Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 86: Chapter 84 Essence of Life

Shen Yunfang got busy again after returning from the county, besides pickling various kinds of salted vegetables, she also harvested all the watermelons and cantaloupes from both the house and the secret base.

In total, she harvested forty large watermelons, each weighing at least twenty pounds, with a few exceeding thirty pounds. She also harvested quite a few cantaloupes, which she packed into willow baskets and then stored in the space.

When the weather was hot, she would use a basket to sink the watermelons or cantaloupes into the well water to keep them cool, and when cut open in the afternoon, they were sweet and refreshing, making them a must-have for beating the heat.

Of course, if she was cutting a watermelon, she couldn’t finish a whole one by herself in one go, and that’s when the benefits of having a space with a preservative feature became apparent.

Because of this, she inadvertently discovered another big secret of the space.

One afternoon, she put the leftover watermelon into the space, entered with her consciousness as usual, and just as she was about to leave after placing the items, she noticed something different about the space.

The small bowl that had always been spinning above the space suddenly descended on its own.

Shen Yunfang, driven by curiosity, leaned over to look and saw that inside were quite a few blue, translucent spheres, each the size of a fingernail, somewhat resembling the fish liver oil capsules from the future. She guessed that the bowl had filled up, which was why the bowl that had been floating had automatically come down.

Not knowing what these things were or what they were for, she was nevertheless certain of one thing: anything produced by the space was absolutely safe. So she calmly took these transparent spheres out of the bowl.

Then she understood what these things were for and their origin. The information about them automatically flashed into her mind, and she couldn’t have ignored it even if she wanted to.

Shen Yunfang gave these transparent spheres a name—the Essence of Life.

It was a product of nutritional surplus in Shen Yunfang’s body, meaning that when her body had reached a state of nutritional saturation and any excess nutrition was ingested, her body would automatically convert these nutrients into these capsule-like Essences of Life.

For the first sixteen years of her life, Shen Yunfang had always been in a state of not having enough to eat, so this function had never been activated.

Since Shen Feiyang had crossed over, he had tried his best to satisfy his cravings. At the very least, he had been full for the past year, and last winter, he even stewed chickens and sparrows for himself every now and then. All year round, the supply of eggs had never ceased, meaning the nutritional deficiencies in her body were being replenished bit by bit.

Ever since she hunted a wild boar in the mountains, Shen Yunfang had never short-changed herself, either stewing meat to eat every day or adding a few slices to her stir-fry dishes—or at the very least, having a bowl of bone soup. Therefore, she had somehow reached a state of nutritional surplus in this destitute era.

The space inside her body automatically converted this excess nutrition into a nutrient liquid—the Essence of Life.

This meant that in the future, Shen Yunfang didn’t have to worry about getting fat from eating well, as her space automatically took care of that problem for her. As long as she kept a good diet, the Essence of Life would continue to be produced in an endless stream.

Its purpose was to gradually improve all bodily functions, steering her body towards perfection. Of course, this was a process that couldn’t be achieved with just one or two Essences of Life; it would only be effective with long-term use.

As for what kind of perfection Shen Yunfang would achieve, she didn’t know yet, but one thing was certain—the Essence of Life was definitely a good thing.

Shen Yunfang carefully took the Essence of Life produced by the space out of the space. The light blue capsules looked even more crystal clear under the sunlight, and if their surface hadn’t been soft, they really would have resembled gems.

After examining them for a while, she finally picked one up and swallowed it with water.

There was no immediate effect; it wasn’t something that worked instantaneously; she could only wait and let it gradually improve her constitution.

From that moment on, Shen Yunfang decided she must never short-change herself. She would eat and drink well, providing her body with abundant nutrition so that she could continuously produce the Essence of Life in the space, using it to make herself even healthier.

She figured if she could keep this up, becoming a centenarian wouldn’t just be a dream.

In mid-August, Shen Yunfang tidied up the retired vegetable garden in her backyard, leaving only the seedlings she planned to use for seeds; the rest she pulled out, and then she planted fall white cabbage, radishes, and some mustard greens.

During that time, she took a day to borrow a small cart from the Wang Family and went to the county town. After she had hauled out the two beehives and related equipment, she found a secluded spot to store them all in her space. Then, heading straight for her secret base upon returning home, she set the beehives there to let the bee larvae hatch naturally.

As for how to actually raise bees, Shen Yunfang hadn’t really studied that. It was all going to be trial and error.

In the midst of busyness, the season advanced to the joyful yet exhausting time of harvest.

By the end of August, the grains in the fields were ripening one after another.

As a shepherd like Shen Yunfang, she was also required to participate in labor during such a busy and crucial time.

That day she got up early to ensure the sheep had enough grass in their pen, then made a detour to the cornfields.

The fields buzzed with activity: elderly women were breaking corn ears, men were transporting them out, children frolicked and occasionally helped with the work, creating a scene of joyous harvest.

Shen Yunfang didn’t really know what she could do, so she ran off to find Uncle Shen to assign her work.

Shen Yeqing frowned at her short-sleeved shirt and after a heavy sigh, did not send her into the thick of the cornfields, but instead told her to go to the Drying Yard to strip the corn ears.

Shen Yunfang wasn’t picky about the work; she was actually quite happy to avoid the cornfields, so she cheerfully headed to the Drying Yard. There, half the women and girls from the village were already seated, stripping the leaves from the corn ears.

Among them were her cousin Shen Yunxiu and her second aunt Shen Fuzhen, with Old Lady Wang also present.

Shen Yunfang knew Shen Yunxiu didn’t like her, and the feeling was mutual, so when she sat down, she deliberately chose a spot quite far from Shen Yunxiu and Shen Fuzhen.

She greeted Old Lady Wang next to her and then bent over to pick up a corn ear and started stripping off the husk.

The elderly women were busy working while chatting; Shen Yunfang listened with keen interest, not chiming in.

She did, however, hear a lot of useful information. For example, Big Butt Shen’s pig-raising was going well; the pig already weighed over 150 pounds and was expected to reach 200 pounds by the end of the year.

Shen Yunfang mused that this was considered good, but her own two pigs already weighed 200 pounds each.

The Dabaihua family’s private plots were tended meticulously, suggesting a promising harvest for the year.

The commune was showing a movie the next evening, a prime opportunity for the hooligans when the young women and wives were out.

A certain educated youth from the commune’s youth station and a girl from another village seemed to be getting married.

A neighboring village’s old cow had injured its leg, and the commune had decided to slaughter it the next day. The villagers wanting beef could buy some without needing ration tickets.