Chapter 47: The Gift Prepared by Lan Mo

Gu Yan’an left with Yang Wei. Lan Mo had just pushed her bicycle through the gate for less than a minute when Lan Jingtian hurried back on his small tricycle.

He first locked the tricycle, then picked up the large rosewood box from the cargo bed while complaining, “What’s up with that Xiao Gu? Why was he riding so fast? It was as if a pack of wolves were chasing him. Where is he now?”

“Dad, he had something to attend to today and won’t be eating at our place.”

“You silly child, you should have asked him to wait a little longer. With so much beef, he could have taken a pound or two home to eat.”

“Dad, if we can’t finish all this beef, let’s make Beef Sauce. We have chili powder and shiitake mushrooms at home.”

Lan Jingtian swallowed his saliva and asked, “Beef Sauce? Is it tasty?”

“It’s delicious, but it uses quite a bit of oil. Don’t worry, Dad, your daughter has money now. I’ll figure out a way to get some oil in the future.”

“Alright, do as you wish. But for this beef, you should cut two pounds for your grandmother’s family. If your grandmother gets to eat fresh beef, your mom would be especially happy.”

“Okay, I know what to do.”

Lan Mo picked up the ten pounds of fresh beef and went into the kitchen to get busy, while Lan Jingtian carried the large box back to the living room.

Out of the ten pounds of beef, Lan Mo first cut one pound for stir-frying, set aside another two pounds, and turned the remaining seven pounds into Beef Sauce.

Soon, the dining table was set with a plate of stir-fried beef, a plate of lightly sautéed bok choy, a large bowl of shiitake Beef Sauce, and a bowl of steamed eggs.

Everyone took a deep breath at the same time—damn, it smelled incredibly good. If the kids next door didn’t cry from envy, they’d be the ones losing.

Lan Yuanzhi asked, “Younger Sister, what is this bowl of dark stuff? How can it smell so amazing?”

“It’s Beef Sauce, Elder Brother. Try scooping a spoonful over your rice first and see if you like it.”

Lan Yuanzhi didn’t even bother with the stir-fried beef. He quickly scooped a large spoonful of Beef Sauce and mixed it with his rice.

“Mmm, this Beef Sauce is really too good. It would probably taste great as a topping for noodles too, right?”

Lan Jingtian glanced at his food-loving son and said, “This Beef Sauce is quite good. It would probably taste nice with steamed buns in the morning. Momo, how much Beef Sauce did you make?”

“Dad, I made seven pounds of Beef Sauce—a whole big pot.”

Hearing that she had made seven pounds of Beef Sauce and that there was still a large plate of stir-fried beef on the table, Lan Jingtian worried that Lan Mo might have forgotten to set aside two pounds of beef for her grandmother.

“Momo, didn’t I tell you to save two pounds of beef for your grandmother?”

“Dad, I left the two pounds of beef for Grandma in the kitchen. Fresh beef doesn’t keep well in this weather, so I turned the rest into Beef Sauce. We can store it in jars and enjoy it slowly later.”

Lan Jingtian instructed Lan Yuanzhi, “Yuanzhi, after you finish eating, take the beef to your grandmother and bring a bowl of Beef Sauce for them to try as well.”

Lan Yuanzhi muttered quietly, “Did Younger Sister find money today? Why did she suddenly buy so much beef? This Beef Sauce is delicious, but it must have used up a lot of oil, right?”

Su Mei tapped Lan Yuanzhi heavily with her chopsticks. “Just eat and stop complaining so much. Your dad told Momo that I like fresh beef, so she specially arranged to buy ten pounds. But fresh beef really doesn’t keep well in this weather, which is why Momo thought of turning it into Beef Sauce. So what if it uses a lot of oil? Haven’t you eaten plenty of it yourself?”

After finishing the meal, Lan Mo brought the red tangerine peel and dried tangerine peel from the rosewood box to the table and said, “My biological father left me some medicinal herbs in the Western-style house, and I sold them for quite a bit of money. These ten catties of dried tangerine peel and red tangerine peel can stay at home!”

Then she took out a box of century-old ginseng and handed it to Lan Guochang. “Grandfather, this century-old ginseng is for you and Grandmother to nourish your health.”

Next, she handed another box to Su Mei. “Mom, this one is for you and Dad to nourish your health.”

Lan Yuanzhi said with a playful grin, “Momo, we’re still young. You definitely shouldn’t make your elder brother like me take tonics! My body is perfectly fine. If you don’t believe me, ask your sister-in-law.”

Ye Zhen pinched Lan Yuanzhi’s hand hard. “Yuanzhi, is your skin itching again?”

Lan Mo placed the box of century-old ginseng in front of Lan Jiangli and said with a smile, “Well, Elder Brother, you’re as strong as an ox and don’t need tonics. This one is for Xiao Li’er to save for when he gets married.”

Lan Yuanzhi asked, “How much does a century-old ginseng sell for?”

Lan Jingtian replied, “Twelve hundred yuan per piece. Momo, we can’t accept this ginseng. You should keep it for your dowry later.”

“So expensive! Then we can’t accept this ginseng either! Xiao Li’er is still young, and my son is so handsome. Momo, you don’t need to worry about him not finding a wife in the future.”

