Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Selling Wild Greens and Egg Pancakes

Gu Qinghuan carried the wild greens into the kitchen, then slipped into her space again.

She opened the vending machine’s sales page.

Clicking “Add Product,” a prompt appeared asking for the product name.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t have time to sort the wild greens into categories, so she bundled them all together under the name “Wild Greens.”

Next came photographing, weighing, and packaging.

She grabbed a handful of thorny shoots to cook for lunch, then dumped the rest of the wild greens onto the page in one go.

With a couple of clicks, high-resolution photos of the wild greens and their total weight—eight jin and six liang—appeared on the page.

She put the wild greens into the vending slot. The machine would handle the packaging automatically—no need to worry about it.

The last step was pricing.

Gu Qinghuan thought for a moment. In modern times, wild greens could sell for twenty or thirty yuan per jin. With over eight jin, she could easily get at least two hundred yuan, right?

Two hundred yuan in the future, converted to present-day value... maybe two yuan? That shouldn’t be too much.

So, Gu Qinghuan simply entered two yuan and clicked confirm.

The vending machine displayed: “You have one item for sale.”

Once everything was set, she hurried back to the kitchen—if the kids suddenly came looking for her, she might get caught.

The stove was too tall, and the kids hadn’t tidied up yesterday. Gu Qinghuan rolled up her sleeves, fetched some water, and started cleaning.

She wiped everything down inside and out, cleared out the years-old ash from the stove, and finally got the kitchen into usable shape.

Behind the kitchen, she found a few bundles of firewood left by Old Wang, though they were riddled with wormholes. Still, they’d have to do for now.

When she had time, she’d need to figure out how to get more firewood from the mountain.

With the cleaning done, she could finally start making breakfast.

Gu Qinghuan went back into her space. The home kitchen was empty, and Old Wang’s iron wok had vanished—who knew who had taken it? She had no choice but to buy two new iron woks herself.

She measured the diameter of the stove opening and placed her order.

Modern iron woks were cheap and didn’t require ration coupons.

When she opened the vending machine, she noticed a red notification at the bottom.

She clicked it open—her recently listed item had already sold, and the money was in her account. She could withdraw it with a click. That was fast!

Holding the hard-earned two yuan, Gu Qinghuan was thrilled. It felt like a whole new world had opened up—she suddenly knew how to make money.

What was lacking in the future? Pure, natural products! Everything in this place was organic and pollution-free—that was money!

She couldn’t let herself get carried away—first, she needed to make breakfast.

She spent three yuan to get two iron woks, one large and one small, just the right sizes for the stove.

Then she started hauling things out of the villa.

While the kids still didn’t know exactly what she’d brought with her, she hurried to take out as much as she could.

Various seasonings—she tore off the labels or poured them into bowls for storage.

A handful of dried noodles, ten jin of rice, and ten jin of flour.

With the cornmeal, buckwheat flour, and brown rice she’d bought earlier, they’d have enough to eat for a while.

She took out a dozen eggs.

A whole jug of cooking oil would be too conspicuous, but the villa only had ten-jin containers.

In the end, she cleaned out a soy sauce bottle and filled it with oil for daily use.

She also brought out extra sets of bowls, chopsticks, plates, and dishes for backup. With the four sets she’d bought earlier, that should be enough.

Spoons, spatulas, knives, and cutting boards—her villa kitchen had spares of everything, so she just took them out to use.

What else? Oh, matches for lighting the fire.

The villa only had lighters, which clearly weren’t suitable for this era.

She ordered a big box of matches from the vending machine.

With that, the kitchen was basically stocked. Anything else could be added as needed. She’d also need to figure out a cabinet—if she didn’t lock up the grain, the rats might drag it away, and that would be a real loss.

Everything was ready. It was almost eight o’clock. The two little ones had already peeked into the kitchen several times, wanting to help, but Gu Qinghuan sent them out to weed the yard instead.

She tidied up and started making breakfast.

There wasn’t much time today, so she’d keep it simple.

She scooped half a bowl of flour and half a bowl of cornmeal into a basin, cracked in four eggs, diced up some Yunnan ham she’d smuggled out of her space, chopped some green onions, added a pinch of salt, and finally poured in a small bowl of spiritual spring water.

She mixed it all into a golden, flowing batter.

Both iron woks needed to be seasoned before use, so they wouldn’t stick.

You could season an iron wok with lard or cooking oil.

Gu Qinghuan simply used cooking oil to season the woks, then started frying the egg pancakes over a low fire.

Dabao and Beibei were outside, enthusiastically pulling weeds, when suddenly a rich aroma wafted out—like fried eggs, but with a hint of meat.

