Chapter 56: Cultivating a Vegetable Garden
How big is 20 square meters?
Actually, it’s about the size of a living room.
But now that Huaiyu had been working from morning till noon, the mud on her boots had gotten thicker and thicker, and she started to feel like something was wrong with this land—why did it feel so huge?!
She didn’t have much strength. Forget swinging a hoe—she had to use her body weight just to press down the shovel. After a few rounds, she was already exhausted.
Now, looking at the large patch of turned-up soil, all she felt was heat and pain in her limbs.
The ground was still damp, and every shovel-full was heavy. The wild grasses, whose delicate green sprouts had just begun to show, were deeply rooted beneath the surface—tangled and crisscrossed like a net, firmly holding together the surrounding soil and water. That made the soil dense and heavy with moisture.
Every time she managed to dig some up, she had to smack and slap the dirt clumps just to get rid of the roots.
The ground looked flat now because the Rose Mansion had been deliberately leveled when it was originally planned, but there were still small stones and gravel buried underneath…
If her multi-functional shovel hadn’t been decent quality, she probably would’ve broken it already—and lost points again.
Fortunately, after a whole morning of effort, the square plot of land in front of her was finally fully dug up.
But it still wasn’t time to build ridges yet. After winter, there were likely to be insect eggs and bacteria hidden in the soil. Huaiyu wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked up at the blazing sun. She decided to leave the soil to dry out for two days first.
Also… she was starving.
Three meals a day was pretty normal, but on the day she first woke up, she’d been full just from one packet of nutrient solution.
Then came the rush to build shelter. Most of the work required intense concentration and stamina, yet she was only eating breakfast and dinner.
Now, even though she wasn’t quite as tired as before, she felt the need for three meals a day again. Was it because her diet was too limited now? Or did that nutrient solution actually contain a ton of nutrients?
She thought about how awful that nutrient solution tasted and fell into a silent struggle.
But then she looked at her pale, slim wrists. They really were thin—not exactly beautiful, just pale enough with good color to not make her look sickly and malnourished.
She remembered what Zhou Qian had said:
“…Eat more. You look like you’re sixteen or seventeen…”
Huaiyu began to ponder.
She was pretty sure she was older than sixteen or seventeen, but everyone she’d met so far instinctively treated her like a minor.
“Little sister,” “girl,” “kiddo”…
And she herself, despite subconsciously feeling like an adult, naturally addressed others with “uncle,” “auntie,” “big brother,” “big sister”—all without hesitation.
Something felt off.
She thought and thought until her stomach was growling, but still couldn’t figure it out. Could she really have been a strong, sharp-tongued peasant woman in her past life?
…Actually, that kind of made sense. At least she had the experience now.
Huaiyu let out a sigh.
But she couldn’t think anymore. She was too hungry—her stomach was in knots! She dropped all her thoughts, grabbed the pot, and hurried to the new stove in the straw shed.
The weather was warming up. From now on, she could cook outside during the day.
Lunch would be noodle dumpling soup with pickled fiddlehead ferns!
After thinking it over, she reluctantly pulled out another packet of nutrient solution and began drinking it, grimacing all the way.
…
After lunch, Huaiyu checked inside the treehouse. Since only the frame had been completed so far, the moisture was drying much faster.
Standing inside, she didn’t feel dampness at all anymore. She figured it’d be fully dry by tomorrow at the latest.
The only uncooperative part was the wisteria.
She hadn’t been experienced enough during the growth stimulation process and had let their roots grow too deep.
Although the trunks she used for the frame no longer supplied nutrients, at the base of the beams on the treehouse’s edges, new wisteria shoots had begun to sprout.
Huaiyu stared at them for a while, then decided not to interfere.
After all, they were already obedient enough. Their roots were embedded on one side, but the shoots were sprouting from the other. Maybe when they grew larger, they could help support the straw roof along with the beams—that’d make the structure even stronger.
She went to check on the mung bean sprouts again.
They had grown past the sprouting stage and could no longer be covered by the pot. Even though she’d kept them in the shade, the sun’s warmth had made them grow rapidly.
Now they were lush, tender seedlings.
If only she had some hot pot base right now…
Huaiyu nearly drooled, but quickly forced herself to stop thinking about it.
That mildly spicy dish from the morning had tasted amazing, but her stomach had felt slightly uncomfortable afterward.
Her body was clearly still too fragile. Eating spicy food would have to be done cautiously.
Still, even if she couldn’t use the sprouts in a hot pot, maybe she could make some mung bean sprout and pork fat congee for dinner?
No eggs, no meat, not even sauce—but if she had some, wrapping them in pancakes would probably taste amazing…
Huaiyu lay on the bed to rest for a bit, but her mind was flooded with thoughts of food. The more she imagined, the hungrier she felt—even her full stomach started to feel empty again.
She sighed and sat up.
Forget it. Better to get back to work. The sooner the land was ready, the more food she’d have later.
She also started wondering about pork, chicken, ducks—how many points would those cost now?
Cravings were motivation!
Huaiyu started gathering grass again.
The dried grass she’d collected earlier had molded in the rain. There was more from the surrounding wildlands, from the small wooded slope nearby, from buried leaves and plants deep in the wet earth…
She filled sack after sack, and after several hours, she’d amassed a small mountain.
Huaiyu pulled out her lighter.
Click.
As flame met the dry grass, wisps of smoke drifted upward. The branches and leaves slowly began to produce thicker, heavier smoke.
The leaves were still damp, so it wouldn’t burn quickly. But the surrounding area was mostly bare ground with sparse weeds—safe enough to burn here.
She grabbed her shovel and took the opportunity to return to the field, breaking apart the clumps of soil even more finely.
By sunset, every lump of soil had been thoroughly crushed. Huaiyu rubbed her sore arms. She figured after one more day of sun and one more turn of the soil, it should finally be ready.
The fire pile had already burned out, leaving behind a layer of black-gray ash. A gust of wind blew the ash into the air, stinging her eyes.
When she dug into it with the shovel, heat rose rapidly from within.
Still hot.
She scattered the ash, spreading it out to let the evening breeze cool it down faster.
Once it wasn’t hot anymore, she brought over a large bucket and began hauling the ash to the vegetable patch, spreading it evenly into the soil layer by layer.
Plant ash helps kill bugs, disinfect, and can even serve as a base fertilizer. After getting damp with dew tomorrow morning, the nutrients would seep in even better…
Ah!
Since there’s still so much land, maybe she should dig out another patch tomorrow!
