When Wen Qian's place gained a new household, a few other households also settled in the area where they had previously planted fruit trees.
They were dedicated to cultivating rice and wheat in the nearby fields. It started with one or two families, and gradually more families followed.
Once, Big Jin went out and discovered the village there, so he exchanged some rice for game animals with them. The residents there fished and farmed, with few hunters.
When he returned, he had his child deliver two pounds of rice grains to Wen Qian, to be used as seeds if she wanted to grow them, or to be cooked as rice if not.
Of course, they did not know that Wen Qian's Space still had a lot of unfinished rice. But whenever they had something new, they would send a bit to Wen Qian for her to try it.
To be frank, when they first settled here, many of their seeds and other supplies came from trading with Wen Qian.
Although Wen Qian was also a hunter, she still traded with them using game animals, and Big Jin's family was always grateful for this.
It was precisely because of this mutual goodwill that they got along well with each other.
After receiving the rice, Wen Qian sent back two pots of strawberry plants with fruits, asking the child to take them home.
She also reminded them to keep the plants indoors during winter, and in spring, if the vines sprouted, they could be transplanted into the ground to take root.
So Big Jin's family gained another fruit variety.
Although Big Jin's family was curious about what Wen Qian had, they were just curious and did not pry excessively.
One day when Wen Qian was digging sweet potatoes in the field, Ni Sha's family wanted to exchange grains with her again. Anything could be exchanged, but it seemed they only had game animals to offer.
So Wen Qian discussed with Ni Sha about making pottery kilns. Wen Qian said she didn't have a water jar to use and asked if Ni Sha's family could make one. If so, she could trade grains for it.
Ni Sha had never made such a large water jar before, but she thought she could try if she had time.
Previously, they had only fired pottery for their own use, but if she became skilled at it, perhaps she could trade pottery with other families in the future.
This year, Wen Qian had a good harvest of sweet potatoes, so she traded some with Ni Sha's family for meat. It didn't really matter whether she traded or not.
Her Space had plenty of meat and other supplies, but it was different for Ni Sha's family. If they couldn't exchange grains with the other two families, the most they would eat was meat.
After all, they didn't have time to cultivate too many crops this year. Although they had exchanged some with their two neighbors before and rationed their supplies, they still wanted to exchange for more to get through the winter.
Fortunately, Wen Qian was just one person, and she had an abundant harvest. After trading her sweet potatoes, Ni Sha's family would come and deliver game animals to her from time to time.
Since Wen Qian wanted fresh game, they would bring what they had hunted that day, until the quantity and weight were sufficient.
The last time, a hunter came and delivered a small water jar that seemed to have been fired before it was fully grown.
He said it was one of two experimental pieces made by Ni Sha, and he didn't know if it could survive the winter.
He also made it clear that it was a gift from Ni Sha to Wen Qian, and no exchange was required.
Wen Qian didn't decline and told him that after winter, during the seedling season, she could leave some other vegetable seeds for his family, such as pumpkin or chili peppers.
The shed at the entrance was dismantled, and Wen Qian swept the surrounding tiles clean. Then she started chopping down the neatly grown Chinese cabbages in the yard with a kitchen knife.
She propped them upside down on the tiles to let the moisture dry a little before storing them in her Space.
As the weather turned cold, Wen Qian started cooking in a pot, otherwise the food would get cold while she was eating.
She usually cooked bellied pork with radish and cabbage, or soft tofu with meat, letting the other vegetables absorb the flavors.
Taking a sip of chrysanthemum tea, Wen Qian frowned. She didn't like the taste, but these were chrysanthemums she had propagated outside the wall, so she didn't want to waste them.
Although she disliked drinking it, that didn't stop her from picking the flowers, air-drying them, and then storing them in her Space after steaming and sun-drying.
Ever since she had the Space, Wen Qian felt like she had a hoarding problem, but most of what she hoarded was useful, even if she didn't need much of it herself.
Wen Qian went on one last hunting trip, after which she didn't plan to venture far from home.
From then on, she spent her time either by the river or in the nearby mountains.
The lotus roots she had planted in a few spots by the river had grown, so she chose a more secluded spot, put on a full-body waterproof suit, and dug up a long section of lotus roots.
Speaking of which, the waterproof suit she had bought so many years ago had been stored in her Space, with very few opportunities to use it.
She only dug up one section of lotus roots and stopped, not knowing how much had grown that year. If she wasn't careful, she might dig up everything in one pot, essentially harvesting the entire crop.
She hoped that in a few years, this place would become a lotus pond, and then she could dig as much as she wanted, even if the other two families joined in digging.
This year, Wen Qian remembered to make cured sausages. She took out the sausages she had stuffed and placed in jars last year from her Space.
After poking holes in them with a needle, she laid them out in the yard to sun-dry. While drying them, she had to stand guard, because birds would swoop in to steal the meat if she wasn't careful.
So she just sat at a nearby table and ground meat filling, adding a few packs of spicy sausage seasonings, preparing to make another batch of cured sausages for the season.
By changing the attachment on the meat grinder, she could switch to stuffing the casings with the filling. Even as one person, Wen Qian could make a lot.
You could never have too many cured sausages – no matter how many she made, they were always delicious. And with the temperature getting colder, it was the perfect time to make them.
The second batch was sun-dried together with the first, saving her the trouble of guarding them. More flavors meant more joy.
During this time, she also didn't forget to make other cured meats, as they could all be dried together. At this point, her yard was quite a spectacular sight with all the drying meat.
After letting the moisture evaporate a bit, she could hang them in the storage room to continue slowly drying and developing their cured flavor.
While staying in the yard, she also didn't forget to test the small jar gifted by Ni Sha by filling it with water to check for any cracks. After confirming it was intact, she placed it in the kitchen, ready to make pickled cabbage.
Wen Qian cherished this little jar, and whenever the pickled cabbage turned sour, she would scoop up the sour cabbage, wring it dry, and store it, allowing the jar to remain dry and get through its first winter.
Before the snow fell, Wen Qian would process some of the game from her Space.
For instance, some birds needed to be dipped in hot water to remove their feathers, while some animals needed to be skinned, and then their bellies had to be gutted and cleaned by the riverside.
After cleaning, she would return home and cut some meat into pieces, chop some bones, and store everything in suitable sizes in her Space.
Otherwise, when winter came, if she suddenly felt like making a certain dish, she would have to spend half a day preparing and washing the ingredients with her bare hands, which dampened her enthusiasm.
It was like in the past when cooking was not difficult, but preparing the ingredients before cooking and washing the dishes after eating added up to make many people just want to order takeout instead.
