Chapter 22
Soybean Vine
Little Ah Yu knew that if she directly entered that huge place, she would faint. Therefore, she ran out happily and found a place that stored junk. She sat there and saw that everyone was busy, so she entered the spatial pocket.
“Elf, you’re looking for me?” Little Ah Yu saw the white ball floating in the air and pounced over happily.
Meatball did not escape. She held it in her arms and scratched its head with her five little fingers for a long time.
[Stop rubbing!]
[Look at the beans you brought.]
Ah Yu saw the bean sprouts growing on the spatial soil.
The bean sprouts clearly did not look like they had only been planted for two days. They were already half the length of Ah Yu’s arm.
Although the soybeans were called bean sprouts, they had actually grown more than ten leaves. If one looked carefully, they would notice that these leaves were growing at an observable speed.
“Wow, it’s vegetables!” Little Ah Yu had not seen vegetables for a long time.
In winter, Hu Family Village had already become a world of black, white, and gray. Even the evergreen pine and cypress trees were covered in thick snow, and there was no sign of green at all.
[It’s a bean sprout. It can’t be eaten.]
If Ah Yu had come in earlier yesterday, she would have been able to harvest a bunch of soybean sprouts. However, after a day and a night, she had long missed that stage.
The spatial soil was very nutritious and contained healthy radiation that could promote the growth of plants. It could easily change the growth habits of ordinary plants and allow them to grow quickly.
They were usually used to nurture special crops.
In the end, this brat accidentally planted low-grade soybeans on them.
[Move them away. Don’t plant them here.]
However, Little Ah Yu had already figured out Meatball’s personality. She could listen to what it said or not. In any case, Meatball was just talking.
Little Ah Yu had heard from her mother that the soil outside had frozen and there was no way to grow more vegetables.
Without soil, they could not grow food, and everyone would starve.
“No I can’t move it away, I’ll plant it here,” Little Ah Yu insisted. “Ah Yu knows how to grow vegetables.”
She still remembered that planting vegetables was very simple. As long as she separated the vegetable sprouts, they would grow flowers and produce more sprouts. Then, she would plant the sprouts and more vegetables would grow.
Someone had taught her.
Meatball could only watch as Little Ah Yu busied around and separated the soybean sprouts.
The old woman had given her a total of 30 beans, and 20 or so had sprouted. They were lush and green.
Little Ah Yu did not find it troublesome. She planted them one by one and even stepped on them with her little feet.
After planting it, Little Ah Yu went to look at the Myriad Spirit Water.
When the vegetables were planted, they had to be watered. She knew that.
[Don’t, don’t, don’t! Go outside and get some snow. Snow water is fine too!] In any case, these plants would not die no matter how she raised them in the spatial pocket.
However, if it was nurtured with Myriad Spirit Water, it would probably sprout with soybeans tonight. It had finally saved up a bowl, and it did not want Ah Yu to waste any more.
Little Ah Yu returned to her body and walked around. She felt that the snow was too cold. What if the vegetable baby froze?
Therefore, she went to the kitchen and saw the water in the water tank. She asked the auntie who was cooking, “Auntie Hua, can I have a little water?”
She bunched her two small hands together and compared them to the size of a bowl. “Just this much.”
When the woman who was cooking heard her call out her surname, she felt her heart warm up. She immediately scooped a large ladle of water for her and asked, “Are you thirsty? Aunt has boiled water here. Drink that hot water to prevent your stomach from hurting.”
“It’s not me. It’s for the vegetable baby.” Little Ah Yu picked up the ladle and walked carefully. After two steps, she turned back and said, “I’ll return this to you later.”
The auntie did not care about the vegetable baby she mentioned at all. She thought that it was a child with the surname Cai.
On second thought, there didn’t seem to be anyone with the surname Cai in the village.
Could it be that she was going to water some vegetables?
She immediately shook her head. Where could she grow vegetables?
When no one was paying attention, Little Ah Yu poured the water in the ladle into the soil of the s.p.a.ce and let every bean sprout drink the water.
As she watered them, she muttered, “Little vegetables, grow up quickly. Don’t give birth to bugs or turn yellow. Drink until you’re full and grow taller…”
She remembered this nursery rhyme in her mind and hummed it happily.
