43 Chapter 43

The appearance of the beans threw the island into chaos.

Tong Shu went to the service center to confirm, and it was indeed the second person to accumulate full faith points who was a bean.

Nini rushed over from the cabin after hearing the news. The two chubby little animals hugged each other, crying and laughing, their furry little faces pressed together, looking quite cute.

"Douzi, why were you able to come back?" Tong Shu interrupted Douzi and Nini's reminiscing and asked.

"I obtained a Blade of Faith, broke the shackles of the Forest of Faith on me, and escaped back," Bean said honestly.

A hint of doubt appeared on Tong Shu's face: "Where's Doka? It was the first to collect all the Faith Points, why hasn't it returned yet?"

"Huh?! Doka didn't come back?" Bean's face showed a panicked expression: "But it clearly said goodbye to me across the tree. I thought it had already returned to the island."

Could it be a bug in the game system? Tong Shu originally thought that after collecting all the faith points of all the animals, they would all come out of the Forest of Faith together, but now Douzi is back, while Duoka, the first one to collect all the faith points, is nowhere to be found.

Tong Shu was a little anxious, wondering if the island would recognize the mission's results as valid when they finally completed it, since Doka wasn't on the island.

"Don't worry, you two. Let's work together to find it," Tong Shu said to the two small animals.

Nini nodded with tears in her eyes: "Island Lord, you must find Doka, he is Nini's best friend!"

"Okay!" Tong Shu agreed, then her eyes lit up as she thought of something: "Nini, can you tell where Duoka is with your crystal ball?"

Nini's eyes lit up immediately, and she nodded repeatedly: "Okay! I'll go right now!" Before anyone could react, she grabbed Douzi and ran towards the hut.

Inside the magic hut.

Nini placed her paws on the crystal ball, and a green halo appeared inside the crystal ball, gradually covering the original icy and snowy land. Then, trees rose from the ground, and continuous mountains and babbling streams... a vast and boundless land slowly unfolded before their eyes.

"Hmm...um..." Nini closed her eyes and carefully explored, and after a while, she finally withdrew her hand from the crystal ball.

"Where is this?" Tong Shu asked, pointing to the completely different scene inside the crystal ball. "Is the severe cold about to end?"

Nini shook her head and said, "No, this is where Doka is right now."

“But everything is frozen over now, there’s nowhere… no, Doka definitely can’t be in the real world.” Tong Shu turned to Douzi and asked, “Are there places like this outside the island?”

Bean said confidently, "No! No matter how far we go, we're surrounded by the ocean. Even the terrifying Forest of Faith is on a large island."

Tong Shu had a vague guess in her mind, but she felt it was absurd, so she could only reassure the two anxious little animals: "Don't worry, at least for now it seems that Doka is safe. As long as we know where this place is, we will definitely be able to rescue Doka soon."

Nini and Douzi looked up at Tong Shu and nodded firmly: "Save Doka!"

With no leads yet on how to save Doka, Tong Shu wandered around the island a few times before returning home, her mind heavy with worry.

Grandma Tong was already thinking about making new kimchi. Tong Shu went over to help her wipe the glass jar: "Grandma, what delicious food are you making this time?"

"Your uncle planted a batch of radishes and is planning to pickle some to eat."

Thinking of the sour, spicy, and crunchy pickled radish, Tong Shu's mouth watered instantly, and all her worries vanished from her mind: "Pickled radish is delicious! Grandma, I'll go pick some chili peppers for you!" With that, she hopped away on one leg and disappeared from the room.

"...Sigh! This child..." Grandma Tong shook her head helplessly and amusedly, "The radishes haven't even been moved out yet, why are you picking chili peppers?"

Tong Shu, who was excitedly rushing into the island, was caught by Qin Jiaqiang, who was pulling up radishes, and was arranged to sit by the stream along with a basket of muddy radishes.

"You scrub the radishes here. Call me when you're done, and I'll take them to your grandma." Qin Jiaqiang tossed Tong Shu a brush and thoughtfully brought her a small wooden stool.

"Oh..." Tong Shu had no choice but to sit dejectedly by the river and start washing radishes.

...

"Grandma, I've washed the radishes and brought them over for you." Tong Shu rubbed her stiff back as she followed Qin Jiaqiang out.

"Alright, now we're waiting for your radishes."

The radishes grown on the island are large and juicy; they can be easily broken in half with a strong snap of the hands. They have a crisp texture when eaten raw, with a slightly spicy and sweet flavor. It's easy to imagine how delicious they would be if made into pickled radishes.

Grandma Tong directed Tong Shu to peel the radish while she took a cutting board and skillfully cut the radish into strips about the thickness of a thumb. Then she put the cut radish strips into a large bowl, added salt and sugar, mixed them evenly, and set them aside to rest.

"Hey, Mom, making pickled radishes?" Shu Hua returned from the small workshop, taking off her gloves as she asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Grandma Tong, busy chopping a large basket of radishes, said without looking up, "Then you can prepare the sweet and sour water, and pickle the radishes directly after you take them out."

Shuhua was good at this. She went back to the kitchen, turned on the stove, poured sugar and water into a pot and brought it to a boil. After the water boiled, she turned off the heat, poured in white vinegar and salt, and set it aside to cool. While waiting, she quickly chopped the millet peppers and garlic.

"Is everything ready here? Have the radishes been soaking for long enough? Should I pickle them now?"

"Okay, go ahead and pickle them. The jars are all clean."

