“Mom, you’re still not resting?” Xia Yan pushed open the door and saw Wang Chunhua sitting by the bed waiting for her.
“I was waiting for you. Honestly, how did you suddenly become so childish? I was just trying to ease my relationship with them so things will be easier later. And you? You acted like a jealous jar of vinegar. You almost exposed us,” Wang Chunhua scolded.
Xia Yan quickly covered her mother’s mouth. “Mom! Walls have ears. Let’s go into the space to talk.”
They entered the space.
The moment they arrived, Wang Chunhua completely forgot why she came in—her vegetable garden had been stripped bare.
“Xia Yan!!!” she roared. “Look what you did to my vegetables!”
“Mom, I’m sorry! I did leave some seeds! And those vegetables are still edible! Don’t be angry! I’ll replant them! Just don’t chase me—I’m out of breath!”
“You stop running and I’ll stop chasing!” Wang Chunhua shouted back, both of them panting.
After a long chase, they finally collapsed from exhaustion.
“You really don’t respect food at all!” Wang Chunhua scolded.
“You’re the one who didn’t come to comfort me first!” Xia Yan retorted tearfully.
They argued, but in the end, they reconciled. Wang Chunhua hugged her and promised she would never neglect her again.
After calming down, they re-planted the garden together, then soaked in the spiritual spring water. Eventually, they fell asleep peacefully in the space before returning to their beds.
The next morning, Wang Chunhua got up early and began extracting oil. The aroma quickly attracted Xia Huai’an.
“Mom, why are you cooking so early? Isn’t it too early for lunch?”
“This is rendered oil. Food spoils easily in hot weather,” she explained.
Soon, everyone in the family gathered in the kitchen, each helping or watching curiously.
Xia Zhixiu offered to take over chores, Xia Jinzhi went to fetch water, and Xia Huai’an headed to the fields.
Wang Chunhua then mentioned something important: they needed more land and rooms, so they would go buy land from the village head.
Xia Jinzhi volunteered to go himself, and she agreed, even giving him pastries and silver.
Later, she finally spoke about something new.
“Zhixiu, go find two large jars with narrow mouths.”
“Mom, what are they for?”
“To make pickles.”
“Pickles?” Xia Zhixiu tilted her head.
“You’ll see soon.”
She brought out cabbage, cucumbers, and radishes from the space and began preparing them.
The whole family watched as she cleaned, cut, and prepared everything step by step.
Then she packed everything into jars, added salt, water, and even a bit of wine.
Finally, she sealed the jars and explained:
“This is pickled vegetables. In two or three days, it will be ready to eat.”
Xia Zhixiu nodded in admiration. “So that’s pickles. It seems simple.”
At noon, she cooked several dishes—stir-fried celery with meat, minced meat eggplant, steamed eggplant, and spinach soup.
While eating, the family enjoyed the food greatly, though Wang Chunhua sighed:
“Still missing something… chili, pepper… where are you?”
Later, the youngest twins cried because they couldn’t put on their clothes properly. Wang Chunhua helped them patiently.
After everything settled, Xia Yan finally woke up, stretching lazily.
“Sleeping until I wake up naturally… feels so good…”