Looking at the lush little bean sprouts, Ah Yu placed her hands on her hips and felt exceptionally happy.
Wow, they must be very beautiful and delicious when they grow up!
Meatball covered its eyes with its two wings.
[What a sin!] If the Myriad Spirit Soil could speak, it would definitely cry.
Ah Yu naturally did not know about this. She took the ladle back and returned it. When a few children from the village came to call her, she followed them.
She had many playmates now!
Doctor Hu’s body recovered completely after three days of rest, and he expressed that he would no longer pursue the matter with Shanyang Village.
After Zhang Zhan, who they had saved, helped them scare away the people from Shanyang Village, he also offered to leave the next day. Before he left, he even said, “Everyone, don’t panic. After a few days, the Imperial Court will send someone over.”
At that time, the villagers did not believe it. If the Imperial Court wanted to send someone, they would probably have sent someone long ago. Otherwise, everyone would not have ended up in such a desperate situation!
When spring arrived, they would have to pay the spring tax again. It was unknown what the situation would be like then.
Instead of waiting for the Imperial Court to help them, they might as well think of a way to survive.
In the blink of an eye, it was the tenth day of the first month. It was a sunny day for three consecutive days, and the snow in the village was already melting at an extremely fast speed.
When the snow melted, it formed streams. Village Chief Hu led everyone to lead the streams into the various ca.n.a.ls and let the water flow away.
Otherwise, when the water acc.u.mulated, it would probably become another disaster.
The houses of the various families also began to be cleaned up one after another. More than half of the houses were damaged, and some were even completely crushed.
The young men in the village went to the mountain to cut wood. Those who knew stonemasonry went to the other side to mine and build the houses.
Most people did not have the ability to build a house, so they went to the bamboo forest to cut bamboo and make large bamboo pillars. They stuck the thick bamboo into the foundation, erected the bamboo pillar, tied it to the bamboo pole, and smeared a layer of yellow mud on it. The two bamboo pillars stood side by side, and the yellow mud in the middle also became a thick wall to block the wind.
When the wall was done and the top was covered with straw, the house would be completed.
However, such houses could only stand for a few years. When it snowed heavily, they could easily collapse.
A few houses in Old man w.a.n.g’s property were built like this. Fortunately, they were not crushed when the snow fell.
However, the people had no other choice. They did not have that much money and could only endure until the days were better and build the houses with slightly better materials.
When they were building the houses, all the families were busy, so no one took care of the children. Little Ah Yu also became the target of protection for her brothers.
By the 10th day of the new year, the soybean seedlings in Little Ah Yu’s s.p.a.ce had completely grown into soybean vines. Strings of soybean sprouts hung on the vines like ta.s.sels.
Ah Yu did not know how to count and could not count how many there were. However, she still followed Meatball’s instructions and dug out more than 20 soybean vines and planted them beside Old man w.a.n.g’s house.
She only left one stalk in the spatial pocket. When it completely turned yellow, she would peel the soybeans to get the seeds.
“Ah Yu, are you going to water the gra.s.s again?” w.a.n.g Wulang had a piece of gra.s.s in his mouth and blew a clear tune. He called out to Little Ah Yu from afar and instructed, “Don’t go too far.”
After the snow melted, the gra.s.s hiding in the snow rushed out.
Her brothers had been a.s.signed a mission to pluck all the gra.s.s on the 30 acres of land at home and take care of Little Ah Yu.
Ah Yu was holding a small kettle. It was specially carved for her by Old man w.a.n.g. It was just right for her to hold.
The lamb also followed at her feet, hopping around and pulling out a few black beans from time to time.
“Fifth Brother, Ah Yu’s beans have grown out!” Ah Yu finally moved the soybean vines out and could not wait to pull w.a.n.g Wulang over to take a look.
w.a.n.g Wulang found it funny and thought that it must be some small gra.s.s growing seeds.
Or the lamb had pulled up some gra.s.s again.
When he was pulled to the side of the house by Little Ah Yu, he saw a row of very strong soybean vines and dense bean pods.
The gra.s.s in his mouth fell off in fright.