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墨書 Inktalez
Endless rice fields stretched out before them, the gentle breeze rolling over the green waves like springtime ripples reaching the sky. Hardworking villagers moved between the blue sky and green waves when suddenly, a pure white egret broke through the distant mist and flew in. This scene made Yezhi exclaim: what a vibrant and expansive ink wash painting! Ha~ha, she was also a part of the painting!
"Yezhi, what are you grinning about?" Aunt Ren Er called out to Yezhi, who had been staring at the rice fields for a long time and suddenly burst into laughter.
Yezhi tapped her head: what was she looking at? This beautiful view was not new to her; why couldn't she get enough of it?
"Aunt Ren Er, where's Village Uncle?"
Aunt Ren Er pointed towards the horse rack. Yezhi ran over to the horse rack where Village Uncle, Big Zhu, and Old Accountant were cooking for everyone. She peeked in to see they were stewing loach. Yezhi clasped her hands together: oh no! The loach in the field shouldn’t be wiped out because of her words!
When Village Uncle and the others saw Yezhi, they were surprised. What urgent matter made her rush over without attending class? This was a misunderstanding for Yezhi; she had finished her class and rode her folding bike here at lightning speed. It only took a few minutes from Zhoujiatun to the rice fields.
Village Uncle asked anxiously, "Yezhi, what's wrong?"
"Village Uncle, I want to contract a piece of forest."
Village Uncle was taken aback. Why would she suddenly want to contract a forest? Was Yezhi feeling emotional? He explained earnestly, "Yezhi, with the new 'Great Contracting' document issued by the Commune, we are distributing land to households. Considering your family has fewer laborers...?" It was clear that Village Uncle misunderstood; she wasn’t upset about not getting land.
When she learned that the spring breeze of "Great Contracting" had arrived, she couldn’t be happier. This was just another name for the household joint production responsibility system; otherwise, how could she dare to think about raising flying dragons? "Village Uncle, I want to raise flying dragons!" Yezhi directly expressed her thoughts to avoid any misunderstandings.
Village Uncle, Big Zhu, and Old Accountant were all shocked! This girl was too ambitious; flying dragons had legs and could fly!
Big Zhu awkwardly wiped his face and said, "This mountain forest hasn’t been said to be available for contracting?" Village Uncle remained deep in thought without speaking. Old Accountant smiled and said, "The forest land can’t be contracted, but we can contract barren hills!"
Yezhi thought: Old Accountant really dared to dream! Contracting barren hills to raise flying dragons would require planting trees first; who knows how many years it would take to fulfill her dream of eating them.
"Yezhi, if we raise them together, it counts as part of our village's collective farming industry. How about it?" Village Uncle truly looked out for the villagers' welfare. Yezhi thought for a moment; with more people working together, it wouldn’t be impossible. "Alright! Village Uncle, then we need to organize people to go up the mountain and catch flying dragons. We also need to enclose a piece of forest as a breeding ground." Yezhi began discussing enthusiastically with Village Uncle and the others... but they ultimately decided that after the flying dragons laid eggs in spring next year, they would start their big endeavor.
Riding her folding bike back home, Aunt Zhou had already prepared lunch for her. While drinking leftover Dragon Soup from last night and taking a bite of sorghum cake, Yezhi talked about raising flying dragons with Aunt Zhou. Aunt Zhou was particularly pleased upon hearing this; she felt that life was becoming more promising.
After lunch, Yezhi and Aunt Zhou worked together to pick ripe peaches. One Egg came in wearing a damp tank top and shorts, carrying two fish while leading Black Treasure, who was shiny-furred and round like a ball. Black Treasure enthusiastically pounced on Yezhi, almost causing her to fall flat on her face. Angrily turning around, she grabbed Black Treasure by its round ears and shouted, "Black Treasure, no pouncing on people!" Black Treasure blinked its little eyes in utter grievance; it hadn’t pounced on anyone—it just wanted to dive into "Mama Bear's" embrace and feel the warmth of family.
One Egg handed the fish over to Aunt Zhou. Aunt Zhou shot him a fierce glare and ordered him to stay for dinner that night. One Egg wore an eager expression that made both Aunt Zhou and Yezhi laugh.
