Chapter 180: Shang Yue’s Return
If it weren’t for the fact that the container holding the gutter oil would also cost money, Jian Xingxia would have directly given the entire tub to Shang Yue to carry back. This stuff couldn’t compare to lamp oil or kerosene, but it was still decent fuel.
Yesterday, wearing disposable gloves, she had spent a tremendous amount of effort just to smear this viscous waste oil onto the straw mats.
A worthless straw mat + range hood waste oil = the absolute refuse among refuse. It was entirely valueless. But to Shang Yue, it was a life-saving treasure.
Finally, there was the medicine, and Jian Xingxia was truly at her wits’ end. Modern, mass-produced high-concentration antibiotics, hemostatics, and painkillers… all cost money. No matter how cheap they were, they weren’t something Shang Yue could afford with a wage of less than twenty cents. Even if she went up the mountain to pick free wild herbs, if the system judged them to be valuable, he likely wouldn’t be able to carry them away either. This was the sole thing Jian Xingxia was fretting over.
Shang Yue, however, hurriedly swallowed the food in his mouth and said, “It can be carried!”
“Huh?”
“If the medicinal powder is already applied to the wounds on my body, or if it’s placed in my mouth and partially dissolved, it won’t appear separately in the blood-tinged vision anymore.”
Shang Yue didn’t have time to explain the blood-tinged vision to Jian Xingxia. But since he said it could be carried, Jian Xingxia, amidst her pleasant surprise, didn’t waste time asking questions either. She hurriedly poured the Yunnan Baiyao powder all over Shang Yue’s body.
At this moment, she actually felt grateful that Shang Yue had an abundance of wounds on his body. Otherwise, she would have had to take a knife and cut him on the spot. Jian Xingxia could never bring herself to do something like that; besides, the system might even penalize her for labor abuse!
Shang Yue had wounds all over his head, face, body, and legs. Jian Xingxia applied the medicine at lightning speed, even stuffing a bit extra into a relatively deep gash on his arm. The already coagulated blood scabs were torn open again, splitting apart to be packed with medicine. Shang Yue bared his teeth in excruciating pain.
Yet he was happy deep down. Because the more it hurt now, the more medicinal powder he could carry back.
Finally, she had Shang Yue keep the safety pills from several bottles of Yunnan Baiyao in his mouth. Originally, the image of Shang Yue pulling a stringy little pill from his mouth was a bit unseemly, but the moment she thought about how this could save the lives of other ancients, Jian Xingxia didn’t find it unseemly at all. Anything became insignificant when faced with human life.
Lastly, regarding a tool for digging earth, Jian Xingxia was completely powerless.
“See how many stalks of bamboo you can haul away in the remaining few minutes. The thicker ones can probably be used as makeshift shovels.” But they likely wouldn’t last very long.
Shang Yue was already so grateful he was practically prostrating himself. “Thank you, Benefactor! What you’ve given is already more than enough. With these things, we will definitely be able to dig our way out of the mine shaft! Thank you, Benefactor!”
Even as Shang Yue spoke, Jian Xingxia watched his body begin to turn translucent. Out of the ten minutes total, Jian Xingxia checked the time and saw there was only one minute left. She immediately turned around and walked further away, only able to hear the sound of Shang Yue shifting the bamboo.
Before long, the sound abruptly ceased.
Jian Xingxia waited a brief moment before turning her head back. Shang Yue was already gone. Scattered on the ground were only the bamboo tubes used for drinking water and the lotus leaves that had wrapped the sweet oil cakes, meat cakes, and meat buns. The bucket holding the water-soaked straw mats had been knocked over, spilling water all over the ground. The plastic bags that wrapped the gutter-oil-soaked straw mats were left behind as well. It appeared Shang Yue had moved fast enough to pull the straw mats out just in time. Otherwise, according to the system’s rules, anything with plastic bag “packaging,” even if it was waste, could not be carried away.
Bamboo stalks lay scattered all over the ground. Jian Xingxia counted them; he should have taken two large stalks that were as thick as the mouth of a bowl. It seemed that time had been so critical that Shang Yue only had enough time to smash up two stalks of bamboo to carry back.
Jian Xingxia waited on the spot for a bit. The mountain forest was serene, filled only with the chirping of insects, the singing of birds, and the rustling of wind blowing through the leaves. Shang Yue had already gone.
