Chapter 196: Chapter 163: You Seem Useless
Huai Yu stored her bicycle and woven basket in the shed, then hurried over to the treehouse.
The ten-pound Da Pang water radish was bobbing its head happily in the shade of the tree. Even though its plump red fruit was gone and one of its whiskers had snapped off, its good mood wasn’t dampened in the slightest. It was still wearing that dyed shoelace! Even when buried in the dirt, it hadn’t thought to take it off.
Seeing Huai Yu approach, it was overjoyed. "I-I-I, I w-want, want t-to, to g-go play n-nearby! C-C-Can I?"
Huai Yu nodded. "Of course. Play wherever you like, but don’t run too far—and don’t go near the Rose Corridor! If it decides to beat you up, I won’t stop it."
"N-N-N-N-No—" The little radish shook its head so vigorously that its leaves flopped in every direction. The sheer panic seemed to momentarily cure its stutter. "I-I’d never!"
That was the Rose Corridor! It could feel its terrifying aura from a mile away. If it got too close and it lashed out with a single vine, it would be sucked dry!
As for right now... Its leaves shifted stealthily in that direction. It could vaguely sense that the other entity couldn’t be bothered with it, so it should be safe.
But Huai Yu inspected the whiskers on its body. "You seem to be a bit useless."
That bowl of ginseng water hadn’t had the slightest effect on her when she drank it. She only brought it to Zhou Qian so it wouldn’t go to waste. "These are your precious whiskers. How could they have no effect?" she asked.
"I-I-I-Impossible!" Fat Ginseng grew anxious. Last night in the bamboo forest, it had listened to Kuang Biao talk quite a bit. It heard that every plant in the world had its uses; it couldn’t possibly be useless!
After thinking for a moment, it stuttered again, "H-H-H-How m-much w-water d-did you add?"
How much? Well, it wasn’t like Huai Yu would waste it. She gestured with her hands. "Just one pot." When fertilizing plants, you had to dilute the mixture a thousand times over. So, diluting a mutated ginseng whisker a bit extra when boiling it shouldn’t be a problem, right? But the circle she formed with her arms was massive! That pot looked like it could hold three to five Fat Ginsengs!
At this, its leaves began to shake—RUSTLE RUSTLE. "T-T-Too m-much! W-W-W-Way t-too much! I-I-I-I’m useful, s-s-super u-useful! F-For m-m-mutated p-p-plants, I-I’m s-s-super s-s-strong, s-s-super a-a-active..."
For heaven’s sake, forcing out such a long sentence nearly turned its chubby white body red from the strain—though, to be fair, it could have also just been the dye from the shoelace bleeding. Huai Yu glanced at it and casually untied the bow she had fastened. "Really?" She still seemed rather skeptical.
Fat Ginseng grew even more frantic, waving the whiskers on its branches. "I-I-I’ll g-g-give you a-a-another o-one, y-y-you u-use it t-to b-b-boil w-water... j-j-just a l-l-little!"
With a soft SQUEAK, it snapped off one of the whiskers from its branch. Clearly, it hurt a little.
Huai Yu’s movements were somewhat reluctant as she accepted the ginseng whisker. She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but she took it begrudgingly. Finally, she asked nonchalantly, "How little is ’a little’ water?"
Fat Ginseng pondered for a long time. Then, with utmost solemnity, it used its long whiskers to gesture. "T-T-T-This m-m-much!"
Huai Yu was speechless. That was practically nothing—a single cup of water at most, right? This time, she was truly half-believing and half-doubting. She was starting to wonder if she had genuinely overused her Superpower, practically watering this ginseng down into a radish. Even its medicinal efficacy had been watered down.
But Fat Ginseng had already burrowed solemnly back into the soil, striving to grow. As it watched Huai Yu’s retreating back, it swore to itself that it would definitely become incredibly useful! Clench fists! Grow—hnng—push hard—!
Early the next morning.
Huai Yu was once again sorting through her scavenged junk when she unexpectedly uncovered two long steel pipes. Thrilled, she decided to replace her previous tree-trunk clothesline.
With the old one, she had to lay down plastic bags whenever she dried her clothes; otherwise, it would leave marks on the fabric. It couldn’t get wet in the rain either, or it would take days to dry out completely. It was actually quite a hassle.
The replaced wooden clothesline didn’t go to waste. She dismantled the wood, added an extra tree trunk, and set it up perfectly beneath the barnyard grass tree to create a simple summer shower stall. This would make bathing much more convenient when the weather got hot! The only downside was that since she couldn’t heat the water there, it was best to wash up before the sun went down.
With that major task out of the way, Huai Yu took a stroll through the vegetable garden and successfully ripened a peanut plant. When she pulled it out, the peanuts were covered in fresh soil. It was a heavy, massive cluster that she couldn’t even wrap both hands around. Hehe! She had gotten this from Little Tian, so she would share a couple of peanuts with him later!
Next, she accelerated the growth of a sweet potato plant. Naturally, she plucked the tender sweet potato vines first, deciding to snap them into pieces and stir-fry them with chili and lard later. The remaining older, tougher vines would be divided among the chicks, Big Pup, and Second Pup. Then came the chili peppers and cowpeas—never mind, she had been eating those for days. Today, she’d switch to cucumbers! She’d make smashed cucumber salad! Eggplants worked too! Sliced into thin strips, tossed in a bit of flour, and stir-fried with chilies, they were fragrant, soft, savory, and incredibly delicious!
After stuffing her stomach full and making sure Ke Taichiro, Kuang Biao, and the chicks were properly settled, Huai Yu finally set off for the city in the late afternoon, carrying a fully loaded woven basket on her back.
She would first head to the hospital to eat dinner with Zhou Qian, then sleep in his hospital room until midnight. By then, she should be able to meet Uncle Zaozi! Perfect! Except for one thing... Huai Yu carefully fastened the lid of her woven basket tightly and squeezed onto the rickety, swaying bus.
Later, at the hospital.
Zhou Qian stared at her woven basket. "So—what exactly did you bring here? You’re acting all sneaky like it’s something shameful."
"Shh!" Huai Yu was acting incredibly solemn!
She opened the ward door to check the hallway, then carefully lifted the lid of the basket. "Big and Second Pup, come on out quickly!"
As Zhou Qian stared in dumbfounded shock, a bizarre, flat-beaked mutated creature hopped out. Its body was as perfectly round as a giant sea urchin, yet its two legs were as thin and long as chopsticks. Its beady little eyes scanned the hospital room, and it waddled back and forth on its webbed feet, as if evaluating its new environment.
"What... what is that thing?" Even though Zhou Qian was mentally prepared for something strange, he was still taken aback.
Huai Yu lowered her voice. "I made plans with Uncle Zaozi to go over to the highway station in the middle of the night to see if we can snag some bargains. He said mutated creatures are more restless at night and told me to be vigilant. I thought about it, and the strongest in our family should be Big and Second Pup, so I brought it along to protect me..."
What she said sounded perfectly logical, but Zhou Qian stared at the bizarre-looking creature and couldn’t help but ask, "What is it?"
"A g-goose... I think it’s a goose?" Huai Yu couldn’t say for sure either. Even after raising it for so long, she still had no idea what it actually was. All she knew was that it only ate a vegetarian diet.
"Then why do you call it Big and Second Pup? Can it clone itself into two?"
Huai Yu looked even more embarrassed. "It’s because there are two of them, and they look identical. I only brought one today, but since I couldn’t tell which one it is, I just called it that..."