Chapter 85 Lotus Leaf Rice

While Zhao Xuan was pedaling his tricycle home with all his might, Lu An had already returned home ahead of time.

Yao Yuan was the second person to witness Lu An's rapid progress, and like Lao Dao, he was deeply impressed by the limits of human capability.

This time they brought not only goods, but also live animals.

Lu An traded in two sows, while Yao Yuan traded in four ducks. So this time, on their way back to the city, they had to ensure they got home quickly while also taking care of these animals.

The journey was incredibly tough. Yao Yuan barely slept; when he was awake, he was either riding his bike or searching for feed. On their return trip, they traded a bag of sweet potatoes for a low price, hoping to feed the animals along the way. However, after eating sweet potato kernels for two days, his ducklings went on a hunger strike!

Helpless, he and Lu An walked along, searching for fodder for the ducks and pigs. Sometimes, when they passed the riverbank, Yao Yuan would gather some small river snails and shrimp for the ducks. Lu An wasn't much less busy either; the piglets would get diarrhea from eating too much cold food, so he had to cook pig feed for them!

They even went to that deserted village where there were many yams to dig up yams for the pigs and ducks to improve their diet. Even so, one of the four ducklings died along the way, apparently from the cold night.

Yao Yuan was speechless. He sighed deeply and then stewed the duck. How much meat could a duckling have? Yao Yuan was heartbroken and then received the conclusion from Lu An that the duck didn't taste good.

Yao Yuan's heartache was compounded.

After this experience, Lu An took even better care of the two piglets. He wanted to sleep with them at night, and if they made a sound in the middle of the night, he would jump up to check on them.

Even though the journey home was already so arduous, Lu An wouldn't allow them to rest. He explained with conviction that every delay on the road increased the risk of the pigs and ducks dying along the way.

Let's consider that a reason, but Yao Yuan knew that Lu An wanted to go home to see Zhao Xuan—every moment they were late in returning home meant more danger for their loved ones.

So the two of them endured wind and rain along the way, returning home in the form of wild men with healthy, plump pigs and ducks.

Then Lu An saw the tightly locked courtyard gate.

He guessed that Zhao Xuan had gone out, so he took out his key and opened the door. 460 was not in the yard either; he must have gone with Zhao Xuan. At this moment, the corners of his mouth were still turned up, thinking that Zhao Xuan should be back in a while. But the further he walked into the house, the fainter his smile became, until his face fell.

The kitchen was cold and empty; if Zhao Xuan were home, he would at least have cooked a whole day's worth of meals.

The yard was bare; the meat, fish, dried vegetables, and garlic that used to be drying there had all been taken down.

All the windows were closed, there were no leftovers in the refrigerator, the quilts in the bedroom were neatly folded, and there were no clothes drying on the rooftop.

Lu An gritted his teeth, went out of the house, and went around to the pigpen. He saw that the two pigs left in the house had eaten their fill and were asleep. The chickens in the yard were also quiet. The pot and stove for cooking pig feed had been washed clean, and the pig feed that hadn't been cooked yet was in a winnowing basket and hanging in the air—all of this clean and tidy was clearly the work of the dog.

Zhao Xuan has probably run off somewhere again; it looks like he's been away from home for two days.

Now, the veins on Lu An's forehead bulged out.

Half an hour later, the dog came and knocked on the door. It must have been Yao Yuan who had returned home and learned why Zhang Xiaohe and Zhao Xuan were missing, so he sent the dog over to deliver the message.

"They'll probably be back tonight!" the dog said.

After seeing the dog off, Lu An sat alone in the empty yard for a while, then began to pack his things. There were two pigsties, one for the two adult pigs. He cleaned the empty one, laid out dry straw, put clean water in the trough, and finally put the two piglets in.

Besides the piglets, a whole truckload of goods was unloaded. The things were very heavy. When Lu An was halfway through moving them, she saw two somewhat dried-out white sweet potatoes in a small basket on the table. Zhao Xuan must have forgotten to put them away. In winter, she always liked to eat white sweet potatoes as fruit.

Lu An picked up a slightly smaller one, sat on the steps in front of the hall, peeled it, and slowly gnawed on it. He swallowed the crumbs with great difficulty and let out a long sigh.

After putting down the half-eaten sweet potato, Lu An continued moving goods.

He noticed that Zhao Xuan had already harvested the second crop of rice this year, because there was another large basket filled with millet in the room on the third floor where the grain was stored. Several large bamboo mats used to line the millet for drying were also placed there, rolled up by Zhao Xuan and neatly arranged in the corner.

