Chapter 51 Scaling Up

At the dinner table, Jian Tongyi took the lead in talking about the rain. "It has been raining for two days and two nights. Now it has only turned from a torrential rain to a heavy rain. I am afraid it will continue to rain for quite some time. The river water has spread up and submerged most of the rice fields. Although the mountains have not been flooded, the water is not shallow. Moreover, the water rushed down from the mountains, and most of our corn stalks and peanut vines were washed away. The captain and the deputy captain frowned with distress."

Things like corn stalks and peanut vines can be used to feed cattle. In winter, when green vegetables become scarce, these things are the staple food of cattle.

"Don't we have some rice stalks stored away? Are they not enough?" Some rice that was harvested earlier had its stalks bundled and put into the warehouse.

"Not enough." Ming Kangjian shook his head. "With more than a dozen cows chewing from morning to night, you can imagine the amount they need to consume every day."

"We are relatively lucky, but we are short of food for the cattle. The Shunliang Brigade next door did not get up at night to harvest the grain, so about one-tenth of the grain is still in the fields, and it is estimated that it has sprouted now." Zhao Yi sighed.

One tenth, this is not a small number.

"It's all thanks to Qiqi, who prepared delicious food for us every day. Otherwise, we would be hungry without food, and when we are hungry, we will feel dizzy and have no energy to work." Jian Tongyi sighed, "I heard that on the night of the rush to harvest, Lin Qi, you put in a lot of effort, and most of the food was brought back by you."

Now, the topic comes back to that night.

Everyone held their breath and stopped using their chopsticks.

How would she answer?

Admit it or deny it?

"It's not me, it's the cow." Lin Qi said.

It rained for five days, and Lin Qi stayed at the educated youth center for five days. During this period, Gan Tian and Ma Guizhi deliberately avoided Lin Qi. Even when they ate at the same table, they never spoke to Lin Qi, not even making eye contact.

Among the male educated youth, Jian Tong's attitude towards Lin Qi seemed the same as before, except that he would secretly look at her with a scrutinizing gaze from time to time. Ming Kangjian spoke less frequently to Lin Qi, and when his eyes fell on her, there was a hint of fear in his eyes. Zhao Yi and Mo Mingyang were both afraid and curious about Lin Qi, and neither of them dared to stay alone with Lin Qi at the educated youth site. As long as no one else was there, they would rather be outside in the rain than come back.

Lin Qi knew that she was in a good mood. She stayed in her room except for eating and bathing. She slept almost all the time during these five days.

I slept until my bones became soft, making up for all the sleep I missed in my previous life.

On the sixth day, the sun came out in the morning. Lin Qi didn't even have breakfast. She got up and went to the mountain with her backpack on her back. The mountain road was muddy and difficult to walk on, but this didn't bother Lin Qi. Every step she took was clean green grass under her feet.

The forest was lush and green, with insects chirping and birds singing. The girl was like an elf, nimble and light. In the blink of an eye, she climbed over the hill and disappeared among the grass and trees.

There was a flood outside the mountain, and the situation inside the mountain was not much better. All the low-lying areas were flooded. Fortunately, the cave was high, and the water level was still two or three meters away from the cave entrance.

Lin Qi went to the cave first. As soon as the stones at the entrance were moved away, a strong smell of dampness hit her face.

When he returned that day, Old Man Xu put the smoked fish and meat into the earthenware jar and covered it with a lid. Even though it had rained for several days and the cave was damp, the meat in the jar was not greatly affected. Lin Qi took them out, started a fire, and continued smoking.

The most affected were the yams, sweet potatoes and taro in the corner. After a few days of rain, some of them sprouted. Fortunately, there were not many yams, sweet potatoes and taro. Lin Qi planned to take them outside and plant them all in a place that was not flooded.

Lin Qi cooked corn and peanuts and threw them into two clay pots, one for boiling water and the other for cooking corn and peanuts. She threw more firewood into the pots and then left the cave.

The vegetable fields on the south side of the cave have been flooded, while the fields on the east side are in a better condition, with only a shallow accumulation of water. However, the crops have been eaten away by animals, leaving only some bare stalks.

Those under the trees, beside the thorns, in the cracks between the rocks...all the corners where crops and fruits and vegetables were planted, now most of those crops and fruits and vegetables have been eaten, leaving only a few scattered ones.

These animals have eaten too much in five days.

Lin Qi suddenly felt the pressure. She looked around and thought that because of the rain in the past few days, some animals would run away and their number would decrease. However, the result was beyond her expectation. Not only did the number of animals not decrease, but it increased nearly twice!

what happened?

Lin Qi looked at the seven or eight goats, and then at the dozen wild boars. Just a few days had passed, but there were signs that they had developed into a herd.

Not to mention the pheasants and hares, the number has doubled. In addition, Lin Qi also saw weasels, musk deer, owls and other animals.

The moment Lin Qi saw the weasel, her face suddenly turned bad.

The chicken thief is coming.

There were six weasels, but Lin Qi didn't keep any of them. He tied them up with vines and threw them back into the mountains.

She also drove owls out of the area.

She left almost nothing behind as a carnivore.

As the number of animals increased, Lin Qi planned to expand the area for planting crops and fruits and vegetables. As her supernatural power was upgraded, Lin Qi did not deliberately restrain herself when planting, and she planted more and more unconsciously. When she came to her senses, the area had more than doubled.

