Chapter 151 Surrounding Him

Lin Qi had a dreamless night and slept in for a rare time. When she got up, she saw Xu Hexiao coming in with a basket. When she saw the meat in the basket, Lin Qi frowned.

"No," she refused.

Xu Hexiao paused, a doting smile on his face, "The captain wanted to give us 40 kilograms, but I didn't want so much, I only took 5 kilograms. But you don't want even a kilogram. Then I will give this meat to Lao Yi and the others?"

"Send, send, send!" These three words in a row showed how unhappy Lin Qi was.

"I'll go deliver it now and be back soon. Leave the breakfast for me." Xu Hexiao instructed Lin Qi.

Xu Hexiao turned around and strode out.

Old Yi and the other two also got some wolf meat, but the amount was only a fraction of what Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao got. At this time, the three old men were surrounding the less than two kilograms of wolf meat and marvelling at it.

Lao Yi: "I have eaten wild boar meat before, but this is the first time I have eaten wolf meat."

Lao Fu: "I've eaten wild boar meat before. I ate it after coming here."

Lao Bi: "It is said that wolf meat is rougher and doesn't taste that good."

Lao Yi: "It's okay, just add a little more ingredients and a little more wine. Didn't Xu Hexiao give us a jar of white wine a few days ago? Let's use that."

Old Fu disagreed, "That high-concentration liquor is what Ah He gave us to ward off the cold. Drink a sip before bed, and your body will be warm, just right for sleeping."

Boom boom!

Xu Hexiao knocked on the door, and Lao Yi and the other two looked at him.

"Qiqi doesn't want to eat wolf meat, so let me bring it to you." Xu Hexiao put down the basket and said as he turned around, "I will send you another jar of white wine in ten days."

The last jar I sent was ten kilograms. Ten kilograms can be drunk for ten days, which is a little more than three or two ounces per person per day, just right.

After breakfast, Xu Hexiao went into the mountains again.

Today, it was still Lao Fu and Lao Bi who went to the mountains, while Lao Yi continued to herd cattle.

Before the three of them reached the foot of the mountain, they saw several aunts waving at them.

Xu Hexiao was confused. He looked left and right and behind him. Was he greeting them?

Lao Fu and Lao Bi's hearts skipped a beat, and they had a bad feeling in their hearts, "They may have seen that we found a lot of chestnuts yesterday, so they wanted to join us today."

Xu Hexiao: “….”

As Lao Fu and Lao Bi had guessed, several aunts said they wanted to go into the mountains with them today.

Xu Hexiao couldn't refuse.

Lao Fu and Lao Bi couldn't refuse either.

So the three-person group became a seven-person group.

The place we were going to today was the same valley we visited yesterday. The aunts were in better physical condition than Lao Bi and Lao Fu, and they kept their breath steady and talked and laughed all the way down. When they saw the chestnuts, mushrooms and wild vegetables in the valley, they rushed out without saying a word.

Old Fu and Old Bi looked at each other, knowing that they could not lose, and unwilling to take a break, they joined the fight for chestnuts.

Xu Hexiao looked expressionlessly at the elders who were picking chestnuts quickly, and silently climbed up the tree to help them pick chestnuts.

That night, Xu Hexiao and his companions returned with a full load, which attracted a lot of attention. Especially when they saw a few aunts in the team, everyone became bolder and came over to inquire.

The aunties were not stingy in praising the valley, saying how wonderful it was. But at the end, they said, "It's a pity that we have picked all the chestnuts and mushrooms. If you want to go, you can only wait until next year."

Those who came to inquire about the news were very disappointed. Seeing that these aunts not only had two sacks of chestnuts each, but also had mushrooms in their backpacks, they were so jealous that their eyes turned red.

Xu Hexiao often went to the mountains with Lin Qi, so he must know what grew in every corner of the mountains.

Miscalculated!

Someone got there first. They should have been following Xu Hexiao closely from the beginning!

On the third day after Xu Hexiao entered the mountains, a group of people followed him, a total of thirty-four people.

This was the first time since he was labeled as one of the "five black categories" that he was surrounded by so many people, and they were a group of people of the opposite sex who were older than him. They were chirping and chattering, more lively and noisy than the birds in the forest.

For a moment, Xu Hexiao felt a little uncomfortable.

Lao Fu and Lao Bi have adapted well. After all, when they were teachers before, they had about the same number of students.

That day, Xu Hexiao took a group of people to several places, and finally before dark, everyone's bags and backpacks were filled with various wild fruits, mushrooms, fungus and the like.

On the fourth day, the team leader came to inform Xu Hexiao that they were going to dig a canal.