In the storage room on the second floor, the kerosene tank, which had been mostly empty when he left, was now quite full, filled with dried vegetables and dried chilies. It seemed that Zhao Xuan hadn't been idle during the month or so he was gone. The refrigerator now contained several jars of sauces: tomato sauce, grapefruit sauce, pickled radishes, and salted eggs, the colorful jars neatly arranged. Next to the upright refrigerator, the freezer held some tofu balls Zhao Xuan had made, as well as dried fish and cured meat. He knew that when Zhao Xuan ate alone, he liked to cook a simple vermicelli soup with meatballs and vegetables—simple yet satisfying.

It seems that Zhao Xuan took good care of herself while he was away.

After unloading the goods in the living room, Lu An went to the kitchen to boil water. He craned his neck to look at the daylight outside, intending to prepare dinner before Zhao Xuan returned.

He used whatever was available, taking a piece of cured pork and a small piece of frozen meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat from the freezer, and a few dried shiitake mushrooms from the storage room, intending to make a pot of cured pork rice. After thinking for a moment, he took out two lotus leaves.

The lotus leaves were picked in the summer and dried by Zhao Xuan. Usually, when he went out and didn't come back at noon, Zhao Xuan would wrap a rice ball in a lotus leaf for him to take with him. The vegetables were wrapped in rice, and then the rice ball was wrapped in lotus leaves. The lotus leaves were used to add fragrance, and a fresh taro leaf could be wrapped on the outside, so there was no need to prepare a lunchbox.

Lu An plans to steam a pot of lotus leaf rice.

He can only cook a limited number of dishes. His specialties are one-pot stews, one-pot rice, one-pot vermicelli, and one-pot vegetable porridge. In short, making these dishes does not require superb culinary skills.

Lotus leaf rice is also simple. Cut frozen pork into small pieces, fry it to render the rich lard, then mix it with soaked diced shiitake mushrooms, rice, and diced cured pork, add a little salt and soy sauce, wrap it in lotus leaves, and steam it on a small stove.

While the rice was steaming, Lu An also took a shower.

It was getting dark, and the light rain had stopped. Lu An took a flashlight and walked to the village entrance, intending to wait for Zhao Xuan to return.

At the other end of the road, after saying goodbye to Zhang Xiaohe, Zhao Xuan continued pedaling his tricycle back home in a cheerful mood.

The closer she got to her village, the more relaxed she became. Even 460 jumped out of the car and hopped around in front of it to lead the way.

When Zhao Xuan was happy, she started singing her self-composed anime theme song at the top of her lungs, and 460 joined in the fun, howling and howling like a wolf.

460 trotted slowly forward while barking, and as it made its way to a corner—the only way into the village—its barking abruptly stopped.

Zhao Xuan didn't notice 460's unusual behavior and continued singing as he followed. Then the singing stopped—Lu An stood at the village entrance like a giant pillar, holding a flashlight, motionless, which looked quite frightening in the dim evening light.

"Lu An!" Zhao Xuan was startled at first, but in the next instant, her eyes lit up. She didn't even realize that Lu An had discovered her going out alone again. She jumped off the car and reached out to hug him.

So the tall Lu An was tightly embraced by Zhao Xuan.

460 was also happy and bounced around its two owners.

Lu An, who had originally intended to be serious, couldn't help but smile, his eyes crinkling into a smile, and he hugged Zhao Xuan back.

...

Zhao Xuan and 460 jumped into the back of the tricycle, and Lu An rode the bike. The family of three went home laughing and joking.

Zhao Xuan was first taken by Lu An to see two piglets. The piglets were ordinary domestic pigs, clean and white. They were now full and fast asleep in a fluffy pile of straw.

These two sows are for breeding their own pigs, and they will have a stable source of pork in two years.

The two returned home, turned on the lights, and showed each other the goods they had brought back.

The smoked muntjac meat, soy sauce, herbs, mushrooms, and tobacco that Lu An brought were very popular. He also had acquaintances at the saltworks market, so sales went smoothly. Previously, Lu An had helped a pharmacy owner repair an electric scooter, and this time at the market, the pharmacy owner recognized him immediately. Seeing the good quality of the herbs Lu An brought, the owner bought them all and suggested a long-term partnership. He also had many antibiotics that were difficult to obtain; with the partnership, he could exchange some of these precious antibiotics for them every year. Lu An readily agreed.

The soy sauce was sold to a merchant friend whom Lao Dao had introduced before. This merchant friend heard that Lu An's family brewed their own soy sauce, tasted it, and thought it tasted good, so he kept it for now, saying that he would sell it first, and if the sales were good, he could bring the soy sauce here to sell next year.

As for goods such as red mushrooms and tobacco, which are not commonly found near the coast, they are also in short supply.