Yezhi stuffed a fresh peach into Black Treasure's mouth and handed another to One Egg. While biting into his peach, One Egg shared his new discovery with Yezhi, "Sister Ye, Black Treasure is afraid of water!"
"Impossible!" Black Treasure, who loved bathing the most, would never be afraid of water.
"Really, Sister Ye! I was playing in the river with Dog and the others, and I pulled Black Treasure into the water. He was so scared that he started howling!" One Egg insisted earnestly.
"That's not possible; black bears are great swimmers and climbers!" Yezhi, who had watched many episodes of Animal World on children's television, found it absurd to think that a black bear could be afraid of water.
"Sister Ye, if you don't believe me, let's go to the river!" One Egg exclaimed, eager for Yezhi to witness Black Treasure's fearful reaction firsthand.
The three of them arrived at the riverbank under the bright sun. The shimmering river sparkled in the sunlight. Zhou Xiaomu, Dog, and Er Zhu were all completely naked like little black loaches, frolicking joyfully by the river!
Upon seeing Yezhi arrive, they all jumped into the water in fright. After all, Yezhi was their caretaker and respected teacher! Faced with so many bare-bottomed little ones, Yezhi felt a bit pressured and thought it would be nice to jump into the river.
One Egg stepped into the water enthusiastically and tried to pull Black Treasure in. Black Treasure, with his rear end sticking out in fear, retreated hesitantly. Yezhi widened her eyes in surprise; could it be that Black Treasure was really afraid of water? Or was he just scared of the flowing river?
After observing for a while, Yezhi made up her mind and signaled to One Egg to throw Black Treasure into the river. One Egg struggled to lift the resisting Black Treasure and tossed him into the deeper part of the river. Black Treasure let out a terrified scream as splashes erupted around him, his four chubby paws flailing wildly in panic.
Dog and Er Zhu couldn't bear to watch and swam over to Black Treasure. Yezhi kept her eyes on Black Treasure, who had not sunk yet, feeling hopeful. She instructed the kids not to get too close while Black Treasure splashed around for a long time. Zhou Xiaomu and One Egg cheered him on: "Black Treasure, you can do it!"
Finally, Black Treasure managed to paddle his way back to shore. He shook off droplets of water from his fur and glared at One Egg with an open mouth as if expressing his dissatisfaction. Yezhi approached and patted his round head. Finally finding some comfort, Black Treasure hugged Yezhi's thigh with his front paws and let out soft grunts.
"Black Treasure, here's a fresh peach for you!" One Egg offered a peach by Black Treasure's long snout. However, Black Treasure seemed to ignore it and turned his plump body away from One Egg. Feeling defeated, One Egg scratched his head; after all, it was Sister Ye who told him to throw it!
Yezhi hadn't expected that Black Treasure would act like a child—getting angry and refusing to play when upset. Watching One Egg's disappointment and Black Treasure's stubbornness brought her joy.
"Daughter, you can prepare the fish!" Aunt Zhou called out to Yezhi after steaming some corn cakes.
In a good mood, Yezhi decided to make fish balls that night. She took out a large pair of scissors and cut the fish in half before securing it on the cutting board. Then she used a kitchen knife to scrape off the fish paste. One Egg had entered the kitchen without her noticing and watched her curiously as she scraped the fish paste. She extended her tired arm and handed him the knife. One Egg imitated her scraping technique quickly mastering it—he scraped even finer and faster than Yezhi.
After scraping two fish, they filled a large bowl with fish paste. Yezhi added egg whites, salt, and minced ginger into the mixture before stirring it clockwise until it reached a sticky gelatinous state.
"Sister Ye, what is this?" One Egg asked curiously as he looked at the fish paste.
"Oh~ it's something delicious!" Yezhi teased without revealing too much. She poured dragon clear soup into a pot and squeezed out small round balls with her hands before gently placing them into the soup. As the soup boiled, plump white fish balls floated to the surface. One Egg found it fun and fascinating; he took a deep breath of its aroma and licked his lips in anticipation of how delicious it would surely be!
