Since things have already settled, there's no need to overthink it.
Having been through so many hardships, Mei Mengzhen quickly adjusted her mindset. She glanced at the clock in the living room, thinking not much time had passed — but wow, it's already lunchtime.
She hurriedly asked, "Chenchen, are you hungry? Sis will go make lunch."
Mei Mengchen's eyes lit up, "Are we having the veggies from this morning?"
"Do you want that? Cabbage or potatoes?"
"Either is fine, everything Sis makes is so yummy." Mei Mengchen really meant it, not trying to flatter her — he genuinely thought the dishes this morning were unbelievably tasty, even better than Mom's cooking.
She also thought the two dishes this morning weren't bad, but there were other veggies in the space, too. She wanted to try something new. "How about Sister makes some other yummy dishes for you? If you don't like them, I can make the ones from this morning again for dinner, okay?"
Mei Mengchen didn't mind at all and answered right away, "Okay."
She settled Mei Mengchen onto the sofa, turned on cartoons for him, handed him a cup of Spiritual Spring Water, and only then felt relaxed enough to go to the kitchen to cook.
Their fridge was in the kitchen, and opening the fridge door just happened to block Mei Mengchen's view. She first pondered what to cook, then used the cover of the fridge to take veggies out from the space.
Two dishes: tomato scrambled eggs, and braised pork with green beans. The meat and eggs were in the fridge already; she only needed to take out tomatoes and green beans.
First, she got the meat out from the freezer, put it in a basin, and soaked it in Spiritual Spring Water to speed up thawing, though honestly, she just wanted to improve the meat's texture with the spring water.
Then came cooking rice, washing veggies, and stir-frying. With the morning's experience, she wasn't nearly as flustered this time around.
Mei Mengzhen bustled alone in the kitchen, while Mei Mengchen kept watching her back, not wanting to look away.
Even though things were settled, Mei Mengchen still felt like he was dreaming.
He knew he was young, and being with his sister was a burden. But these past few days in the hospital, their relatives had taken turns to keep him company and bring food. On the surface, they seemed nice, but once no one else was around, they'd curse him for eating for free, call him a useless brat, an unwanted wild kid.
He was young, not dumb — he knew these weren't nice words. When he talked back, they tried hitting him.
He knew Sis didn't like him much. At first, he didn't dare tell her, just kept it bottled up. But when he heard those relatives wanted to take him to their homes, he panicked. He really didn't want to go, so when Auntie spoke, he burst into tears.
It felt useless, but he couldn't help it — he was still so little, he really couldn't hold back.
But after crying a bit, he heard Sis was keeping him to live with her.
God knows how thrilled he was. This sister had never really liked him — he'd always known it growing up. As for why, he kinda understood, kinda didn't.
Seeing Sis work so hard to keep him, he felt he should do something, too. So when the relatives objected a second time, he yelled out loud.
Luckily, Sis really kept him here.
Now, he wouldn't have to go to those relatives' homes, be called that wild kid who eats for free.
And now, he really, really liked this sister — even a little more than Mom and Dad. Sis made him tasty food, gave him good water to drink, smiled at him, kept him company, slept with him! He liked a sister like this. Even though he was still little, he'd definitely treat Sis well once he grew up. No — even now, though he's little, he could be good to Sis, too.
Mei Mengzhen had no clue that keeping her brother out of guilt made him think all this.
She carried out the dishes, then glanced at her brother still in the living room. Their eyes met, and Mei Mengzhen smiled, "Come on, wash your hands — time to eat."
Mei Mengchen jumped off the sofa, put down his cup, sprinted to the restroom, then dashed to the dining table.
By then, Mei Mengzhen had already brought out all the food. The tomato eggs were bright and appetizing. Mei Mengchen didn't even think, just reached right for that dish with his first bite.
When the food hit his mouth, he was amazed again: "So good! Sis, this is really delicious!"
"Really? Let me try." Mei Mengzhen took a bite and instantly agreed, nodding. "Delicious." The tomato was perfect, but the eggs were a bit lacking.
The other dish was just as good, especially since the meat had been soaked in Spiritual Spring Water: the green beans and meat were both very tasty.
This meal, they both ended up stuffed again. As expected, produce from the space... …
A kid's life is basically about eating, playing, and sleeping. Mei Mengchen was used to napping at noon, so after lunch, Mei Mengzhen coaxed him to sleep.
Once her brother was asleep, she didn't idle. Lying down, her mind went straight into the space.
Even though the nearby market wasn't convenient for her to sell veggies, she still wanted to do it. But if she wanted to sell, those few veggies she'd tested growing before definitely wouldn't be enough. Now that she had free time, she had to plant more, and with space growing, harvesting is instant — a joy only she could imagine.
Not even an hour later, her freshly planted veggies had piled up as high as a little mountain. Thanks to the Osmanthus Tree's help, all she really had to do was sprinkle some seeds — barely anything else needed doing.
At moments like this, she couldn't help but feel grateful for the Osmanthus Tree that accompanied her all childhood.
She walked up to the Osmanthus Tree, touched its trunk, praised it casually, but then thought, the space barely had anything yet. She complained absentmindedly, "They say I can raise poultry and grow trees, but where am I supposed to buy these things?"
Just as she finished speaking, a flash of light crossed before her eyes.
Mei Mengzhen immediately tensed up, "What's that?"
She was curious what that flash was, and how it disappeared so fast. She glanced at the Osmanthus Tree again, a thought flitting through her mind — seemed like the flash happened right after she touched the tree.
She looked at her hand, looked at the tree, tentatively reached out and touched it again, and the flash appeared again, just as quick.
Startled, she shivered, but quickly got the hang of it — as long as she touched the Osmanthus Tree, or stayed in contact with it, the light would appear.
And the light wasn't ordinary at all. It was an LED screen, showing an app called Spatial Mall.
The Spatial Mall was easy to use. It was a lot like later-day Taobao and Pinduoduo, except now she could operate it directly with her thoughts.