Cen Yao stood up.
“I’ll go help.”
Just as she reached the kitchen door, Lu Xiuying ruthlessly shooed her out.
“Go on, out with you. Don't come in here.”
Cen Yao protested, “I can wash the vegetables.”
“Last time I let you wash the greens, you shredded the leaves like scrap paper.”
“I can definitely do it right this time.”
“When you made tomato and scrambled eggs last time, you swapped the salt and sugar.”
Cen Yao: “...”
Cen Qihang stifled a laugh nearby.
As Lu Xiuying sliced the meat, she continued to nag her daughter.
“And that time you were boiling noodles, you almost let the pot go dry. What exactly can you do in a kitchen?”
Cen Yao tried to defend herself. “That was all in the past.”
Lu Xiuying didn't even look up.
“Don't cause any trouble now either. Go pick some fruit from the yard to serve Lingxi and Tinglan.”
Cen Yao wanted to say more, but Lu Xiuying waved her off.
“Hurry up. Take your friends for a tour; don't just leave them sitting there.”
Cen Yao had no choice but to retreat.
“Alright, fine.”
She returned to the living room and waved to Zhu Lingxi and Pei Tinglan.
“My mom won't let me help. Come on, I'll take you to the yard to pick some fruit.”
Zhu Lingxi’s eyes lit up. “There’s fruit?”
“Of course,” Cen Yao said naturally. “There’s a vegetable garden too.”
Pei Tinglan looked up, glancing at Cen Yao in surprise. “Your family has a vegetable garden?”
“Yeah.”
Cen Yao pointed toward the back door.
“The backyard is quite big. My dad used to love planting flowers and plants. After the Horror Game arrived, I was afraid it would be dangerous for them to go out for groceries, so I cleared a small plot of land for them to grow some vegetables.”
Zhu Lingxi’s curiosity was immediately piqued. “Do people in the real world grow vegetables at home?”
“People with yards might grow a bit.”
Cen Yao pulled open the back door.
“But our family’s... might be a little different from a normal vegetable garden.”
Hearing this, Pei Tinglan gave her a suspicious look. “What are you up to now?”
Cen Yao gave a mysterious smile. “See for yourself.”
When the back door opened, the fresh scent of sunlight and greenery rushed toward them.
The yard was much larger than Zhu Lingxi and Pei Tinglan had imagined.
A path made of light-colored pebbles wound along the garden wall.
Both sides were filled with flowers—Chinese roses, hydrangeas, multiflora roses, sunflowers, and some unnamed wildflowers blooming in clusters.
When the wind blew, the fragrance of flowers mixed with the damp scent of soil, making one feel as if they were immersed in nature.
On the other side of the yard was a small vegetable patch.
The greens were a vibrant, glowing green, and round tomatoes hung from vines. Clusters of red and green peppers dangled from their branches.
A few bees buzzed around pumpkin flowers, and a grape trellis stood in the corner, its lush leaves almost covering half the sky.
At first glance, it truly looked like a vibrant, ordinary little yard.
Zhu Lingxi took two steps out, her gaze softening.
“It’s so beautiful. This place has a very strong life energy.”
Cen Yao smiled and asked, “Life energy?”
Zhu Lingxi nodded.
“I mean the aura of the living. When plants grow well and the people in the house are at peace, it creates this feeling.”
Cen Yao felt a warmth in her heart. “If you like it, you can come over often in the future.”
Zhu Lingxi nodded seriously. “I will.”
Pei Tinglan didn't speak.
Sitting in his wheelchair, he slowly moved forward along the path.
The sunlight fell on his legs, on the cold metal edges of the wheelchair, and on his expressionless face.
It had been a long time since he had been in such a peaceful yard.
There was only a sun-warmed lawn, a few passing butterflies, and the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen.
Pei Tinglan looked ahead, his expression slightly dazed.
Then, he saw a tree.
The tree grew at the edge of the vegetable garden. It had a thick trunk and emerald-green leaves, but the canopy didn't bear ordinary fruit.
Instead, it was hung with regular-shaped, enticingly colored... pieces of braised pork.
Pei Tinglan’s wheelchair suddenly stopped.
Zhu Lingxi stopped as well.
The two of them stared at the tree.
A brief silence fell as if their worldviews were being reshaped.
Cen Yao followed their gaze and realized what they were looking at.
“Oh, that. That’s a braised pork tree.”
Zhu Lingxi: “...”
Pei Tinglan: “...”
Cen Yao pointed nearby.
“That over there is a roasted chicken leg tree. A bit further ahead is a chicken leg rice bowl tree, but it only recently bore fruit and is still small. It needs a few more days.”
Zhu Lingxi’s mouth fell open slightly.
Pei Tinglan blinked slowly.
He even raised a hand to rub his eyes.
When he opened them again, the tree was still there.
The glistening, enticing pieces of braised pork were still there too.
One piece swayed gently in the wind, its sauce gleaming beautifully under the sunlight.
Pei Tinglan: “...”
He began to wonder if he hadn't fully escaped the dungeon.
Otherwise, why would something clearly more absurd than a dungeon appear in the real world?
Zhu Lingxi was also dazed.
Because her family lived away from the secular world, she hadn't seen cola, cakes, or the myriad of things found in modern cities.
But that didn't mean she didn't recognize crops.
She knew trees bore fruit. She knew vegetables grew in the ground. She even knew where meat came from.
But why was braised pork growing on this tree?
Had she been in the dungeon for so long that even her basic common sense had been distorted?
Zhu Lingxi stared at the braised pork tree for a long time before slowly turning to Cen Yao.
“Xiao Yao. What... is that?”
Before Cen Yao could answer, Pei Tinglan’s gaze fell on a spot nearby.
At the other end of the vegetable garden grew a cluster of low shrubs.
The shrubs had rounded leaves, but the branches were laden with many crystal-clear little candy beans.
The candy beans were only the size of peas and came in various colors. When the sunlight hit them, they looked like a tree hung with colored glass beads.
“And that?” Pei Tinglan pointed.
Cen Yao glanced over. “A candy-shrub.”
Zhu Lingxi: “...”
Pei Tinglan: “...”
Just how many alien species were in this yard?
Seeing their dumbfounded expressions, Cen Yao finally couldn't help but let out a secret chuckle.
She had also been shocked for a long while when she first saw the descriptions of these seeds in the System Mall.
After all, that was how System rewards were.
Once planted and watered, a bit of magic power could accelerate their growth, and they would sprout quickly.
But seeing Zhu Lingxi and Pei Tinglan looking like they were questioning their very existence brought her an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
She knew it wasn't just her who would be startled; any Earthling seeing these plants would be shocked!
Especially Pei Tinglan.
Usually, he was incredibly sharp-tongued and always acted like he had seen everything.
Now, he was as silent as a wooden post because of a braised pork tree.
A bit of mischief immediately bubbled up in Cen Yao’s heart.
She let go of Zhu Lingxi’s hand, walked quickly to the candy-shrub, and plucked two candy beans from a branch.
The two candy beans were similar in color, both a light pink and crystal-clear, looking incredibly sweet.
Holding them between her fingertips, Cen Yao turned back to the two of them with a smile.
“Want to try some?”
Zhu Lingxi hadn't reacted yet.
Pei Tinglan was just about to say, “Eat them yourself,” but Cen Yao had already moved.
Rate on N.U.
