Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Admiring his own foresight for ensuring the puppy wouldn't go hungry, Cheng Zhiyu found the goat milk powder, fetched a small bowl from the kitchen, and prepared to mix it with warm water.

Seeing him head toward the kitchen, the puppy, assuming he was retrieving the food he had just eaten, elegantly trotted behind him on its short legs.

He fancied himself a supervisor, unaware that he now resembled a little tail trailing his owner, his gaze so pitiful it seemed to scream hunger.

Cheng Zhiyu tested the water temperature. Lacking experience, he reasoned that overly hot water might destroy the milk powder's nutrients. Though unsure if his logic was scientifically sound, he adhered to it nonetheless.

Turning around, he saw the puppy—no bigger than his shoe—standing by his leg, looking up at him with eager eyes.

Cheng Zhiyu’s heart melted instantly. "Don’t worry," he said softly, "it’ll just be a moment."

The puppy didn’t understand why he had to wait. The human’s food was right there—why not just serve it directly?

But since he couldn’t speak, he could only furrow his brow and wait silently. Surely it wouldn’t take long.

True to his word, Cheng Zhiyu didn’t keep him waiting. Once the temperature felt right, he poured the goat milk powder into the bowl and mixed it with warm water.

Assuming the puppy must be extremely hungry after waiting so long, Cheng Zhiyu carried the prepared milk to the living room. As the puppy followed closely behind, he smiled and set the bowl down in front of him. "Drink up," he said.

The puppy: "?"

He sniffed the white liquid incredulously. Though it had a faint aroma, it was nowhere near as enticing as what the human had been eating.

After all that waiting, this was what he got?

Noticing the puppy standing frozen in place, Cheng Zhiyu crouched down, gently tapped its head, and nudged the bowl closer. "Why aren’t you drinking? Weren’t you hungry?"

The puppy glanced at the unappetizing liquid, thought of the human’s meal, and defiantly turned its head away. It wouldn’t eat this.

Cheng Zhiyu: "?"

"You were so eager just a moment ago," he muttered.

Puppy: I wasn’t waiting for this.

Frowning in concern, Cheng Zhiyu wondered why the puppy refused the goat milk. Was the flavor unappealing? He certainly didn’t seem full.

But for now, Cheng Zhiyu had no other options. He didn’t know what else to feed the puppy—what if other foods harmed it?

After some thought, he decided to wait and see. If the puppy truly refused to eat, he’d figure something out later.

The puppy stood firm, looking away with determination, as if declaring it would never touch it—though it secretly glanced at Cheng Zhiyu out of the corner of its eye.

He’d expected the human would give him the delicious food instead, but after frowning for a moment, Cheng Zhiyu said, "If you don’t want it now, you can have it later when you’re hungry."

With that, Cheng Zhiyu truly ignored him, returning to the table to finish his meal.

Puppy: "..." Is he not going to take care of me?

His eyes fell on the bowl nearby. In the past, he would never have drunk such a thing, but now, his body was too weak, his stomach empty. Without food, he might starve.

Even so, the puppy still refused the milk. He trotted away on his short legs, casting a seemingly casual glance at Cheng Zhiyu before leaving.

Then, Cheng Zhiyu finished his meal, took the bowl, and headed to the kitchen.

Puppy: "..." So frustrating!

Unaware of the puppy’s rich inner world, Cheng Zhiyu enjoyed his full stomach and left the remaining tomato beef stew in the pot for later.

The satisfaction of a full meal reminded him how crucial food was now.

This thought grew increasingly irresistible—he decided to give it a try.

Leaving the kitchen, he found his backpack and pulled out a small packet of vegetable seeds he’d picked up at the convenience store.

He hadn’t looked closely before but now saw they were cabbage seeds.

Cabbage was good—it grew easily and yielded plenty.

Seeds in hand, he focused his thoughts and entered the system space.

He didn’t bother hiding this from the puppy—after all, what could a little dog understand?

Completely unaware that the puppy was watching him curiously as he vanished.

Upon entering the system space, Xiao Er enthusiastically swayed its branches in welcome.

Cheng Zhiyu reached out to stroke Xiao Er’s leaves, then checked on Little Iron. As expected, Little Iron was recovering more slowly, its vitality only gradually increasing to 8%.

But it was still progress—at least it was improving.

He praised Little Iron while gently touching its leaves, then glanced around.

Since completing the novice task, the space had expanded from 1x1 meter to 2x2 meters, feeling much more spacious now.

Even with Xiao Er and Little Iron there, plenty of empty land remained.

As a Chinese person with farming in his blood, how could he let this land go to waste? He had to plant something.

Cheng Zhiyu knew how to grow cabbage—he’d done it with his family before. That year, they’d planted a whole patch of cabbage in their backyard.

