Chapter 82 Not Enough to Eat

When Lin Qi returned home that night, she brought a full basket of things. She left the basket at her home, then went to Xu Hexiao's new house and agreed to have dinner at his house tonight.

We had hotpot for dinner. The meat and various vegetables were provided by Lin Qi, and Xu Hexiao provided the venue and cooking skills.

After dinner, Xu Hexiao would go to Lin Qi's study to practice calligraphy or paint. Tonight, before he even entered the study, Lin Qi mysteriously took him to the warehouse.

Lin Qi walked ahead with a flashlight, "Let's go find Brother Tan tonight. I want to sell him some things."

"Something? Not meat?" Xu Hexiao asked.

"Yeah. It's vegetables, taro, sweet potatoes and some fruits." Lin Qi shone the light on the basket full of fruits, melons and vegetables, and told Xu Hexiao, "Take the things out of the basket."

Xu Hexiao became interested in the things in the backpack. His intuition told him that the things in the backpack might be unusual. Even if they were common things, they might not appear in this season, such as some of the vegetables they were eating now.

She became less and less defensive towards him, and she often sent some vegetables that were supposed to grow in the summer directly to their kitchen without any hesitation.

He was surprised for a long time when he first saw it, but since she didn't say anything, he didn't ask. Even his grandfather would eat whatever was on the table, and never asked where it came from except to praise its deliciousness.

Now she mentioned vegetables, taro, sweet potatoes and some fruits. The first three were nothing special to him as he had seen how delicious they were. So only the latter were left.

"What fruits are available in this weather? Apples and pears? Yao County doesn't grow apples, so there are only pears." Xu Hexiao was guessing about pears, but his hand picked up a bayberry.

“........”

Ten minutes later.

Xu Hexiao tasted all the fruits. His stomach, which was originally nine-tenths full, was now completely stuffed, and he still felt a little unsatisfied.

"I don't quite agree." Xu Hexiao said.

"Can't you find a reason? For example, the fruit trees grow next to the hot springs." Lin Qi said.

"There are no hot springs in Yao County." Xu Hexiao shook his head. "It can be one or two months earlier, or one or two months later, but not half a year later. The bayberry that should have appeared in May is too suspicious at this time."

Knowing it was suspicious, he would not let her take any risks.

"Okay." Lin Qi was a little disappointed.

"If you are short of money, I have gold bars here—"

"No shortage." Lin Qi interrupted him, "It's just that they grow on the trees and we can't eat them all, so they're going to go bad, which is a pity. But let them go, they'll grow again after a while anyway."

Xu Hexiao: “….”

I don’t know whether I should be touched by her trust or feel troubled by her stupidity.

"Are you a ghost?" After a few months, Xu Hexiao asked this question, but after asking it, he laughed first, "If you are a ghost, you must be the kindest and stupidest one."

Lin Qi: “.........”

Want to hit someone.

"These fruits can be made into candied fruits, jams, and wine. They can also be directly air-dried and preserved, or sold dried. If you find it troublesome, you can give them to me. Now I only need to herd the cattle for half a day, which can squeeze out a lot of time." Xu Hexiao wanted to go to the plantation. He wanted to know her secrets and be closer to her.

Would she mind?

"Sure. As long as you don't mind the cold weather." Lin Qi agreed readily.

"No problem. If it's cold, you can work by the fire." Xu Hexiao said with a smile, "Taro and sweet potato, these two can be sold. There are also some green vegetables that are available in Yao County at this time of year, which can also be sold. Corn, peanuts and soybeans can also be sold, but these three can only be sold dried, not fresh. Let's take the vegetables, taro and sweet potatoes to find Brother Tan first, and wait until he tastes them before we negotiate the price with him."

Although the military coat that Brother Tan promised to bring had not yet been found, he did bring two sets of cotton-padded clothes to Xu Hexiao for emergency use. The cotton-padded clothes were gray in color and looked very old. But in fact, they were new, and the cotton inside was very warm.

The leather shoes had not arrived yet. Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao were wearing wild boar leather shoes that they had made themselves. They had multiple layers of leather and thick soles, and rabbit fur lining was sewn inside the shoes. They looked a bit ugly, but were actually very warm.

They each wore a hat, also made by themselves, made of rabbit fur.

The two men were fully armed and went out in the dark. They didn't turn on their flashlights until they reached the foot of the mountain.

The mountain village on a winter night is quieter than ever before. Apart from the whistling wind, even the chirping of insects and birds has disappeared.

Xu Hexiao hid his hands in his sleeves, leaving only the tip of the flashlight exposed.

"Are you cold?" As soon as he opened his mouth, hot air came out of his mouth.

"It's okay." Lin Qi said. It was cold, but not very cold. The physical fitness of people with special abilities was far superior to that of ordinary people, and their ability to withstand cold and heat was much stronger than that of ordinary people.

"Actually, I can go find Brother Tan myself tomorrow morning or afternoon." Xu Hexiao said.

Lin Qi looked at him in confusion. If that was the case, then why were they going out in the cold wind so late at night?