I added an egg to the bowl of leftover egg yolks from making Fish Balls, whisked it into an egg mixture, and fried a fragrant egg sauce. Then I washed the freshly picked lettuce leaves and dipped them in the sauce to eat.
When the dishes were placed on the kang table, One Egg was nearly drooling, his shiny black eyes almost glued to the table. Aunt Zhou called out to start eating, and One Egg rushed towards the plump Fish Balls. The slippery Fish Balls were uncooperative, swimming in the soup. Watching One Egg sweating profusely while trying to grab them, Yezhi burst into laughter, demonstrating by picking one up, blowing on it before popping it into her mouth. It was soft, fresh, tender, and delicious enough to make her squint happily. One Egg looked on enviously. At that moment, Aunt Zhou handed him a small spoon. He stuffed one into his mouth and yelped from the heat but couldn’t resist the temptation of the Fish Balls, gobbling them down one after another. Aunt Zhou also laughed as she tasted one, praising Yezhi's cooking skills. One Egg eagerly chimed in, "Sister Ye, your cooking is amazing!" Yezhi seemed oblivious to humility, proudly lifting her head and grinning widely. Black Treasure finished gnawing on a fresh peach from the bowl and sniffed at the aroma before crawling onto the kang. Dinner ended amidst Black Treasure's antics and the laughter of Aunt Zhou, One Egg, and Yezhi.
...
Perhaps having eaten too much, Yezhi lay on the kang unable to sleep. She logged in with her consciousness; Xiao Fang was still browsing in Cosmic Mall when he noticed his master’s arrival. He bounced over to Yezhi's side with a frown and said, "Master, Miss Dulisa still hasn't replied."
Yezhi nodded; it seemed she needed to go into town early to buy Fo-Ti. Just thinking about the terrifying, bumpy mountain roads and her aching backside made her hesitate. She really couldn’t delay any longer: "Xiao Fang, let’s go to town tomorrow!" After making up her mind, she lazily lay on the grass and stared blankly at the stars. Xiao Fang glanced at his master and felt something was off. "Master, what's wrong?"
"Xiao Fang, I was just thinking about whether it would be feasible for me to contract a barren hillside for afforestation!" For some time now, Yezhi had been contemplating her career: should she continue as a village teacher for life? Or start a company selling Zhoujiatun agricultural products? Or perhaps enter politics as a village official in Zhoujiatun? Various thoughts swirled in her mind, but none were as concrete as raising flying dragons. Village Uncle said everyone should work together; now she found herself pondering her own career again!
"Master, planting trees is a good thing; Xiao Fang supports you!" After saying this, Xiao Fang opened the Cosmic Mall website and quickly navigated to the tree species page. Before Yezhi could fully see it, Xiao Fang pointed at a floating large tree.
Yezhi stood under a tall pine tree surrounded by a faint pine scent. She touched the trunk of the pine tree; it vanished and transformed into a small sapling breaking through the soil before slowly growing into a towering tree.
"Master, this is an economic tree species unique to Cabrera Planet called Tingli Pine," Xiao Fang explained. "Its advantages are fast growth; it can form a forest in three years and become a towering tree in five years. The downside is that it only grows quickly on Cabrera Planet, but I think you could buy some to try on Earth." Previously, Xiao Fang had mentioned that Cabrera Star had many similarities with Earth. Yezhi decided to buy a pound at 10,000 Bodeton; she could afford that.
Returning to the tree species page, Xiao Fang clicked on a curvy green willow. Yezhi found herself standing under a 30-meter-high tree with long Willow Sticks swaying gently in the wind. After spending a minute watching its growth process, Xiao Fang introduced this green willow as Curly Willow from Paradise Star: "Curly Willow grows quickly; it can grow 5 meters in a year with tough wood and beautiful grain." Xiao Fang stated that Earth's growing environment was completely suitable for it. Yezhi instructed Xiao Fang to spend 100,000 Bodeton to buy 5 pounds of seeds.
After closing the Cosmic Mall website, Yezhi praised Xiao Fang repeatedly for becoming more reliable and capable...! Two rosy clouds lingered on Xiao Fang's cheeks as joyful colorful bubbles danced above his square head.
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