Chapter 466: Hua Leya
“It’s similar to sour bamboo shoots.”
After packing the bamboo shoots, Lu Sheng brought over half a sack of peppercorns.
“What’s this?”
He Qin leaned over curiously. When he saw the items in the bag, he could not help but frown. “Lu Sheng, why did you bring these peppers?”
“These are peppercorns. It’s a seasoning. It can increase fragrance and remove fishiness.”
As Lu Sheng spoke, she passed the peppercorns to He Qin. “Take it back and let Uncle try it. This is the recipe.”
As she spoke, she took out another recipe and passed it over.
This was the first time He Qin saw someone eat this. It was also the first time he heard of such a function.
Of course, he still trusted his little niece.
After all, Lu Sheng had always been reliable, especially when it came to food.
As the owner of the restaurant, she would not harm the customers.
After sending He Qin off, Lu Sheng went to the vegetable field.
Lan Yi had been building the bamboo houses recently. It had only been a few days, but the bamboo houses had already been built by him, and there was a long row of them.
Lu Sheng went in to take a look and realized that there were still three bedrooms and a living room. There were even windows and doors, which looked decent.
“Lan Yi, your skills are good!” She praised sincerely.
She did not expect the usually silent Lan Yi to be so reliable when he was serious.
“It’s alright.”
After answering, Lan Yi lowered his head and continued peeling the bamboo slices.
Lu Sheng scanned her surroundings and said jokingly, “Lan Yi, why don’t you make another kitchen? When the time comes, we can move in too. We can rebuild the original house.”
“Yes!”
Lan Yi nodded and accepted the order.
Lu Sheng was stunned before she smiled faintly.
She looked up at the vegetable field and realized that the vegetables were growing well.
The land was very fertile. Before she turned the land over again, she even burned some rice grains and scattered them on the ground with wood ashes.
“What are those for?”
Lan Yi pointed at a pile of hill-like items covered with oil cloth not far away.
Lu Sheng looked over and smiled. “That’s cow dung.”
She was the one who gave everyone some money to collect cow dung. She wanted to use them when planting sweet potatoes and purple sweet potatoes.
Currently, there was still some time before sweet potato vines could be planted. Hence, she decomposed the cow dung and let it ferment.
When the sweet potato vines could be planted, she would use the cow dung to plant them.
When he heard that it was cow dung, Lan Yi immediately frowned in disdain.
“Don’t despise it. We need it to plant good food in the future.”
Upon hearing Lu Sheng’s words, Lan Yi snorted lightly and lowered his head to do his own thing again.
In the blink of an eye, another half a month had passed.
Ever since Qingming Festival, Lu Sheng had focused on the vegetable field.
Today was the day to plant sweet potatoes. Lu Sheng had specially chosen three acres of sandy land to plant them.
Over there, there were people who farmed, fertilized, and planted.
Lu Sheng asked the villagers to help her. She first demonstrated the planting method to them and only let them plant it after everyone had learned it.
As the decomposed cow dung did not smell good, everyone used a white cloth to cover their noses when picking them up.
Lan Yi, who was also helping, was smart enough to seal off his sense of smell.
Hence, when others occasionally made vomiting sounds in disdain, he was the only one expressionlessly watering the field.
They were all agile people and were exceptionally efficient in their work.
With ten people, they finished planting three mu of land in a day.
Seeing that there were still a few bundles of sweet potato vines left, Lu Sheng hurriedly moved them back to a dark place and kept them for everyone to continue planting tomorrow.
The next day, everyone came over to plant again. They planted a few big bundles of sweet potato vines on a mu of land. There were a total of four mu of sweet potato fields.
Two mu of land for purple sweet potatoes and two mu of lands for sweet potatoes.
After they were done, they started watering the plants. After they were done, everyone went home.
In order to better manage the vegetable field, Lu Sheng and Lan Yi jointly built a row of bamboo houses beside the vegetable field.
Lu Sheng hired some experienced villagers to manage the vegetable field.
She invited a total of twenty people. Each person was paid five taels each month and three meals were provided. However, they had to stay in the field at night.
At that time, many people in the village came to apply for the job.
After some understanding, Lu Sheng chose twenty hardworking and honest people.
After the sweet potato vines were cut, the Lu family’s house was rebuilt.
This time, she got someone to build two courtyards.
This way, even if Master and the rest came over in the future, they would have a place to stay.
When she thought of Lu Zhou, Lu Sheng realized that she had not seen him for more than half a month. She did not know how he was handling the matter regarding Xian Jing and Xian Ya.
