted her lips in thought, then nodded decisively. "Alright, I’ll go~ Come wait for me in Xiangyun Village the day after tomorrow."
With that, the little girl scurried off, rushing home to check on her sweet potato vines.
Ye Shangyi watched her retreating figure, a flicker in her eyes.
When the day of departure arrived, Shen Ningning told Grandma Qin in advance.
Then she had Jiang Zhi carry a bag of sweet potatoes and hold her flowerpot of sweet potato vines as they boarded the Ye Family’s carriage.
Ye Shangyi, wrapped in a thick, cotton cloak, stared wide-eyed at the sight.
"Commandery Princess, I’ve prepared food at the residence."
"It’s good to be prepared. With food and drink, there’s nothing to worry about." Shen Ningning smiled, her faint dimples adding to her cuteness.
Ye Shangyi’s suspicious gaze fell on Jiang Zhi.
In her eyes, Jiang Zhi was dressed as a young man, and the neat, practical attire and ponytail made this "young master" seem unapproachable.
Shen Ningning introduced her, "This is my guard, Jiang Zhi."
Jiang Zhi gave Ye Shangyi a faint nod, feigning a cool indifference.
Ye Shangyi gave a dry laugh. "Why did the Commandery Princess bring a guard? Our Ye Family residence has plenty of Protectors. It’s very safe."
Shen Ningning repeated her earlier sentiment, "Better to be safe than sorry!"
’Ye Shangyi’s intentions aren’t so simple,’ Shen Ningning thought. ’But from what I know of her, she isn’t a malicious person. Whatever she’s planning, I can handle it.’
Thus, her willingness to come this time was also a way of doing Ye Shangyi a favor, considering she had given her an extra half portion of silver last time.
The carriage traveled for nearly an hour before they arrived.
When Shen Ningning and Ye Shangyi disembarked from the carriage, the other five invited young ladies were already waiting at the entrance.
The well-dressed young ladies from good families, having arrived in magnificent carriages, immediately started chatting and laughing upon meeting.
A cold mist from the mountains rose around them, and when the chilly wind blew, everyone shivered from the cold.
Ye Shangyi said, "Let’s hurry inside."
She first led everyone to the courtyards assigned to them.
Everyone had their own private courtyard, and Shen Ningning had Jiang Zhi stay in a side room within her own courtyard.
After they had settled in, it was just time for the noon meal. Shen Ningning went to the dining hall, only to see the other young ladies looking at each other in dismay.
Ye Shangyi looked particularly displeased and was scolding the steward.
"What have you been doing? I told you in advance that I would be bringing friends to stay for a few days, yet you didn’t even prepare any food?"
The steward hurriedly apologized, "My apologies, Young Miss. Everything was prepared, but the weather is too cold. The vegetables all froze and spoiled. We only have a little meat, rice, and flour left."
"It’s also difficult to buy fresh vegetables and fruits in the city. The usual vegetable sellers we order from all say they can’t make a new delivery for another half a month."
Ye Shangyi grumbled angrily, her eyes repeatedly glancing in Shen Ningning’s direction.
"Then what are we supposed to eat and drink for the next few days? You’re making me so mad!"
Shen Ningning blinked her big eyes and said directly, "Why don’t we eat my food?"
A flash of delight crossed Ye Shangyi’s eyes.
’Have I finally forced her to offer up her food?’
She quickly asked, "Really? Do you need me to send a few Protectors back to Xiangyun Village with you to get it?"
Shen Ningning laughed, her round, chubby face incredibly cute.
"Why go back to Xiangyun Village? That’s so much trouble. Did you forget? I brought a biiiiig bag of sweet potatoes!"
As she spoke, she even spread her small hands to form a large circle.
Ye Shangyi’s smile froze on her face.