She Only Cares About Cultivation

She had a radio in her space, but there was no electricity at home, nor did she buy batteries, so it was of no use. She couldn’t hear any relevant information; she didn’t know the pace of her country’s development. All she could do was carry a basket, pick vegetables, sit in a cool corner of the yard, and together with her dog, select the vegetables, occasionally looking up at the cloudless blue sky, taking a deep breath to appreciate the beauty of life.

The well water drawn in summer was particularly cool, especially favored for washing vegetables, but as she washed, she thought about some legends related to wells.

It seemed that in the old society, many women chose wells as the place to commit suicide. The well in their area was quite close to the river...

Yishui smacked her lips and sighed. Never mind, cleanliness is not always effective against sickness. During the Japanese invasion, wasn’t there enough blood in this well?

She disliked it? Well, her family had always used well water for washing, only the water she drank came from her space.

Apparently, the water from her space wasn’t always readily available; the system had to show the watering mark before she could use it. Taking advantage of such times, she’d fill her big water tank in the space. Every time there was a time limit; she couldn’t just stop using water because of that, could she?

It was all psychological; in principle, the water was always in use, with so much soil for purification, she couldn’t afford to be picky.

Understanding this point, it was no longer a big deal. She cleaned the vegetables, dissolved yeast into water, and kneaded a basin of mixed grain noodles with sorghum, corn, buckwheat, and other ingredients. She mixed in boiled sweet potato leaves. When Noon came and the dough rose, she’d make a pot of steamed cornbread. She’d steam one tray, which could basically be eaten up in a day. If those two girls came over, they might finish it in one meal, since the dough wasn’t much.

She had tomatoes and eggplants, stir-fried some vegetables later, pickled two cloves of garlic and cucumbers, and brewed a pot of sorghum corn soup. It was absolutely the treatment of an upper-class family.

Cucumbers paired with fresh chili from the yard, marinated in advance, for better flavor.

After finishing all this, she returned to her room, removed the seeds from the cotton, and with the loom in her space, planned to weave some handmade bedsheets and duvet covers with the cotton. The loom was also picked up by her, since the family had perished. She stored the loom in her space, as a form of respect and inheritance to traditional crafts, which was better than letting them get burnt in a fire.

She had a seized pocket watch and a clock, but she couldn’t openly display them, could only secretly check the time.

It was about eleven at Noon, the dough she prepared in the morning had risen with big bubbles, she took all the cotton into her space, and after purifying the water, started to knead and steam the cornbread.

Just after steaming the cornbread, the sisters returned, looking gray and dirty, with disheveled hair and torn clothes, visibly worn out after a tough battle. Just the scratches on their faces made her gasp with horror.

"Are you alright?"

Their face expressions were evidently bad, their eyes red and swollen, having evidently been through a fight, looking somewhat pitiful.

They sat down without a word, took out several sheets of manuscript-like papers, she took them over and upon seeing them, she sighed with relief.

The matter was settled, they were certainly expelled with clean slate, nothing was divided to them, judging by the situation, it looked like not even clothes or blankets were taken out, with scratches all over their faces and bodies, alas, was this tearing down all semblance of civility?

"The village chief said, in a few days he’ll arrange our registrations, the house can be temporarily occupied since it’s not a house belonging to the village. If relatives come in the future, payment could be discussed. Anyway, the house is dilapidated and needs major repairs."

The house, after experiencing war times and being empty for so many years, without any human presence, deteriorates quickly, even if they don’t live there, it’s bound to collapse someday.

The chief’s words essentially allowed them free accommodation, no different from a provision. If there were relatives coming, they would have done so long ago, not waited until now.

Yishui sighed, fetched water for them to wash their faces.

"Since it has come to this point, don’t think too much about it. Fortunately, other matters are progressing smoothly. Where will your registrations be placed, in those old houses?"

Both nodded simultaneously, "The village chief said we can choose freely. If we live together, the registration is together; if separate, then divided."

There were about seven or eight houses like that in the village. Thinking about the fate of those seven or eight houses brought a wave of sighs and sadness in her heart.