Chapter 167 Returning Home

"Manager He is quite polite. He gave us half a piece of cotton cloth. Even though it is only half a piece of cloth, it is worth several taels of silver." Li Wanqing said after they walked away.

"Manager He is a very particular person, but we won't accept his gift for nothing. Tomorrow we will pick up some mushrooms, wood ears, pine nuts, and chestnuts and send them to him. It can be regarded as our return gift.

Although we don't care about these mountain products, they are rare in the city." Gu Yan said.

Since Gu Yan had a plan in mind, Li Wanqing didn't say anything more.

It was already late and Li Wanqing was tired, so she went straight home.

When they got home, the two of them were not idle. They lit the stove to warm up the room and let Xuanxuan lie on the kang and play by himself.

Li Wanqing and Gu Yan packed up their things. There weren't many things, just the things they bought in the capital city in the past two days.

After packing up, Gu Yan made a pot of dumpling soup and the two of them ate it and went to bed.

The next morning, the two of them got up early and tidied the house again, putting the bedding and mats on the kang into the space.

After locking the doors and windows, he drove the carriage out.

Passing by He's cloth shop, Gu Yan took a bag of mountain products and gave it to Manager He.

When leaving the city, Gu Yan passed by a breakfast stall and bought a lot of donkey meat hotpot and fried dough sticks.

Both of them love to eat these two things. Since they have a rare chance to come here, they bought some extra and didn’t leave any for themselves.

Because he was afraid of snow, Gu Yan hurried all the way and finally returned to the county town three days later.

Fortunately, they did not stop on the way, and it snowed the night they arrived home.

"Gu Yan, is it snowing outside? Why do I feel the temperature has dropped?" Li Wanqing felt colder than yesterday before she even got up.

"Yes, it is snowing. It started snowing in the late night yesterday, and now there is a thick layer of snow on the ground." Gu Yan had just come back from outside and was standing in front of the stove to warm himself by the fire.

"Oh, it's snowing? I have to go check the greenhouse and make sure it doesn't collapse under the weight of the snow." When Li Wanqing heard that it was snowing, she was worried that the greenhouse couldn't bear it, so she got up quickly.

"Don't worry, I've just checked and the greenhouse is fine." Gu Yan saw that she was impatient and said quickly.

"Then I'll go take a look too. The snow is so heavy that we have to clean it up all the time.

I wonder how the vegetables are growing? I'll go check it out too." Li Wanqing hasn't had time to check out the greenhouse since she came back, but now she wants to.

"Then eat first, and then go after you finish eating." Gu Yan knew that he couldn't stop her, so he could only let her fill her stomach first.

"Okay, what do you want to eat for breakfast?" Li Wanqing asked while washing up.

"Aunt Qiu made steamed meat buns, millet porridge, and salted duck eggs." Gu Yan said as he brought in the meal left for Li Wanqing.

It’s cold outside, so Li Wanqing is not allowed to go out to eat.

"Have you eaten?" Li Wanqing took a sip of millet porridge first.

"Eat it." Gu Yan sat beside her and peeled salted duck eggs for her.

"Oh, this salted duck egg is well-salted. It's sandy and oily but not too salty." Li Wanqing picked up the duck egg with chopsticks, and the brown duck egg oil flowed out.

"The salted duck eggs you pickled are delicious. We're almost done with the ones we pickled last time. How about pickling some more?" Gu Yan also liked the salted duck eggs pickled by Li Wanqing.

Moreover, Gu Yan likes to peel one and eat it with whatever he eats.

The main thing is that the salted duck eggs pickled by Li Wanqing are not salty at all, and they are very oily when you bite them, which is especially delicious.

"Okay, I'll get some duck eggs out later and have Aunt Qiu clean them, and I'll pickle them this afternoon.

"What else do you like to eat? Tell me everything, and if I can cook it, I'll make it for you." Li Wanqing said.

"Hey, let's pickle more this time and use it as New Year's gifts.

I also want to eat braised pig intestines, pig heads, and bacon. Let's make more this year. I'll go buy pork tomorrow." Gu Yan happily made his requests one by one.

Li Wanqing did not object. If the man wanted to eat, she would cook for him. It was not like he couldn't afford it. Besides, she was willing to indulge the man's appetite.

"Okay, I'll make it for you when you buy it.

Don’t you like barbecue? Go to the blacksmith shop and order a barbecue grill, and I’ll grill some for you.” Li Wanqing readily agreed.

"Okay, I'll go in the afternoon." Gu Yan said.

"Well, you can go in the afternoon. Let's go check out the greenhouse first." Li Wanqing had finished her meal while speaking.

"Let's go, take your time, don't be in a hurry. Uncle Wang and Guangming are watching in the backyard, the greenhouse won't collapse." Gu Yan picked up the dishes and put them outside.

In the backyard garden, Uncle Wang and his father were busy in the greenhouse.

"Uncle Wang, the snow on the straw curtains must be cleared at all times, otherwise the bamboo will not be able to withstand the damage." Li Wanqing said when she saw that the snow on the straw curtains was already so thick.

"Okay, Madam, I'll go right away." Uncle Wang agreed and was about to go.

"Wait, Uncle Wang, don't go up there. The bamboo is not strong enough to support an adult.

"Go find a long wooden stick and use it to scrape the snow off," said Li Wanqing.

"Madam, my father is an adult and can't do it, but I can. I'm still young and not heavy. I'll go up." Wang Guangming said.

“Your father can’t go up there, and neither can you.

There is snow all over here and you will slide down if you are not careful.

Neither of you two can go up there. Falling down is no joke.

Just listen to me, find a long wooden stick and scrape the snow off from below.

As long as the snow doesn't accumulate too deeply, there's no problem," said Li Wanqing.

"Listen to the young lady. You are a pervert. Go find a stick." Uncle Wang patted Guangming's shoulder.

Uncle Wang and his father went to find sticks to sweep the snow, while Li Wanqing went to check on how the vegetables were growing.

This greenhouse is used to grow beans, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers.

Now they have grown to half a foot tall, and the cucumbers and beans can be put on the rack.

But it hasn't bloomed yet, so it will take some time before it bears fruit.

"These vegetables are growing well. It seems that Uncle Wang has put a lot of effort into it." Li Wanqing said with satisfaction.

"Yeah, they are indeed well taken care of. The vegetables in the east greenhouse are also growing well, and some can be picked and eaten." Gu Yan nodded in agreement.

"Really? Let's go and take a look. If it's edible, we'll fry a plate for lunch." Li Wanqing said excitedly.

The vegetables in the other greenhouse were indeed growing well, with the Chinese cabbage and rapeseed growing to a length of one foot.

Because the seeds are sown when planting, they grow a bit densely. If you want them to grow well in the future, you need to thin out the seedlings.

The thinned vegetable seedlings are just right for stir-frying.

"These seedlings need to be thinned out. It's just right for us to stir-fry some bok choy at noon." Li Wanqing said as she squatted down and picked up the thick seedlings and pulled them up.

"I think the leeks are ready to be eaten. The first batch of leeks are the freshest and tenderest. How about making some leek dumplings for lunch?" Gu Yan said, looking at a patch of leeks.