Yufang was stunned upon hearing this, her face instantly turning beet red as she froze in place, petrified on the spot.
"Hurry up," Xia Huai'an urged, feeling the sensation in his stomach growing increasingly intense.
Mother Xia nudged Yufang's arm and whispered, "Go on. There will be a day for this sooner or later, so earlier is better. Remember what your mother said: our family cannot go without a man."
Gathering her courage, Yufang followed Xia Huai'an into the inner room.
Xia Huai'an closed the door. Having already prepared his explanation, he turned around, with his back to Yufang, and assumed a mysterious tone. "Logically speaking, judging by my appearance, I should only be a few years older than you, but in terms of actual age, I am probably several hundred years old!"
"W-what?" Yufang was completely bewildered.
Xia Huai'an turned back around, only to see that Yufang had already unbuttoned half of her tunic.
"You..." Xia Huai'an was dumbfounded. Most of the speech he had just prepared vanished from his mind in an instant.
In this era, a man calling a woman alone into an inner room certainly seemed inappropriate.
"There's been a misunderstanding!" Xia Huai'an blurted out in a panic. "That's not what I meant."
Yufang hurriedly straightened her clothes, her face flushed red, which paradoxically added a touch of charm to her appearance.
"Then what did you mean?" Yufang asked with a hint of grievance.
"I have something to say... Now, where was I?"
"You said you were several hundred years old! Stop talking nonsense. Are you an immortal or something?"
"I actually am half an immortal!" Xia Huai'an steered the conversation back on track.
Pausing for a moment, he continued, "I was originally a person from several hundred years ago. When I was young, I accidentally met an immortal in the mountains. The immortal said I was destined for immortality and took me to the Immortal Realm. I stayed in the Immortal Realm for over two years. Since a day in heaven is a year on earth, calculated that way, aren't I seven or eight hundred years old?"
"Elder Brother went to the Immortal Realm?" Yufang became even more skeptical. "May I ask what the Immortal Realm is like?"
Xia Huai'an said, "The Immortal Realm? It's a wonderful place! The vehicles running on the ground can travel a thousand miles a day—they don't eat grass, they drink oil! And the iron birds flying in the sky can travel ten thousand miles a day, going from the southern border to the northern limits in barely more than half a day! The Immortal Realm has abundant food and clothing, peace and prosperity; there is more grain than people can finish eating, farmers don't have to pay taxes for tilling the land, and the government even gives out subsidies!"
"There's no such good fortune!" Yufang shook her head repeatedly, even more unconvinced.
"They say seeing is believing, while hearing is doubtful! I have my own way to prove I've been to the Immortal Realm! If you don't believe me, look at what this is!" Xia Huai'an said, taking a lighter out of his backpack and igniting a flame right in front of Yufang.
This tiny device could produce a flame at any moment, opening Yufang's eyes and leaving her utterly astounded.
"This fire starter is so rare, truly a masterpiece of divine craftsmanship!" Yufang still remained doubtful.
Xia Huai'an then produced a headlamp and a stainless steel pot, introducing them: "Look at this lamp. It's this bright even in broad daylight, yet it doesn't consume oil and isn't hot to the touch. If this isn't immortal sorcery, what is? And this pot—don't let its plain shape fool you; it's made of divine metal found only in the Immortal Realm, completely rust-proof for a hundred years. I ask you, which mortal in this world could forge such divine metal?"
With these two items presented, Yufang grew even more shocked and began to waver.
As for the smartphone, he had better not take it out; it was far too advanced and impossible to explain even if he claimed it belonged to the Immortal Realm.
"This lamp really is rare! The methods of the immortals are truly marvelous indeed!" Yufang was now half convinced.
Xia Huai'an smiled and said, "And there is something even more marvelous! The grain in the Immortal Realm consists entirely of Immortal Seeds selected by immortals, and the yields are astonishingly high! A yield of three thousand catties per mu is nothing out of the ordinary!"