"Hasn't the brigade's canal been dug?" asked Lin Qi on the side.

The team leader sighed, "It's not our team's. It's a river shared by our commune and the neighboring Ningtuan and Ningming communes. This river irrigates most of the farmland in our commune. It enters the dry season in November. The river needs to be cleaned every other year, and everyone takes turns to clean it. This year it happens to be our commune's turn."

Lin Qi noticed the abnormality at the first moment. Why did the captain only notify Xu Hexiao but not her?

"Our team members don't need to go. Only Xu Hexiao and his team are going?"

"Yes. This year the commune announced that only people with bad backgrounds would be allowed to go."

After the captain left, Lin Qi immediately went to the warehouse and found all the cloth bags.

"Not enough." Lin Qi frowned.

"What's not enough?" Xu Hexiao asked.

"The captain just said that you will live in the wild. I plan to get you a tent, but now the canvas pockets are not enough." Lin Qi said.

Xu Hexiao's heart warmed. "It doesn't matter if it's not enough. We can just build a temporary shed with grass and wood. When I went there with my grandfather before, we built a shed."

However, there were many people building sheds at that time, and he and his grandfather were slow and could not grab much grass and wood. The shed they built was leaky, and they caught a cold the next day.

"We need to build a low shed, and put a piece of canvas or oilcloth inside it." Lin Qi said. She thought for a moment and said, "You pack your things at home. I'll go to town."

Lin Qi's tone was unyielding. She hurried to the warehouse with her backpack. When she came out, the backpack was full. She carried the backpack and went to push the cart. Looking at Xu Hexiao standing there, she said helplessly, "Don't just stand there. Go pack your things. Bring more warm things. Don't be reluctant."

Xu Hexiao grinned and said, "Okay."

Lin Qi rode her bicycle very fast, leaving an afterimage, and arrived at the checkpoint entering the town in less than half an hour.

Among the people guarding the checkpoint was one of the people Lin Qi had saved the day before. When the student saw Lin Qi, he rubbed his eyes and could hardly believe his eyes. "Lin, Lin Qi, is that you?"

Lin Qi nodded to the student, then turned to look at another young man. She took out a jar of wine weighing ten kilograms from her backpack and threw it to the young man. "I have something urgent to discuss with Yu Borui. Consider this a treat for you brothers."

The young man took the jar of wine and said with a smile, "You are too polite, sister. Next time you come, I will take you to the restaurant to eat braised pork."

"Okay!" Lin Qi agreed, pushed hard with her feet, and the car rushed out quickly.

As soon as Lin Qi left, the young man turned to the student and asked, "Do you know her?"

"She is known to us. We got lost in the forest the day before yesterday and were surrounded by a group of wild beasts. It was she who saved us," the student said honestly.

The young man raised his eyebrows. "You were surrounded by a group of wild beasts. Did she save you? She was alone? How did she save you?"

The student described the situation again, but replaced the whip with a machete.

"Oh, she is so powerful?" The young man was a little surprised.

The student nodded vigorously, his face full of admiration, "It is indeed very impressive."

There was a glimmer of interest in the young man's eyes. This distant cousin of Yu Borui was no simple person.

"Brother Tao, the wine in this jar..." The student swallowed his saliva. He also wanted to drink the wine given by Lin Qi.

"Want to drink?" Brother Tao chuckled and opened the lid nonchalantly. The next second, a rich aroma of wine wafted out. When the young man smelled the mellow flavor, his face changed and he closed the lid again.

"It smells so good, Brother Tao, let me have a taste." The student said with a flattering smile.

"This is what she gave to us brothers. You want to drink it? No way." A faint light flashed in Brother Tao's eyes. Just by smelling such a mellow wine, he could conclude that there was no second jar like it in the entire Jiahe Town.

Where did Lin Qi get the wine?

She just threw out a jar like this, would she have more in her hands?

Lin Qi went to the post office, but didn't mail anything this time.

Yu Mingbo was a little surprised when he saw her, "You haven't been here for half a year."

Lin Qi hummed, "I have something to ask you."

"Not mailing anything?" Yu Mingbo asked.

"I won't send it this time." Lin Qi said.

Yu Mingbo was a little surprised, but he didn't ask any more questions. "Okay, I'll tell my colleagues first, and then I'll go home with you."

The two hurriedly walked down the street. Lin Qi pushed the bicycle into Yu Mingbo's house. Before she could put down the things in the backpack, she said, "I need a large piece of canvas and a large piece of oilcloth. The canvas and oilcloth should preferably be inconspicuous black."

“How big do you want it to be?” Yu Mingbo asked.

