Seeing Shen Jianguo eating so happily, the others beside him could no longer resist.
One by one, they opened the lids of their lunch containers. The rich aroma hit them immediately, and they hurriedly picked up their chopsticks.
The moment they took the first bite, they couldn’t stop.
By the time they finally did, every bit of food was gone.
Knowing her cooking would make everyone eat more, Hehua had intentionally packed extra rice for everyone. Even so, not a single grain was left.
After finishing, the whole family still wanted more.
The silence lasted for quite a while before Shen Jianguo finally broke it.
“Dad, Mom… do you think my little sister will cook for us again tomorrow?”
He had barely finished this meal and was already looking forward to the next one.
Not just him—even the rest of the family looked at Meng Chunxing expectantly, their eyes sparkling.
Meng Chunxing was speechless.
“Whether she cooks or not is up to her. Besides, that dish had meat and oil. Of course it tasted good. Though it didn’t taste like lard. She probably traded some soybeans at the mill for soybean oil. Alright, you’ve all eaten. Rest for a bit, then get back to work.”
Shen Jianguo smacked his lips, still looking hopeful.
…
Meanwhile, Hehua returned home.
Little Pingping was sitting obediently on the kang, eating his meal. He was enjoying it so much that mashed potatoes were smeared all over his chubby little face.
Hehua smiled.
“Is it good?”
Pingping enthusiastically nodded.
“Yummy.”
Hehua couldn’t help laughing.
After washing her hands, she climbed onto the kang, crossed her legs, and started eating too.
After the meal, she cleaned up the kitchen. When she returned, she found the little fellow fast asleep on her kang, his face still covered with dried bits of mashed potato.
Trying not to laugh, she gently wiped his face and little hands with a damp towel before lying down beside him and closing her eyes.
Her consciousness entered the Learning Room.
She planned to improve her combat abilities so that, with Niuniu’s help, she could safely venture deeper into the mountains to find ginseng.
Ginseng could save lives. She could not only sell it for money but also use it to save people. That should count as earning merit too.
After explaining her thoughts, Niuniu agreed it was worth trying.
[We can, but we’ll have to carefully choose who we save.]
Because of the Intelligence Pill, Hehua’s mind continued developing while she studied, allowing her to learn much more smoothly.
…
Little Pingping woke up and saw his little aunt lying beside him.
Seeing that she was asleep, the little fellow didn’t make a sound. He quietly climbed off the kang, found the snacks his aunt had hidden in her room, went back to his own room to get his toys, then returned to sit beside her, eating and playing by himself.
Basic martial arts and hand-to-hand combat were surprisingly easy for Hehua to learn after taking the three pills.
However, after completing the lessons in the Learning Room, she still needed to practice in the real world so her body could fully synchronize with what she had learned and achieve the ideal level of performance.
When Hehua opened her eyes, Pingping immediately noticed.
“Dudu, sleep a lot.”
Hehua had become so fluent in “Pingping language” that she instantly understood what he meant.
She couldn’t help pinching his chubby cheeks.
“So you’re making fun of me for sleeping so much?”
Looking at the kang covered in crumbs from pastries, she sighed helplessly.
After quickly cleaning everything up, she carried the little fellow outside.
[Niuniu, Niuniu, what time is it?]
[4:21 in the afternoon.]
Her parents would be getting off work soon.
After settling Pingping down, Hehua headed into the kitchen once again.
She put some porridge on the stove to cook while moving her body, gradually integrating what she had learned.
Afraid she would push herself too hard and get injured, Niuniu reminded her,
[Take it slow. Martial arts aren’t like cooking, where knowledge naturally blends with your body. It’s also much more complicated than throwing techniques. I’ve made you a five-day beginner integration plan. After that, you can continue practicing at your own pace. I can scan the surroundings now, so entering and leaving the deep mountains safely won’t be that difficult.]
Even so, Hehua wanted to make sure everything was as safe as possible.
Seeing how determined she was, Niuniu didn’t say anything else.
…
That evening, Shen Jianguo returned home.
When he saw that his sister had only cooked porridge, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed, even though he knew that was the family’s usual dinner.
After eating, he sneakily approached Hehua, who was exercising in the yard.
“Little sister, are you cooking again tomorrow?”
Hehua froze.
