Li Xiangdong felt inexplicably guilty.

"Brother Liu, when did you get here?"

Liu Junbo remained silent, looking at him with the same eyes one would use to judge a faithless person.

Li Xiangdong, feeling quite embarrassed, immediately surrendered, "Tomorrow, let my older sister make you another one!"

Liu Junbo then let Li Xiangdong go and went inside with a stack of documents.

The success of the oil-based braising liquid greatly encouraged Li Lan, and he began to research a red braising liquid that did not require oil, which he used to braise bean curd sheets, lotus root slices, dried tofu, and the like.

Li Xiangdong delivered some of the braised pig tails, skin, heart, liver, and intestines to the state-run restaurant for resale, and to his surprise, the response was quite good.

However, the most popular is still braised turtle.

Male government officials in their forties especially love to eat this.

During market days, Li Lan would also make more braised vegetarian dishes to sell.

Because they are cheap and taste good, they can make a lot of money each time.

Around May, Aunt Li arrived with her son, He Chaochao.

He Chaochao is two years older than Li Lan. He has been married to his wife for several years and they have a son and a daughter.

Looking at this man who was about the same height as him, but much more robust and sturdy, Li Xiangdong felt inexplicably safe.

"Brother Chao, do you know how to shoot?"

He Chaochao is an only child, but he doesn't have the bad habits that many only children have these days.

He said with a simple smile, "I've used it before, but I'm not very proficient at it."

That's enough!

Li Xiangdong plans to go to western Sichuan to get some wild boars for breeding.

Hunting a live wild boar is much more dangerous than killing it; it requires not only strength but also agility. Judging from Chao Ge's appearance, he should be fine.

Knowing how to shoot provides an extra layer of protection.

After packing his luggage, Li Xiangdong prepared to take He Chaochao to western Sichuan. Li Jiabao was eager to try and insisted on going along.

Looking at Li Jiabao's longing eyes, I couldn't bring myself to tell him to stay home and study properly.

He's just an eight-year-old child, and besides, he's lived two lives, so he's more open-minded than most people. He can catch up on his missed lessons later.

"Okay, it's better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. It's good to broaden one's horizons."

Li Jiabao raised his hands in cheers and then tugged at his fifth sister, Li Ping, saying, "Let's go together! We can take a train ride for dozens of hours and see the mountains!"

Li Ping shook her head. Recently, she had been attending Huang Guimei's tutoring sessions with her fourth sister and had shown extraordinary talent.

She is now completely immersed in the ocean of knowledge and has no interest in anything else.

Li Jiabao found it boring, so he urged Zhang Huan to go along. However, Zhang Huan, like Li Dagu, was more interested in Li Lan's braised food and didn't want to travel far.

The next morning, Li Xiangdong bought train tickets and boarded the train to western Sichuan with He Chaochao and Li Jiabao.

It was still the same old green train, clattering and swaying along, stopping and starting every now and then.

Li Xiangdong lay on his bunk, flipping through a handwritten book he had gotten from Grandma Jiang, which contained ancient coins from various dynasties.

It was Li Jiabao's first time riding a sleeper train, and his first time going to such a far place, so he was curious about everything. When he saw the mountains, he screamed for more than ten seconds, which disturbed Li Xiangdong, who quickly asked He Chaochao to take him away.

Despite her calm demeanor, He Chaochao was just as excited as Li Jiabao inside, especially when the train entered the tunnel and suddenly went dark, causing them to scream in unison.

Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "They really are cousins."

The two of them were particularly interested in the food on the train, and they always finished it all.

To Li Xiangdong's surprise, he ran into the same little girl who sold mangoes last time. The little girl was still carrying a large basket on her back, with two little boys beside her.

Because Li Jiabao and his companion had never eaten mangoes before, Li Xiangdong specially bought twelve. However, before they even reached two stops, He Chaochao and Li Jiabao had devoured them all.

Li Jiabao let out a satisfied burp, his belly protruding, "So sweet!"

He Chaochao also exclaimed with a look of lingering enjoyment, "It's so delicious!"

Upon arriving at Manjiang County Railway Station, Li Jiabao and He Chaochao were still full of energy, looking left and right with great curiosity about the different scenery from Huichuan.

He Chaochao, tall and strong, carried all the luggage herself, while Li Xiangdong was empty-handed and quite relaxed.

Luo Yonggang and Bai Yulong and Bai Yufeng, the siblings, were already waiting outside the train station.

Bai Yufeng, with her sharp eyes, spotted Li Xiangdong coming out at a glance and waved happily. Li Jiabao, seeing his uncle, cheered and ran over.

The group met and introduced themselves to each other, but the main purpose was to introduce He Chaochao to Luo Yonggang and the others.

Perhaps it was some special fate, or perhaps it was intuition, but Luo Yonggang and his group really liked He Chaochao.

Luo Yonggang privately told Li Xiangdong, "Your cousin seems quite honest and simple."

Li Xiangdong nodded. "He's a very nice person."

When evaluating a person, one should make a final judgment after their death. Li Xiangdong's evaluation of He Chaochao is because, in his previous life, until his death, he was a kind and honest person who never harbored any narrow-mindedness.

Li Jiabao really liked the pretty Bai Yufeng, but after a while he noticed something: "Sister Yufeng, you have the same name as my aunt's little sister. My little sister is called Chun Yufeng."

Yu Feng is a very common name, often seen in rural areas. Although common, it reflects the parents' deep hope that their daughter will achieve great things.

"But my little sister isn't as pretty as you, Sister Yufeng. She's dark-skinned with small eyes."

Bai Yufeng found it amusing that Gang Ge's little nephew was not only good-looking, but also quite talkative.

Li Xiangdong told Li Jiabao, "Call her Aunt Yufeng."

Why call her "sister"? Bai Yufeng will soon become their aunt. Calling her "sister" would mess up the generational order!

"No! Sister Yufeng looks so young, I can't call her aunt!"

Everyone just laughed it off and let him be.

The oxcart swayed gently, colorful wildflowers by the roadside swayed in the wind, the mountain breeze was cool and moist, and wisps of mist swirled around the distant green mountains. It was a beautiful scene unlike any other in Huichuan.

Luo Hongkai and Liu Jiangsu had already prepared a large pot of braised pork and a large pot of rice for them to eat.

Upon seeing that her two grandsons had arrived, Liu Jiangsu was overjoyed, her eyes brimming with uncontainable smiles.

Luo Hongkai was also happy. He didn't say much, but went straight to the back mountain and picked a basket of thorny buds. He came back, blanched them, chopped them up, and stir-fried them with local eggs.

Li Xiangdong was particularly concerned about his grandmother Liu Jiangsu's health, asking, "How are you feeling now?"

Liu Jiangsu smiled and said, "I'm much better now. I can eat and drink."

Luo Hongkai glanced at his wife but said nothing.

However, he later approached Li Xiangdong and said, "Your grandmother can't sleep at night and has body aches. If it's convenient, I'd like to take her to a hospital in a big city for a checkup."

Li Xiangdong nodded seriously, "You'll come back with me this time. I'll take care of the hospital arrangements."

He planned to have Dr. Gu take his grandmother's pulse first, and then go to the hospital for a check-up.

Thorn dragon bud, called thorn old bud in Northeast China