It was hard to control the heat on a wood-fired stove. For the first batch of egg pancakes, Gu Qinghuan fumbled a bit, but managed not to burn them. Success!

Food cooked over a wood fire always seemed to have a special flavor—smelled great, tasted even better. She took a bite and almost couldn’t believe how delicious it was.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two little heads peeking in at the door.

Gu Qinghuan waved them over.

The two kids came in and waited obediently for instructions, looking cute but a little rough around the edges.

No matter—it could be fixed with time.

“Go wash your hands and come eat egg pancakes.”

Dabao led his sister outside to the wooden barrel to wash their hands.

She tore the first pancake in half and gave it to the kids.

Gu Qinghuan started on the second batch, much more at ease now.

Beibei wolfed down her food, while Dabao ate more politely.

“It’s so good, Mom! Everything you make is delicious!” Beibei gushed, and she meant it.

Gu Qinghuan thought the pancakes tasted especially good today—maybe it was the spiritual spring water.

Dabao also praised her, “It’s delicious.” He was usually reserved, so if he said it was good, it really was.

He was genuinely worried that if his stepmother kept cooking like this, the family would soon run out of food.

White rice porridge, roast chicken, egg pancakes—what kind of family could afford to eat like this?

But he didn’t dare question Gu Qinghuan’s decisions. She was kind enough to make all this good food for them.

Gu Qinghuan pretended not to notice his inner struggle and didn’t explain—she was happy to keep things light.

Both kids were sensible. After finishing their pancakes, Beibei saw Gu Qinghuan busy with both the fire and the pancakes, so she took over tending the fire, even knowing how to control the heat.

Dabao saw that the kitchen water jar was clean but empty, so he went outside to fetch water from the well.

Gu Qinghuan was startled, worried he might fall in, but clearly she was overreacting—Dabao had done this before. He was steady and skilled, bringing up a full bucket each time.

Batch after batch of egg pancakes came out of the wok, filling the kitchen with an irresistible aroma.

The sweet scent of cornmeal, the savory ham, and the unique fragrance of eggs all mingled together.

Xu Huaian, lying on the kang in the east room, was unusually clear-headed. The smell of egg pancakes made his stomach protest loudly—he was starving.

Though he was often in a daze, when he was lucid, he had a rough idea of what was happening.

He remembered suddenly having a nominal wife, a former educated youth.

He remembered her giving the kids white rice porridge, and giving him a meat bun.

And yesterday, she’d used an old bedsheet to preserve his last bit of dignity.

The laughter outside showed they were getting along well.

Xu Huaian hadn’t heard the children laugh in a long time. Maybe, just maybe, the Xu family had done a good thing.

He just felt a little sorry for this young woman."

"Chapter 18: Feeding Pancakes, First Conversation

A bowl of egg batter made twenty-five egg pancakes.

Each one was bigger than a face.

She set up a rickety table outside to serve as a makeshift dining table.

Besides the big bowl of egg pancakes, Gu Qinghuan also poured each of the two children a bowl of Telunsu milk to go with the pancakes.

Drinking more milk is nutritious—it helps them grow tall.

As for Xu Huai’an, she poured him a cup of spiritual spring water, dissolved today’s medicine in it, and made sure he drank it all.

“Dabao, you start eating first. I’ll go feed your dad.”

Dabao wanted to go himself, but Gu Qinghuan persuaded him not to.

On one hand, she wanted the child to have a proper meal; on the other, she needed to make sure Xu Huai’an took his medicine. That stuff was expensive, and she’d be heartbroken if it went to waste.

And, she also wanted to overcome her own fear. If she wanted to cure Xu Huai’an, she’d have to get to know and interact with him more.

Gu Qinghuan put ten pancakes on a plate, planning to eat two herself and give him eight—should be enough.

Xu Huai’an heard footsteps approaching and, feeling awkward, buried his head. But that seemed too obvious, so he simply rolled over and lay flat on the kang, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

Gu Qinghuan gave herself a pep talk.

It’s fine, what’s there to be afraid of? He’s a soldier of the people. He’s sick, and it’s only right to help him. This is a good deed.

After a few deep breaths, she finally walked over to Xu Huai’an.

“Time to eat. I’ll feed you—don’t you dare bite me!” She greeted him, not caring whether he understood or not.

The corners of Xu Huai’an’s mouth twitched into a tiny smile.

This woman really is kind—and a bit timid.

But the food she made smelled absolutely amazing.

Seeing that Xu Huai’an wasn’t glaring at her like usual, Gu Qinghuan mustered her courage, folded a pancake, and held it to his mouth. If you looked closely, you could see her hand trembling.

