Chapter 62: Perfect Water Ratio
Translator: Lonelytree
As curious as the adults were, they couldn’t be as thick-skinned as the children. After all, Xiao Lingye already said that Mother Xiao only made enough for their family.
When Mother Xiao heard Xiao Xiaohu, she said, “Come in and eat then. We have some left.” Mother Xiao got up to get four more sets of cutlery. Thankfully, she had made extra.
The food was delicious, but it would still go to waste if they couldn’t finish it. The Xiao Family was already full. Mother Xiao decided to give the remaining porridge and pancakes to the kids.
Xiao Lingye immediately protested. “Mom, I have to go to school today. I plan to bring these pancakes with me.”
Mother Xiao glanced at him. “Don’t be so stingy. I’ll make more for you!”
Her children were going to town later. Yu ‘Er was going to the market, Ye ‘Er to school. The town was quite far from Taoyuan Village, so they had to leave early. There was not enough time to cook more porridge but frying some egg pancakes was doable.
Xiao Lingye nodded and grinned, saying, “Thank you, Mom!”
Xiao Xiaohui’s eyes lit up when he heard Mother Xiao would make more egg pancakes. He said with anticipation, “Second aunt, do you mind making extra? I-I have to herd the cows later. I can have them as snacks when I’m hungry.” The other children also looked at Mother Xiao with anticipation.
Looking at the small children, Mother Xiao laughed and said, “Okay. Just wait here for me.”
“Yay!” The little children cheered.
Xiao Lingyu finished her porridge and pancakes in silence. She was deep in thought. ‘This won’t do. It’s just breakfast, and it has already attracted so many people. If this continues, people will get suspicious.’ Xiao Lingyu thought about it and decided to dilute the water barrel’s water. She had to lower its effectiveness.
For her family, Xiao Lingyu decided to have them drink the water directly from individual glasses. If Mother Xiao didn’t cook with the spring water, it wouldn’t attract the villagers’ attention.
Mother Xiao went to fry some pancakes. The four kids were satisfied. Even after they were full, they asked to take some away with them. This made Mother Xiao and the others laugh endlessly. Since the children liked the food so much, Mother Xiao prepared more for them.
Xiao Lingye saw this and announced that he wanted to bring the porridge and egg pancakes to school.
Mother Xiao was speechless. “You can bring the egg pancakes, but forget about the porridge! How do you expect me to pack them?”
In the end, Xiao Lingye and Xiao Lingyu were given a few pancakes before their trip.
While Mother Xiao was busy with the children, Xiao Lingyu grabbed a bowl of porridge and sneaked into the kitchen. She poured the porridge into the water barrel. Then she scooped the water from the barrel into two buckets. After the buckets were full, Xiao Lingyu speared a pole through their handles. Then, she picked up the buckets by balancing the pole on her shoulder. She headed to the backyard.
When Mother Xiao saw her daughter carry the water buckets out of the kitchen, she asked, “Yu ‘Er, where are you going with the water?”
Xiao Lingyu answered, “Mom, I accidentally poured the porridge into the water barrel. I didn’t want the whole barrel of water to go to waste, so I decided to use them to water the vegetables in the backyard.”
Mother Xiao didn’t suspect anything. She stood up and said, “Girl, the water buckets are very heavy. You sure you can carry it? Come, let me do it!”
Xiao Lingyu shook her head, “Mom, I can do this. I used to help you around the house before, don’t you remember?”
Mother Xiao said, “But that was in the past. You haven’t done heavy chores since you moved to the city. You shouldn’t injure yourself. Let mom do it.”
Xiao Lingyu shook her head again. “Mom, I’m fine. Eventually, I’ll have to do this since I’ve decided to stay and farm.”
Mother Xiao relented and silently turned around.
Xiao Lingyu continued her journey with the two buckets of water. She put down the buckets when she arrived at the backyard. She looked around, and with a thought, the two water buckets were gone.
Xiao Lingyu didn’t use the water to water the vegetables, or they’d end up with another batch of giant harvest.
Xiao Lingyu moved to study the few vegetables that she had watered in her experiment yesterday. As she predicted, the denser the spring water, the bigger the vegetable would grow.
There were a few vegetables that had grown quite large, but they were not as exaggerated as the day before.
Even the vegetables watered with the least diluted spring water were only one-third of yesterday’s size. For this batch, the ratio of spring water to normal water was 1: 10.
Based on her observation, the vegetables yesterday hadn’t fully grown before her family harvested time. Given time, they would grow bigger.
The batch with 1:50 spring water and normal water was one-sixth yesterday’s size.
The perfect ratio was 200 percent normal water and 1 percent spring water. This batch earned a harvest that was about half a size larger than normal vegetables. They looked cute.
Xiao Lingyu to use this ratio in the future. The produce grew well, and they didn’t grow to conspicuous sizes.
Xiao Lingyu finished her observation and moved to pick a few large vegetables.
“Sis, we’re departing soon!” Xiao Lingye shouted from inside the house just as Xiao Lingyu was done. She replied, “Okay, I’m coming!”
She placed the vegetables inside the water buckets and carried them back into the house.