Living My Leisurely Life with My Cat

The jade pendant glowed faintly, and suddenly Wenmin disappeared into thin air. Wenmin felt like his surroundings have changed and slowly open his eyes, just to see green lush lands, mist-filled mountains, rows of fruit trees and vegetable plots. At the centre of it all, there was a clear sparkling pond with lotus plants in it. Near the pond, there is a small house, you can even call it a hut made of wood. Wenmin sat dazed, ”EHH!! Isn this the legendary space in all those cultivation novels?! Does that mean that the jade necklace that Ama gave me has this power? Then Ama must have known and used it too. ” Wenmin said while looking around. He reached the pond and looked into it, seeing a few fish shrimps. They say that ponds in spaces have magical powers, I wonder if its the same for this one. Wenmin scooped the pond water with his hands and drank it.

*eyes sparkling* ”Uwahhh~ it doesn taste fishy. So fresh and crisp. My body feels light and warm. ” Wenmin said he felt like a warm current entered his body, circulating his blood and like all the accumulated stress he got while living in this world, just vanished. ”Maybe I can use this to water my crops and drink it once a day to replenish my body like in the novel? And here I thought that my cheat was the knowledge I got from reading novels. This is the ultimate cheat! ” Wenmin was skipping happily. He was curious about what was stored inside the hut, he went and opened the door. There were a few things in there. A desk and a chair, papers, ink and brushes. There are also some books. On the desk was an envelope, Wenmin saw his name on it, he opened it and was surprised to see that the letter was written by Ama.

It says in the letter that Ama is giving me the necklace with the space for Wenmin. Whatever is inside, belongs to Wenmin now and he can do anything with them. The jade pendant is what he got from a passing monk, which is said to be able to strengthen ones body and spiritual qi. ”Looks like it is a space for cultivation. Eh~ I can also use it to store things too. ” Amidst the things that have been written inside the letter, Ama also said that the pond is filled with spiritual water. Too much intake can cause the body to change drastically, so it is better to take less. ”I can let Heihei drink some too. Maybe he can be a spiritual cat beast hehe ” Wenmin, I don think thats appropriate, but its not impossible either.

Looking at all the stuff in the hut, theres even food in it. Maybe the time in space stops the food from rotting and keeping them fresh. It can help me save money too. ”Speaking of money, I only have 5 taels of silver, I don really need to spend them right now, but it would be better to invest and have a lot of money. Ha~ Things in the 21st century were expensive too, I heard Xinyi say that the Chen Village is located in the north side of Zhonghua country. ” Speaking of the north, it also explains why wheat, sorghum, millet, peanuts and vegetables are abundant here. That also means that theres cotton here too. If I can get my hands on some cotton, maybe I can make my own cotton clothes? Wenmin was determined to at least have comfortable clothing rather than wearing hemp which is rough on the skin.

Looking at how long he has been in the space, Wenmin doesn want people to be suspicious of him. Ama said in the letter that the space is secret, which means that I can let people know about it. Maybe Heihei is an exclusion as I will be feeding him the spiritual water from now on. Lets get out of here, it would be troublesome if Xinyi come and theres no one around. Wenmin closed his eyes and whispered the word home, when he opened it again, he was in his room. Heihei was looking at him, ”Heihei, you know what? Theres a space in the pendant with lots of food and greeneries. Ill take you there sometime. Theres also spiritual water, here have some. ” He put out his right hand and cupped it, suddenly there was a handful of water. Heihei smelled it, and knowing that it was not harmful, he drinks it till it was finished. Heiheis body glowed faintly, Heihei looks happy to consume the spiritual water, looking like there was no problem with Heihei and the sky is still dark, Wenmin resumed his sleep until morning.

The next day…

Wenmin woke up before sunrise, he still thinks that what happened last night was just a dream. But, looking at how soft and glowing his skin is compared to when he first arrived, the spiritual water must have done its magic. He was satisfied looking at how healthy his skin and Heiheis black fur also seems to be glossier and healthier. He went to clean himself and tidied his bed. Walking to the kitchen, ”Heihei, we still have a few more fish when yesterdays catch. How about we cook them all and send one to Xinyis house? I want to ask him if he wants to go with me to town. ” Wenmin decided to survey the market and see what kind of business there is in town. I can cook and write, and selling crops can also help but knowing that I don have a lot of land, I might as well survey which restaurant is good.

Wenmin decided to cook sweet and sour fish using two carps. The third one will be boiled for Heiheis breakfast and dinner. He went to the vegetable plot in the garden to pick two stalks of scallions, one ginger and a few garlic. He cut the ginger into a few slices and only take 4 cloves of garlic and store the rest inside the space. Since there was no starch in the house, Wenmin decided to use potato flour as a substitute. He boiled Heiheis fish first whilst preparing the ingredients for the sweet and sour fish sauce. Remembering that he saw a few sauces and condiments in the space yesterday, Wenmin decided to take out a jar of what seemed to be light soy sauce (guess everything was secretly prepared by Ama to use for cooking), a jar of rice wine, rice vinegar, tomato ketchup and white pepper. Wenmin hasn seen any pepper plants in the garden, maybe the peppers are in space as peppers are quite hard to find.

