Chapter 4 Planting Vegetables

  With the land for vegetables, Xiao Ping rushed to get the seeds of "new varieties of vegetables". In fact, he didn't have any classmates working at the Agricultural Institute, this was just an excuse to make Liu Jianguo feel at ease. Xiao Ping went to the nearest agricultural technology station, spent ten yuan to buy a big bag of cabbage seeds, and planned to officially start his entrepreneurial career.

  Xiao Ping hurriedly walked towards his residence with a big bag of vegetables in his arms. However, he had just passed the cement bridge at the village entrance when he encountered Zhao Yong and his gang again. Seeing Xiao Ping, who was usually weak and sickly, walking briskly, Zhao Yong was also surprised. But Zhao Yong didn't care about Xiao Ping's physical condition, blocking him with a fierce expression: "Xiao Ping, you're getting bolder and bolder, daring to retrieve the car without my consent, wasn't the last beating enough for you?"

  Xiao Ping is no longer the same as before, he doesn't flatter Zhao Yong and others anymore. He coldly looks at several young hooligans: "I don't want to mention what happened in the past, from now on, don't come to provoke me again!"

  "Ah, you little brat has grown up and dares to talk back to me!" Xiao Ping's words enraged Zhao Yong, who suddenly waved his hand loudly and shouted: "Get him for me!"

  Two young thugs next to him had been eager to try, and immediately rushed up to take action against Xiao Ping. Xiao Ping was not weak at all, dodging left and right, and soon got into a fight with the opponent. Xiao Ping hadn't suffered less from these thugs before, and now all the resentment accumulated over time burst out, and he fought equally with the opponent. What's even stranger is that Xiao Ping clearly felt that the thugs' punches and kicks were not as heavy as before, and it didn't hurt much when they hit him, posing no threat to him at all.

  "It must be the effect of the spiritual liquid!" Xiao Pingcai didn't think Zhao Yong and others would deliberately slack off, and immediately thought of the real reason. Since the spiritual liquid can cure diseases, it's also reasonable that it can strengthen one's body.

  With such an advantage, Xiao Ping became even more confident and soon defeated the two thugs. Zhao Yong was stunned and quickly gathered his two subordinates to retreat, not forgetting to leave a few harsh words: "You little brat, wait and see, next time you'll be in trouble!"

  "Next time? Next time I'll definitely make you look even better!" Since learning the wonderful use of the Alchemy Cauldron, Xiao Ping has become more and more confident about his future.

  The next morning, Xiao Ping was eager to get started. Liu Jian's family courtyard was not very big, only about two or three mu in size. However, the courtyard had not been taken care of for many years and was overgrown with weeds and vines, requiring a lot of effort to completely clean up.

  Liu Jianguo used to be a farmer, and now although he has come to the factory to work, he hasn't thrown away those sickles, hoes and other tools at home. It's just right for Xiao Ping to use them. He cut off the waist-deep weeds, then used a hoe to dig up all the grass roots underground, and finally leveled the land, dividing it into plots, convenient for planting vegetables next.

  Although the yard is not large, it's not easy for one person to do so many things. Xiao Ping was busy from morning till afternoon and didn't even have time to eat lunch. He finally managed to tidy up the entire yard. Looking at the neatly arranged land, Xiao Ping felt a great sense of accomplishment.

  Apart from that, Xiao Ping also had another gain, which was the discovery that his physical strength had improved a lot compared to before. Tidying up the land wasn't an easy task, but Xiao Ping had been busy for more than half a day yet didn't feel tired at all, and hadn't even broken a sweat, still feeling full of energy. Xiao Ping knew this was also the effect of the spiritual liquid, and the weight of the demon-refining pot in his heart naturally became even heavier.

  After leveling the land, Xiao Ping carefully scattered his "new variety of green vegetable seeds" evenly into the soil, and then carefully watered them. Xiao Ping had high expectations for these vegetables and was very serious about doing this work, completely unaware that Li Wanqing was watching him from the gate of the courtyard.