As for Chu Sihan, she had not seen him for half a month as well.
Previously, he had clearly said that he would return to Huang Yang Town in a few days. However, there was still no news of him.
It was unknown if there was a new case at Lin Jiang Mansion.
As the Lu family was building a house, they moved to the vegetable field to live with everyone.
Lu Sheng supported her chin and sat outside the bamboo house. She stared at the busy people in a daze.
Seeing that she seemed to be in a bad mood, Lan Yi did not disturb her but walked around her from another direction.
Lu Sheng saw the corner of Lan Yi’s shirt from the corner of her eye and her eyes lit up.
“Lan Yi.”
Lan Yi, who had intended to leave, stopped in his tracks. He retreated and looked at her expressionlessly. “Miss, please give me your orders.”
“Have you contacted Master recently?”
She had used the Communications Talisman frequently some time ago and it took her a lot of effort to calm the surging blood and qi in her body. She did not dare to use it rashly again.
Lan Yi was her master’s Mythical Beast. He should be able to contact her master anytime, right?
“Master is fine. He’ll be back soon.”
After answering, Lan Yi asked, “Miss, do you have other matters?”
“Yes!”
Lu Sheng’s eyes darted around. She saw that everyone was engrossed in their work and building racks for the tomatoes, so they did not notice her at all.
She said in a low voice, “Lan Yi, I want to go to Lin Jiang Mansion tonight. Can you bring me there? The kind where we go tonight and come back tonight.”
She just wanted to confirm if Chu Sihan was safe.
Lan Yi nodded. “Yes.”
Lu Sheng was elated. “Thank you for your help tonight.”
If not for the fact that she did not have the talisman to travel through voids, she would not have troubled Lan Yi.
“To thank you for your help, tell me what you want to eat today. I’ll make it for you.”
Since Lan Yi had helped her so much, she had to reward him.
“Mala chicken, chicken stew, duck with sour bamboo shoots, duck blood.”
Lan Yi recited a series of dishes.
“Duck blood?” Was he sure it wasn’t pressed duck?
She had made pressed duck for everyone a while ago and realized that Lan Yi ate that the fastest.
For some reason, Lan Yi ate everything, but he loved chicken and duck meat the most.
Lan Yi said, “Miss made it last time. You poured the duck blood into the duck and stir-fried it.”
It was indeed pressed duck.
“Okay. Let’s have spicy stir-fried chicken nuggets and pressed duck for lunch and chicken stew and duck with sour bamboo shoots for dinner. How’s that?”
Lan Yi would definitely be happy to eat so much chicken and duck meat at once. However, everyone had to eat it as well. They would probably be sick of eating so much chicken and duck meat in one meal.
“Whatever Miss says.”
After saying that, Lan Yi carried the hoe and busied himself.
Looking at the remaining empty space, Lu Sheng thought of the King of Hades.
She did not know if he had arrived in the modern world or if he had bought everything she asked him to buy.
If she could use those items here, she would definitely earn a lot.
She glanced at the sky. It was about seven or eight in the morning. She stood up and took the basket, preparing to buy some ingredients.
On the way to buy vegetables, she even went in to take a look at the watermelons when she passed by the Lu family.
She had just fertilized the day before yesterday, and they were growing well. Every plant was growing well.
She did not know where her master got the watermelon seeds from, but their survival rate was so high.
In twenty days, the vine had grown to be about thirty to forty centimeters long.
She still had extra seeds in her hands. It was only the end of April now, so she should still be able to plant them.
Anyway, there was still a lot of space in the field. It was enough to plant the remaining seeds in five to six mu of land.
“Miss Lu, what’s in your shed?”
The builder looked at the shed curiously.
Lu Sheng smiled faintly. “I don’t know either. I just bought the seeds casually and tried them according to the seller’s planting method. I didn’t expect them to be alive.”
The person nodded. “I see. No wonder I’ve never seen such a thing before.”
Lu Sheng smiled. After greeting everyone, she went to buy vegetables.
Lu Sheng passed the food to Aunt Yu and Mdm Chen. After work, everyone went next door to eat.
Even Liang Ping joined the construction work.
At the entrance of the village.
Lu Sheng bought five chickens, five ducks, and other ingredients. She was about to leave when she was suddenly stopped.
“You’re Lu Sheng?”
Lu Sheng turned her head suspiciously and saw a fair-skinned and pretty lady looking at her in surprise.
“Why? Don’t you recognize me?”