The goods sold well this time, so Lu An didn't bother repairing machinery anymore. As for the mysterious saltworks camp, he didn't contact them. The camp had once extended an offer to him; any technician could bring a family member. They said conditions there were excellent—the huge cruise ship serving as the camp had 24-hour hot water and electricity, and they could even produce simple necessities like soap and toilet paper. But after much deliberation, Lu An declined.

If Zhao Xuan were to enter the camp as his vassal and do simple work such as cleaning or cooking, she would definitely not be happy. As for himself, he could at best be a simple repairman. Compared to the outstanding researchers in the camp, the two of them were just two bound cogs, safe but not free.

The world outside may not be dangerous, but it is certainly free.

Zhao Xuan is a little rabbit, and the vast mountains, forests, lakes and seas are her final destination. Lu An loves her very much and is willing to spend his whole life with her, living the life she loves.

While selling their goods, Lu An and Yao Yuan also bought what they needed. They first took several bags of salt, essential for brewing soy sauce next year, followed by various medicines, vegetable seeds, and dried seafood. Next came sauces, spices, and other condiments. With the remaining money, Lu An bought some light bulbs, wires, nails, nuts, and other small items—all necessities for the household. He had measured the dimensions and planned the quantities beforehand. After purchasing everything, they bought some snacks. The market had many stalls selling pastries and candies. Lu An picked out some dried fruit, nuts, and shiny fruit gummies. The fruit gummies were homemade by the vendors, made from cornstarch and jam, and naturally, they weren't cheap. Lu An traded some red mushrooms for them, knowing Zhao Xuan liked sweet and sour things.

Zhao Xuan took out a small booklet and began to record the items he had brought back. Then he directed Lu An to put them in their proper places. After sorting out the goods Lu An brought back, the next step was to sort out the books Zhao Xuan had brought back.

Zhao Xuan brought back many books, which she carefully wrapped in waterproof film. She showed the books to Lu An one by one, mostly agricultural books. Zhao Xuan said that Zhang Xiaohe had also brought back a lot of books, and the two families could exchange them.

Because of the rainy weather, the books were a bit damp. Zhao Xuan didn't put them away immediately. She planned to wait until a sunny day to air them out and remove the moisture before putting them in the cabinet, so that they could be better preserved.

The two spent the whole evening picking and choosing in the living room. It wasn't until after nine o'clock that they came to their senses, and Lu An remembered that there was still a pot of lotus leaf rice in the kitchen.

The lotus leaf rice was steaming on a small stove. The fire in the stove had long since gone out, but the rice was still warm. The cold weather had long since dissipated the aroma of the lotus leaf rice. Lu An turned on the kitchen light. With a "snap," the warm orange light filled the entire space. The stove in the corner stood quietly there, with only wisps of white steam rising from the steamer's vents.

Upon lifting the lid, a fragrant aroma of lotus leaves and rice wafted out.

The lotus leaves in the pot were shiny with oil. When the leaves were opened, there was a pot of rice coated with lard and glistening with moisture.

Zhao Xuan and Lu An simply sat in the kitchen, each with a spoon, and buried their heads in the rice inside the lotus leaves.

The rice is mixed with diced cured pork and shiitake mushrooms, making the rice fluffy while the cured pork and shiitake mushrooms are chewy.

Both of them were hungry, so they brewed a pot of tea and ate it with fragrant rice. Whenever Lu An saw large chunks of meat, she would push them towards Zhao Xuan; it was an unconscious action. When they were wandering together, Zhao Xuan said she was big, so she always gave most of the food to Lu An. Sometimes, when they found too little food, Zhao Xuan would simply not eat, even though many times it was thanks to her that they could find something edible. Zhao Xuan was particularly stubborn about this; if she said Lu An should eat more, she herself wouldn't eat a single extra bite. Lu An couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he would save the best parts for her: the meat in the rice, the belly of the grilled fish, the heart of the sweet potato, and the sweetest part of the fruit—he habitually left them all for Zhao Xuan.

Even after they were able to eat their fill, their habits remained unchanged. Zhao Xuan would give Lu An a large portion of food, and Lu An would pick out the best parts for Zhao Xuan.

After the two finished eating, Zhao Xuan took a shower, while Lu An cleaned up the kitchen.

A thick quilt was put on the bed, and it felt soft and cozy when I lay down. A wind started to blow at night, making a low "whooshing" sound, like a whistled tune with a different key.

Zhao Xuan crawled into bed, and Lu An naturally reached out his hand. Zhao Xuan snuggled into his arms, and his arms just happened to lift her up completely.

"Goodnight, Xuanxuan."

Good night, safe travels.