Qin Xue gently caressed Jiajia's hair, which was very soft and comfortable to touch, making her heart melt.
"Qin Xue, sit down, we'll eat soon. I'll go heat up some soup, and we can start eating." Yu Xiu took the buns to the kitchen to make room for the bowls.
"No need, sister-in-law, I've already eaten. Just go ahead and eat without worrying about me."
Just clear the bowls for me, I need to go back and rest. I'm so sleepy lately, I feel like I can't ever get enough sleep." Qin Xue knew that being pregnant often meant being sleepy.
"Did you really eat? Don't be shy, or you'll go hungry." Yu Xiu also enjoyed sleep when she was pregnant, so she did not insist on Qin Xue staying for dinner.
"I'm not being shy. I really did eat. I ate the buns not long ago. If you don't believe me, the buns are still warm. So, I'm not hungry, and I can't eat any more. Just give me the plate, and I'll leave, so you guys can enjoy your meal. Goodbye, Jiajia, feel free to visit Auntie's house anytime." Qin Xue waved goodbye to Jiajia while holding the plate.
"Okay, Auntie, goodbye." Jiajia also waved her little hand to say goodbye to Qin Xue.
Yu Xiu closed the door before returning to the kitchen to cook the soup. The meal consisted of two dishes and a soup: a meat and cabbage stir-fry, a green vegetable stir-fry, and a tomato and egg soup. It was quite a decent meal, with the meat provided by Qin Xue from the previous day.
Yu Xiu cut some vegetables for the child to eat. The conditions at Yu Xiu's house were similar to those at Fang Hong's, with the difference that Yu Xiu's family had one more child. Yu Xiu and Fang Hong were around the same age, but Yu Xiu had a higher educational background, having graduated from high school, while Fang Hong only had a junior high school diploma.
"Jiajia, go get your brother for dinner. Mr. Xu, don't you think Qin Xue has changed a lot? She's not like what people say at all."
Yu Xiu handed a bowl of soup to Xu Fangzhou, served their son half a bowl of soup, fed Jiajia some soup, and then gave Jiajia a bun to eat herself before she started eating.
"The change is good. Now Chu Molin can work with peace of mind. Otherwise, it wouldn't work if things were like before. Well, this bun is really delicious. Try it." Xu Fangzhou took a bite of the bun and handed another one to Yu Xiu.
Xu Fangzhou ate the buns and served his wife and daughter, while their son had yet to return for dinner.
"It really is delicious, much better than the ones sold outside." Yu Xiu had also bought buns from outside before, but they were not as tasty as the ones Qin Xue made.
"Mom, it's delicious, I want more." Jiajia finished the bun in her hand and wanted more to eat.
"Jiajia, it's not Mom who is delicious, it's the bun. Here you go." Yu Xiu laughed, tapped the girl's nose, and handed her another bun.
"Mom, I can't finish it all. Just give me half." Despite her young age, Jiajia was very sensible and knew not to waste food if she couldn't finish it.
"Okay, I'll have Dad break it in half for you. You take one half, and your brother takes the other half." Yu Xiu asked Jiajia to give the bun to Xu Fangzhou.
Xu Fangzhou watched the interaction between his wife and daughter with a smile, breaking the bun in half for each of the siblings.
Xu Fangzhou felt that seeing his family every day was happiness.
His wife might be reserved and not particularly talkative with others outside, but that was only because she wasn't acquainted with them. At home, she was a smiling and gentle woman.
Although life might be frugal, there was always a balance to things. Having a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for?
Arguably, Mr. Xie's family and theirs were the only harmonious ones in the whole research institute.
Yu Xiu felt Xu Fangzhou's gaze, looked up at him, and blushed, as his eyes were full of affection.
When Qin Xue returned home, she washed her face, went back to her room for a nap, and peeked into the space where she found that the vegetables she had planted the night before had already sprouted.
It seemed that what Xue Ling said was right; this space was indeed a good thing.
The vegetables that were sown last night sprouted in just half a day, so she could enjoy fresh vegetables very soon – yay, how nice!
After checking on the vegetables, Qin Xue went back to the bamboo house, "Xue Ling, can you leave the space and come outside?"
