Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 724 - Chapter 724 716. Huanghao Paves the Beans Tonight at the Third

Chapter 724: 716. Huanghao Paves the Beans [Tonight at the Third Watch]_1 Chapter 724: 716. Huanghao Paves the Beans [Tonight at the Third Watch]_1 Both cousins were injured, and their blood relationship hung by a thread.

Fortunately, there was a large pile of Artemisia waiting to be taken care of in the pond. Song Tan soon showed her intimate cousin smile:

“Brother Yanping, you really did get tired today. Here’s what we’ll do, you and Brother Wu Lei just wash the Artemisia and spread it out to dry. Then you can rest.”

She deftly drew a big pie, filling it with a bit of pua stuffing: “There isn’t much work left. You’re not in the best health, so tomorrow you just take care of the online store…”

She gave Zhang Yanping a look, as if to say that the online store wasn’t doing much business anyway, which was the perfect excuse to laze about and rest…

Zhang Yanping’s exhausted brain, already foggy with lactic acid buildup, couldn’t think that this was his original job. Instead, he was moved to tears–

His cousin truly cared! She knew he wasn’t cut out for blue-collar work and had specifically arranged some time for him to rest!

Meanwhile, Wu Lei looked at the 500 yuan in his phone’s balance and he too breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though the holidays had only been a month, it felt like he had been poor for years!

Now, he could finally afford to top up his phone credit, fund his gaming habit, and give Lili… Well, he didn’t need to spend on Lili right now, so he could save it for online shopping.

After working for several months without any financial help from his parents, every paycheck went on purchases… Now, his clothes and shoes were practically unwashable.

He confidently opened Peach Treasure and initially wanted to pick up some discounted clothes from the familiar brand stores–this was something he learned from Lili, as she thought it looked more decent.

A discounted T-shirt in summer cost just a little over 100 yuan, which wasn’t expensive, and the quality was quite good. Previously, Wu Lei, who earned a monthly salary of over four thousand and supported two people, didn’t see anything wrong with this.

However, now, right before paying, he looked at his balance and silently exited the page.

Then he glanced at the T-shirt Zhang Yanping was wearing: “Where did you buy your clothes?”

Where did he buy them?

Zhang Yanping thought about it: he didn’t do much work, so his clothes lasted longer, not to mention he used to have so many at home.

But seeing Wu Lei’s T-shirt looking like a dried salted vegetable that had turned a grimy yellow, he immediately said enthusiastically:

“Buying clothes? Let me tell you, we men must wear clothes with a sense of quality! Those T-shirts with crooked seams and uneven cutting, you can’t wear those!”

Wu Lei agreed! But he wondered if they also required one or two hundred yuan for each piece…

At this moment, Zhang Yanping had already deftly opened several apps:

“These solid color T-shirts on Peach Treasure, 19-39 yuan, impeccable craftsmanship and quality, you can buy them with your eyes closed!”

Wu Lei: …

The most expensive one is only 39 yuan?

Zhang Yanping then showed him the second app: “See these pants? For work, jeans will do. These discounted ones are 59 yuan, sturdy, prevent mosquito bites and scratches from the field–and this ten-yuan piece of large underwear on sale, buy it!”

Wu Lei hesitated, “59 yuan…”

“Isn’t that a bit too cheap…”

Zhang Yanping’s eyes widened in an instant, “How is that cheap?”

“When we were in college, we all did group purchases, pigeonholing 7.9 yuan each! Buy ten and wear them a few times, and it’s no big deal if you throw them away–you can’t get your clothes much cleaner anyway, right? And besides, with two pairs of 59-yuan pants, you can afford to be lazy sometimes and wash them later without running out of something to wear.”

Well, that’s true!

Wu Lei looked at the Artemisia juice staining his clothes, feeling an intense excitement at this moment.

“And these shoes–flip-flops for 9.9, and these sneakers for 49 bucks, brand-name shoes at that, aren’t they great? Buy! Buy two pairs!”

At this moment, Wu Lei seemed to have opened the door to a new world.

Meanwhile, Xin Jun listened silently, only to ask sneakily in the evening, “The short sleeve on you, I remember it cost like two hundred a piece, didn’t it…?”

After all, Zhang Yanping was well-taken care of at home, never short on food or clothes, at most having to endure some nagging.

Zhang Yanping replied nonchalantly, “What do you know? This is called brotherhood! He only had 500 yuan in his pocket, spent 99 on a phone plan, 68 on games… This is definitely something my classmate used to wear often, there’s no mistake!”

Anyway, Wu Lei, he’s seen right through him–it’s like with a growing sapling, you have to prune it every now and then to keep it straight! Otherwise, it’ll grow all twisted and haphazard.

Wu Lei’s wage of 3000 a month, he definitely had his aunt save 2500 of that, with his character, you just can’t baby him!

But at this moment, Wu Lei didn’t know any of this. He just felt he had missed out on so much before, not having realized how good Zhang Yanping was at living life.

The two chatted as they soaked and rinsed the verdant Artemisia in the sink, making sure it didn’t retain any snails or bugs, and they threw away those old twigs…

After soaking for half an hour, they finally scooped it out.

The sun at five or six in the afternoon was still scorching, the temperature in the air hot enough to scald.

This Artemisia, casually bunched and hung on a rope, was quickly desiccated by the warm wind; in less than half an hour, not a drop of water was left on them.

Seventh Uncle came over to take a look, then called out to Song Tan, “Tantan, wipe that jar clean.”

Song Tan lifted the lid of the crock at the corner of the wall–just cleaned and dried yesterday, it was still spotless today.

Only then did Seventh Uncle give an order, “Come on, lay out the Artemisia and cover the beans.”

The slightly wilted Artemisia, steamed by the hot air, was neatly arranged, a thick green layer first spread at the bottom of the jar.

Then, the dry beans that had been sunned were poured in and spread out in a layer. After that, another layer of Artemisia was added… repeating the process gradually until all of the beans from the first day’s drying were heaped into the jar, and the entire cartload of Artemisia was laid out cleanly–Seventh Uncle then contently sealed the jar.

He scrutinized the area again, making sure the sun wouldn’t hit it all day long, then finally nodded:

“Alright, let’s leave it to ferment for a few days like this. Xiaoshun, go see how the watermelon sauce beans are doing.”

The watermelon sauce beans needed more humidity, so once cooked, they were spread on a bamboo curtain covered with a layer of gauze to retain moisture.

Xiaoshun had already looked inside without being told, “I checked it, the temperature was right, so I didn’t stir it.”

“Good,” Seventh Uncle was also satisfied, “With this weather, fermenting for a couple of days should do… How are those regular sauce beans you were fermenting up on the mountain?”

“I know, I know!”

Qiaoqiao was helping Master Qian, and she was particularly clear on the progress. She raised her hand to report, “The sauce beans for noodle mixing aren’t quite dry yet, but the watermelon sauce beans are fermenting nicely, they’ll be ready in a couple of days.”

Song Tan, however, was a bit worried, “Brother Xiaoshun, it doesn’t look like you and Master Qian are planning to stay here long, at most two months… When it gets busy on the mountain later, we can’t just find another chef, can we?”

“Rest assured, a hundred times over!”

Wang Xiaoshun patting his chest, assured, “Didn’t my master arrange it with Master Song before he came? He’ll work for two months, and afterward, my senior brother will come over–in the future, he’ll be responsible for our cafeteria food!”