"Ah! Three thousand catties?" Yufang let out a gasp! In this era, a mu yielding three hundred catties of staple grain was already considered a bountiful harvest! A yield of three thousand catties per mu meant people could eat three meals a day and stuff themselves until they were full at every single one!
Outside the room, Mother Xia heard Yufang's gasp, and a deeply meaningful smile appeared on her face.
"This matter is settled. Your eldest brother most likely won't be leaving!" Mother Xia said happily. "Xiaomao, give your mother another bowl of noodle soup."
Inside the room, Yufang asked with lingering doubt, "Did Elder Brother bring some Immortal Seeds down to the mortal realm? With Immortal Seeds, wouldn't we mortals be able to avert the disaster of famine?"
Xia Huai'an said, "Immortals and mortals belong to different worlds! The immortal said my immortal destiny had ended and chased me out of the Immortal Realm, allowing me to bring only a few personal belongings, but strictly forbidding me from taking any Immortal Seeds or grain!"
"Oh!" Yufang was instantly filled with disappointment and let out a sigh.
"However!" Xia Huai'an patted his stomach and said, "Immortal Seeds are of the utmost importance. Even though the immortal didn't allow it, I racked my brains to find a way to smuggle some down to the mortal realm. To tell you the truth, I brought Immortal Seeds, and more than one kind!"
"The Immortal Seeds are right inside my stomach!" Xia Huai'an whispered.
Yufang's eyes instantly lit up as she stared at Xia Huai'an's lower abdomen, her scorching gaze making Xia Huai'an feel rather embarrassed.
He quickly added, "The immortal wouldn't let me bring the Immortal Seeds, so I wrapped the seeds in plastic film and swallowed them into my belly, hoping to pull off a deception and smuggle the Immortal Seeds down to the mortal realm. Who would have thought the immortal would still see right through it at a glance!"
"However," seeing that Yufang's emotions had been stirred up, Xia Huai'an stopped beating around the bush and said, "the immortal taught me that I originally had an immortal destiny, but because I cared about the sufferings of the mortal world, I could not attain immortality. Since I went to every length to bring the Immortal Seeds down, seeing my sincerity, he turned a blind eye."
"The immortal also taught me the methods of cultivating and planting the Immortal Seeds, commanding me to spread the Immortal Seeds across the lower realm to benefit hundreds of millions of mortals."
"I know," Xia Huai'an said, "this sounds far-fetched and is hard to believe entirely! But once I smoothly shit out the Immortal Seeds and teach you how to plant them, seeing is believing—you won't be able to doubt it then!"
Yufang was overjoyed upon hearing this. "If Elder Brother has truly brought Immortal Seeds, that would be a merit of heavenly proportions! Of course I believe it! No wonder I felt like I was dreaming all day today—it turns out it was the blessing of the immortals!"
Xia Huai'an said, "Then it's settled! Once I get the Immortal Seeds out, you must listen to me and plant the Immortal Seeds according to my instructions!"
"This humble one will obey Elder Brother in everything!" Yufang replied in a soft voice, her face blushing.
Xia Huai'an admonished, "Remember, you must never tell anyone else about the Immortal Seeds and my origins. Only you and I know about this. I trust only you. If you leak the heavenly secrets, the immortals will come looking for trouble with you too!"
Xia Huai'an had a gut feeling that Yufang wouldn't spread word of the Immortal Seeds, but using the pretext of an immortal made things much safer, as she was deeply superstitious about such matters.
Moreover, with the excuse of an immortal, any variety of skills and technological insights far beyond this era that he brought out in the future would have a suitable justification.
Anything people of this era could not understand could simply be attributed to the methods of the immortals.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Yufang immediately knelt and swore an oath to the heavens: "Thank you, Immortal, for your protection and for bringing the Immortal Seeds to people like us. This humble one will never leak the heavenly secrets! May I otherwise be struck by lightning and meet a miserable death!"