"Because I want to see you, go out with you, go on a date with you, watch the night scene, feel the cold wind, and stay with you, never separate." It was a silly thought, but he really thought so.

Lin Qi didn't know how to react to the sudden confession.

"Do you blame me for bringing you to the cold wind?" Xu Hexiao asked.

Lin Qi shook her head, "Just think of it as a walk after dinner."

Xu Hexiao chuckled, "Qiqi, you always respond to my requests, be careful or I'll become more and more greedy." I can't control my desires and do bad things to you.

"As long as it doesn't exceed my bottom line, it's fine." Lin Qi said.

"Then what is your bottom line?" Xu Hexiao was curious.

Lin Qi shook her head, "I don't know."

It was such a cold day and late at night, and Brother Tan was not in the straw hut. If I wanted to find him, I could only go to his house.

"There's a back door at his house. I'll just deliver the things over there. You wait for me here." Xu Hexiao said to Lin Qi. At this time, they were only a hundred meters away from Brother Tan's house.

Lin Qi hummed, and when Xu Hexiao was about to leave, she suddenly stopped him and said, "Wait a minute."

Xu Hexiao paused and looked back at her, "What's wrong?"

"Someone." Lin Qi said.

The next second, several drunken, staggering young men walked out from the back door of Brother Tan's house. They could hardly stand and could only support each other.

"Old Tan, it's New Year's Day, and the brothers are hungry. It won't do if you are the only one who is full." One of the young men said with a big tongue, "Everyone should share the happiness. I don't want much, just ten kilograms of meat."

"I want ten pounds too."

"I'm short of meat and wine. I don't dare to think about that wine. Only people like the mayor are qualified to drink it. I just want ordinary rice wine."

"If you satisfy us brothers, we will turn a blind eye to you."

“.......”

Although they look drunk, they are actually very sober.

Brother Tan's face darkened and disgust flashed across his eyes, but he had to put on a smile and deal with a group of "drunkards".

Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao looked at each other, then they silently retreated, hiding themselves in the night.

Brother Tan and the young men bargained back and forth, and finally set a price that was acceptable to both parties.

After the young men walked away, Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao came out from the darkness.

"I'll go there now, you wait here. If anything happens, run immediately, don't worry about me." Xu Hexiao said with an extremely serious look.

Lin Qi did not agree, and just said, "Go quickly and come back soon."

She refused, and Xu Hexiao had no choice but to speed up his pace.

The door was knocked again. Brother Tan put down the towel he had used to wash his face, his face gloomy. "Their appetite is getting bigger and bigger."

"What should we do? Ignore them?" the wife asked worriedly.

"These little brats are troublesome. If I don't satisfy them, I will be in trouble in the future." Brother Tan put down the towel, rubbed his stiff face, and strode towards the back door.

The door creaked open, and when Brother Tan saw that the person at the door was Xu Hexiao, his fake smile suddenly became genuine, "Why is it you!"

"Xu Hexiao, put down the backpack and get something for my sister-in-law and nephews and nieces to taste." Xu Hexiao said.

"It's cold outside, let's talk inside." Brother Tan opened the door a little wider and moved sideways.

"No, Qiqi is still waiting for me." Xu Hexiao put down the backpack, turned around and left.

Brother Tan, who wanted him to call Lin Qi over as well: "......."

"You're back so soon? Who is it?" the wife asked curiously.

"Xu Hexiao. I'm here to deliver something." Brother Tan bent over and took out the things in the backpack one by one.

"It's so rare to have vegetables growing so well in such cold weather." The wife sighed. These greens and melons are so juicy and tender at first glance. They must taste good.

"These should have been grown by Lin Qi. The one who grew the melons. She is very good at growing things. Look at these sweet potatoes and taro, each one is bigger than the other. Cut a piece of sweet potato and taro each and cook them to taste." Brother Tan didn't think that Xu Hexiao would come to him in the middle of the night just to bring him vegetables and sweet potatoes.

"It's just right that you didn't eat much tonight. I'll cook it right away." The wife said as she picked up a sweet potato and taro and went to the kitchen.

"Two pieces are not enough, let's make four pieces. Cut the sweet potato and taro into two pieces each. Steam the portion for my son and daughter as well." Brother Tan thought about it and changed his mind. If the sweet potato and taro tasted good, two pieces might not be enough.

"They ate a lot for dinner, how can they eat more?" In her opinion, sweet potatoes and taro are only eaten when hungry, especially in the past few years, when everyone ate the most, and her two children ate until they vomited. Now, let alone let them eat, they don't even want to look at them.

"You're right to listen to me. Steam four pieces." Strangely enough, he had an inexplicable confidence in the little girl.

Half an hour later.

"Mom, I want to eat more." The son looked at the sweet potato in his mother's hand and licked his lips.

"I want to eat too." The daughter looked at her father.

The wife, who was planning to take another bite, closed her mouth silently and gave the sweet potato in her hand to her son.

Brother Tan also gave what he had in his hand to his daughter and said, "Let mom cook more tomorrow."

"I'll cook more. I'll definitely cook more so you all can have enough," the wife promised.