Chapter 106: Hotpot and Plan

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

After the incident, Jiang Xia told Zhou Lan that she could let her father and Xiao Gu pick up the seeds together. She had the interspace and the ability to protect herself, so she didn’t have to worry.

Despite her continued doubts about the interspace, it was undeniably a perfect cheating tool for Jiang Xia. She couldn’t avoid using it. After planting the seeds, she planned to spend more time exploring other areas of the interspace.

However, her explorations revealed just how vast the interspace truly was. Beyond the expansive grassland, there was nothing but grass and rivers.

As for living creatures, apart from her and a chicken and a rabbit she had found, there were none others.

While in her interspace, she could faintly hear conversations from the outside, so when she heard them return home, she could promptly appear.

“Xiao Xia, have you discovered any new crops to plant recently?” The family was gathered around a hot pot, and Jiang Chuan was the first to ask.

This was Jiang Xia’s first time eating hotpot since she came here, mainly because chili peppers had grown in her field. Her mother, Zhou Lan, decided on a whim that they would have hot pot that day.

Due to limited ingredients, and their stock of condiments running low, the hot pot base was made simple. Clear water, spring onions, ginger, garlic, minced chili peppers, chicken essence, a bit of salt and sugar – a simple hot pot base was made.

Normally, hot pot would include pork, beef or mutton, but they didn’t have these luxuries. So Zhou Lan prepared some chicken on the side. There wasn’t much meat, but there were plenty of vegetables and mushrooms. Paired with her mother’s special dipping sauce, it was absolutely delicious

Jiang Xia watched eagerly as her mother handed the first bowl of dipping sauce to Jiang Gu.

“Here, Xiao Gu, have a taste of your mom’s cooking,” Zhou Lan said with a smile.

Jiang Gu took the dipping sauce but didn’t make a move. It was only when she saw Jiang Xia pick up a piece of meat and swish it in the pot that she started to mimic her actions.

At first, she needed Jiang Xia’s help, but she quickly got the hang of it and began grabbing vegetables and meat like a pro.

Jiang Xia, seizing a free moment, teased Jiang Gu, “Slow down, careful it’s hot. No one is going to steal your food.”

Jiang Gu ignored Jiang Xia and just kept praising Zhou Lan, “Mom, this is so delicious.”

Eating hot pot in summer, with steam rising from the pot and hitting their face, the moment the cooked meat enters their mouth, sweat begins to trickle down their forehead. The aroma of the meat and the flavor of the dipping sauce make it hard to stop eating.

Jiang Chuan, with a smile, picked up a piece of meat for Jiang Gu, then continued speaking to Jiang Xia, “Speaking of Xiao Gu, look at you being so distracted that you forgot the question I asked you.”

Upon Jiang Chuan’s reminder, Jiang Xia recalled the question her father had asked her earlier.

After swallowing a crunchy piece of cabbage, Jiang Xia, tongue burning, answered, “There are plenty of crops, but I don’t know if they can survive.”

Her land had a special water source that could even revive dead plants, so her frame of reference was quite different.

“In our area, we should plant crops that can withstand the cold, like the cabbages and sweet potatoes that the villagers have been cultivating,” Jiang Chuan proposed, laying out what he knew. “Right now, they lack not just crops but also seeds and land. Based on the current situation, seeds are distributed according to the number of households in each village. To improve the villagers’ lives, we should find crops that yield high output and are suitable for this land.”

Jiang Xia slowly nodded as she chewed her food, deep in thought. She had seen plenty of crops that could be planted before winter, but the most significant obstacle now was the drought. Without water, even the fastest maturing crops couldn’t survive.

“Dad, I have seeds for crops like spinach, beans, and crown daisies, but with the current drought, I’m afraid we might not be able to do much,” she admitted.

At Jiang Xia’s words, Jiang Chuan fell silent. Indeed, they could help the villagers find seeds and identify which crops have a higher yield, but they could do nothing about the weather.

Noticing the somber mood, Zhou Lan hastily intervened, “Oh, come on! Just enjoy your meal, don’t think too much.”

“For now, let’s gather the seeds. We’ll test your seeds outside, and if they grow, we can distribute them to the villagers,” Jiang Chuan concluded.

Jiang Xia nodded her agreement, though she had other plans in mind to implement the next day..