By the time everything was tidied up, it was nearly dusk. The house finally looked presentable, at least reaching a livable standard.
Chen Xinghai returned from cutting grass and fed half of it to the ox.
Chen Xingyun and Chen Xingyue began preparing dinner. They stewed pork trotters and steamed a large pot of white rice. Xiao Ying instructed them to fry two additional side dishes with extra oil.
Meanwhile, she started purifying the crude salt.
Due to the large quantity and it being her first attempt, she only took three catties.
First, she prepared a clean basin, filled it halfway with Spiritual Spring Water, and dissolved the crude salt in it.
After complete dissolution, she brought another clean basin, covered it with a fine cloth, and began filtering.
The three siblings watched curiously, unsure of what she was doing but not daring to interrupt.
After filtration, the water became much clearer, leaving a layer of impurities on the cloth.
The final step was evaporation and crystallization. Without additional tools, this was as far as the purification could go.
After dinner and cleaning the pot, Xiao Ying began the evaporation process. When only a small bowl of water remained, snow-white, fine salt gradually crystallized out, causing the siblings to widen their eyes in amazement.
What kind of miraculous method was this?
“Mother, is this salt?” Chen Xingyun asked in astonishment, having never seen such pure, white salt before.
“Yes, salt processed this way tastes better and is cleaner,” Xiao Ying replied, tasting a pinch with her finger. Satisfied with her first attempt, she found the flavor quite good.
The siblings’ expressions grew even more amazed and delighted—their mother truly knew so much!
Unconsciously, Chen Xingyue also called her “mother” in her heart, finally willing to accept her as their real mother.
They stored the salt in two small jars: one for daily use, the other sealed to prevent moisture.
“Xinghai, come here,” Xiao Ying called while the sisters were heating water for baths.
“What is it, Mother?” Chen Xinghai now respected her wholeheartedly.
“I haven’t treated your foot today. Sit down,” Xiao Ying said.
Only then did Chen Xinghai remember and quickly sat beside her, blushing slightly.
“Should we wait until after I bathe?”
Xiao Ying smiled. “It’s fine. It’ll only take fifteen minutes.Placing her fingers on his foot as she had the previous day, she felt the injured area was slightly more unobstructed than before.
“Did you forget to brew the medicine the doctor wrapped for you today?”
“I did forget,” Chen Xinghai admitted sheepishly, mainly because the afternoon had been busy.
“Remember to brew it first thing tomorrow. If anyone asks, say it’s for your foot. Whether you drink it is up to you,” Xiao Ying instructed, though it was mostly for appearances.
“I’ll remember,” Chen Xinghai replied obediently.
Xiao Ying added, “I plan to visit the village chief tomorrow morning to buy a few acres of land, just in time for planting rice.”
Chen Xinghai’s eyes lit up, his breathing growing heavier.
No commoner would refuse land—it was their lifeline!
“Wonderful! I’ll take care of the farming once my foot heals.” He felt confident about cultivating the land well; they couldn’t rely entirely on their mother.
“Are you planning to plant the same rice we’ve been eating lately?” he asked.
He had noticed from the first taste that this rice was far superior to what they’d grown before—plump grains that likely promised higher yields.
Xiao Ying nodded approvingly. “That’s right, this type of rice yields over a thousand jin per mu. Even if planted in ordinary fields with slightly lower yields, it would still produce at least seven to eight hundred jin.”
This was her own estimation—it might even be higher.
Chen Xinghai’s eyes brightened further. He had never even heard of such high yields and couldn’t wait to start planting right away.
“The current problem is that we need help with plowing the fields. Xinghai, do you have anyone in mind?”
Xiao Ying couldn’t possibly plow herself—she had never done such work in three lifetimes and had no idea how to go about it.
Xinghai’s foot hadn’t healed yet, so naturally, he couldn’t do it either.
“Perhaps we could ask Uncle,” Chen Xinghai thought for a moment and said. “Uncle is very kind. He often helped us with farming back when we still had our land. But his family is busy transplanting rice seedlings lately, so I’m not sure if he has time.”
“Timing isn’t urgent. Waiting a couple more days is fine.” Xiao Ying nodded slightly. “If your uncle is willing to come, we’ll pay him twenty wen per mu.”