"I can't right now, master. My cultivation is too low to leave. Once my cultivation is higher, I can. Do you want me to leave?" Xue Ling had just woken up and had limited abilities, so leaving the space would be very dangerous for her.
"No, I was just asking. You still have cultivation? But didn't you say you woke up because of my blood? How do you still have cultivation?" Qin Xue was shocked.
"Of course, I am an artifact spirit, and that's because my previous master was a cultivator. I grew along with her when she created this space.
But when her cultivation level increased, she found this space to be low-grade, so she sealed me away when she abandoned the space.
Your blood awakened me, so I woke up, but I had been asleep for so long that my cultivation has almost been completely drained."
Xue Ling used to accompany the cultivator in leveling up, but now Qin Xue is not a cultivator and has no cultivation, so Xue Ling can only rely on herself to level up.
"So how do you cultivate, and what abilities do you have?" Qin Xue felt like she had really stumbled upon a treasure, encountering such a fantastical thing.
"Right now, I only know how to use charms." She was shy because charms were meant to attract men.
"What, really? Charms? Why would I need them to attract men? How can you, a fox, attract men in the space? And what do you plan to do once you've hooked them in?" Qin Xue was confused. Weren't you a fox and not a human?
"Hehe, I don't have any other choice. Once my cultivation is strong enough, I can transform into a human shape, and then it'll be okay, right?" Xue Ling even cast a flirtatious glance at Qin Xue.
"Alright, alright, stop giving me those flirtatious looks. We'll talk about it when you can take human form. I need to rest now, so please don't bother me."
Qin Xue finished speaking and ignored Xue Ling, who didn't disturb her after she fell asleep.
She drank some of the Spirit Spring water and then went to sleep at the side. In fact, Xue Ling was not asleep but meditating, which was cultivating. Since Qin Xue was an ordinary person without cultivation, she could only take it slow.
When Qin Xue woke and left the space, she felt a pity seeing the ground covered with peach blossoms.
Seeing the full peach blossoms on the tree, she wondered if she could pick them, dry them, and use them for tea or to brew peach blossom wine, or make delicious peach blossom cakes.
As the thought occurred, she went out and found a few clean, large bags. She came back under the peach tree and began picking peach blossom petals.
After picking several large bags, they only covered one or two peach trees. With such a large peach blossom forest, the flowers seemed endless, and the trees bore only flowers and no peaches.
Though beautiful, right now Qin Xue wanted money, so she had to make the best use of everything.
Qin Xue fastened the bags filled with peach blossoms and hung them high up on a tree, not worrying about them getting ruined.
The fallen peach blossoms had lain on the ground undamaged under a thick layer, which Qin Xue had seen when she dug them up.
So, next time, Qin Xue planned to pick them up from the ground instead since they weren't dirty or trampled on by people. She thought it would be much more convenient than picking them one by one. She decided that would be her plan from now on.
Only when all the bags were tied up did Qin Xue leave the space. Seeing it was still early, she picked up her crochet work and continued, working until 5 o'clock. She then cooked a bowl of chicken egg soup and ate two steamed buns, which took care of her meal.
Qin Xue put the water on to heat, but instead of going downstairs for a walk, she paced back and forth in the house to help digest her meal.
When the water was hot, she went to take a shower. While showering, she heard Xue Ling's voice in her mind:
"Master, why don't you use the Spirit Spring water to bathe? It can improve your physique. Didn't you notice that after drinking the Spring water, your skin has improved a lot and your body is much cleaner of impurities?"
Hearing Xue Ling's words, Qin Xue realized it was true. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and saw that her skin had indeed become better.
After taking a shower and getting out of the space, Qin Xue surrounded the Spirit Spring and kept looking at it, then glanced around.
Maybe she could dig a hole on the side to divert the spring water to soak in, so she wouldn't have to scoop it. It would be much more convenient. Ah, that's it!
"Xue Ling, can I use as much of this Spirit Spring as I want?"
"Of course! It will keep replenishing as long as you don't commit any acts that would bring divine punishment. Then it will be inexhaustible and endless."
"Wow, that's awesome! It's so great. I'm going to dig a hole to soak in." Qin Xue decided to do it after returning from the county town the next day.