Chapter 38

【Mutter the Saitu website three times, do you remember? If you haven't memorized it, I'll ask again in the next chapter. It's best to share it on Facebook.】

Duan Mengnan and the other four were joking around as they approached the kitchen. As they got closer, the five of them paused slightly, catching the scent of crab roe in the air.

Once inside the kitchen, they saw Zhao Xinyu just cracking open the shell of a river crab about the size of a bowl. The scent of crab roe had been coming from the crab in Zhao Xinyu's hands.

None of the five came from ordinary backgrounds, and they all knew that even the scent of sea crabs was very faint. Yet, Zhao Xinyu had only just opened a river crab, and they could smell it from outside the kitchen. This instantly reminded them of the carp he had stewed.

"Are you planning to eat all this by yourself?" Duan Mengnan teased, walking up to Zhao Xinyu. Without waiting for him to speak, she took the crab from his hands.

She took a small bite, and her body trembled. Her eyes revealed a hint of shock. The crab roe had no trace of mud, and it tasted even more delicious than sea crab.

With a hint of surprise, Duan Mengnan pulled off a crab leg and bit into it. She trembled again. The crab leg was full of juice, and the taste was overwhelming. The seemingly hard crab leg crumbled easily, and she even hesitated to spit out the broken bones after sucking out the juice.

"Mengmeng, how does it taste?"

Yu Mo and the others saw Duan Mengnan nodding, and they could only hear the sound of her crunching the crab leg. This instantly made them realize that the crab must be extraordinary, or Duan Mengnan wouldn't have been so engrossed.

"Give me one," Yu Mo and the others rushed towards Zhao Xinyu, their eyes fixed on the large river crabs in the steamer.

In just over ten minutes, the dozen or so crabs were completely devoured, leaving only a pile of broken shells on the table.

"Zhao Xinyu, how did you make the crabs taste so good? It's too delicious. Can you make more?" Yu Mo walked up to Zhao Xinyu, shaking his arm playfully.

"Yu Mo, aren't you afraid someone might get jealous?" Liu Ruoxi giggled.

Zhao Xinyu smiled faintly, "I'll go check, but I can't guarantee anything since Sister Zheng isn't here."

After about twenty minutes, Zhao Xinyu shook his head and returned to the grape arbor. He shook his head at Duan Mengnan and the others, who were full of anticipation. "The crabs are too cunning. I didn't catch any this time. If you want to eat them, you'll have to wait for Han Li and the others to come back."

Suddenly, Zhao Xinyu caught a glimpse of purple out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw that some grapes had turned purple.

Grapes were also grown in the space, and Zhao Xinyu had tasted them before. Their flavor was far superior to the grapes sold in the market.

Seeing Duan Mengnan and the others looking disappointed, Zhao Xinyu chuckled and walked over, picking a bunch of grapes. "The grapes are ripe. Why don't you try them?"

Duan Mengnan and the others were taken aback. They hadn't noticed the grapes ripening, and they thought the newly purple grapes would be sour, so they weren't very interested, still savoring the taste of the crabs.

Seeing that Duan Mengnan and the others weren't very interested, Zhao Xinyu didn't say anything. He picked all the purple grapes and took them to the kitchen.

After washing them, he placed the grapes on the table. "Try them. When Han Li and the others come back, we'll have more crabs to eat."

Bored, Duan Mengnan reached out and picked a grape, putting it in her mouth. The next moment, she paused, looking up at Zhao Xinyu with a smile, her face slightly blushing.

The grapes were a bit hard to the touch but melted in her mouth. Even the skin turned into a sweet stream, and a cool sensation spread throughout her body after swallowing.

Tasting the unique flavor of the grapes, Duan Mengnan couldn't resist picking another one. This time, she truly felt the taste of the grapes—sweet like honey, with a hint of sourness. It was the first time she had tasted such grapes.

"Mengmeng, are they sour?"

"Delicious, really delicious."

Hearing Duan Mengnan's words, Yu Mo and the others immediately started picking grapes. In a few minutes, the bunches were all gone. They had forgotten about the crabs and were completely immersed in the wonderful taste of the grapes.

Without any more grapes, they all stood up and went with Zhao Xinyu to find more ripe grapes....

With the grapes ripe but in limited quantity, Zhao Xinyu didn't plan to sell them. Besides their daily consumption, he had another idea: to make some wine.

The river crabs started selling, and the farm restaurant became even more popular. After teaching Zheng Min how to cook the crabs, Zhao Xinyu intentionally visited the restaurant less often. Without Zhao Xinyu, the diners had to turn their attention to other fish and crabs, giving Zhao Xinyu more free time.

With free time, Zhao Xinyu began to study the Golden Treasury Essentials. Every night, he would release the fish from the space into the Luo River.

In the space, all the creatures were thriving. Although Zhao Xinyu picked a large amount of vegetables every day, it had no impact on the growth of the vegetables in the space.

Besides the original vegetables and herbs, Zhao Xinyu had planted all the crops he had brought from his hometown. After some time, these crops had grown to a considerable scale.

The hundred-year-old ginseng had already flowered and fruited, and dozens of young ginseng plants had appeared around it, all grown from seeds Zhao Xinyu had collected.

The strange birds, Jinhen and Jinyu, could now fly freely in the space. However, they were too large for Zhao Xinyu to bring them out of the space.

In the past, Jinhen and Jinyu mainly ate fish from the lake, but now they sometimes changed their diet and caught pheasants hiding in the sour plum bushes.

The pair of pheasants Zhao Xinyu had caught and their offspring had grown into a large flock, and their presence could be seen throughout the space. As a result, they often became food for Jinhen and Jinyu.

With the pheasant population in the space increasing, Zhao Xinyu often thought about how to bring pheasants out without arousing Han Li and Duan Mengnan's suspicions. Even if he couldn't sell them at the farm restaurant, they should at least appear on his own table.

"Go into the mountains," Zhao Xinyu thought of a feasible plan: to go into Cailiang Mountain. At least, this would allow Jinhen and Jinyu to appear in front of Han Tianliang and the others. With Jinhen and Jinyu, he could bring pheasants to his table.

When Han Tianliang heard that Zhao Xinyu wanted to go into the mountains, his eyes narrowed. "Xinyu, don't believe those reports. Cailiang Mountain isn't a place for ordinary people. There are many tigers and leopards, and even more wolves. In the past, villagers went into the mountains out of necessity, but now, with better conditions, who would risk their lives?"

Wang Ai nodded. "In the past, villagers often went into the mountains with weapons. But now, the government has confiscated all hunting weapons. If you encounter tigers or wolves, even a large group of people would be in danger. A few years ago, a group of hikers went into the mountains. There were over twenty of them, but they encountered a pack of wolves. Eight or nine were injured, and three died from their injuries."

"Xinyu, we have everything now. Why do we need to go into the mountains? My father is right. It's too dangerous. Let's not go."

Zhao Xinyu chuckled. "I'm preparing to make medicinal wine, but I still need a few herbs. The quality of the herbs in the stores is too poor. Only in the mountains can I find them. I'll just look around the edges and won't go deep. Besides, there's Heifeng."

Hearing his name, Heifeng, who was lying on the ground, stood up and growled at Han Li and the others, as if complaining about them.

After a few months, Heifeng had grown to over a meter and a half tall, standing like a small calf. His presence was intimidating, and people who came to buy vegetables would leave immediately upon seeing him.

Looking at Heifeng, Han Tianliang nodded. "Heifeng should be able to handle a leopard. But Xinyu, remember, don't go deep into Cailiang Mountain. It's too dangerous, even the old hunters from the village don't dare to go deep."

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