Shu Hua took the radishes out of the large basin, washed them with clean water, and put them into a glass jar. She also threw in the chopped millet peppers and garlic, and finally poured in the cooled sweet and sour sauce. After sealing the jar, a jar of pickled radishes was ready.

Shuhua carried the jar of radishes to the balcony, where the temperature was a little lower. The radishes would be more flavorful if left at a lower temperature for two days.

The three of them worked together and quickly finished processing a basket of radishes. Looking at the glass jars neatly lined up on the balcony, Tong Shu felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"By the way, Mom, how's the instant noodles?" Tong Shu remembered something important and asked Shu Hua.

"The noodles are fine now. Everyone who has tried them feels that they taste almost the same as the instant noodles from before."

Tong Shu's instant noodle business was not without its challenges. Tong Songming modified the dough-making machine, noodle-pressing machine, and fryer that Zhu Cheng had sent, but the other processes still had to be done manually.

At first, Tong Shu didn't hire anyone to work in the instant noodle workshop. Instead, Shu Hua and her two older sisters worked together to research it. The noodles they made were either too soft or couldn't be shaped, and sometimes they were difficult to soak. Fortunately, they had plenty of raw materials at home. After some time of experimentation, they were able to produce the noodles normally.

"Since it's instant noodles, the seasoning packet is a must. For the vegetable packet, we'll chop up some of our dried vegetables and pack them into small packets. And the sauce packet..."

"Your aunts and I have tried the sauce packet. We put some oil, salt, seasonings, scallions, ginger, and garlic into a paste and it tastes pretty good."

Tong Shu nodded. Special times call for special recipes. It's impossible to eat instant noodles that taste the same as before the disaster now.

"When the first batch of instant noodles arrives at the convenience store, we will replace all the instant noodles in the store with our own."

...

At lunchtime, because everyone was quite busy today, Shu Hua only made a few pots of noodles. Fortunately, she put in plenty of ingredients, and everyone slurped down their food in the restaurant with great satisfaction.

"The greenhouses in the north of our city are almost finished. I ran into Director Zhu this morning, and he asked me if anyone in my family works in the greenhouses. The community will stop distributing supplies in a couple of days and will distribute them according to the amount of work done, just like before," Tong Songming said after taking a sip of hot soup.

“Let’s not go this time,” Tong Shu said after thinking for a moment. “Everyone knows we have two small workshops at home, and we’re too busy to handle them all. We also don’t need the supplies the community provides. Let’s take this opportunity not to take the community supplies and let them keep more for the elderly and children who can’t work.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“That’s what I think too. We’re already too busy with chores at home, so going to the greenhouse would make it even harder. Besides, greenhouse work is in high demand. Director Zhu asked us about it because we have a good relationship.”

"Let's leave it to those who need it. We need to find a few more people for our workshop; we're a bit too busy with the packaging," Shuya said.

"Okay, I'll ask Director Zhu this afternoon."

...

After finishing his meal, Zhu Cheng came to the door on his own before his family could even look for him.

"I knew your family would be all here at this time, so I came right on time." Zhu Cheng walked into Tong Shu's house, breathing out warm air, and said enviously, feeling the warmth of the room, "It's so nice to have your own generator, it's so warm!"

"We have elderly people at home, so we can't not open the door." Shu Hua walked over and said with a smile, "Director Zhu, have you eaten? There are still quite a few dumplings in the pot."

"No, no, I ate it myself. You're probably giving this to the workers, right?"

Shu Hua nodded.

"I'll just say a few words and then I'll be leaving. Oh! Thank you, Dr. Wang." Taking the hot water that Wang Jie handed him, Zhu Cheng took a sip and continued, "It's about that thing Xiao Tong told me about, about getting physically fit with the troops. I asked Major Wen, and he agreed."

Tong Shu's eyes lit up, and she leaned closer to ask, "That's great! When does it start?"

“Their team goes to the back mountain for training around 5 a.m., and practices boxing in the small square after dinner. Whenever I have free time, I can go with them at these times.”

"Five o'clock is too early, I can't get up. I'll wait until it's time for boxing..." Tong Shu said softly.

"With feet like yours, you wouldn't be fit for boxing either," Tong Songming said, shattering Tong Shu's fantasy.

Tong Shu let out a mournful cry and collapsed dejectedly.

"Hehe, Xiao Tong, you can go after you've recovered. Does anyone else in your family want to go? I'll register them here and give them to Lieutenant Liu later."

“Everyone except the two elderly people will go,” Wang Jianye said.

"What?! I'm not going!" Qin Xiaoxiao had already hidden away while Zhu Cheng was speaking, but she didn't expect that this would still be reported, so she quickly ran out to refuse.

"You're not going? You love going out so much, but you don't want to learn some self-defense skills?!" Shuya immediately tried to pull Qin Xiaoxiao's ear.

"I'd rather not go out! Director Zhu, don't listen to them, don't report this to me." Qin Xiaoxiao stubbornly insisted.

Shuya cursed her daughter for making a fool of herself, but seeing that Zhu Cheng looked a little embarrassed, she could only say, "Forget it, Director Zhu, my daughter is a stubborn mule. If she doesn't want to go, she doesn't want to go. You can just report the rest of our family."

"Alright! I've got it. Actually, you don't have to go if you're not free. Submitting the list is just to prevent people of unknown origin from sneaking in." Zhu Cheng wrote down the names in his notebook, said goodbye to the Tong family, and left.

Seeing that the person had left, Shuya was about to scold Qin Xiaoxiao when she realized that the person had already slipped away from her side.