All the vegetables and meat in the Federation were artificially cultivated. Production was low and prices were high—a single head of ancient cabbage cost ten thousand Federation credits.
As if the expense weren’t enough, purchases were restricted as well.
Although females were allowed to buy several times more than males, there was more than one female in the Federation.
Even with ten beast husbands, Yunyang had found it difficult to achieve vegetable freedom.
So, after confirming that her blessing was also effective on plants, Yunyang decisively ordered seeds for every kind of vegetable she could find online.
Vegetables were subject to purchase limits, but seeds were not.
Yunyang bought every type of seed available, then ordered planting soil and instructed her beast husbands to clear several more garden plots.
Ten beast husbands and four robot butlers needed less than a day to clear four more plots, each nearly half a mu in size.
Yunyang felt that these four plots should be enough.
If she planted any more, the number of insect cores consumed by the blessing field would increase, making it not worth the cost.
Once the new plots had been cleared, the seeds and planting soil Yunyang had ordered arrived as well.
She directed her beast husbands and robot butlers to spread the planting soil, divide the plots into different sections, and sow the vegetable seeds.
Although the blessing’s effects on ancient plants had already been confirmed, artificially cultivated vegetable seeds were ultimately different from ancient plants.
Therefore, Yunyang divided the garden plots into two groups. The seeds planted in corresponding plots on the left and right were exactly the same.
She established a blessing field over the first plot on the left and the second plot on the right, then ordered automatic irrigation equipment and robot butlers specially designed for planting from the star network.
Yunyang felt that she was becoming more and more like a retired cadre.
·
When You Lu and Chu Zhiwei were invited to another meal, they discovered that all the attractive artificial flowers and plants had been dug up.
In their place were ancient plants found only on Planet S28, along with vegetable seedlings whose exact names they couldn’t identify but that looked remarkably familiar.
You Lu’s face lit up with curiosity. “Yangyang, where did you get all these?”
Although these plants and seedlings weren’t as pretty as the artificial flowers and plants, they had a charm of their own.
The air around Yangyang’s estate even seemed fresher.
Yunyang was busy directing her beast husbands to arrange the tables. Hearing this, she smiled and explained, “The ancient plants were sent by the ancient plant nursery on Planet S28. I bought the vegetable seeds online.”
Chu Zhiwei leaned closer and touched the best-looking seedlings. “Yangyang, these are edible, right?”
“Of course.”
As she spoke, Yunyang walked over and pulled up a handful of radish sprouts.
The radishes themselves had not yet grown, but the sprouts were already edible.
She had Pei Wenye wash the radish sprouts, then divided some between her two friends.
The two girls didn’t stand on ceremony. They popped the sprouts straight into their mouths to taste them.
The radish sprouts were tender, with a hint of sweetness and a mild peppery bite. They were delicious even raw.
You Lu’s eyes lit up. “Yangyang, could you give me some once they’re fully grown?”
Chu Zhiwei looked at Yunyang expectantly as well.
“If you like them, I can give you some now.” Yunyang nodded with a smile. “Radish sprouts are best eaten at this stage. Once they’ve fully grown, they won’t taste as good.”
Once they matured, what they would be eating would be the radishes themselves.
“Really? Thank you, Yangyang!”
You Lu and Chu Zhiwei had never been shy about accepting things from Yunyang.
Of course, they weren’t simply taking advantage of her. For today’s meal, for example, both of them had brought plenty of precious ingredients.
Some of the seedlings in the garden plots were already ready to eat. Yunyang had Butler Five, who was in charge of cultivation, pick some pea shoots and baby bok choy, adding two vegetable dishes to the meal.
There were only two dishes, but each was served in a generous portion.
Even with the three women’s beast husbands numbering nearly forty in total, there was enough for everyone to have a plateful.
The amount of vegetables male citizens could purchase was extremely limited, so as soon as the greens were served, the males picked up their chopsticks.
Gu Yun only took one bite before he began attending to Chu Zhiwei.
“Female master, try this.”
Chu Zhiwei opened her mouth and accepted the stir-fried pea shoots he brought to her lips.
The crisp, tender shoots instantly captivated her taste buds, and she quickly finished her entire portion.
Seeing this, several of her beast husbands competed to push their own portions toward her.
You Lu tried some as well and discovered that the stir-fried pea shoots and baby bok choy were both more delicious than any vegetables she had eaten before.
How should she put it? It wasn’t that her own beast husbands were poor cooks. The problem lay with the ingredients.
Freshly picked and stir-fried at their most tender and flavorful—vegetable seedlings like these couldn’t be bought with any amount of Federation credits.
Knowing Yangyang really was wonderful.
You Lu and Chu Zhiwei shared the same heartfelt thought.
Seeing how much her friends liked them, Yunyang had Rong Jin add two more plates. Only then did the two women’s beast husbands stop trying to be polite and let each other have a share.
Yan Lin had never liked vegetables very much. One reason was that vegetables were expensive and subject to purchase limits. Another was that he felt anything he cooked with vegetables never tasted good.
But he had also graduated from the Interstellar Male Academy, and upon graduation, his culinary rating had been S-rank, the same as Rong Jin’s.
Whenever he cooked for his female master, she had never said that his vegetable dishes tasted bad.
Yan Lin had never understood why—until today, when he tasted the freshest vegetable seedlings.
He suddenly understood.
It wasn’t that he disliked vegetables. The vegetables available on the star network simply weren’t good enough.
The seedlings Lady Yunyang had grown were crisp and tender. Every variety carried a faint, natural sweetness and had a flavor that couldn’t be found in vegetables bought online.
Who said he didn’t like vegetables?
He loved them!
Yan Lin quickly finished his portion, yet still felt unsatisfied.
But he didn’t dare say that he wanted more. He silently shifted his chopsticks toward the meat dishes.
Unfortunately, the meat dishes that were usually delicious suddenly seemed far less impressive beside the two plates of stir-fried greens.
Yan Lin ate with little enthusiasm. Fortunately, he spent most of the meal attending to Chu Zhiwei, so no one noticed that he had eaten less than usual.
The three females chatted as they ate, and the meal lasted one or two hours before finally ending.
Afterward, the three friends lay together and exchanged experiences on certain intimate matters.
In the past, Yunyang had thought the Federation was far too open. No matter how explicit a topic was, it was never restricted.
But now, her views had already been changed. When chatting with her friends, she no longer avoided either spicy or wholesome topics.
While the three females talked, all the beast husbands stayed nearby.
Yan Lin was still savoring the memory of those two plates of greens when, at some point, he suddenly realized that the headache caused by his high contamination level over the past few days seemed to have eased considerably.
Had his contamination level gone down?
Yan Lin opened the testing function on his optical computer. Ten minutes later, it displayed a number.
67.
Chu Zhiwei had eighteen beast husbands. If each husband spent one day with her, it would take eighteen days to complete one rotation.
That was under ideal circumstances.
In reality, she spent at least half of every month with her favorite, Gu Yun. After excluding the few days of her physiological cycle, that left only about ten days.
During those ten days, Chu Zhiwei would choose her companions by drawing lots, just as Yunyang did.
Yan Lin wasn’t particularly lucky. He hadn’t been chosen for three months.
As a result, his contamination level had been rising rapidly.
He was originally scheduled to spend the night with Chu Zhiwei that evening, but because of the dinner gathering, Chu Zhiwei’s rest schedule had been pushed back.
Before coming here, Yan Lin remembered that his contamination level had been above seventy.
Yet now, he had neither been favored by the female master nor received purification from the three females. How had his contamination level dropped to just sixty-seven?