"The bigger the better." Lin Qi said.

"Okay, I'll find it for you later." Yu Mingbo said, looking at her backpack, and seeing several jars inside, he asked curiously, "What's in it?"

"A jar of mushroom meat sauce, a jar of honey, and a jar of wine. You estimate the price and how much is left after buying the canvas and oilcloth. You can exchange it all for tickets for me. Any tickets will do." Lin Qi spoke very quickly.

"So urgent?" Yu Mingbo asked.

"Yes, it's urgent." Lin Qi replied.

"Okay, I'll find you a ticket first. Go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy something. Then come back from here to get the canvas and oilcloth." Yu Mingbo said as he walked into the house.

In less than two minutes, he took out a large stack of tickets and said, "I guess you need them urgently, so use them first. Just send us some mutton during the Chinese New Year. Don't worry, we'll give you a high price then."

Lin Qi agreed, "Okay."

Lin Qi took the ticket, carried a backpack, and rode her bicycle to the supply and marketing cooperative.

She first used the cloth coupons to buy two pieces of dark blue cloth and four pairs of work gloves. Then she bought a few boxes of vanishing cream, a small copper stove for boiling water, and a thermos. After buying these things, she had already spent more than half of her coupons.

Next, Lin Qi bought two large boxes of matches, one with ten small boxes inside. She also bought a lot of salt, a full five kilograms.

Finally, she bought two kilograms of White Rabbit milk candy, five kilograms of fruit hard candy that didn't require a ticket, five kilograms of egg cakes and six handfuls of noodles.

When Lin Qi came back from Zhenshan, Xu Hexiao's things had almost been packed.

He took the things from Lin Qi's hand, his eyes as gentle as water, "The food is hot in the pot, you go eat first, I'll clean up these things."

"There are two rolls of cloth inside. Make a few sets of underwear first and keep them for changing when you leave." Lin Qi reminded.

Seeing her caring about him and working hard for him, Xu Hexiao's heart softened and warmed. He couldn't help but hug Lin Qi, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

That afternoon, Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao were both doing needlework. They used two pieces of cloth to make a set of underwear for Xu Hexiao and Lao Yi.

The oilcloth was split into two pieces, one for laying on the ground and the other for laying inside the straw hut, which could block both wind and rain.

The strong, rough canvas was made into outer trousers and coats to be worn when working.

Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao were busy until ten o'clock in the evening. After they were done, they went to take a shower. After taking a shower, they fell asleep in each other's arms on the bed.

When Xu Hexiao woke up the next day, Lin Qi was no longer on the bed. He touched the place beside him and found it was cold. It seemed that she had gotten up long ago.

Xu Hexiao got up from the bed and saw Lin Qi steaming buns in the kitchen.

"I steamed a lot of buns. You can send some to Lao Yi and the others. It's still early, they probably haven't cooked breakfast yet." Lin Qi said to Xu Hexiao.

Xu Hexiao did as he was told.

Lao Yi and the other two did not cook breakfast. When he arrived, they had just woken up. When he saw Xu Hexiao coming over with an enamel basin, his eyes lit up immediately, "What is this?"

"Meat buns, steamed by Qiqi early in the morning." Xu Hexiao said.

"Qiqi is so nice!" Lao Yi sighed.

"I will remember all the kindness Qiqi has shown me. When I am rehabilitated in the future, I will definitely repay her double," said Old Fu.

"And me, I'll give her a house when the time comes." Lao Bi said unwillingly. His ancestors left him several houses, and now he has no children. He doesn't feel bad at all about giving one to Xu Hexiao and one to Lin Qi.

Xu Hexiao had a blank expression on his face. "Let's talk about it when you can go back."

Lao Fu, Lao Bi: “…”

When Xu Hexiao came back with the empty enamel basin, he saw Lin Qi pounding glutinous rice.

"Let me do it." Xu Hexiao took over the work in her hands.

"No, go wash up and have breakfast, I'll be ready soon. I'll make some southern rice cakes. It's cold now, so they'll be hard in a while. When you guys are roasting a fire, you can put them in the sparks and bake them until the crust is golden brown." Lin Qi said, thinking for a moment and then instructed him, "I've steamed 40 kilograms of glutinous rice, so I should be able to make more than 100. You can share some with others when the time comes. We should take care of each other. But if you don't get along, there's no need to force it."

Xu Hexiao listened carefully, nodded from time to time, and his eyes felt a little sore.

The book says that a mother worries about her son even when he is thousands of miles away. He has never experienced maternal love, but Lin Qi's concern, care and love for him have long surpassed everything.

All the things missing in his life became complete after he met Lin Qi.