Chen Xinghai beamed with joy. “With payment, Uncle will definitely agree. I’ll go talk to him tomorrow.”
“Good.” Xiao Ying nodded, considering the matter settled.
After a quarter of an hour, the treatment was complete. Chen Xinghai felt somewhat relieved again and sincerely thanked his mother.
Seeing there was nothing else to attend to, Xiao Ying returned to her room and entered the Xianfu.
The two mu of Spiritual Fields inside the Xianfu still needed tending. She first set fire to the rice straw—this would serve as fertilizer and help prevent pests and diseases.
However, to plant again, the fields needed to be plowed.
Fortunately, there was a plowing Magical Artifact in the wooden house. It only required infusing spiritual power to operate automatically, making it much easier than relying on manual labor outside.
Seeing the rice straw burning fiercely, she went to dig up the potatoes. She had only harvested about one-tenth of a mu’s worth of potatoes, with plenty left. She planned to finish digging them all tonight.
She used the same plowing Magical Artifact for the potatoes, which worked very quickly. In less than two hours, everything was done.
Next, she only needed to gather the potatoes and move them into the wooden house.
So, she spent another two-plus hours moving the potatoes. Seeing the kitchen filled with potatoes and Spiritual Rice gave her a great sense of accomplishment.
There were over ten thousand jin of potatoes and an estimated thirteen to fourteen hundred jin of Spiritual Rice. She didn’t plan to sell the rice, but she needed to find a way to sell the potatoes.
After collecting the potatoes, there were still potato vines left. These weren’t easy to burn, so she decided to take them outside as fodder for the ox.
Thus, she spent quite some time gathering the potato vines, piling them up near the wooden house into a small hill.
Finally, when everything was done, she was utterly exhausted and covered in dust.
After resting for a while, she drew a bucket of Spiritual Spring Water to bathe, then changed the water before sitting in it to begin cultivating.
As spiritual power continuously flowed into her body, her fatigue gradually faded. After circulating it through several cycles, she felt increasingly refreshed and noticed the spiritual power vortex within her had grown stronger.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Xiao Ying gathered a large pile of potato vines and stacked them in the ox pen so Chen Xinghai wouldn’t have to cut grass.
However, the ox pen needed cleaning, or it would become very smelly.
Chen Xingyun was busy brewing medicine for Chen Xinghai. The scent of the medicine spread, inevitably drawing the attention of the neighbors.
The children, following her instructions, explained that it was for treating Chen Xinghai’s foot, sparking another round of discussion among the villagers.
Xiao Ying paid no mind to the chatter. After giving a few instructions, she went out.
She went to see the village head to buy land. With only over thirty taels of silver left, she wasn’t sure how many mu she could afford.
The village chief of Chenjia Village was Chen Jie, a man past forty who had studied for some years. Known for his fairness, integrity, and competence, he had been elected as the village chief.
Chen Jie held high prestige in Chenjia Village, and everyone trusted him, often seeking his help for major unresolved matters.
When Xiao Ying arrived at Chen Jie’s home, his sons and daughters-in-law had just left to transplant rice seedlings in the fields.
Chen Jie had two sons and one daughter, with two or three grandchildren already, making his family quite prosperous.
The family owned over ten mu of farmland, nearly all of which had been cultivated.
“Madam Xiao, what brings you here?”
Seeing Xiao Ying arrive, Chen Jie frowned almost imperceptibly, clearly holding no favorable impression of her.
This woman had sold off her land, property, and even her children—how could anyone think well of her?
“I’d like to buy a few mu of farmland. I wonder if there’s any available in the village?”
Xiao Ying paid no mind to his reaction and got straight to the point.
Chen Jie was taken aback. Had he heard correctly? She wasn’t selling land but buying it?
Recalling recent events—Xiao Ying hunting a wild boar and refusing to sell Chen Xingyun to Wang Ergou—he wondered if this woman had truly changed her ways.
But he didn’t dwell on it too much and said, “Yes, there is, but only four mu available. Two mu are superior farmland—the ones you previously sold—and the other two are inferior farmland. How much do you want?”