Xia Huai'an nodded. The seeds had indeed been brought by him. Of course, they were no Immortal Seeds, but rather common, short-cycle seeds of fine crops.
Specifically, they were "Zhongshu No. 2" potatoes, "Longshu No. 9" sweet potatoes, "Summer Yellow" cucumbers, "Shuiliang Zhangji" strawberries, and "8424" watermelons.
These had actually been prepared for the "Solo Island Survival" challenge, and they were also Xia Huai'an's secret weapons.
These crops had short growth cycles, high yields, and were easy to cultivate. As long as Xia Huai'an survived the spring, he could begin harvesting, ensuring an endless supply of food starting from the summer.
The "Solo Island Survival" challenge lasted for a full year, from early spring to the end of winter the following year, and the most difficult part by far was the second half.
The cucumbers Xia Huai'an prepared would begin bearing fruit in just over a month and could be harvested in a month and a half; the maturity period for potatoes was only two months, and they could be planted multiple times a year!
Furthermore, the waterproof tarp Xia Huai'an chose was transparent plastic film, which could be used to build agricultural greenhouses, further advancing the germination time of the seeds.
In other words, as long as Xia Huai'an made it through the first month, he basically wouldn't have to worry about food. Come summer, he could alternate between watermelons and sweet potatoes, and even have strawberries—the quality of life would be outrageously high!
On top of that, he had intentionally gained fifty pounds beforehand; even if he had to survive solely by foraging wild fruits and drinking water, he could easily make it through that first month!
This was his secret weapon for securing the championship.
This approach was clearly exploiting a loophole in the rules. The rules stated that bringing food was forbidden, and Xia Huai'an had brought none. Strictly speaking, he had merely consumed some common fruits and other foods just before the competition, which simply hadn't had time to digest yet.
His original plan was to turn off the camera on the grounds of personal privacy whenever he needed to defecate, ensuring that the audience and the production crew would remain completely unaware that he had brought seeds.
Then he would quietly plant the seeds in the soil, pass by that spot at the right moment, "discover" and identify the seedlings, and carefully transplant and cultivate them until harvest.
Not a single flaw in the plan!
As for why 8424 watermelon seedlings and Shuiliang Zhangji strawberries would be found on a deserted Pacific island, that could be left for biologists to explain—perhaps some superhero had been flying overhead while littering randomly?
"It's starting!" Xia Huai'an said, rubbing his stomach. "Find me something; I need to relieve myself."
Yufang immediately prepared a clean spittoon and handed it to Xia Huai'an.
Taking the spittoon, Xia Huai'an looked at the fiercely watching Yufang and said, "Stop staring! Go outside first!"
After Yufang left, Xia Huai'an produced a world-shaking load of crap in the inner room.
Mother Xia heard Yufang walking out of the inner room and asked in puzzlement, "Is... is it over already?"
With a face as red as blood, Yufang whispered, "It wasn't that thing Mother mentioned."
A few minutes later, Xia Huai'an's plea for help drifted out from the room: "Um... is there any tissue paper?"
"Tissue paper?" Yufang said from outside the door. "I've heard that only officials and wealthy households can afford silk handkerchiefs. Elder Brother will just have to make do with those bamboo strips over there."
Xia Huai'an felt a deep wave of regret. For all his calculations, he hadn't accounted for toilet paper; if he'd only known, he wouldn't have brought dried chili peppers—how practical a roll of toilet paper would have been instead!
A short while later, Xia Huai'an walked out of the house with a flushed face and whispered to Yufang, "The... the Immortal Seeds are inside! Help me fetch some water so I can clean up."
"Elder Brother, go rest! We women serve the old and young of the family; what haven't we seen when it comes to dung and urine? Don't worry, Elder Brother, I'll clean the Immortal Seeds carefully." Yufang rolled up her sleeves.