Chapter 56: The Lucky Draw Wheel
After eating and washing up, Ning Xiyue finally lay down comfortably on the kang (heated brick bed) she had missed so much.
Once the curtain was drawn, no one could see anyone else.
Her consciousness impatiently entered the mustard seed space.
Who would have thought that the girl who had spent the day sitting in a tree watching the drama would still have to feed pigs instead of sleeping at night?
Ning Xiyue chopped up some leftover pig grass and boiled it. Then she took out all the feed she had received from the morning’s sign-in rewards, scooped a bit of each into the pot, and cooked a rich, nutritious pig meal.
This time, she made enough for two days and stored it, planning to feed it on schedule.
When she carried the pig feed over to the pigpen, the deafening howls made Ning Xiyue dig at her ears helplessly. “Dahei, stop whining already. Your poor poop-shoveling officer’s ears are about to go deaf.”
She quickly poured the feed into the trough, finally silencing Dahei. The only sound left was its happy snorting as it ate.
“Finally, peace and quiet.”
Ning Xiyue decided to cook another day’s worth of pig feed later and keep it ready just in case — the feed wouldn’t spoil in the system backpack anyway.
“System, next time it’s Dahei’s mealtime, remind me right away. It’s not good to keep letting it go hungry.” She glanced up at the little turtle floating in midair.
The turtle nodded. “Got it, Host.”
After cleaning up the pigpen, Ning Xiyue went back to boil another batch of feed, storing it away. Then, she picked up the Hanxin grass she had left by the well and walked over to the 100-square-meter plot of black soil.
She had divided the 100 square meters into four equal sections in the shape of the Chinese character “田” (field):
Plot 1 (upper left): For planting medicinal herbs collected from the mountains.
Plot 2 (lower left): For daily vegetables and fruits.
Plot 3 (upper right): For grains like wheat or dry rice.
Plot 4 (lower right): For fruit trees and other cash crops.
Although the planting space wasn’t large, this 100-square-meter black soil was no ordinary land.
Black Soil Attributes:
1. Self-fertilizing: Crops planted here don’t need fertilizer — the soil automatically adjusts nutrients to what the plant requires.
2. Accelerated Growth: Crops grow much faster here — even the longest growth cycles mature within three weeks, and the shortest can ripen in a single day.
3. Preserved Ripeness: Crops remain at peak ripeness indefinitely, even if not harvested.
4. Mind Control: Crops can be planted and harvested by thought.
This black soil was practically tailor-made for a lazy person like Ning Xiyue.
She patted the little turtle’s shell with a smile in her eyes. “System, I’ve gotta say — I love you. This is amazing.”
“Of course,” System No. 3333 replied proudly, holding its head high.
After letting go of the turtle, Ning Xiyue planted the Han Xin grass in Plot 1. The once wilted herbs gradually perked up, as if they had always been meant to grow there — you’d never guess they had just been transplanted.
Ning Xiyue let out a sigh of relief. “Now I don’t have to worry about messing up my planting.”
Next, she took out the vegetable seeds she had gotten from Aunt Yangliu and sowed half of them in Plot 2 — peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, string beans, cowpeas, scallions, and cilantro.
And of course, she planted the pumpkins she had been dreaming of — digging a shallow pit in the lower-left corner and sprinkling in two seeds so they could later spread their vines into the surrounding wasteland.
In Plot 3, she scattered a handful of wheat. Then she transplanted her single crown pear sapling into Plot 4 — her only fruit tree.
After finishing everything, she didn’t feel tired at all. Ning Xiyue even practiced a set of Tai Chi before moving on to her studies.
She started by taking a new class in the host training center: weaving a simple four-legged square stool.
She studied carefully — her space desperately needed stools. Every time she cooked pig feed, she had to sit on a rock. Once she mastered it, she planned to make a few stools in the simulation room.
Time flew by while she was learning. After mastering stool-making, she immediately went to the simulation room to practice.
There, she made stool after stool, over and over again. On the twentieth attempt, she finally passed.
Riding the momentum, she made five more stools of various sizes. The first four were all passable with scores of 80 points, but the last one hadn’t been graded yet.
Smiling, Ning Xiyue placed the final stool on the testing platform.
Ding! [After inspection, your score is 95 points — Excellent. You’ve triggered a lucky draw opportunity on the Big Prize Wheel. Would the host like to use it?]
Ning Xiyue was pleasantly surprised. “Oh? You can enter a draw for getting an excellent score? What kind of prizes are there? Where’s the wheel? Show me!”
As soon as she spoke, a large circular prize wheel appeared before her.
Ning Xiyue walked up and examined the rewards carefully.
The wheel was divided into five sections, each with a different prize:
1. One jin (0.5 kg) of rice seeds
2. Five industrial coupons
3. Ten strawberry seedlings
4. One cherry tree
5. A bundle of cash (total of 150 yuan in cash)
With each prize she read, her eyes lit up a little more — she wanted all of them.
“How do I spin it?” she asked, rubbing her hands together eagerly.
Ding! [After starting the wheel, the host can either press a button to spin it automatically or manually flick the pointer. The prize will be whatever section the long end of the pointer lands on. Would the host like to begin?]
“Start the draw — I’ll spin it manually.”
To her, spinning it by hand felt more authentic — that was what a real lottery experience was supposed to be.
Ding! [The big prize wheel is now active. Please use it promptly.]
Hearing that, Ning Xiyue rubbed her hands, exhaled a breath, then nervously and excitedly reached out with her right hand, gripped the pointer, and gave it a firm clockwise spin. The pointer whirred rapidly, and her heart spun with it.
“Rice seeds I can trade for in the commune. Industrial coupons I can get from check-ins, and I still have a few in my bag. Strawberries are nice, but seedlings don’t last long and won’t yield much fruit. As for the 150 yuan — I already have that. Hmm… the cherry tree…”
“If I could choose just one, I’d definitely want the cherry tree. In modern times, cherries cost about 100 yuan per jin. If I had one, I could eat cherries every day in this space.”
Eyes fixed on the spinning pointer, Ning Xiyue clasped her hands together and muttered under her breath:
“God of Wealth, bless me with the cherry tree… cherry tree…”
