CHAPTER 110: CHAPTER 110: LOTUS FLOWERS ON THE MOUNTAIN

On the other side, Little Mi happily followed her dad up the mountain. It wasn’t yet You Time, and the sun was still strong, but that didn’t dampen Little Mi’s enthusiasm at all.

"Dad, I remember there’s a small pond on the mountain. Let’s go check it out."

Little Mi encouraged. Although she usually liked to run around the hillside behind the house with Little Hei and Little Mi, she didn’t dare enter the forest for fear of getting lost.

The last time they went up the mountain was in early spring, around February or March. Her dad was planning to check out the mountain, and she insisted on going with him.

While she was pondering that the time was almost right and worried about how to get to the mountain, her dad unexpectedly asked her to go up the mountain with him.

Jiang Hu didn’t suspect anything. When they reached a large stone step, he lifted Little Mi up: "There? The pond is quite far. What are we going there for?"

"Let’s go, let’s go. There are little crabs there, they’re fun to play with." Whether or not there were crabs didn’t matter; she had other things to do anyway.

Jiang Hu couldn’t resist Little Mi’s pleading and, since there wasn’t anything important to do, he nodded repeatedly: "Alright, we’ll go to the pond first, and when we come back, we’ll cut some bamboo, okay?"

Little Mi beamed instantly: "Okay, thank you, Dad."

Jiang Hu shook his head helplessly. His Little Mi was obedient and polite; who could bear to refuse her requests, especially since they weren’t unreasonable?

"Woof woof!" Little Hei ran ahead of them, chased away a dove, and didn’t forget to urge his two owners to hurry up.

Little Mi looked up just in time to see Little Mi on Little Hei’s back suddenly jump up, and as it landed, it caught a passing sparrow under its paw.

Little Mi was already used to it, as long as it didn’t bring the things it caught to her.

"Little Mi is amazing. It can even catch birds to eat." Jiang Hu also saw it and was truly impressed.

Little Mi pouted secretly. Catching birds was nothing. In the space, this guy even went into the river to catch fish.

Little Hei and Little Mi couldn’t speak, which was good. When she had time, she would take them to the space, which was large enough for them to run around as they pleased.

After a year’s development, Little Mi’s fish pond, chicken coop, rabbit hutch, and so on, were doing quite well. The manure that was cleaned out became fertilizer for crops after fermentation.

Fu’an Village was surrounded by a large mountain range, with some villages situated in the flat areas of the mountains. The pond Little Mi mentioned was on the backside of the mountain behind their house.

Despite her small size, Little Mi had plenty of energy. She didn’t get tired at all and even kept urging her dad to walk faster.

"Don’t rush, there’s still plenty of time." Jiang Hu swung aside a bramble branch that nearly hit his eyes, and Little Mi simply crawled under it, completely unbothered by such things.

"Little Mi likes crabs so much. Dad will go to the river and catch some for you. Crabs can be eaten too, though there’s not much meat, but they’re very delicious."

No matter the animal, its value depended on whether it could be eaten and how much meat it had.

Little Mi’s eyes lit up: "Really, can it be eaten? Then can we catch some to take back today?"

If they could eat it, didn’t that mean they could raise them?

Unfortunately, in her space, she only had sea crabs, and they were frozen, not fresh. If it weren’t for the unique time-stopping protection of the space, they probably wouldn’t be edible anymore.

Jiang Hu nodded: "Of course. Look, we’re almost there. We’ll catch a few and have your mom make soup for you."

Crabs could be used to make soup? Little Mi was surprised and became more interested, almost forgetting her real business.

Fortunately, when they reached the pond and she saw the big flowers, Little Mi finally remembered she had other things to do.

"What beautiful flowers." Little Mi feigned surprise.

Jiang Hu looked puzzled: "Where did these flowers come from? There weren’t any last year."

The pond wasn’t far, and he passed by it almost every time he went into the mountains. He hadn’t seen these flowers in the past two years.

They were even bigger than soup bowls and pink.

Of course, she had planted them this spring. Little Mi replied in her mind and scampered over.

"Such beautiful flowers, such large leaves." She said as she reached out to touch them. These large leaves grew right by the pond, close at hand.

Jiang Hu stepped in and, upon seeing the leaves, realized: "Aren’t these lotus leaves? Could this be a lotus flower?"

During summer meat purchases, some butchers would use lotus leaves to wrap the meat.

However, he had never seen a lotus flower before.

"Lotus flower?" Little Mi feigned delight, turning her head to look at Jiang Hu expectantly: "Is this the one Uncle Zhang told us about that can be used for cooking, making soup, and brewing tea?"

Jiang Hu nodded: "That’s right. The rhizomes can be made into soup and cooked; the lotus leaves can make tea; the lotus seeds can also be eaten."

He lifted the lotus leaves eagerly to look at the roots underneath.

The pond water was clear, with only shallow silt below. Visible to the naked eye, tender white lotus rhizomes poked out from the silt.

Jiang Hu was delighted: "There’s actually lotus root, but it’s not ripe yet. Little Mi, today Dad will catch crabs for you, and tomorrow Dad will ask Uncle Zhang when the lotus roots mature."

Little Mi nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, catch crabs."

Her goal was achieved, so she didn’t concern herself with the rest.

As for the lotus roots, back in the spring when she came to the mountain with her dad, Little Mi secretly planted a few seeds. The seeds had been soaked in Spiritual Spring water for half a month until tiny sprouts grew, and then she put them into the pond.

Little Mi had been to town several times over the past two years, and through observation, there didn’t seem to be much lotus cultivation around here, making lotus roots expensive and mostly available only in restaurants.

So, she had the idea. Although ordinary home-cooked dishes could make money, they were quite cumbersome, requiring daily work in the fields.

If she could grow more lotus roots, plant an acre or two, they wouldn’t require daily care. Then, during harvest, she could sell them all at once. That would be more convenient, right?

Moreover, the lotus seeds were initially grown in her space, and the harvested lotus seeds, when she planted more with a bit of Spiritual Spring water, the price would be even higher!

But she dared not reveal these little thoughts, for fear her actions and ideas were too astonishing and would scare her parents.

Jiang Hu had already rolled up his pants and got into the pond to start turning over rocks: "Little Mi, tomorrow we’ll go to the river and catch more fish to raise in the paddy fields. Fish farming in the rice fields makes the rice grow better."

Little Mi took off her shoes and slowly stepped into the pond, clapping her hands in agreement with her dad’s words: "Fish farming is great; Little Mi loves eating fish."

"Meow~" Assuming her small owner was calling her, Little Mi jumped down from a nearby tree.

Little Mi gave her a couple of strokes and pointed at the pond: "Little Mi, there are fish in the pond too, want to catch some yourself?"

Little Mi glanced at the pond, turned her head, and walked away, with no intention of entering the water. Instead, Little Hei ran over, snorting, and drank some water.

Jiang Hu chuckled: "Cats hate water. How could they possibly catch fish themselves?"

Little Mi was speechless. In the space, Little Mi loved playing in the fish pond.

However, she clearly forgot that in the space, it was Spiritual Spring water. Bathing in Spiritual Spring water was different from the mountain water.