  Li Wanqing had just gotten off work and came back, seeing Xiao Ping still busy in the yard, so she curiously came over to take a look. Seeing Xiao Ping tidy up the yard in such a short time, she couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Li Wanqing's hometown was also in the countryside, and this patch of flat vegetable field made her feel particularly nostalgic. Looking at Xiao Ping's busy figure, a faint smile also appeared on Li Wanqing's pretty face.

  Xiao Ping carefully watered the last row of crops, and when he looked up, he saw Li Wanqing's face lit up with a smile in the sunset. For a moment, he was taken aback, but quickly regained his composure and smiled back at her: "Off work?"

  "Ah, just got off work, came over to see how busy you are." Li Wanqing said with a smile and soft voice: "You're really working hard, aren't you?"

  Xiao Ping smiled and said: "Of course, I made a fortune and married an old wife all thanks to these dishes!"

  Li Wanqing curiously asked: "Is this dish really selling so well?"

  Xiao Ping confidently said, "This is a new variety of green vegetables. When we harvest them, I'll ask Wang Auntie to stir-fry some for everyone to taste. After you try it, you'll know I'm not talking nonsense."

  Li Wanqing nodded and said, "Okay, I also want to know what's special about this new variety of green vegetables."

  "It's settled in one word!"

  Xiao Ping solemnly made a promise to Li Wanqing, and the two of them couldn't help but look at each other and smile. At this moment, Li Wanqing suddenly discovered that Xiao Ping was actually quite handsome, especially when he smiled, he looked particularly sunny. When facing Xiao Ping's smiling face, her heart skipped a few beats uncontrollably.

  The two people who were smiling at each other didn't notice that Wang Jian was hiding behind the window, secretly watching them. Seeing Xiao Ping and Li Wanqing chatting happily, this narrow-minded guy gritted his teeth in anger, with a gloomy face muttering to himself: "This is impossible, how could my Wanqing like a vegetable farmer? No way, I must make this kid suffer!"

  Xiao Ping also knew that he had inexplicably become Wang Jian's love rival, and for the next few days, he devoted himself to taking care of his vegetable garden. The vegetables quickly sprouted, and a week later, Xiao Ping carefully mixed a drop of spiritual liquid into two large buckets of water, then meticulously watered each vegetable plant.

  The effect of the spiritual liquid was better than Xiao Ping had imagined. After watering the cabbage with the spiritual liquid, its growth rate accelerated significantly, and it grew a lot every day. At this rate, it would be ready to harvest in just over ten days. The cabbage watered with the spiritual liquid not only grew fast but also looked very good. The cabbages in the field were all very spirited, their leaves were green and shiny, like jade carvings, and their stalks were white and pure, as if carved from the finest sheep's fat white jade.

  Even Liu Jianguo and Wang Fang, who have been planting land for decades, couldn't help but praise these vegetables when they saw them. They believed that these "new varieties of green vegetables" would definitely sell for a good price. In Wang Fang's words, even if these green vegetables can't be eaten, buying them back home to plant in flower pots is also beautiful, and there's no need to worry about not being able to sell them.

  The effect of the spiritual liquid on the vegetables was unexpectedly good, which naturally made Xiao Ping very happy. However, he was also troubled by another problem, that is, the spiritual liquid was not enough. The alchemy pot can only produce a drop of spiritual liquid every three days, and Xiao Ping needs to use it to strengthen his body as well as water the vegetables, which is really too little.

  However, Xiao Ping was also helpless about this. He didn't even understand how many wonderful uses the Lianyou Hu had, let alone think of a way to make it produce more spiritual liquid.

  Xiao Ping has also spent a lot of effort to figure out the secrets of the Lian Yao Hu, and recently he has been going to the library the most often, apart from taking care of those precious vegetables. However, Xiao Ping did not find any clues about the Lian Yao Hu in the library, so he had to shift his attention to the antique market, hoping to hear some legends related to the Lian Yao Hu.

  Xiao Ping came to the antique market as usual, wandering around and looking for some clues that interested him. However, after half a day of browsing, he didn't gain anything and stood disheartened beside a stall to rest. Just as Xiao Ping had just stopped, the Lingyao Hu (a magical container) hanging on his chest began to vibrate slightly, which really startled him.