Lan Mo remained silent and took out ten twenty-year-old ginseng roots from the box, handing them to Su Mei. “Mom, these ginseng roots are twenty years old. Take a few to slice and use them to nourish everyone’s health. You can use them to make chicken soup or brew ginseng tea. Keep the rest for gifting!”

Lan Yuanzhi returned the box of century-old ginseng to Lan Mo. “Younger Sister, you should keep this century-old ginseng safe. If possible, give me two of the twenty-year-old ginseng roots instead. I’ll give one to our leader and use the other to nourish my wife’s health.”

Lan Jingtian also advised, “Just keep one century-old ginseng for your grandfather. We’ll return ours too. You keep it for your dowry. Twenty-year-old ginseng can still nourish the body just fine.”

Seeing their insistence on refusing, Lan Mo took back the two century-old ginseng roots.

“Dad, if you won’t accept them, then I’ll use this century-old ginseng to make a jar of Ten Complete Great Tonic Wine for you. As for Xiao Li’er’s piece, I’ll give it to him when he’s a bit older.”

“You child, with such a generous hand, I don’t even know what to say. Xiao Li’er, when you grow up, you must treat your aunt well!”

Lan Jiangli drooled and said with a laugh, “Treat Auntie well, treat Auntie the best!”

“Hahaha, our Xiao Li’er is the most sensible!”

Lan Jingtian helped Lan Mo carry the rosewood box back to her room and instructed, “Momo, don’t tell anyone exactly how much the medicinal herbs sold for, to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Keep the money and herbs safe.”

“Okay, thank you, Dad!”

After bathing that evening, Lan Mo returned to her space. First, she harvested all the vegetables, then went to her friends’ spaces to “steal” from them.

Unable to sleep from excitement over the sudden nine thousand eight hundred yuan that appeared in her space, she simply got up to make Beef Sauce.

Having made a windfall thanks to “Little Useless in the Cultivation World,” she decided to make a few catties of Beef Sauce as a thank-you gift.

Give and take—who knows, maybe one day she’d be in a good mood and send over another batch of her discarded ginseng.

Thinking that Gu Yan’an might return to Jingshi, Lan Mo decided to make some for him to try as well. She prepared twenty catties of fresh beef at once.

It took a full three hours to finish everything. Twenty pounds of fresh beef yielded four jars of beef sauce. To prevent the sauce from leaking, she even carefully sealed the rim of each jar with wax.

She immediately sent two jars to “Little Useless in the Cultivation World,” kept one jar for Gu Yan’an, and saved the remaining jar for herself to enjoy slowly.

Out of the three hundred pounds of fresh beef, only thirty pounds were used today. Lan Mo decided to braise one hundred pounds of the remaining beef tomorrow and store it in the refrigerator to eat gradually.

The rest would be cured and made into cured beef. It had been so long since she last tasted cured beef—she missed it dearly!

Soon, the avatar of “Little Useless in the Cultivation World” flashed on the screen. 【Little Pitiful in the Sixties, what did you send me two jars of?】

【Homemade beef sauce.】

【The food in your Mortal World lacks Spiritual Energy. Is it even edible?】

【First, remove the wax around the rim of the jar, then open it and take a whiff. You’ll know whether my beef sauce tastes good or not.】

Her space was well-stocked with ingredients. When simmering the beef sauce, she had added plenty of sesame oil and a packet of thirteen-spice seasoning.

【Well, thank you. I’ll try it tomorrow and see.】

…

The next day at noon, Gu Yan’an bought a pile of things and rushed to the hospital to visit Lan Mo.

“Momo, I’m worried about Grandfather, so I bought a train ticket for this afternoon. Earlier, I went to the department store to buy some things for my family.

I also got you some Malt Extract Milk Powder and canned lychees. Since the weather’s getting cooler, I bought you a coat too. Do you like it?”

“I have plenty of clothes. Why waste your money like that?”

They hadn’t been dating for long, yet he’d already spent quite a bit on her—first a fountain pen, now clothes.

“It’s not a waste. You’re my girlfriend, and I want you to look beautiful every day.”

Fine, since he’d already bought it, she might as well accept it. Later, she’d find a chance to take the beef sauce she made for him from her space and give it to him, along with a few pounds of beef jerky for the journey.

Oh, right—wasn’t his grandfather sick? She could also give him a twenty-year-old ginseng root.

In relationships and friendships, there should be give and take. She didn’t want to be like other girls who schemed to take advantage of their boyfriends.

“Momo, be good and wait for me to come back. I’ll come to marry you!”

“Marry me? Isn’t that too soon? Let’s take things slow. We can talk about marriage when the time is right.”

“Momo, I’m not young anymore…”

“Let’s not talk about this now. Wait here for a moment. I’ll go get some things for you.”

…

Clack! Clack! Gu Yan’an boarded the train back to Jingshi. Looking at the large jar of beef sauce and the big bag of beef jerky on the table, he couldn’t stop smiling.

Little did he know what kind of surprise awaited him in Jingshi. As soon as Gu Yan’an returned, the misunderstanding caused by Pan Huijuan would be exposed. How would she handle the aftermath then?