OFTLHFRO C21

Chapter 21: Sudden Wealth

Seeing that the father and daughter were fine, Luo Mingchen continued cooking.

Huo Yan patiently taught Huo Xinyue to count numbers beyond ten, explaining how many piles there were and how many copper coins those piles added up to.

When Luo Mingchen came to call them to eat, he was shocked by what he heard from Huo Yan, “How can you teach her like that? How will Yueyue learn?”

After hearing this, Huo Yan patted Huo Xinyue’s little bottom and asked, “Yueyue, how many copper coins are there in ten piles?”

Tilting her little head, Huo Xinyue thought for a moment before sweetly answering, “One hundred.”

Her words were a bit indistinct, but Luo Mingchen was quite sure she said one hundred.

After his surprise, Luo Mingchen leaned closer to ask, “And what about two piles of copper coins?”

“Um… twenty.”

After asking a few more questions, Luo Mingchen found that Huo Xinyue could only count by tens. She knew what one hundred was and 180, but only under the premise of ten coins per pile.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too far off…

Even so, Luo Mingchen still thought she was very smart. “Yueyue is so clever. Eat some more meat later, okay?”

Pleased with the praise, Huo Xinyue happily said, “Okay~”

After resting a while from lunch, Luo Mingchen soaked more soybeans, asked Huo Yan to watch the kids, and went into the space to harvest and plant vegetables.

He also took a basket of strawberries to Huo Yan and warned him to give Huo Xinyue some but not too much, to avoid causing stomach problems.

Seeing Luo Mingchen suddenly disappear, Huo Yan glanced at the sleeping Huo Xinyue and waited outside.

This familiar space had air much better than outside.

Even though this world had no industrial pollution, Huo Yan felt the air in the space was more comfortable.

Others might not know, but as an ability user, he could clearly sense many gentle forces lingering here, which made the plants taste better and altered their growth cycles.

The fruits and vegetables grown in the space were mostly Luo Mingchen’s favorites, like cherries, strawberries, bananas, big watermelons, oranges, and peaches.

Due to the space’s limited size, the quantity was small, but once the fruit trees matured, they could regrow in an hour or two after picking, which was quite sufficient.

After carefully storing the grain, Luo Mingchen finished his work and strolled through the newly arrived mall to see what good things were inside.

After browsing, he discovered a corner with a display cabinet of gold and silver jewelry.

Wasn’t this world’s currency gold and silver?

“These shouldn’t all be fakes, right?”

After all, it was a major mall.

Luo Mingchen couldn’t tell and didn’t bother; next time he would check the jewelry store there, appraise prices, and if short on money, sell some.

But currently, money wasn’t tight; some pieces were quite nice. When Huo Xinyue grew older, they could be for her.

Coming out of the space, Luo Mingchen saw only a small portion left of the basket of strawberries. Huo Xinyue was holding a large strawberry in each hand, so he quickly asked Huo Yan, “How many did you let her eat?”

Huo Yan said, “You should ask her how many she let me eat.”

“What?”

Luo Mingchen looked at Huo Xinyue, who bit the tip of a strawberry and smiled sweetly at him, “Sweet!”

Then she tried to give the bitten strawberry to him, “Daddy.”

Luo Mingchen laughed helplessly and took the strawberry, then seriously said to Huo Xinyue, “Yueyue, you can’t eat like this anymore, okay?”

Huo Xinyue blinked her big eyes and looked at him, confused, “Huh?”

So Luo Mingchen patiently explained, “Yueyue, I know you want to give the sweet part to daddy, but originally everyone would have a taste of the new strawberries. If you let everyone take a bite, we’ll only eat your saliva. That’s very impolite. Impolite kids aren’t good and will get spanked. When you go outside, people will say you’re a bad child without family manners.”

Huo Xinyue understood “bad child” and “spank” and shook her head repeatedly, trying to explain, “No, not bad.”

But she ran out of words, pouted, and tears almost fell.

Luo Mingchen patiently explained again several times until Huo Xinyue agreed not to let everyone bite. He rewarded her with a kiss on the forehead, “Good girl.”

Raising children was really difficult. It was no easy feat, and truly admirable, that Huo Yan’s cousin had raised Huo Yuhui and Huo Xiang well—especially since their father was absent.

Now that the three kids were with them, they absolutely couldn’t let them be spoiled.

Seeing Huo Yan looking at him, Luo Mingchen thought he wanted to ask about the space.

Instead, Huo Yan handed him the remaining strawberries, “I can’t eat any more. You enjoy your daughter’s filial love.”

The rest of the strawberries were also bitten around the edges. Leaving them for the two brothers would be unfair—not that they would refuse, but in a multi-child family, one cannot favor one child too much while letting the others yield all the time.

So Luo Mingchen had to finish those strawberries himself.

He washed the green beans collected from the space and laid them out in the yard to dry, as well as the freshly harvested soybeans. Besides the soaked beans, the remaining soybeans could make only three large pots of tofu.

In the afternoon, when picking up the kids from school, Luo Mingchen bought many jars of various sizes.

The mall also sold jars, but they were small and made of glass. If he took those, people would easily notice they weren’t local, and he couldn’t say they were made from crystal.

People who didn’t know would think his family was very rich.

Back at the usual spot, the two boys happily ran up to them.

On the way, Huo Yuhui asked, “Little daddy, is all the tofu sold out?”

“Sold out long ago. Today I soaked lots more beans.”

Luo Mingchen planned to finish the tofu early tonight and put it into the space.

If the beans weren’t soaked long enough, he could accelerate the process inside the space in just minutes, making it usable.

Since he had the space, Luo Mingchen didn’t plan to be too secretive. In places it could be used, it should be used.

Huo Xiang pouted, “Little daddy, isn’t a single piece left?”

Luo Mingchen caught the implication and deliberately asked, “You want some?”

Huo Xiang honestly nodded, “Yes, looks so tender.”

“Then let’s go home early to grind soy milk and try it tonight, okay?”

Huo Xiang eagerly agreed, “Okay!”

At this time, the beans were surely not soaked enough, but the soaking could be accelerated inside the space.

The first time watching Luo Mingchen make tofu, the three siblings were dumbfounded—for both the soy milk grinding process and removing the tofu dregs, it looked like a juggling act.

Taohua Town was small. Luo Mingchen and Huo Yan brought Huo Xinyue to the street to sell tofu for several days. Word quickly spread back to the village, and some people came to buy some to try. The feedback was good, so they especially ordered some in advance.

Those in town who tasted the soft and smooth tofu mostly found other vendors’ tofu too hard, asked when they came to sell, and it was basically sold out within half an hour after they arrived.

Even restaurant and banquet hall owners came wanting to order.

Honestly, Luo Mingchen was tempted to open a tofu shop in town.

Footnotes:

1. “Ten piles” (十堆) — Groupings of ten coins used for easier counting. 
2. “Copper coins” (銅板) — Traditional Chinese currency coins.