To prevent this place from being discovered, Lin Qi planted thorns or thorny bushes on the three sides of the area. The width of the thorns and bushes was three or four meters. The thorns and bushes were so dense that humans could not break through them unless they had a sickle.

Lin Qi only left a narrow road from the direction of the village, and this road was extremely secretive. Except for people like Xu Hexiao who often walked this road, it was difficult for ordinary people to find it!

It is surrounded on three sides, with only the side facing the deep forest still open, and the animals can enter and exit freely on this side.

By the time Lin Qi finished all this, it was already noon and she was starving. She caught two chickens and a rabbit, and picked some vegetables, ginger, garlic, and peppers. She also picked a lot of them.

Before leaving, she took a look at the fat pig that was chewing the pumpkin, and remembered that the oil in the cave was about to be eaten up. She took advantage of the fat pig being alone, tied it up, and dragged it away. She didn't give it a chance to struggle, and even its mouth was tied tightly, so it couldn't even scream.

Xu Hexiao almost couldn't find the way into the mountains today. He turned left and right and took a lot of effort to finally get out of the thorns and bushes.

I haven't been here for more than 20 days, and now this place is full of thorns and bushes!

Xu Hexiao couldn't help but worry about Lin Qi. Would she still be able to find the way? Would she be pricked by these sharp thorns?

Outside the cave, Lin Qi threw a pile of firewood and hay onto the wild boar and set it on fire.

When Xu Hexiao saw the thick smoke, he immediately quickened his pace from a jog to a run.

"Xu Hexiao——" Lin Qi looked in the direction of Xu Hexiao and waved at him.

The workers have arrived.

Xu Hexiao looked at the wild boar, which was even bigger than the last time, with a complicated expression.

How did she hunt such a big pig? And how did she get it here?

Xu Hexiao looked at the ground and saw traces of dragging. She remembered that she had supported a boulder weighing nearly two tons with her hands, and thought that a wild boar weighing only more than 300 pounds was not a big deal.

He knew she had a secret, and if she didn't tell him, he wouldn't ask.

So he turned to the others and asked, "Sell it, or eat it ourselves?"

"I want pork fat, and keep twenty pounds of fresh ones, and sell the rest. Can you contact Brother Tan?" Lin Qi was curious about how the two were in contact.

"I can get in touch. It's been raining these days, so he must be out of stock. Besides wild boar meat, does he sell wine?" The wine has been brewed for nearly two months, so that should be enough time.

"I'll try it first and then decide how much to sell it for. Have you had breakfast? Come in and have something to eat." Lin Qi said, turning around and heading towards the cave.

"No." Xu Hexiao followed.

Their straw hut collapsed, and now they live in the cowshed, which makes cooking inconvenient. Fortunately, the rain stopped today, and he cooked breakfast for his grandfather outside the cowshed. He missed Lin Qi and couldn't wait to have breakfast, so he came to the mountain.

The peanuts and corn had been taken off the fire, and now it was the rabbits and pheasants that were on the fire.

She was too lazy to cook, so she decided to just have a barbecue.

Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao ate peanuts and corn first. After they were 70% full, they opened the earthenware jar that had been sealed for two months.

This was Lin Qi’s first time making wine, and also Xu Hexiao’s first time. They were both excited and full of anticipation.

"Will it succeed?" Xu Hexiao asked.

As he finished speaking, Lin Qi opened the lid and the rich aroma of wine immediately wafted out.

"What a mellow smell." Xu Hexiao was surprised. The Xu family had never lacked wine in the past, and he had tasted a sip or two of red wine, but this was the first time he had smelled something so fragrant.

He took a small sip and found it to be delicate, without any graininess or the sour taste of other wines.

"It's very strange. We obviously didn't add sugar, but it's very sweet, a very mellow sweetness. It's also very fragrant, with a strong fruity aroma. What surprised me most was that it hasn't been distilled and the peel hasn't been removed, but I can't taste any sourness. The taste is light and smooth. Girls and people who love sweets should like it very much."

Lin Qi didn't know much about wine, she only knew it tasted good. Her eyes sparkled, and it was obvious that she liked it very much. It was the first time that Xu Hexiao saw her have such a distinct preference, and he immediately suggested, "Why don't we not sell it and keep it for ourselves."

"Sell." Lin Qi said. It was such a big jar, weighing about one or two hundred kilograms.

"Then just sell 10 to 20 kilograms. Scarcity makes things valuable. If you sell less, the price can be raised." Xu Hexiao said.

Xu Hexiao scraped the wild boar's skin clean and cut it into pieces. Apart from pork fat, more than 20 kilograms of pork, pig offal and the like, there were more than 200 kilograms of wild boar meat left, which filled two large backpacks.

After doing all this, all the food for lunch was consumed.

At this time, the hare and pheasant were also roasted.

The two of them enjoyed a delicious meal of barbecue and wine, but they were afraid of getting drunk, so they didn't dare to drink too much.

"I'm going to contact Brother Tan now and arrange a meeting place, and then I'll come back to get the pork." At this point, Xu Hexiao smiled bitterly, "I don't have as much strength as you, so I'll have to trouble you to go with me when the time comes."

"Yes, sure." Lin Qi agreed. "I'm going to refine the oil in a while. After refining the oil, I'll cook dinner. Do you want braised pork with pork belly?"

"You can do it?" Xu Hexiao was a little surprised.

"No." Lin Qi shook her head. "Then let's eat braised pork. Wait for me to learn how to make braised pork, and then we can eat braised pork."

"I'll go back and ask grandpa tonight, maybe he can learn it." He can learn it without her.