She first entered the main villa building. The first floor contained the front desk and lobby, furnished with comfortable sofas and tea tables, adorned tastefully with common rural bamboo crafts.
The laundry room was also on the first floor, along with two small storage rooms. One stored spare bedding—rustic-style pure cotton floral print four-piece sets ready for use, and quilt fillings of varying thicknesses that could also come in handy.
The other storage room held numerous guest room consumables: disposable sewing kits, toothbrushes and toothpaste, toiletries sets, bottled water, instant noodles, beverages like cola and orange juice, tea bags, potato chips… and even two large boxes of chocolate.
She casually opened one and began munching happily. Coming to the 1970s and still being able to enjoy modern snacks was truly blissful.
Accidentally glancing toward the corner, she surprisingly spotted two large boxes of "Durex." As someone who had never been in a relationship in both her previous and current lives, her face flushed red, and she hurriedly tucked them away in a more inconspicuous spot.
This Farmhouse Paradise might be small, but it truly had everything!
The second and third floors each had eight guest rooms with private bathrooms, including twin rooms and king-sized standard rooms, all fully equipped with complete facilities.
Not bad, not bad. The stockpiled supplies had increased quite a bit.
After finishing the chocolate, she opened a bag of potato chips, crunching away as she stuffed them into her mouth. Remembering her newly acquired food-loving younger siblings, she really wanted to share with them.
However, these uniquely packaged snacks weren't suitable for this era.
After a moment's thought, she filled a large bag with chocolates and potato chips and headed to the kitchen. She removed the packaging and stored them in yellow kraft paper bags, waiting for the right opportunity to let them try these novelties.
The east wing served as the kitchen and dining area, which was quite spacious. The cabinet behind the cash register was filled with alcoholic drinks and beverages. Next to the counter stood a shelf selling individually packaged snacks: small biscuits, cream puffs, gummy candies, lollipops… and even betel nuts, which men enjoyed.
The kitchen was fully equipped with all kinds of seasonings, pots, pans, and utensils. Although they didn't match this era, they conveniently allowed her to cook delicious meals.
On one side of the kitchen stood two large freezers and a big refrigerator, all stocked with ingredients: dozens of pounds each of commonly used pork, beef, and mutton, plenty of frozen seafood, and ample supplies of bagged frozen dumplings, glutinous rice balls, steamed buns…
The Farmhouse Paradise Space was truly a treasure trove!
Recalling the important task tonight, she first gathered the items to be traded, making it convenient to move them out of the space all at once.
Finally, she circled to the backyard to feed the pigs, picked a basket of fruits, and then returned to her room.
Humming a tune, Guo Youning carried the fruits to the living room, placing them alongside the items bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. She also pulled ten feet of green cotton fabric from the space, sprinkling a few drops of ink to disguise it as defective goods, and then moved out thirty eggs.
She could only take this much—any more might arouse suspicion.
It was already past four o'clock, with some time left before her family returned from work and school. Having nothing else to do, she started preparing dinner for everyone.
When it came to cooking, her skills were quite good. In her previous life as an orphan, she rarely ordered takeout or ate out to save money. Cooking frequently had gradually honed her culinary abilities.
She walked into the small kitchen connected to the living room but felt somewhat at a loss upon seeing the coal stove—she didn't know how to use it.
She could only summon the original host's memories. The original host was quite capable at household chores, so this minor task wouldn't stump her.
On the kitchen counter was the Two-Flour Mix that Tang Xin had prepared earlier. Guo Youning thought, since there was meat, why not make meat buns?
She had originally intended to make braised pork, but braised pork pairs better with rice. However, after searching the entire kitchen, she only found half a pound of rice—not even enough to make porridge for seven people.
There was plenty of cornmeal, though, so she decided on cornmeal porridge with steamed buns, plus a side of smashed cucumber.
Guo Youning followed the steps from memory: first, she replaced the honeycomb briquette, opened the air vent cover, and cleared out the scattered coal ash inside.
She placed a pot filled with water on the stove, though it would take a while to boil since the newly replaced briquette was slow to ignite.
She scooped out two bowls of cornmeal, mixed it with an equal amount of water, and stirred until smooth, setting it aside for the next step once the water boiled.
Next, she retrieved the meat, pig's feet, and offal she had bought that morning from the cupboard.
Her mother had marinated half of the meat, cleaned and blanched the large and small intestines, and split and marinated the pig's feet as well.
The weather was hot, and food wouldn’t keep long. Guo Youning wished she could store everything in the refrigerator in her space, but she could only imagine doing so.
She took out the unmarinated half of the meat, about a pound, thinking it wouldn’t be enough for seven people, so she secretly took another pound from her space.
After chopping the meat and adding the prepared scallions, she realized the only seasonings at home were salt and soy sauce.
With a thought, oyster sauce, chicken bouillon, thirteen-spice, pepper, and more appeared neatly arranged on the cutting board.
Guo Youning marveled again at how wonderful it was to have a space—whatever she needed appeared right before her eyes with just a thought!
But she had to be careful not to let anyone see her using it. If her secret were exposed, she’d surely be taken for a monster and hauled away.
After preparing the pork and scallion filling, the water on the coal stove had boiled. She poured the prepared cornmeal mixture into the pot, added a pinch of baking soda, and quickly stirred it into a thick paste.
She closed the air vent cover, leaving only three small holes, and let it simmer over low heat for five minutes. The cornmeal porridge was done.
She removed the finished porridge, adjusted the air vent to half a hole, placed a kettle on the stove, and got ready to make the buns.
Spotting the chives in the corner, Guo Youning thought that just one type of filling—pork and scallion—would be too plain. Why not make a chive and egg filling too?
No sooner said than done. With a series of cracks, ten eggs were beaten into a bowl. After whisking them, she opened the air vent cover, placed a wok on high heat, and started scrambling the eggs.
Checking the oil jar, she found there wasn’t much left. Each person had a monthly ration of only three ounces of oil, but thanks to her mother’s frugality, there was still some left by the end of the month.
By Guo Youning’s cooking standards, even pouring all the remaining oil into the wok wouldn’t be enough for scrambling the eggs.
With another thought, a 5-liter bottle of rapeseed oil appeared beside the cutting board. She poured a little into the oil jar, added a generous amount to the heated wok, and then returned the bottle to her space.
Sigh. How frustrating not to be able to openly share such good things with her family.
She poured the large bowl of beaten eggs into the sizzling oil, and the aroma instantly filled the air. Some neighbors who got off work early passed by her house, captivated by the enticing smell.
After a few turns in the wok, the eggs were cooked. She broke them into pieces with a spatula, set them aside to drain, chopped the washed chives, and mixed them with the scrambled eggs.
Adding salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil… the delicious chive and egg filling was ready.
She uncovered the dough her mother had fermented at noon and began making the buns.
Making dough-based dishes was her specialty, but to avoid drawing suspicion, she had to hold back and use the original owner’s method, which was far less aesthetically pleasing than her own.
Soon, two steamers of thin-skinned, generously filled buns were ready. She opened the air vent, placed the steamers on the stove, and started steaming.
Not long after, the smashed cucumber salad was also finished.
Just then, the door at home creaked open. Guo Youning hastily stored the seasonings that shouldn't be seen back into her space. After scanning the room to ensure nothing was amiss, she opened the door to find her mother returning home.
As soon as her mother stepped inside, she was greeted by a rich, savory aroma. Seeing her second daughter's healthier complexion compared to noon, her work fatigue instantly melted away.
Closing the door behind her, she smiled and asked, "Ningning, you've cooked dinner! What delicious food smells so wonderful?"