Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

The bolt fell.

Zhou Jianguo leaned against the door, listening to Yi Zhonghai instructing people to carry the deaf old lady away.

That needle just now pierced the philtrum and opened the top of the head. It relieved my anger, but it was just an appetizer.

With a thought, a light blue panel that only he could see popped up in front of Zhou Jianguo's eyes.

[Ding! The violent medical practice was a resounding success, terrifying all the birds!]

[Critical Hit Reward Received: Portable Farm Space Upgrade Card (LV2)]

"receive."

There were no fancy special effects; a shimmering card appeared between her eyebrows.

The scene before Zhou Jianguo's eyes suddenly changed.

When I opened my eyes again, it was a completely different world.

The once barren land is gone.

Before me lies a square acre of top-quality black soil, its color rich and lustrous.

At the end of the field, a blue stone spring well was bubbling with steam, surrounded by white mist, exuding an ethereal aura.

What surprised Zhou Jianguo the most was that a fully automatic constant-temperature chicken coop had miraculously appeared out of nowhere in the corner of the space.

"Cluck cluck—"

A burst of noise broke the silence.

Zhou Jianguo walked closer and saw ten top-quality Luhua chickens with glossy feathers strolling around the chicken coop.

"With food in hand, there's no need to panic. Now that we've upgraded, let's test the LV2 AFK efficiency."

Zhou Jianguo didn't hesitate either, pulling up the high-quality winter wheat seeds that the system had previously rewarded him with, and waving his hand.

The seeds were scattered evenly.

He then drew in the spiritual spring water, which turned into a fine rain.

What happened next even amazed Zhou Jianguo, a time traveler, with the speed of growth.

The black soil churns and tender shoots break through the earth.

Elongation, growth, ear formation, grain filling, yellowing...

In just ten minutes, an acre of wasteland was transformed into golden waves of wheat.

A breeze carries the sweet scent of wheat, the aroma of a bountiful harvest.

"One-click harvest".

The system's built-in processing functions are activated.

The wheat waves vanished instantly, the threshing, hulling, and grinding were all completed in one go.

In the blink of an eye, a heavy burlap sack bearing the words "Premium Flour" landed at my feet, its opening wide, revealing the snow-white, fine flour inside.

"Giggle giggle—"

The chickens over there were quite well-behaved; several speckled chickens that had drunk the spring water nestled in the grass.

In no time, seven or eight red-shelled eggs, still warm from the body, rolled out.

Zhou Jianguo bent down and picked one up; his palm was warm.

She grabbed another handful of flour, her fingertips delicate.

"With these, let alone three years of natural disasters, even if another ten years come, I can live like a king."

A sense of security instantly surged within him. Zhou Jianguo didn't greedily take more; he only filled a large bowl with flour, took four eggs, and then, with a thought, returned to reality.

The side effects of the enhanced physical fitness came: an intense hunger surged like a tidal wave.

Those two pieces of fried steamed buns were long gone.

Zhou Jianguo glanced at the pitch-black night outside the window, listened to the howling wind, and a mocking glint flashed in his eyes.

"Since you're all still awake, then please enjoy the smell and have sweet dreams."

With a flick of his wrist, a piece of premium pork belly weighing a full five pounds appeared on the cutting board.

The fat was as translucent as jade, and the lean meat was as red as the sunset.

Zhou Jianguo picked up a cleaver, and with a swift motion, sliced ​​off the thick piece of pork fat, cutting it into neat small square pieces.

Turn on the fire and set up the pot.

Heat the iron pot without adding a drop of water.

The snow-white pork fat poured in.

"Sizzle—!!!"

As the temperature rises, the oil turns into a transparent liquid.

A unique, smoky aroma of lard slowly filled the entire room.

Instead of closing the window, Zhou Jianguo picked up a palm-leaf fan and vigorously fanned the window crack twice.

"Go ahead, the northwest wind is blowing tonight, it'll blow right towards the central courtyard and the Jia family. Let's share the spoils."

Zhongyuan, Yi Zhonghai's house.

Under the dim light of a bulb, Yi Zhonghai was feeding water to a deaf old woman with a gloomy face.

Although the old lady was acting just now, the needle prick in her philtrum was real. Now half of her face is swollen, and she's groaning and cursing.

"That little bastard who'll never have children... he really dares to stab me... Ouch, it hurts like hell..."

Yi Zhonghai's face darkened, and he felt extremely aggrieved.

Today, not only did I lose all my prestige and fail to extort any money, but I also got myself into a lot of trouble.

Just as he was figuring out how to make up for it at tomorrow's big meeting, his nostrils suddenly twitched twice.

Hmm? What's that smell?

At first, there was a faint, almost imperceptible aroma of burning, but then the smell filled his nostrils.

"Gurgle—"

Yi Zhonghai's stomach, which had only drunk two bowls of thin porridge, roared in protest.

"This...this is lard rendering?" An older woman's hand trembled as she sewn shoe soles, the needle pricking her hand crooked. Her eyes were fixed on the window. "It smells so good! Who doesn't know how to make a living?"

The deaf elderly woman lying in bed reacted more violently.

He was crying out in pain, but then his voice suddenly stopped.

His cloudy old eyes widened, his nostrils flared dramatically, and he gasped for air.

"The meat...it smells like fatty pork..." The old woman's mouth watered uncontrollably, the drool running down the trail of foam she'd just spilled. "Zhonghai! Quick! Go check! I want meat! I want pork cracklings!"

Yi Zhonghai's face turned ashen.

In the entire compound, besides Zhou Jianguo, who else could pull off such a feat?

"It's Zhou Jianguo." Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth, squeezing the words out from between them. "He's rendering lard."

"That heartless, childless bastard!" The deaf old woman pounded the bed in anger, but the aroma was so enticing it made her insides burn. "He ruined our ancestor like this, and he hides in his room eating meat? Is there no justice in this world! Zhonghai, go! Go and get me a bowl! I am the ancestor, he has to show me respect!"

Yi Zhonghai stood still, his face extremely grim.

Go ask for it?

I almost got shot to death with a needle just now. If I go to ask for lard now, wouldn't that be like sticking my face out to be stepped on by someone?

But that smell... it's too unbearable.

Yi Zhonghai felt his mouth was full of saliva, and he couldn't even swallow it all.

The front yard, Yan Bugui's house.

Yan Bugui had gone to bed early to save electricity, but the smell made him sit up abruptly, not even bothering to put on his glasses, and he rushed barefoot to the window.

"My goodness!"

Yan Bugui took a deep breath, looking ecstatic, then his face contorted with pain, as if the oil was burning his own money.

"This is lard! Judging from the sound, it would take at least three pounds of lard to render this flavor! Three pounds! How much would that cost? And it's all gone in one night?"

The three older women nearby swallowed hard: "Old Yan, where did Zhou Jianguo get these meat tickets this week?"

"This kid definitely has connections! I really misjudged him before." Yan Bugui's shrewd little eyes gleamed green in the darkness as his fingers flew across the keyboard. "Such a strong smell of cooking oil! Wasteful, utterly wasteful! If this were cornmeal, it would be enough to feed the whole family for two months!"

In the next room, several children woke up from their cravings, crying and shouting for meat.

Yan Bugui was annoyed by what he heard and hissed in a low voice, "What are you crying about! Is that even fit for human consumption? It's a death warrant! Tomorrow I'll go to the neighborhood committee to report him for speculation... No, I don't have any evidence."