Jian Xingxia patted the dust and grime off her clothes, and lowering her head, she caught sight of Da Hua. Da Hua was pecking at the cake crumbs Shang Yue had dropped while eating in his frantic rush. Jian Xingxia scooped Da Hua up onto her lap, drove the electric tricycle, and returned to the old house.
The only remaining guests in the old house were the members of the Insomnia Support Group, and none of them had woken up yet. They had already told her yesterday that she didn’t need to prepare breakfast—those who slept well at night would drive themselves to work and handle breakfast on their commute. Those on the day shift who swapped to sleep had eaten their fill before coming from home, absolutely refusing to waste their precious guesthouse time on eating.
Jian Xingxia was glad for the leisure. She pulled a few buns from the freezer to steam and went to take a shower. By the time she finished her shower, the buns were steamed. After eating them, she went to inspect the greenhouse.
Yesterday’s leftovers had all been dealt with by Da Hei and Shang Yue, and the vegetable leaves had also been carried away by the plump auntie and Lin Sanniang, leaving nothing for composting. Jian Xingxia checked the system regarding the composting pit behind the greenhouse.
The system displayed the current fertilizer status:
- Capable of sustaining the normal growth of plants in the greenhouse for 41 days and 15 hours. 2. Capable of promoting the yield of roughly 110 kg of fruit.
It was fine. Not composting for a short period was perfectly acceptable. Once they worked out the Lu’an Village tourism management regulations with the village team these next few days and formally opened for business, there would be quite a lot of kitchen waste again.
Jian Xingxia returned to the old house, opened her laptop, and wrote down a few more plans. Around eight o’clock, Hu Da, Qi Shan, and the others clock-in for work. Jian Xingxia sent the file to Qi Shan, asking her to help print it out.
Then, she summoned Da Hei.
Today, there were virtually no guests at the manor. Jian Xingxia recruited Da Hei for twelve hours, letting him clear the wasteland, eat some good food while he was at it, and see if there was anything he wanted to carry back.
After all these days, Da Hei was no longer as bewildered and helpless as he had been at the start, acting like a domesticated beast driven by others. Under Jian Xingxia’s deliberate “indulgence,” Da Hei now dared to voice his requests. However, this silly giant currently only knew how to express demands regarding two things:
First: Why didn’t Master look for me? Or otherwise, When will Master look for me?
Second: What are we eating today?
Once Da Hei arrived, Jian Xingxia stuffed a few buns into his hands and gave him an entire pot of corn-and-egg shaomai to take along. “Go set to work! Lady Lin will come down a bit later. If I’m not around, just listen to Lady Lin.”
Jian Xingxia had to go to the village today to assist the village cadres with the training for the villagers.
Da Hei nodded obediently, took a bite of a bun, and his dark face lit up with pure joy. “Delicious!”
Jian Xingxia smiled and said, “Take it easy while eating! When Lady Lin comes at noon, let Lady Lin make something delicious!”
Da Hei had hauled several hundred catties of vegetables over yesterday. Aside from the durable potatoes and radishes, Jian Xingxia intended to have the plump auntie and Lin Sanniang process the remaining vegetables and freeze them in the freezer. They could also be made into buns, dumplings, pickled into kimchi, or dried into dehydrated vegetables.
Living deep in the mountains wasn’t as convenient as the outside; they couldn’t order takeout, and sometimes when they got busy, there truly was no time to cook. Jian Xingxia didn’t want to always boil sweet potatoes, corn, and eggs, but with so many tasks, it was highly difficult to carve out a few hours to tend to three meals a day. Making more pre-prepared dishes meant they could just heat them up whenever they wanted to eat.
Thinking up to this point, Jian Xingxia felt quite blissful inside. She had earned a bit of money, and although the majority had been poured back into the business, there were still over three thousand yuan left! She had bought herself a microwave. This way, if she missed meal times when she got busy in the future, she wouldn’t have to trouble the auntie and the others; she could just heat up the “pre-prepared dishes” herself. Although it wasn’t as delicious as freshly made food, to a Jian Xingxia who had endured hardships, it was already a whole abundance better than what she used to eat!
If it weren’t for the fact that she had been busy to the point her feet barely touched the ground these days, she would have definitely put on several catties. But then again, although she hadn’t gotten fat, her body, which used to be slightly malnourished, had filled out significantly.
Jian Xingxia felt her arms and noticed a tiny bit of muscle had formed. Given time, she would definitely become a sturdy and formidable Manor Owner!
Building a brighter and more beautiful future for the manor!
