Dog Egg pouted. He thought city people could eat whatever they wanted, but it turns out it's not that great.
Before long, all three dishes were served. Dog Egg couldn't wait to pick up a piece of braised beef and put it in his mouth: "This braised beef is so delicious. I wish I could eat it more often."
"That's probably impossible. We just happened to catch it today. Braised beef isn't available every day."
At this time, cattle were still working partners of farmers. They would only be slaughtered and sold after they died of old age or illness. Therefore, beef was not common in the market, and most families ate pork.
Zhang Hongyan picked up a piece of meat and put it into Gou Dan's bowl: "Eating isn't enough to shut you up. Hurry up and eat, or your dad will eat it all for you."
Dog Egg looked up and saw Xia Heping stuff three or four slices of braised beef into his mouth in one go, and his actions immediately changed.
After the group had eaten and drunk their fill and returned home, the water in the yard had warmed up a bit, but it still needed to be left to dry for a while before it could be used for bathing.
Xia Heping, a grown man, wasn't so particular. He planned to take a cold shower, as it would be very comfortable in such hot weather. He grabbed a towel and a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom.
"I want to take a cold shower too, Dad, I'll shower with you," Gou Dan hurriedly went back to his room to get his towel.
Xia Qingqing quickly called out to them, "Dad, wait a minute, let me get you a bar of soap."
I almost forgot about that. She usually just uses the shower gel and shampoo from the system's inventory when she takes a shower, and then puts them away afterward, so there are no toiletries in the bathroom.
Xia Heping hesitated when he saw the clean white soap being handed to him: "Qingqing, you can keep it for yourself. Dad is a grown man, there's no need to be so particular."
Xia Qingqing knew he was reluctant to spend the money, so she smiled and said, "Use it without worry, I bought several pieces."
Without saying a word, Gou Dan took the soap from Xia Qingqing's hand and said with a smile, "Dad, if you don't need it, I will. You'll smell nice after taking a bath with this."
After taking a shower, Xia Qing went back to her room and took a nap. When she woke up, she was surprised to find that Zhang Hongyan had already prepared dinner.
At first, Zhang Hongyan and Xia Heping didn't know how to use the coal stove and didn't want to wake their daughter, so it took them a long time to finally light it.
However, this thing is indeed better than the earthen stove in the countryside. You don't have to keep an eye on the fire while cooking, and you don't have to put it out after you're done.
After the family finished dinner, the sun was about to set. Xia Qingqing took her parents and younger brother for a walk around the neighborhood to familiarize themselves with the surroundings.
At this time, many families were enjoying the cool air at their courtyard gates. When they saw Xia Qingqing and her family passing by, they couldn't help but steal a few glances. Zhang Hongyan greeted everyone very familiarly, revealing her true nature as a social butterfly.
——
The family returned from their walk around 7 p.m. Xia Qingqing went back to her room, took out a cup of iced milk tea from the system's storage, and then set up her tablet to catch up on the TV series she hadn't finished watching.
Just as I was getting into watching, I received a video call invitation from Glek.
Xia Qingqing looked at the silver-haired, blue-eyed boy on the system panel and asked, "Greek, is there something you need?"
Glek's delicate face showed a hint of fatigue, but his eyes sparkled as he looked at Xia Qingqing: "Can I continue trading that fruit with you from last time?"
He had originally intended to trade with Xia Qingqing again last time, but after returning to school, he was immediately sent out to participate in an emergency mission. He thought that even if he traded, he wouldn't have time to bring the fruit home, so he wasn't in a hurry.
After returning from the mission, the school gave them a three-day break. As soon as Glek got home, he couldn't wait to send Xia Qingqing a video call invitation.
"Of course, but what do you want to trade with me?" Xia Qingqing asked with a smile.
She was very satisfied with the mental cultivation techniques that Glek had taught her last time, and she believed that Glek must have other good things in his possession.
As expected, Glek did not disappoint Xia Qingqing:
"I can teach you the Interstellar Body Forging Technique. The Interstellar Body Forging Technique is practiced in conjunction with mental power cultivation techniques. There are ten levels in total, and the higher the level, the more powerful it becomes..."
Glek told Xia Qingqing about the benefits of practicing body tempering techniques. Low-level body tempering techniques can enhance a person's physical fitness and increase strength, while high-level techniques can even make one invulnerable to swords and spears. Most notably, they can extend a person's lifespan.
Xia Qingqing was very tempted. This body-tempering technique was indeed very attractive, so she readily agreed to the deal proposed by Glek.
After negotiations, Xia Qingqing eventually gave Glek three boxes of apples, three boxes of pears, three boxes of bananas, and 20 large watermelons.
These fruits weren't worth much to Xia Qingqing, but if she acted generously, it would encourage Glek to bring out more good stuff to trade with her in the future.
Glek was overjoyed and suppressed the urge to immediately run to his parents to share the news:
"Qingqing, shall I teach you the first level of Body Tempering Technique today? I'll teach you the second level after you've mastered it."
It wasn't that Glek was unwilling to teach Xia Qingqing all the body-tempering techniques at once, but rather that the body-tempering techniques themselves had this limitation: one could only continue to cultivate the second level after breaking through the first level; otherwise, it was impossible to cultivate them at all.
"No problem," Xia Qingqing said after hearing Glek's explanation. You can't become fat in one bite; take it slow.
After teaching Xia Qingqing the body-strengthening technique, Glek immediately ran downstairs to his parents: "Mom and Dad, I have some good news to tell you."
"Did you manage to trade for fruit again?" Mrs. Carl asked her son expectantly, she couldn't have imagined any better news.
Glek nodded excitedly: "You guessed right, I got more fruit this time than last time."
As he spoke, he waved his hand and released all the fruit from the system's warehouse, instantly filling the living room floor with boxes of fruit.
Mr. Carl burst out laughing: "Selling all of these fruits would earn us tens of millions of interstellar coins."
"Quickly put it into your system repository, it'll easily break if you leave it outside."
Glek obediently put all the fruit away, but deliberately left a watermelon: "Mom and Dad, shall we cut a watermelon and eat it?"
Mr. Carl felt a pang of heartache; a watermelon cost 100,000 interstellar coins, but what could he do if his son wanted to eat it? He wanted to earn more money for his only son.
With his father's permission, Glek grinned and cut the watermelon in half, storing one half in the system's storage and cutting the other half into small pieces.
Then Glek picked out the middle piece and handed it to Mrs. Carl: "Mom, this sweetest one is for you."
Feeling Mr. Carl's resentful gaze, Glek immediately picked out a larger piece and handed it to him: "Dad, this biggest piece is for you."
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