Chapter 22: The Hot Pot Gift Set

Mu Gushan: "Mother, what should we do now?"
Madam He: "Keep climbing. I refuse to believe that if they can climb up, you lot can't."
Mu Gushui nodded: "That's right, let's keep climbing."
However, the two brothers were already injured. After several attempts, not only did they fail to climb up, but they also ended up covered in bruises and cuts from falling.

A long while later.
"I'm so full today," Mu Yiyue suddenly remarked.
Mu Eryue added: "The sweet and sour meat was so delicious; I wish I could eat it every day."
Mu Sanyue said: "Second Brother, Sister Zhenzhen said that eating too many sweets is not good for you."
Mu Eryue replied: "Ah, I forgot. Eating savory meat every day would be great too."
Listening from beneath the cliff, Madam He grew angrier by the minute. Her own family couldn't even afford meat, yet they were busy discussing what flavor of meat they would have next. Unable to hold back any longer, she roared, "Mu Guhuai, if you don't listen to me, I will truly disown you!"
Mu Guhuai had grown numb to such threats and showed no reaction.

Yu Zhenzhen, having eaten her fill, suddenly picked up a basin of water and walked to the edge of the cave. "If you don't want to be drenched in urine again, leave immediately. I doubt your household has any spare water for you to bathe with anymore."
Madam He was startled. Thinking of how she had used up so much water earlier that day just to get clean—only to be met with disgust from her two daughters-in-law—she grew even more incensed.
Seeing this, Mu Gushan and Mu Gushui had no choice but to persuade Madam He to leave for now.
Helpless and desperate to save face, Madam He threw out a final threat: "Mu Guhuai, I don't believe you can stay up there for your whole life!"
With that, seeing Yu Zhenzhen poised to pour the water, she quickly dragged her two sons away.
Yu Zhenzhen set down the basin and raised an eyebrow. "Once bitten, twice shy, I suppose."

The next day.
Yu Zhenzhen woke up and went straight into her space. After harvesting the crops from the land, she went to the courier collection point. Today, she had to choose one out of five packages.
Yu Zhenzhen frowned, looking at the empty throne. She said in a pitiable tone, "Shunmao, can you give me a hint? I'm very short on food right now. I need a large quantity. The food I brought from my past life's supermarket won't last much longer."
Although she couldn't see Shunmao, she knew he was definitely on the throne.
"Rest assured, these five packages are all things you currently need. Just pick one at random."
Yu Zhenzhen squinted: "Do you think I'd believe you?"
"I'm telling the truth. I can't say any more than that, or I'll be struck by lightning."
Yu Zhenzhen: "..."

Forget it.
Yu Zhenzhen chose the one in the middle. Opening it, she discovered it was a hot pot gift set.
It contained both clear and spicy soup bases, chicken, duck, fish, meat, delicacies from land and sea, noodles, snacks, and even various drinks—everything one could possibly need. Judging by the quantity, it would last her family at least a month.
Shunmao: "Satisfied? With this much food, it’s comparable to the hot pot buffets from your past life."
Yu Zhenzhen didn't want to let Shunmao get too full of himself, so she said indifferently, "It's far from a hot pot buffet."
Shunmao frowned: "You're complaining? Should I take it back?"
Yu Zhenzhen's expression changed instantly, and she chuckled foolishly: "How could I complain? You misunderstood; I'm very satisfied."
Shunmao glared at her and ignored her after that.

Yu Zhenzhen inspected the ingredients with great interest. Although hot pot might be quite fragrant, she couldn't worry too much about that as long as they had food. Besides, she didn't have to use these ingredients strictly for hot pot.
Sushi could be breakfast.
Vegetables could be stir-fried.
Meat could be cooked into separate dishes.
Various seafood could be steamed.
After selecting some ingredients for breakfast, Yu Zhenzhen exited the space, bringing out two buckets of water as well.
After washing up, she fried some of the sticky rice cakes from the hot pot set, drizzled them with the included brown sugar syrup, and sprinkled them with soybean flour.
She also steamed ten soup dumplings and fried ten pre-made golden breadsticks.
Finally, she boiled a pot of shrimp, soybean, and ham congee, giving everyone a cup of milk. A simple breakfast was ready.
Mu Guhuai and the three children looked at the breakfast, which grew richer by the day, and didn't know where to start.
Yu Zhenzhen smiled and said: "The ingredients today are quite good. These are sticky rice cakes, dumplings, breadsticks, and congee. Please, dig in."
Since she had spoken, the four of them stopped hesitating and quickly started eating.
"These sticky rice cakes are so delicious!"
"The breadsticks have such a unique flavor; they smell great and taste even better."
"There's soup inside these dumplings! How special!"

The four of them shared a tacit understanding; they praised the food and ate, without asking too many questions.
Yu Zhenzhen was very satisfied with their look of enjoyment.
However, after eating for a while, their moods suddenly turned somber.
Yu Zhenzhen knew what they were thinking and said earnestly: "Don't worry, I will definitely find a way to bring your foster mother back."
After the events of the past few days, Mu Guhuai knew that his adopted daughter was capable, so he said hopefully: "Zhenzhen, then I'll leave it to you."
"It’s the least I can do."

After breakfast, Yu Zhenzhen took Mu Yiyue and Mu Eryue to borrow a wooden cart from Village Chief Du, then pushed the wild boar toward the military camp.
Although she could have used her space to transport the boar faster and with less effort, that wouldn't help the Mu children grow.
Xu Chengmao had wanted to follow them to provide protection, but Yu Zhenzhen refused, saying she could protect herself and her brothers, so he didn't insist. After all, the way she had handled the python yesterday was truly shocking. If he followed and they encountered danger, he might even become a burden.
As for Mu Guhuai, he had wanted to go too, but since there were rabbits back at the cave, he stayed behind with Mu Sanyue.
They had no fields to tend to now, and no real work to do. However, not far from the cave, there were vines that could be used to weave containers. Although he couldn't exert too much force with his hands, basic weaving was fine, and the children could help him with small tasks—especially with baskets, which he was quite good at making. If he wove enough now, he could sell them for money if he ever got the chance to go to town.

The military camp was not very far from Songshan Village; by the standards of her past life, it was only about two kilometers away.
Along the way, since it was still early, the three of them didn't encounter anyone. With the current water shortage, the villagers avoided going out whenever possible to save themselves from thirst.
However, as the three of them reached a small path, they suddenly heard the sounds of fighting nearby.
Mu Yiyue looked around curiously: "Sister, what is that sound?"
Yu Zhenzhen stared in one direction and suddenly reached out to push aside the withered wild grass. "Look over there."
The two brothers followed her gaze and saw a group of soldiers fighting against a group of people dressed in common clothing.
Mu Eryue was about to speak, but seeing Yu Zhenzhen make a gesture for silence, he had to hold his tongue.