Fish cooks very quickly, and soon a fragrant aroma wafted out.
Looking at the silver carp whose skin was slowly turning golden and crispy in her hands, Shen Xiaoyan felt her stomach rumbling incessantly.
She glanced at Shen Xiaoming, who looked like he was about to drool. Shen Xiaoyan stifled a laugh and then looked at Zheng Wei.
Her wish to see Zheng Wei embarrassed was not fulfilled. He sat there with a blank expression, his gaze passing over her, as if looking at something else.
Shen Xiaoyan raised an eyebrow and continued to flip the grilled fish in her hands.
Five fish couldn't be grilled all at once. Shen Xiaoyan only managed to grill two at a time.
She handed the two cooked fish to Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoming, and then picked up another fish to grill.
Shen Xiaoming and Zheng Wei didn't stand on ceremony with Shen Xiaoyan; they started eating.
The meat was truly fragrant and whetted their appetites. Despite Zheng Wei's stoic demeanor, he actually thought Shen Xiaoyan's skill in grilling fish was excellent.
After grilling the remaining fish, Shen Xiaoyan threaded the scallion pancakes she had brought onto a branch and grilled them over the fire.
The three of them ate until they were full and sat there, unwilling to move.
After a while, Zheng Wei spoke. "Let's slowly head back. We might even be able to catch some pheasants or rabbits."
Shen Xiaoyan nodded in agreement. She was also thinking about her milk fruit and wanted to get home quickly to plant it.
Zheng Wei stood up first, slung the basket containing the milk fruit vines over his back, and walked out.
Although he knew Shen Xiaoyan had great strength and this weight was nothing to her, he didn't want her to be tired.
Shen Xiaoyan watched Zheng Wei's retreating figure, a smile flashing in her eyes. She slung the other two baskets onto Shen Xiaoming's back and followed.
Luo Luo and Bai Bai had already run off while they were eating, and she didn't know what they were doing. However, Shen Xiaoyan wasn't worried. With Luo Luo's abilities, it was unlikely anything could harm it.
On the way back, Shen Xiaoyan discovered many mushrooms in the mountains, which delighted her.
It made sense, though. It had only been a few days since it rained, the perfect time for mushrooms to grow. Moreover, since few people came to these mountains, mushrooms were everywhere.
Shen Xiaoyan told Shen Xiaoming which mushrooms were edible, and the siblings picked them as they walked. Before they even left the mountain, their baskets were full.
Looking at the two full baskets of mushrooms, Shen Xiaoyan couldn't stop smiling.
Not only were mushrooms delicious, but they could also be sold for money.
They couldn't go up the mountain again today. Tomorrow, she would definitely come back to collect all these mushrooms, dry them, and take them to town to sell.
Thinking this, they unknowingly walked all the way home.
After awakening her superpower, Shen Xiaoyan's physical condition was excellent. Despite walking for a whole day, she didn't feel tired at all.
But Shen Xiaoming was different. He was just a child, and today's labor had been quite strenuous. His face was flushed, and his back was soaked with sweat.
Shen Xiaoyan affectionately took the basket off Shen Xiaoming's back, telling him to go inside and rest quickly. She, however, took the milk fruit and walked to the remaining empty space in the yard.
Shen Xiaoyan scanned the empty space and suddenly remembered that planting milk fruit required building a trellis.
With that thought, she put down the basket and went back into the house to get an axe before coming out.
Zheng Wei saw Shen Xiaoyan holding an axe and was a bit confused. "What are you going to do?"
"Oh. I'm going to chop down some trees to build a trellis," Shen Xiaoyan replied.
Zheng Wei paused and then walked out with Shen Xiaoyan.
Not long after, they both returned together.
Shen Xiaoming, who was sitting in the yard, saw Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei return together, with several arm-thick tree trunks tucked under their arms. His eyes widened.
The sister and brother-in-law are so strong, Shen Xiaoming thought, looking at the two of them.
They dragged the trees to the empty space and cleared the branches off with a knife.
Shen Xiaoyan set one tree trunk upright, raised her arm high, making the tree higher than the ground, and with a strong push, the trunk sank into the earth, standing firmly.
Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoming were astonished by Shen Xiaoyan's actions.
Zheng Wei looked at Shen Xiaoyan, his eyes deepening. Shen Xiaoyan had changed so much.
Shen Xiaoyan followed suit and soon had all the tree trunks inserted into the ground.
Once the main supports were in place, she used thinner branches to build a frame on top and tied them with rope, completing the trellis.
Shen Xiaoyan planted the milk fruit at the base of one of the tree trunks and wound the long vine around the trunk.
She then cut several sections from the long vine and planted each one at the base of the trellis.
Finally, she secretly mixed some immortal spring water into the well water and watered the seedlings before finishing.
Shen Xiaoming and Zheng Wei were not idle either. Zheng Wei found a large sieve they had bought before and spread the collected mushrooms on it to dry, waiting for the sun to fully dry them tomorrow.
For dinner, Shen Xiaoyan made mushroom soup. After they finished eating, the three of them went to bed early.
The next morning, after breakfast, Shen Xiaoyan took Shen Xiaoming and Zheng Wei into the mountains. This time, however, they didn't wander aimlessly but directly collected mushrooms and returned.
They continued to gather mushrooms for three or four days until all the mushrooms they could find in the mountains were picked.
Although Shen Xiaoyan knew there would be more in the deeper parts of the mountains, she didn't plan to go further in.
After all, it wasn't necessary. At this season, these mushrooms weren't worth much.
Since they had picked so many mushrooms, they needed to dry them quickly. However, they had too many for the sieves at home. Shen Xiaoyan simply found a few bamboo mats, laid them out in the yard, and spread the mushrooms on them.
The weather grew warmer day by day, and the sun became more intense. In seven or eight days, all the mushrooms were dried.
As they weren't short of money at the moment, Shen Xiaoyan didn't rush to sell the mushrooms in town. Instead, she packed them into bags and hung them from the beams to store.
Half a month later, the yard had undergone a great transformation. All sorts of vegetables were growing well. Although some, like tomatoes and green beans, hadn't flowered yet, vegetables like bok choy and baby cabbage were ready to eat.
As for the watermelons and red berries, the watermelon vines had already grown a foot long and were thriving.
The red berry bushes had bloomed with white flowers, which was because Shen Xiaoyan dripped a few drops of immortal spring water into the water each time she watered them.
Seeing the expanse of white flowers, Shen Xiaoming asked Shen Xiaoyan, "Sister, the red berries have flowered. Should they be bearing fruit soon?"
Shen Xiaoyan smiled and nodded. "They should be. Perhaps in about half a month, we'll be able to eat red berries."
Zheng Wei was not a person who could stay idle at home. Every other day, he would go into the mountains to hunt. If Shen Xiaoyan hadn't stopped him, he would have wanted to go every day.
Shen Xiaoyan's gaze finally fell on the trellis covered with long vines, almost completely hidden by the lush green growth.
However, there were very few milk fruits. The original plant hadn't grown much, and she had cut it into sections to plant on the ground. Now that they had finally grown well, they hadn't flowered yet.
To avoid arousing Zheng Wei's suspicion, Shen Xiaoyan didn't use the immortal spring water to water them.
But it didn't matter. In about half a month, the first batch of red berries would ripen, and then she would have money.
Just as Shen Xiaoyan was beaming with joy while looking at the red berries, she heard the sound of bells.