When the little girl heard that her big brother was going to the city, her eyes instantly lit up with longing.
She had long heard that the city had lots of delicious food.
But she also knew she was too young to go.
“Big Brother, when you go to the city, remember to buy me something tasty. I want White Rabbit milk candy!”
Her bright eyes sparkled as she looked at Lu Ping’an expectantly.
Lu Ping’an reached out and lightly flicked her nose with his finger, saying dotingly, “Alright, Big Brother will definitely buy it for you.”
“But you can’t eat candy at night, or you’ll get cavities.”
The little girl had no idea what cavities were. As long as Big Brother promised to buy her candy, she was thrilled.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside—Father Lu and Mother Lu had returned.
“You child! You ran off to the river again today. The villagers are saying you caught a whole bucket of fish!”
Before she even fully stepped inside, Mother Lu, Li Xiuzhi, began scolding him.
Father Lu, Lu Fajia, however, looked at the basin of fish and laughed. “Not bad. You’re no worse than your father was back in the day. To catch this many fish in one afternoon!”
Mother Lu shot him a half-smiling look. “Oh really? After dinner, I’ll go ask Father and Mother about that.”
“How come I never knew you were such a great fisherman when you were young?”
“I’ve been married to you for over twenty years and never seen you bring home more than a few fish!”
“You’ve gone fishing plenty of times, but almost every time you came back empty-handed!”
Father Lu’s face darkened.
“You woman, why do you always tear me down? Can’t I save some face in front of the kids?”
“What’s wrong with bragging a little? As their father, I’ve got no dignity left after you strip it all away!”
The moment he finished speaking, Lu Ping’an, Lu Yunxia, and Lu Yunqiu burst into laughter.
Mother Lu couldn’t hold back either and chuckled.
“Fine, fine. Next time in front of outsiders, I’ll leave you some face, alright?”
Father Lu snorted. “That’s more like it!”
“Hahaha…”
Laughter echoed through the courtyard. The little girl didn’t quite understand what was so funny—but if everyone else was happy, she was happy too.
Mother Lu went to cook dinner. With so many fish tonight, they had to enjoy a proper meal.
“Little Brother, you’re amazing! Since when did you know how to fish?”
Lu Yunqiu came over smiling. She and Lu Yunxia were twins, just a little over a year older than Lu Ping’an.
“Third Sister, I’ve got lots of skills. You’ll discover them one by one. Fishing is just my most ordinary talent,” Lu Ping’an joked.
With the spirit spring space, he really wasn’t exaggerating.
Lu Yunqiu didn’t take it seriously and laughed. “Alright, alright. My little brother is the best!”
After chatting a bit more, the siblings went to wash up.
That night, Mother Lu was unusually generous. Instead of wild vegetable porridge, she used some cornmeal to make flatbread cakes, sticking them along the sides of the pot.
She stewed a large pot of fish, and the aroma nearly made everyone dizzy with hunger.
Though the fish weren’t raised in the spirit spring, they barely had any fishy smell. The meat was tender and fresh.
The corn cakes dipped in fish broth, paired with fish meat—absolutely fragrant.
After dinner, Father Lu called Lu Ping’an aside.
“Ping’an, your Second Uncle wants you to visit the city. Your Second Aunt says she misses you.”
“I’m heading into the city tomorrow morning too. You can come with me.”
Lu Ping’an was overjoyed. He had been planning to bring this up himself.
“Okay!”
Father Lu nodded with a smile. “There are still more than a dozen fish at home. Later, take two to your Second Uncle’s house and two to your Third Uncle’s.”
“Send one to your grandparents as well. The rest your mother will salt and dry.”
“Keep the fish heads—we’ll make soup tomorrow.”
“Save the biggest one to bring to your Second Uncle.”
Lu Ping’an had no objections. “Dad, let Second and Third Sister deliver them.”
“You can handle the fish however you want.”
Father Lu chuckled. “You caught them, so I had to ask, in case you felt bad.”
“Since you’ve got no issue, go pack your things. I’ve already written your introduction letter.”
“Your Second Uncle wants you to stay at his house for a few days.”
“Oh, and don’t sleep in tomorrow. We’re leaving at eight at the latest.”
“It takes over an hour to get to the city. I need to handle onboarding at the factory and transfer our household registration and grain ration records in the afternoon.”
“I know you like sleeping in, so I’m telling you in advance.”
Lu Ping’an nodded. After chatting a bit longer, he returned to his room.
A smile spread across his face. Staying in the city for a few days would be much more convenient.
If possible, he hoped to bring back a hunting rifle this time. With so much game in the back mountain, it would be a waste not to hunt.
He packed two changes of clothes. The weather was still hot, so he didn’t need much.
After taking a bath, he lay down to sleep.
The next morning, before dawn, Lu Ping’an woke up.
The first thing he did was enter the spirit spring space.
Just as he had expected, the corn, mung beans, and red beans had matured.
He quickly harvested them and brought in yesterday’s potato, cutting it into pieces and planting them.
“Sigh… if only it could sow automatically.”
He had just sighed when the corn in his hand suddenly began to tremble. Kernels flew out one by one and planted themselves in the soil.
The mung beans and red beans did the same. In mere moments, everything had been replanted automatically.
He silently thought about watering them. Sure enough, spirit spring water rose from the river and irrigated all the planted areas.
Tender shoots broke through the soil and grew rapidly.
Lu Ping’an was overjoyed.
After this round matured, if all were used as seeds, he could cultivate a vast area.
He walked to the riverbank just in time to see a fish weighing over ten jin leap out of the water.
Startled, he remembered that the largest fish he had placed into the space yesterday had only weighed three or four jin. How had it grown so big?
Looking closely, he saw schools of fish swimming in the river—big and small.
Just from what he could see, there were already several hundred, more than he had originally placed inside.
His eyes sparkled.
His first pot of gold was coming soon.
This trip to the city would be the perfect chance to look for buyers.
He walked to the stone tablet and pressed the “Sign In” button.
He was full of anticipation, wondering what today’s reward would be.
[Ding! Sign-in successful. Reward: 100 jin of premium pork belly. Automatically stored in the warehouse!]