Chapter 221 - 73: Home Again (Part 3)

"One butler isn’t enough." Su Xiaocai released Xiao Wanzi, "Xiao Wanzi, go and help the butler clean the room."

Xiao Wanzi: "Okay, Butler, let’s go."

The scene of two robots holding hands was quite endearing. Daddy Su squinted, seemingly plotting something.

"Dad, you can’t have any ideas about Xiao Wanzi. It’s mine. My account relies on it. Otherwise, how can you earn this much money?" Direct selling is at least a bit better than cheap wholesale.

Daddy Su snorted again, hands behind his back, then turned to Su Xiaocai’s classmates with a warm smile, "If you have luggage, you can temporarily store it in the hall. My unfilial daughter didn’t notify you in advance. My apologies."

"It’s okay if we don’t stay at the manor," Fan Li said, "The space station isn’t far, it’s only half an hour back and forth, we can return to the ship for the night."

"No, no, since you’re here, just stay. Our manor has a lot of fun things, Su Xiaocai is the best at showing you around." Daddy Su handed them a few baskets, "Go play, you must be bored on the battleship. Come back when you’re tired."

Everyone: "..."

No wonder they raised such a lively daughter, Daddy Su’s personality is so refreshingly genuine.

When visiting someone’s home, the host usually offers good tea and snacks, learns the guests’ preferences, and then arranges accommodation.

But Daddy Su: Go play, make yourselves at home. You’re my daughter’s guests, not mine. Let her host you.

Su Xiaocai changed into sandals with her basket on her back, "Let’s go, we’re going to catch chickens for kiln-baked chicken tonight."

Ji Li: "Can I experience an anteater eating an ant nest?"

"Sure, sure. Once we find an ant nest, we’ll go play." Su Xiaocai was open to playing.

Daddy Su shook his head. He recognized the young man who’d been communicating with him online often recently.

So he secretly messaged Ji Li, "Young man, keep an eye on her, don’t let her take you to dangerous places. I’ll send you fresh bamboo shoots afterward."

[Ji Li]: Uncle, don’t worry, I’ll be careful.

The location of Su Manor is in the area with the best climate on Su’s Planet, with hills and lakes, and suitable temperatures.

Currently, the fruits on Su’s Planet are in high demand. Several fruit-picking machines shuttle back and forth in the orchard, sorting fruits with tough skins through machine lines.

Fruits with easily bruised skins are sorted by robots to ensure they remain intact.

Fruits with imperfect appearances but still good condition are partially eaten by themselves, some are placed by the roadside for free sharing, and some are sold at a very low price in the town.

The leftovers are used to feed the small animals herding sheep.

The rotten ones are put into a compost pool to ferment, ensuring minimal waste.

Su Xiaocai led them across the sorting line into the orchard. "You can pick and eat whatever you like, just can’t take them away."

With that permission, they didn’t hold back.

Wu Qingqing went for a fruit resembling cherries, Liu Xun picked a basketball-sized fruit he’d been eyeing for a while. There weren’t many fruits on the tree, maybe around ten per tree.

The inside was white, sectioned, sweet, and sour, but a bit large, so he shared it with Fan Li and the soldiers before going for another fruit.

They achieved fruit freedom in the manor.

Before long, several brightly feathered plump chickens appeared.

Liu Xun was shocked, "What fat birds."

"They’re chickens, poultry," Su Xiaocai corrected, pointing to a type of chicken with fluffy, green feathers, and long, bright red tail feathers trailing behind.

Feng Wansha: "Chickens are omnivores, right? Won’t they eat the fruits?"

"They do, but we don’t raise many. This breed doesn’t fly well and prefers proteins." Mainly, they love eating bugs, and their beaks are sharp and hard, with long, powerful claws.

Just as Su Xiaocai finished speaking.

A chicken not far away stopped, its eyes bright.

It tilted its head towards the ground, clucked twice, and clawed through the dirt, hooking a large bug with its hooked beak.

Su Xiaocai: Did my words just enlighten it?

You might think it was a specially prepared performance.

The chicken wasn’t afraid of humans, strutting past them with the bug, seemingly showing off its treat.

That proud little posture, akin to its owner.

Everyone couldn’t help but turn their gaze to Su Xiaocai, Hu Ping: "That chicken’s so arrogant, can we catch it for kiln-baked chicken?"

The chicken, just flaunting its fat bug, seemed to sense the murderous intent and bolted.

"Can it understand?" Hu Ping was dumbfounded.

"No," Su Xiaocai pointed to another gray chicken, "It has a love interest."

Wu Qingqing suddenly mused, "By the way, among us, does anyone have a partner?"

Silence, only silence.

The only one who had a fiancée had already broken up.

"Oh, everyone’s single." Wu Qingqing was delighted. People with partners love showing off, and with none here, there’s no need to endure couple’s PDA. Nice.

Meanwhile, the chickens who quickly took a liking to each other were already like a pair of lovebirds, inseparably entwined.

"Let’s eat those two chickens tonight," Wu Qingqing said, "Let’s show those chickens what ’love will bring you down’ means."

Su Xiaocai: "They’re fine, don’t disturb them."

Then added slowly, "We’ll wait until after they hatch eggs to kill, a whole family, the key is togetherness."

Wow, that’s even more ruthless!

The fishing spot was right in the orchard, with a clear little river running through it. The river wasn’t big, less than ten meters wide, with many deliberately placed pebbles from elsewhere along the edges.

You could see many fish swimming leisurely inside.

This river, nourished by the fruit trees and a reservoir upstream, never lacked big fish.

Su Xiaocai handed out fishing rods. The rods were the most basic bamboo poles with string and hooks, very simple, all homemade.

"I remember fishing rods having those reels, right?"

"Only bad students have more stationery, I’m a fishing expert, don’t need those." Market fishing rods were expensive, she couldn’t afford them, nor would she admit it.

Su’s Planet didn’t allow large-scale fishing. Using nets required being a certified fisherman.

Though Su Xiaocai had a license, they couldn’t eat that much net-caught fish.

"Let’s just do some fishing and set fish traps."

The fish traps help prevent empty hands.

However, fish traps also have size restrictions.

As the daughter of the Planet Master, Su Xiaocai followed the rules herself.

Some people didn’t like fishing, so she distributed rabbit cages to them to place all around, play as they like.

Rabbits reproduced quickly, and with no large predators around, they were becoming a problem without Su Xiaocai’s hunting.

Before leaving, she had to catch all the nearby rabbits, then braise, spice, fry them...

"After we fish for a bit, we can also dig up some bamboo shoots," Su Xiaocai said happily, "It’s August now. Tomorrow morning, we can go mushroom picking, there are plenty of mushrooms this season."

On the way, they saw many mushrooms, almost wilted, which was a pity.

"Driving a mecha for half an hour, you can see the sea. There’s a tide these days, perfect timing for beachcombing." Artificial satellites caused tidal changes on Su’s Planet, and many seafood items stranded during low tide.

Growing up on the Capital Star, these young people never experienced such a rich rural life.

Hearing about mushroom picking, rabbit hunting, early morning beachcombing to see the sunrise, they were envious of Su Xiaocai’s childhood.

Simple, yet vibrant and full of life.

"Do you mind if I live stream?"

Fan Li and others weren’t in military uniforms, so Su Xiaocai asked.

Technically, they were on leave, able to take side jobs, but appearing on camera meant no more undercover-type missions.

Fan Li said, "Admiral Bai has already instructed, as long as your safety is ensured, you can do anything, well, except break the law."

These people might come into contact with Su Xiaocai multiple times in the future.

If they retire, they might be assigned to Su Xiaocai’s side.