Now, Wenmin gutted and descaled the fish and dry, then he coats the fish with a thin layer of potato flour. Next, Wenmin cut the fish at a 45-degree angle on each side. Wenmin took out a wok and heat them on the stove. He put the animal fat into the wok and wait for it to melt and become hot. He placed the fish in the wok and flip it over the side is golden and firm. While waiting for the fish to be fried, he mixed all the ingredients for the sauce. When the fish are done, he pushes them to the side of the wok and put scallions, two pieces of ginger and garlic into the oil. He stirs fry them for half a minute. Then, he pours the sauce into the wok. Bring it to a boil then cover it with a lid. Wenmin reduces the firewood to create a low heat. He then leaves it to simmer for about 5 minutes on each side. He makes sure that the sauce is in thick consistency and added chopped coriander as garnish.

He put the sweet and sour fish into a big plate and put them in a covered basket. Heiheis boiled fish has cooled down, he deboned the fish and shred them. Next, he serves half in a bowl and leaves half inside the space. He served Heiheis boiled fish and was ready to go to Xinyis house for breakfast. He locked the door and set out. Xinyis house is only a few meters from his house, which is not too far nor too near, giving each house the privacy they needed. He reached Xinyis house and knocked on the door. Aunt Bao was surprised to see Wenmin early in the morning, ”Min geer, come on in. It must be cold to walk so early in the morning. Here have some warm water. Xinyi! Min geer is here. ” Aunt Bao called Xinyi out. Xinyi came out of the kitchen, looks like hes making breakfast. Just in time. Wenmin whispered.

”Aunt Bao, here. I cooked this for you and your family as thanks for yesterday. Lets have breakfast together. I forgot to mention it to Xinyi yesterday and I also promised to let him taste my cooking. ” Wenmin said while taking out the sweet and sour fish from his basket. Given how near their houses were, the fish is still hot and there was steam going out of the fish. Which guarantees its freshness. Xinyi looked at the fish with greed in his eyes. *grumble grumble* A loud sound came from Xinyis stomach. He just stared at the fish and smiled embarrassedly at Wenmin and his Ama. ”Xinyi, come and take the dish and put them on the table! Aiya this kid, so big already but still behaves like a shield. ” Aunt Bao scolded Xinyi, and Wenmin laugh when he sees this incident.

”Wenmin, come here and eat with us. Your uncle and Xinyis brother are at the field. Lets send the breakfast to them after we eat. ” Aunt Bao beckoned Wenmin to come in and added another bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks. They sat together and ate and share stories about yesterdays separation event. Wenmin even told Aunt Bao that he is willing to teach Xinyi how to read and write as it can make their lives easier in the future. After they finished eating, Wenmin told Aunt Bao and Xinyi his purpose for coming to their house. ”Aunt Bao, Xinyi. The reason I came here early in the morning is that I wanted to ask Xinyi to go with me to town today. I haven been there for a long time and I wanted to stock some things in the house. ” Wenmin said politely. Aunt Bao looked at Wenmin and knew that since his Ama passed away, she didn see Wenmin coming out of the house for a few days. She sighed and nudge Xingyi beside her and said, ”Why so polite? Don mind me, just take her to town after this. Better go early, its too hot now. ”

Wenmin was relieved that Aunt Bao agreed with him. He knew that Aunt Bao is sympathizing with him but she also didn show it too much. Knowing each other for a long time, and showing too much can be quite rude. Xinyi got ready in a hurry and Wenmin helped Aunt Bao to pack the breakfast for her husband and son. They decided to go out together as the road to the town and the field is along the way. They set out when Xinyi was done, as they were walking they run into a few villagers that were going to the field too. Many of them greeted Wenmin while some of the gossip mongers tried to get his opinions on what happened to the Chen family yesterday. It turns out that after he left, Aunt Lihua and Uncle Zimo quarrelled because they were dissatisfied that Wenmin still got the 2 mus of land and his Amas land and house. They also gave him a few silvers too. Wenmin only said ”As a family, one should provide for their blood relatives even if it is the last time before separation. ” and left for the field with Aunt Bao and Xinyi with a smirk.

When they arrived at the field, Wenmin and Xinyi greeted the father and son duo, told them that they were going to town and promised to be back in the afternoon. They rushed to the Chen Village gate to ride the ox cart and paid 2 wens per person. Wenmin brought his 5 taels of silver that he got, and kept the money he saw inside the space in the space for emergency use only. They greeted and smiled and the people on the card as it swayed, the time to get to the town from Chenjiagou is around 30 minutes by ox cart and around an hour if you go by foot. Wenmin, don want to tire himself and waste time, paid for the ox car. He was excited to go sightseeing inside the town and at least to buy some cotton fabric. It will cost a lot but at least hes living alone now and he can make money. He and Xinyi talked a little bit before reaching the town.