After Grandma Fu passed away, Cheng Ke went back to his old ways. Liu Jing also encountered a stench of urine, which made her rush to Liu Yun's house to complain. Liu Yun was repeatedly glad that she had run away early.

What saddens Liu Yun is that the weather is gradually getting colder, and her mother and the others will go back home, leaving her without someone to cook for her and take care of her child.

So it turned into a life where she would take the triplets to daycare in the morning, and in the afternoon, Yu Qian and he would pick them up while she went to her online space to cook. It was quite a leisurely life.

It was a pity for the fish in the space lake; several died from overeating, which forced Liu Yun to go to the reservoir several more times to replenish the fish fry.

There was no way she could resist picking the ripe fruits hanging from the branches in the space. But she couldn't eat them all, and there wasn't enough room on the shelves in the space. The chickens and ducks on the ground couldn't finish them either, so she could only feed them to the fish. If the fish in the lake ate as much as they wanted, they would die from overeating. It wasn't clean, so she fed more fish to help them share the burden.

It's almost time to catch fish, then we can smuggle more fish out, make more dried fish and salted fish to use up some of them, and then feed the younger ones.

By October, the fish are at their fattest, and fish begin to appear in ponds, lakes, and reservoirs one after another. Even the supply and marketing cooperatives have more fish, and the canteen serves fish with every meal.

Liu Yun took the opportunity to catch quite a few fish in the space. Now that she has a large kitchen with an earthen stove, she can make preserved fish and smoked fish.

Liu Yun only knew how to make preserved fish, which involved breaking the fish open, cleaning out the internal organs, marinating it with salt for two days, then stringing it up and hanging it over the stove to dry.

It was Yu's mother who came to help when she knew she was making fish. Seeing Yu's mother was like seeing a pillar of support. She only knew how to make preserved fish, but even that got boring after a while. She was planning to use up a batch of fish in her space! If she didn't make more this year, most of them would definitely die from overeating next year, which would be such a waste.

Looking at the stove covered with hanging utensils and the large basin full of lively fish, which would have jumped out long ago if it weren't covered by a winnowing basket, Yu's mother felt a bit of a headache.

Do you still have rapeseed oil at home?

"Yes! There are still two or three pounds left, is that enough? If not, I'll go buy some more (to make some juice) tomorrow."

"That's enough. This dried fish can be dried over a fire in addition to this method. You can cut it into pieces and let it air dry first. Then mix salt, pepper, ginger, garlic and other seasonings evenly and marinate it overnight. Fry it in hot oil until golden brown, then let it air dry again. Then put it in a can or jar and seal it for long-term storage. You can also stir-fry salt, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves and other seasonings together until fragrant, then rub it on the fish. Make sure to rub it evenly on every part. Add a little wine and marinate it for a day. Then hang it in a ventilated place to air dry, or string it up with a rope and put it in the sun to dry. Then put it in a jar and you can take it out as needed."

As she taught Liu Yun, Yu's mother knew that Liu Yun preferred preserved and dried vegetables, such as preserved fish, duck, and chicken, to fresh ones. She had heard Liu Yun say that she wanted to make a few preserved rabbits to try this year, but seeing her simple and crude method, Yu's mother really couldn't resist. Even if you like something, making so much of it at once will make you tired of it! And it's all the same kind, you could at least try a different way of eating it!

It took her most of the day to finish preparing that big basin of fish. Looking at the two large basins full of marinated fish, Liu Yun felt a sense of satisfaction. She had only used up this little bit of fish; there was still so much left in her space. Sigh!

Fortunately, Yu's mother was unaware of Liu Yun's thoughts, otherwise she would definitely be cursing. Every time Liu Yun wanted to consume the goods in the space, it was always Yu's mother who suffered. Although she liked the feeling of reaping the rewards, especially in this era of scarcity, there was just too much of it, and she hadn't done it for many years.

“Your dad and I are staying here for a few days. We can’t leave all these things out to dry without anyone. Not to mention petty theft, we’ll have to bring them in if it rains.”

"Okay, thank you, Mom. I washed the bed last time and made it, and I also aired the blankets. You can come over anytime. Anyway, you have the key to the yard." Although Yu Qianhe washed and aired the bed, they are husband and wife, so there's no need to be so particular.

Yu's mother didn't expect that Liu Yun would give her another big surprise tomorrow.

The chestnuts in the space have already produced two harvests since last year's harvest, but not many were picked as they were all processed by the space. Now that it's chestnut harvest season, Liu Yun has put a lot of chestnuts in the cellar and plans to bring back two more bags tomorrow.

The next day, the three of them dried the fish pieces and went to work. Yu's mother then went to check the cellar and immediately spotted the chestnuts on the outermost side. She quickly picked up a bag and started peeling them.

She hadn't eaten this for a long time, and suddenly seeing it made her crave it. Making roasted chestnuts for the triplets would be a good idea.

Yu's mother was quick and efficient. Wearing gloves, she helped her triplets pick chestnuts while she peeled them. The four of them peeled all four sacks of chestnuts in one morning. The chestnuts they peeled were just enough to be used as firewood to smoke fish.

The four of them enjoyed a delicious steamed chestnut lunch, and in the afternoon, their mother stir-fried a lot of chestnuts for the triplets to enjoy!

But when Yu's mother saw the two burlap sacks on Liu Yun's bicycle after get off work, she knew at a glance that they were chestnuts, but she had only spent most of the day peeling them and now she didn't want to peel any more.

So the task fell to the three working group, who started peeling after lunch and continued until after 7 p.m.

After finishing her work and stretching, Liu Yun glanced at the triplets in the living room and immediately yelled, "Yu Xu! Yu Leng! Yu Zi! What are you doing! Still eating! Stop eating!"

Mother Yu roasted a lot of chestnuts today and put them on the coffee table. She'll put them away when we go to bed later. Right now, everyone is working, and the triplets are taking advantage of the adults' work to sit on the sofa with a fruit plate and start eating handfuls of fruit. Not only chestnuts, but because they were putting away chestnuts, the lock on the storage cabinet was opened, and the three of them also found a lot of dried fruit, which they love the most for its sweet and sour taste.

In this day and age, what a wonderful snack! It's satisfying and delicious, but you can't eat it endlessly, especially for such a young child who has already eaten quite a bit at mealtime.

Upon being spotted, the triplets immediately stuffed a handful of dried fruit into their mouths, their actions remarkably synchronized—truly befitting triplets.

Yu's father and Yu Qian quickly lifted the three of them up, while Yu's mother and Liu Yun hurriedly grabbed the food, saying that if they ate any more, they would get an upset stomach that night.

"So delicious! So delicious! I want more!"

But nobody paid them any attention; some washed their hands, others collected their belongings.