Chapter 99: The Childish Tattletale

Following Ruan Mian's movements, the small door hidden in the iron-sheet house in front was pushed open, and Huo Junze could finally catch a glimpse of the mysterious veil of the backyard.

The moment the bright light shone in, he was stunned.

The scene before his eyes was something he had never seen before; it could be described with the word "shocking."

He felt that there could never be a more beautiful landscape than this.

The land in the yard was not very large, but it was planned very well, plot by plot, and even bordered with brown fences.

What met his eyes was a expanse of green leaves, bathed in sunlight, so vibrant and full of life.

Hidden beneath the green leaves were flowers of different colors, and fruits of various sizes hung between the branches.

This place seemed to be heaven.

The two hands resting at his sides were trembling slightly, beyond his control.

The voice that had always been calm and steady since he first met her was also trembling slightly with nervousness at this moment.

"These are all plants?! Are they living plants?!"

"Mhm."

With the comparison of how excited and incredibly careful Lu Yi was the first time he saw a tomato, Huo Junze's excitement was not quite as exaggerated.

But it also gave Ruan Mian a piece of information: they, the Interstellar people, truly had never seen plants.

"May I touch the leaves?"

He was a bit cautious when he made this request, and she also knew that this request was a bit excessive; after all, these were plants!

Precious things that might die if one was not careful.

If a precious plant were to die just because he touched it, he would truly be a sinner.

It was the same; they, the Interstellar people, all wanted to touch them so much.

"Go ahead, it's fine." Her gaze fell on the clusters of tomatoes already on the rack; this was work, wasn't it?

These tomatoes were growing really too fast; one 917 was almost unable to keep up with the work.

"President Huo, would you like to try picking tomatoes?"

Huo Junze's gaze had long been drawn to the small, lush tomatoes on the rack.

Especially the clusters of red fruits hidden among the green leaves; they truly made one's heart feel joyful.

"May I?"

"Why wouldn't you be able to?" She gestured with her mouth toward the Simulation Human 917 who was busy grabbing handfuls of tomatoes over there. "He probably can't keep up by himself. President Huo, would you like to join in?"

Huo Junze was truly impatient, and he nodded immediately.

Just as he took a step, he looked at her with doubt, "Should I go wash my hands?"

There was no need to be so cautious; those were just tomatoes!

Ruan Mian still shook her head gently, "No need, tomatoes have to be washed after they're picked anyway. Um... you'd better join this picking activity quickly, otherwise 917 will pick them all clean in a moment~"

Now he had no further questions, his pace quickened a bit, and he went to the tomato rack and began to carefully pick the tomatoes.

917, not far from him, looked much more violent, grabbing them by the handful.

It made his brows furrow again and again.

Leaving the vegetable picking activity to them, Ruan Mian felt very relieved; it was just the right time for her to browse the Light Brain to see if there were any suitable bottles and jars.

She actually found some; there were glass jars here too, and the price was very low, though the quantity was not very large.

These seemed to be considered useless decorations!

Never mind, she would buy whatever was available first.

"Ruan Mian, can you make this Simulation Human stop?"

Having just finished buying the items and before she even had a chance to take them out to look, she heard Huo Junze's words, sounding like a primary school student tattling, ring in her ears.

"What's wrong?"

As soon as she looked up, she was met with his face, brows tightly furrowed, and a leaf on his head.

She raised the corners of her mouth, feeling a bit helpless, but he was quite interesting like this; it stripped away some of his maturity and gravity, as if it suddenly narrowed the distance between them.

It seemed that the eighty-year generation gap was no longer there.

"Hehe, look at you."

She raised her hand to reach for it, but she was a bit too short.

So annoying.

Nüwa, you are unfair; why are they all so tall?

She tugged at his arm, "Lower your head, there's something on it!"

Huo Junze was stunned for a moment the instant her hand reached over, but he quickly lowered his head following her force and leaned in.

Within her line of sight, he was a bit closer.

Her face was approaching bit by bit, and it felt as if she could smell the faint scent of flowers and grass on her.

Very unique, very pleasant.

Like the mark left by the sun on her.

Her hair was touched lightly, and a green leaf was caught between her fingers.

"There, you got a leaf on you." She wanted to throw it away, but the person in front of her reached out his palm toward her.

Er...

Alright, they really loved plants.

She placed it in his hand, and he treated it like a treasure, storing it in his Light Brain.

That wasn't necessary, it really wasn't necessary!!!

"By the way, what's wrong with 917?"

Speaking of this, Huo Junze became angry, pointing toward the outside, his tone very dissatisfied, "Make him stop quickly, look, he's about to pull the tomato vines apart."

Ruan Mian walked over to take a look; 917 was still doing it the same way as before, there was no difference at all!

Besides, the other party had already picked a full basket of tomatoes, while looking at the other side, Huo Junze, well, he also had a small half-basket.

And he was very patient, arranging them neatly one by one.

This is hard to judge.

I can only wish him success...

"Isn't he picking them quite well?"

"Look here!"

At the spot where Huo Junze's fingertip pointed, she saw it, a vine that had snapped.

"It was torn off directly by him here, the plant will die like this!"

Then what about her, cutting off a large section of vine every now and then?

Feeling a bit awkward, she touched the bridge of her nose, "It's fine, it won't die, these tomato vines grow too fast, it's actually good to break off a little bit appropriately."

Not understanding, Huo Junze was very puzzled, but also very heartbroken.

Laughing it off, Ruan Mian immediately diverted his attention, "Do you like Tomato Sauce? Do you want to see how I make it? Do you want to learn? I plan to make some Tomato Sauce today, what do you think?"

Pulling him toward the kitchen, she waved her hand behind her back at the Simulation Human, signaling him to continue.

Sigh, after all, they are people with an age gap of over eighty years!

The method for making Tomato Sauce is very simple.

Wash the tomatoes clean, scald them with boiling water, remove the skins and stems, cut them into small pieces, or juice them.

She had a blending machine to mash them up directly.

Heat oil in a pot, fry the onions and garlic until fragrant, then remove the residue.

Just with this step, the oil with its fragrance released already had Huo Junze watching intently.

Pour the tomato juice into the pot, add the boiled-down sugar, boil over high heat until bubbling, then turn to low heat, and keep simmering until the sauce becomes thick.

Basically, it is considered done.

It's just that this process requires constant stirring to prevent the pot from burning.

The freshly made Tomato Sauce conquered someone's taste buds all at once.

Sweet food really can make a person's mood better.

"Actually, this sugar isn't that great; it's self-boiled, so it's always a bit dark, and the color isn't that good-looking. If only it could be made into white sugar!"