Xu Huai’an saw how scared yet determined she was, and secretly found it funny. He even felt like teasing her, so he suddenly took a big, fierce bite.

Gu Qinghuan was startled by his aggressive move and quickly pulled her hand back, afraid for her fingers.

Xu Huai’an couldn’t hold back anymore and let out a laugh. It had been a long, long time since he’d laughed.

Even though it was just a soft chuckle, Gu Qinghuan caught it.

Did I hear that right? Was this guy laughing at her?

She was doing this for his sake! Like a dog biting Lü Dongbin—not recognizing a good person. Hmph!

She was about to scold him, but suddenly realized something.

“You’re lucid right now?”

Xu Huai’an was busy chewing the pancake and didn’t answer until he swallowed with satisfaction. Then he managed a single word: “Yeah.”

Gu Qinghuan didn’t have time to argue about what just happened. There were so many things she wanted to discuss with him—who knew if he’d lose his senses again the next moment.

“Xu Huai’an, your illness is actually a psychological condition. It’s different from insanity, you know?”

Xu Huai’an stared at the bitten pancake in her hand, saying nothing.

Gu Qinghuan resignedly handed it over. Xu Huai’an took another big bite, then chewed and said, “Yeah.”

Did that “yeah” mean he understood? This guy was really stingy with words. She’d have to impress him.

“From my research, your condition is a psychological disorder triggered by the trauma of war.

Before you got sick, you were on the battlefield, right? And you suffered serious physical or psychological trauma during the war, didn’t you?

Do you lose control of your emotions and get anxious whenever you see blood?”

Gu Qinghuan finally saw Xu Huai’an’s expression change—from calm and dismissive to disbelief.

Because everything she said was exactly what had happened to him, not a word off.

For a moment, he even wondered if Gu Qinghuan was an enemy agent planted by his side.

Xu Huai’an forced himself to calm down and think before acting.

“You know about this illness? Can you treat it?” His voice was hoarse, but clearly more urgent than before.

The delicious pancakes were forgotten—nothing was more important than the hope of recovery.

“I heard about this illness before. Someone I knew had a similar case.

After suffering severe psychological trauma, if it isn’t resolved in time, it builds up inside. Over time, a person’s personality can change drastically—depression, anxiety, even mental breakdown.

It’s a psychological illness. As the old saying goes, ‘heart sickness needs heart medicine’—ultimately, you have to overcome your inner demons yourself.

But, there are still some things we can try.”

Seeing Xu Huai’an listening intently, Gu Qinghuan deliberately paused and cleared her throat.

“What things?” Xu Huai’an looked at her anxiously, wishing he could grab her and make her talk.

Seeing how anxious he was, Gu Qinghuan didn’t keep him in suspense.

“I’ve come up with a treatment plan for you. Basically, it combines psychotherapy and exercise therapy, to help you face your trauma and overcome it.

From now on, you have to cooperate with my treatment.

Once you’re better and no longer need to be tied up like this, I’ll try to take you to a top hospital in the capital to see the best psychologists. Maybe you’ll have a chance at a full recovery.”

Gu Qinghuan painted him a rosy picture, and he really wanted to taste that hope.

Suppressing his doubts, Xu Huai’an chose to believe her. After all, things couldn’t get any worse than they were now.

In the end, he just asked, “Why are you helping me?”

Why indeed? Gu Qinghuan wasn’t sure herself—there were many reasons.

Maybe she was just a kind person; otherwise, she wouldn’t have died saving someone.

Maybe it was because the two children had no father to protect them, drifting through life with a tragic fate—too pitiful.

Maybe she didn’t want to see a tough, iron-blooded soldier die an unjust death and be left in the wilderness.

All these thoughts boiled down to one sentence: “If I turn a blind eye today, then when disaster befalls me, there’ll be no one to stand up for me.”

Her bright eyes shone with determination, as clear as a spring.

Xu Huai’an couldn’t help but feel ashamed of his earlier suspicions. He’d been too paranoid. Judging by her demeanor and words, this girl was clearly not the scheming type.

He wanted to say something to express his gratitude, but in the face of Gu Qinghuan’s righteousness, words felt too pale.

“Eat your pancakes before they get cold.”

Gu Qinghuan handed him another pancake. She’d wanted to ask about the war, but seeing his unstable emotions, she decided to wait.

There would be time later. First, she needed to help him stabilize his emotions before trying to revisit those painful memories.

“Thank you,” Xu Huai’an said softly.

Thank you for caring for the two children.

Thank you for worrying about a madman’s illness.

Thank you for your rare kindness.

…

If I really recover, this life will be yours."

"Chapter 19: Pension