While planting, it hadn’t seemed like much, but when harvest came, they had more cabbage than they could eat. Coincidentally, cabbage prices were particularly low that year—sometimes people wouldn’t even take it for free.

Later, much of the cabbage spoiled, and his family never planted so much again, opting for just a few plants at most.

Recalling those times, Cheng Zhiyu sighed. What was once thrown away without a second thought might now become a luxury.

Shaking off the nostalgia, he picked up a shovel and got to work. Cabbage usually had a higher survival rate when seedlings were transplanted, but without the means for that now, he decided to sow the seeds directly.

As he worked, the system seemed to finally realize what he was doing, its mechanical voice tinged with disbelief. "Host, what are you doing?"

Cheng Zhiyu continued working, replying matter-of-factly, "This land is just sitting idle. I’m planting some vegetables."

System: "...Host, how can you plant vegetables here?"

Cheng Zhiyu was puzzled. "Why not? The soil is so fertile."

System: "Warning! Other plants may negatively affect the growth of the original plants in the space. Host, do not proceed recklessly!"

Cheng Zhiyu paused, surprised by this. He stopped, slightly disappointed. "Ah? I can’t plant here?"

Just as he was about to give up, and the system thought its host was reasonable, Xiao Er suddenly swayed its branches, its leaves nudging the seeds in Cheng Zhiyu’s hand as if trying to help plant them.

"..."

Plants usually detested having others nearby... so what was this about?

Cheng Zhiyu touched Xiao Er's branches and leaves, smiling, "Xiao Er, do you want me to plant vegetables?"

Xiao Er swayed its branches up and down like a nod.

"But if I plant vegetables, it might hurt you." Although Cheng Zhiyu really wanted to plant some vegetables, he didn’t want to do so at the cost of harming Xiao Er.

Xiao Er, however, shook its branches vigorously from side to side, as if saying, "No, it won’t! Don't listen to that stupid system!"

Cheng Zhiyu still hesitated. After all, in his eyes, Xiao Er was no longer just some ordinary plant but more like a companion. He couldn’t simply ignore the system’s warning.

While he hesitated, Xiao Er, seeing no action from him and unable to grab the seeds from his hand, started frantically pawing at the soil, trying to dig a hole to plant the seeds.

Cheng Zhiyu’s eye twitched, worried it might hurt itself, and he quickly stopped it, "Stop digging, stop digging. I have tools—I’ll do it."

Xiao Er paused, shook the soil off its leaves, and obediently rubbed against Cheng Zhiyu.

Cheng Zhiyu said helplessly and patted Xiao Er, "I’ll plant a little for now. If you feel uncomfortable, you have to tell me, okay?"

Xiao Er swayed its leaves up and down to show it understood.

The system was baffled.

Although Xiao Er allowed it, Cheng Zhiyu didn’t dare plant too much, afraid it might really affect Xiao Er. He dug five holes in the edges farthest from Xiao Er and planted the seeds.

As for Little Iron’s area, given its current condition, Cheng Zhiyu didn’t dare plant near it. The five seeds might not even sprout, so he decided to give it a try first.

After finishing his work, Cheng Zhiyu left the plant space and noticed the puppy was missing. He quickly searched around and finally found it in the kitchen.

He scooped up the puppy, smiling, "What were you doing in the kitchen? If you’re hungry, just drink your milk obediently."

The puppy looked solemn—it really didn’t want to drink.

Cheng Zhiyu had no choice; he couldn’t force-feed it, so he decided to wait and see.

With nothing else to do, he started practicing his martial arts forms again.

The puppy sat not far away, watching his clumsy movements with disdain in its puppy-dog eyes. Were these limbs newly grown?

Not long after mentally grumbling, the puppy’s stomach growled again. Fortunately, the sound was soft, and Cheng Zhiyu was too busy to notice.

The feeling of hunger was unbearable. The puppy, who had just been determined not to drink, now was torn.

It really didn’t want to drink this stuff, but… it couldn’t just starve to death…

The puppy glanced at Cheng Zhiyu, who was moving awkwardly, thinking it would be embarrassing to drink now. It would be better if Cheng Zhiyu didn’t see.

Making sure Cheng Zhiyu wasn’t looking its way, the puppy tiptoed sneakily to the bowl.

Without hesitation, it buried its head and started drinking. The goat’s milk smelled faintly milky but tasted bland—the puppy felt like it was just drinking water. It was so hungry that it finished the milk in one go.

A cheery voice came from nearby, "Wow, you drank it all so cleanly!"

The puppy’s small body stiffened. It lifted its head, its muzzle now white, and thought: I didn't drink that! Wasn't me!