“Big Brother, are you silly? Tomorrow we’re starting to build the house. Mom will be home, and several aunties are coming to cook lunch at the temporary stove by the construction site. We won’t even need to cook at home.”
Shen Jianguo: “…”
A bolt from the blue!
He had just discovered how amazing his sister’s cooking was, only to find out he wouldn’t get to eat it again tomorrow.
And since it would be food cooked in a large communal pot, there was no way it would taste as good as what they usually ate at home.
Seeing how devastated her brother looked, Hehua guessed exactly what he was thinking.
“Don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll cook the rabbit organs. Since it’s the first day of construction—and we’ll also have a celebration on the last day—we should serve something better.”
Shen Jianguo frowned slightly.
He was certainly happy to hear there would be good food, but…
“Did Mom decide that? If we serve rabbit organs, everyone will know we have a lot of rabbits. And with so many people, won’t there be too little food? Could that cause problems?”
Hehua understood his concern.
“I figured it out afterward, so I haven’t talked to Mom yet. But I think she and Dad probably came to the same conclusion last night. We might even have to take out another rabbit or two, depending on how many people come to help build the house tomorrow. Since we just split from the main family, we don’t have any meat coupons. If I hadn’t brought home those rabbits yesterday, Mom would probably have had to butcher one of our chickens. The eggs she’s been trading for these past few days aren’t a substitute for meat. Whenever someone builds a house, the first day always includes at least one meat dish.”
Shen Jianguo nodded.
“That’s true. Our family gets along well with the people in the production team. If only one table of workers comes, construction won’t finish until October. But if more people help, we’ll finish much sooner.”
Hehua trusted her father and brothers’ good reputation.
She doubted one table would be enough.
The more helpers they had, the faster the house would be completed.
Still, although they didn’t have to pay wages, they were expected to provide meals, which put considerable pressure on the family.
The siblings fell silent at the same time, each thinking about how to help ease the family’s burden.
…
That night, back in her room, Hehua continued practicing.
While her body entered deep sleep, her consciousness returned to the Learning Room’s training hall, refining her techniques.
She had no intention of becoming an unrivaled martial arts master.
She simply wanted to completely master the skills she had already learned, so she didn’t plan to study more advanced techniques.
Niuniu agreed with that decision.
This wasn’t a world centered around martial arts, and Hehua’s future plans didn’t require constant fighting.
As long as she was strong enough to protect herself, that would be enough.
…
Early the next morning, Niuniu woke Hehua before dawn to begin training.
Meng Chunxing got up to prepare breakfast and looked at the warm porridge already sitting in the pot with a confused expression.
Only after Hehua came jogging back into the yard did Meng Chunxing understand what had happened.
For a moment, she had almost thought it was some supernatural event.
“Why are you up so early?”
Wiping the sweat from her forehead while stretching, Hehua answered,
“I’m exercising. I have to get ready for chasing rabbits in the future.”
Meng Chunxing: “…”
She was speechless for quite a while.
“You really are something.”
She honestly didn’t know what else to say.
Since breakfast was already finished, she decided to go back to bed for a little more sleep.
…
Lu Shufen had just climbed out of bed and stepped outside when she saw Meng Chunxing heading back to her room in confusion.
“Mom, aren’t you making breakfast?”
Why was she going back inside?
Meng Chunxing waved her hand.
“I’m going back to sleep for a while. Your little sister suddenly went crazy and got up before dawn. She already finished cooking.”
Lu Shufen blinked.
“Huh?”
Before she could ask another question, her mother-in-law had already gone back inside for a second round of sleep.
She turned toward Hehua, who was still stretching in the yard.
“Little Sister, you really already finished making breakfast?”
Without stopping her workout or even turning around, Hehua answered,
“Yep. Go back to sleep, Sister-in-law. Just get up when the work whistle blows.”
During that era, everyone went to work according to the production team’s whistle.
The whistle was usually blown three times.
The first whistle was ignored.
The second made people stick their heads out to look.
The third finally got everyone moving.
Since breakfast and washing up didn’t take long, and nobody had to cook today, getting up at the third whistle would still leave plenty of time.
The family would still work in the fields that morning, while the house construction would begin in the afternoon.
Happy that she didn’t have to cook, Lu Shufen cheerfully returned to her room, climbed back onto the kang, slipped under the blanket…
…and rolled straight into Shen Jianguo’s arms.