The girl strode forward and stood beside her with a smile.
Lu Sheng quickly recalled and finally recognized the girl in front of her.
“You are… Sister Leya!”
Hua Leya was the daughter of Landlord Hua. She was very gentle and casual.
When she was young, she often played with Tao Jia and Lu Ran.
Later, when Leya was ten years old, Landlord Hua suddenly moved.
When Leya left Liu Yue Village, the owner was already eight years old. She vaguely remembered that Leya was crying when she left.
At that time, Leya was the prettiest girl in the village’s boys’ hearts. Even the arrogant Duan Zhen had once admired her.
However, Leya seemed to prefer playing with Tao Jia and Lu Ran.
Hence, as Lu Ran’s sister, Lu Sheng naturally received a lot of benefits.
Her pocket was full of delicious food every time.
However, Mdm He passed away not long after Leya left.
In less than a year, Lu Dahua married Mdm Liu.
After that, Lu Ran’s personality changed drastically.
Lu Ran had followed Sun Hu and the rest for a few years. It was indeed not easy for him to change his personality.
“You remember me?”
Hua Leya smiled and held her hand. “I thought you were pretty when you were young. You became a beauty when you grew up.”
“Sister Leya hasn’t changed at all. She’s still as pretty as she was when she was young.”
Le Ya chuckled when she heard that. She reached out to pinch the tip of Lu Sheng’s nose and said dotingly, “You felt shy even when looking at someone when you were young. I didn’t expect you to have such a sweet mouth when you grow up.”
“Miss, Old Master and Mdm are still waiting at home.”
A servant standing at the side reminded.
When Leya turned back, the smile on her lips immediately disappeared. She glanced at the servant before turning back to look at Lu Sheng. Her face was full of smiles again.
“Is Brother Ran in the village?”
Lu Sheng shook her head. “No, he went to study in town and would come back occasionally.”
Leya seemed to be disappointed for a moment. However, the smile on her face made Lu Sheng feel that she must have seen wrongly.
“Alright, we just came back. We still have a lot of work to do at home. When we’re done, I’ll visit you and Auntie.”
At the mention of ‘auntie,’ Lu Sheng suddenly pursed her lips.
Leya was stunned. “What’s wrong?”
“My mother has been gone for eight years.”
Leya was an attentive person. When she saw Lu Sheng’s expression, she knew what the word ‘gone’ meant.
“I… I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Lu Sheng!”
Lu Sheng smiled faintly and shook her head. “It’s alright. Sister Leya, go ahead and get busy. I have work to do too.”
Leya nodded. “Okay, I’ll visit you after I’m done.”
“Okay, Sister Leya, take care!”
Lu Sheng watched as Leya boarded the carriage before leaving.
In the carriage, the servant looked at Hua Leya hesitantly.
“What’s the matter?”
Xiaofen was a new servant that her stepmother bought for her. This servant did not react much to her orders, but she obeyed her stepmother’s orders.
Precisely because of this, Leya was very unhappy.
Her previous servant, Xiaowen, had been sold off because she had done something wrong and angered her stepmother.
She had always wanted to find a chance to buy her back. Unfortunately, by the time she went over, Xiaowen had already been bought by someone.
She had no choice but to bring Xiaofen along.
“Miss, Mdm said that although we have moved back, our status is still much higher than those lowly villagers. Miss can’t interact with those lowly commoners like before.”
“Lowly commoners?”
Leya smiled coldly. “Did she forget where she came from?”
Her mother passed away six years ago. Three years later, her father married Mdm Peng.
Mdm Peng came from the village previously. She was just taken fancy by her father because she could give birth well.
If not for her Hua family, Mdm Peng’s maternal family would still be working in the fields like the villagers in Liu Yue Village.
Some people forgot where they came from after living a good life for a few years.
“Xiaofen, remember this. You’re my servant, not Mdm Peng’s. If you continue to help her, you can go back to the market.”
Leya’s tone was faint, but Xiaofen could feel an inexplicable fear.
It was not easy for her to leave that horrible place. If she returned and met a bad master, she might not even know how she died.
Xiaofen was so scared that she hurriedly knelt down. “Miss… Miss, please don’t send me back to the market. I’ll listen to you in the future!”
“Remember what you said today.”
Leya pinched her chin and smiled. “Xiaofen, you have to remember that you’re the one who serves me. Although my father dotes on Mdm Peng, don’t forget that my father dotes on me and my brother more. It’s just a word from me to dismiss you.”