The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 2 The Young Mistress is So Fierce

Stone blushed and whispered in protest, "It wasn't like this five years ago."

"You know that was five years ago." Shang Wan sighed and rubbed her forehead. If she had known it was such a "lucky place," she should have just found a rich guy to rob the rich and help the poor when she was in the city.

"I'll go check the cellar." Stone ran quickly towards the cellar as if fleeing.

Xiao Huan shoved the little baby, who was about to cry, into Shang Wan's arms. "Young Madam, please comfort Miss. I'll go check on her in the kitchen."

Yuanyuan stayed in her adoptive mother's arms without needing to be coaxed at all. She obediently sucked on her chubby fingers and smiled at Shang Wan with her big, curved eyes.

While gently poking her chubby little face, Shang Wan wondered where to get something to eat later.

Even if the three adults can go hungry, the little baby cannot.

"Ah! A rat!" Xiao Huan screamed as she ran out of the kitchen, holding a broken pot lid in her hand.

When Shang Wan looked over, she said with a bitter face, "Young Madam, the rice jar has turned into a rat's nest, and there's not a single thing to eat in the kitchen."

Shang Wan was not surprised at all; it was impossible for such a dilapidated house to have any food in the kitchen. Even if there was, with no one guarding the house, it would have been taken long ago by someone with ulterior motives.

Stone also came up from the cellar, looking gloomy. "The cellar is full of rat offspring."

As he spoke, he shook his trouser leg, and a little mouse fell down, squeaking and running away, only to be stepped on by Shang Wan.

Xiao Huan was so frightened that she kept backing away.

Shang Wan stared at the struggling little mouse at her feet for a while, then with a slight exertion, the little mouse died.

She looked up at the two of them with bright, sparkling eyes. "Let's roast some rats and eat them. We can take them all and have our fill."

This is all meat!
Two people: "..."

Are you the devil?
"Young Madam, you can't eat rats." Xiao Huan was so frightened she almost cried, and dared not look at Shang Wan's feet at all.

Stone also said, "Young Master said that eating rat meat will make you sick."

Shang Wan clicked her tongue inwardly, realizing these two had never gone hungry. In the apocalypse, food was scarce, and when people were truly starving, they would even catch and nibble on mutated beasts.

Seeing that the two were particularly unwilling, Shang Wan did not insist. She kicked the dead rat into the weeds, pulled out the only silver hairpin from her hair, and handed it to Shi Tou, saying, "Take this and exchange it with the villagers for some food."

"Young Madam, you mustn't!" Xiao Huan interjected, "This is a token of love from the young master; how can you exchange it for food?"

"We're starving, who cares about that?" Shang Wan urged Shi Tou to hurry up and specially instructed him to bring back some rice so she could cook some porridge for Yuan Yuan later.

Even though she had never raised a child, Shang Wan knew that the baby in her arms, who only had two tiny milk teeth, needed to eat something soft.

Shi Tou glanced at Shang Wan several times before leaving with a complicated expression, clutching the silver hairpin.

Xiao Huan carried a pile of firewood out of the kitchen, lit it with dry grass, and the firelight illuminated the yard.

She wiped the stool in the main room clean and brought it out, saying to Shang Wan, "It's cold on this spring night. Young Madam, you are not well. Hold Miss and warm yourself by the fire first, and be careful not to catch a cold. I'll clean up the kitchen first, and we'll exchange the stones for grain later so we can cook."

Seeing Xiao Huan busy running around, Shang Wan put the swaddled baby on a stool, glanced at the waist-high weeds in the yard, and moved the stool further away from the fire and closer to the kitchen.

She reached out and patted the swaddled baby. "Play by yourself for a while, then go to sleep when you're sleepy. Don't cry." Yuan Yuan blinked her big eyes and smiled at Shang Wan as if she understood.

"Good girl." Shang Wan lowered her head and kissed her chubby little face before getting up and walking to the kitchen, where she brought out two wooden buckets, one large and one small.

There is a well in the corner of the yard next to the kitchen. The well is full of water, and you can draw water up by bending over and carrying a bucket.

Shang Wan squatted down, filled a large bucket with water, and steadily carried it to the kitchen with one hand.

Xiao Huan looked up and was so shocked that her eyes widened. She quickly went to greet her, "Young Madam, please put it down quickly, be careful not to hurt your back."

How could our young mistress, with her frail body that could be blown away by a gust of wind, possibly do such rough work as fetching water?

"It's not heavy." Shang Wan avoided her outstretched hand, placed the bucket on the stove, soaked a rag, and helped clean the kitchen.

Xiao Huan pinched herself hard, and tears welled up in her eyes from the pain.

Good heavens! What kind of divine intervention is this? The young mistress is actually helping her with chores.

The two were busy in the kitchen, while in the yard, the baby in swaddling clothes was sucking on his chubby little hands with relish, making indistinct babbling sounds from time to time, his big, bright eyes blinking at the moon in the sky.

A rustling sound came from the waist-high weeds. A spotted snake, as thick as an adult's arm, hissed and flicked its tongue as it slithered toward the stool, hidden by the weeds.

Stone traded his silver hairpin with the villagers for a jar of oil, half a pound of salt, three pounds of rice, two pounds of flour, five eggs, a pound of meat, and some vegetables grown by the villagers themselves. Because there were so many things to carry, he even borrowed a basket.

He returned carrying his things, and as soon as he entered the yard, he saw a spotted snake, at least two meters long, crawling to the foot of the stool, hissing and flicking its tongue, raising its triangular head as if trying to climb up the stool leg.

He was so frightened that his eyes widened in terror, and he almost cried out in alarm. But the spotted snake seemed to be struck by some tremendous force, and after several flips in the air, it landed three steps away from him. A piece of wood, only as thick as a little finger, pierced through the snake's head and pinned it firmly to the ground.

The snake's tail, which was about two meters long, twisted and swayed incessantly until it finally fell silent after a long while.

"You're back just in time. I'll leave it to you. I'll add some dishes later." Shang Wan stood by the kitchen window, her fair fingers still holding a wooden stick that looked almost identical to the one stuck into the snake's head.

Actually, she had already spotted the spotted snake hiding in the weeds when she kicked the rat to death.

Originally, she thought that given the prices in this world, she could at least exchange the stone for some meat with the silver hairpin, so she wasn't in a hurry to kill the snake and eat it. She even deliberately moved the stool closer to the kitchen. Who would have thought that the spotted snake was in such a hurry to die, so she had no choice but to reluctantly eat a roasted snake.

Shi Tou's face was pale. He looked at the spotted snake, then at Shang Wan, then at the spotted snake again. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

Young master, the young mistress is so fierce right now!
While Shi Tou was dealing with the spotted snake, Xiao Huan started washing vegetables and cooking.

Since Shang Wan's cooking skills are terrible, she won't be a hindrance in the kitchen.

At Yuanyuan's babbling calls, she went out to play with her adopted daughter, tossing her high into the air, over the roof. Xiao Huan, who occasionally glanced outside, was terrified, afraid that Shang Wan might accidentally drop Yuanyuan and hurt her badly.

But the little one in the swaddling clothes wasn't scared at all; instead, he giggled happily, drooling uncontrollably.

Listening to the baby's laughter, Shang Wan felt she had mastered the skills of interacting with the cubs. She even threw the baby in a creative way, creating a manual version of a roller coaster.

Startled, Xiao Huan couldn't help but speak up to stop them. The two of them regretfully stopped their game of throwing things high and waited patiently for dinner.

(End of this chapter)