Chapter 78 Old Wang Buys Meat

Liu Ye heard a knock on the front door and was about to open it when Bai Zilin stopped her: "I'll open the door. You add two more pieces of wood to the fire."

Liu Ye added two more pieces of wood to the fire, wondering who the newcomer was.

Bai Zilin opened the locked gate and saw it was Wang Laopi. He thought it was Village Chief Wu coming to bother him again: "It's Uncle Wang. Do you need something?"

Old Wang chuckled and said, "Hehehe, it's nothing. I smelled your smoked meat, so I came to buy some. How much is it?"

Bai Zilin refused decisively, saying, "I don't sell my smoked meat. Uncle Wang, if you want some, you should buy it at the market. There are plenty of smoked meat vendors there."

Wang Laopi was displeased upon hearing this. He immediately pulled a long face and said, "Oh, what do you mean by not selling? You hunt to sell for money, right? You can sell it in town, and I can buy it from you. I'll pay you whatever the price is. It's not like I'm not going to pay you!"

As Wang Laopi spoke, he pulled out ten coins from his pocket and handed them forward, almost as if he were trying to force a sale: "Take it, I won't buy much, just ten coins' worth of smoked meat. It doesn't matter what kind of meat it is, just give me one piece!"

Bai Zilin didn't even glance at the ten coins Wang Laopi handed him. Food was so expensive these days; ten coins couldn't even buy a fart. He wanted to use ten coins to buy a piece of meat? Wang Laopi was dreaming. "I'm sorry, Uncle Wang, I've already said that I don't sell the smoked meat. It's for our own consumption. You should go to the market to buy it. I think it's market day in Xiangshan Town today. Uncle Wang, you'd better go quickly."

After Bai Zilin finished speaking, he slammed the door shut and bolted it. His ruthless actions infuriated Wang Laopi, who was standing outside the door. He was about to curse when he suddenly remembered that his daughter still cared about Bai Zilin. He couldn't afford to break ties with Bai Zilin, or things would get complicated in the future.

"You son of a bitch, just wait till I get my hands on you!" Muttering a harsh remark under his breath, Old Wang stormed home.

Seeing Bai Zilin return, Liu Ye asked curiously, "Who is it?"

Bai Zilin squatted down by the fire and turned the pheasant over: "It's Old Wang from next door. He wanted to buy our smoked meat, but I didn't sell it to him. Guess how much he paid for our smoked meat."

Liu Ye pouted and said, "I'd guess ten or eight coins."

Bai Zilin nodded with a smile: "You guessed right. Old Wang gave me 10 coins to sell him a piece of smoked meat. It's hilarious. He's not here to buy meat; he's clearly here to take advantage."

Liu Ye stood up from the ground and clapped her hands: "That's right, an egg costs 30 coins, and the goose eggs I bought last time cost 50 coins each. They're ridiculously expensive. You can't buy anything to eat with 10 coins these days."

"By the way, Brother Bai, I heard that the South is rich in fruit. Could you get me some seeds of Southern fruits? I've heard of several Southern fruits, like lychee, grapes, custard apples, bayberries, and passion fruit. Basically, if you see any with seeds in the South, buy some and eat them. Bring the seeds back to me. I want to try and see if I can grow them."

Bai Zilin nodded without hesitation: "Okay, I'll remember."

Seeing that it was already noon, Liu Ye went to the kitchen to cook. She made large steamed dumplings with cabbage and roe deer meat, and also stir-fried a plate of roe deer meat with a handful of dried wild vegetables, giving it a unique flavor.

The smoking process was slow, and it wasn't finished until dark. Liu Ye fried the leftover dumplings from lunch, and the two of them ate a bite before going back to their rooms to sleep.

The next day, Bai Zilin didn't get up, but Liu Ye got up first. She went to the kitchen and boiled 30 wild duck eggs, soaking them in cold water first. Then she quickly kneaded dough and made a plate of fried pancakes. After Bai Zilin finished breakfast, he would leave. It's better to be frugal on the road than to be poor. Food will keep longer in the cold weather, so she had to bring more food for Bai Zilin.

A little while later, Bai Zilin also got up. After washing up, he went to the kitchen. As soon as he saw the pile of things on the stove, he knew that Liu Ye had specially prepared them for him. He was so touched that he didn't want to go to the south. He just wanted to stay at home and live with her. But when he thought about how he could earn 50 taels of silver by going to the south, he decided that he had to go.

Liu Ye handed a plate of pancakes to Bai Zilin, along with five peeled eggs: "Brother Bai, you should eat first. I'll wrap up the things I prepared for you."

Bai Zilin took the plate with mixed feelings and sat down on the threshold to eat, but his eyes never left the busy Liu Ye.

Liu Ye went back into the house and got a clean piece of cloth. She wrapped the wild duck eggs and 15 pancakes inside, tied it up, and handed it to Bai Zilin: "If you're hungry, just eat them secretly. Nobody's rich, so don't be so generous as to share them with others. Brother Bai, take your water bag with you and try to drink your own water."

Bai Zilin took the package and held it in his arms: "I know. I'll fill the water bag with water and take it with me. I've heard about shady inns in town, so I'll be careful. Be careful at home too. There aren't many good people in Erdaogou Village. If anyone bullies you, go to an inn in town."

Liu Ye nodded reluctantly, "I know." Bai Zilin filled the water bag, went back to the house, shouldered his bundle, and headed to town, looking back every few steps.

Liu Ye watched Bai Zilin walk away before closing the door and going back inside. But as she sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), she sighed repeatedly, "Sigh!" This was the last time; she would never let Brother Bai go to the south again.

Thinking of this, she flashed into the space, and what came into view was the black soil where the grain was ripe. She would have forgotten if she hadn't come in. According to the days, the grain on the black soil should have ripened three days ago.

With a wave of her hand towards the black soil, she harvested all the grain on it. A golden light flashed across the black soil, which expanded from 48 mu to 96 mu, doubling in size, and the entire space also doubled in size.

Then she waved her hand at the black soil again, and planted rice all over it. Only then did she come to the place where the gold nuggets were kept. She easily picked up the 4-pound gold nugget, sat on the ground and began to study how to make the words disappear and how to spend the gold.

Liu Ye tried to break the gold nugget with her hands. With a strong pull, she managed to break it in half. Goodness, she actually did break it! But that makes sense, gold seems to be very soft. If that's the case... She tried to break off a small piece from the gold nugget and mold it into a small gold bar, about the length and width of her little finger, like kneading clay.

She looked at the small gold bar in her hand with delight. Wow, she actually succeeded in squeezing it! This is the advantage of having a lot of strength. The gold was as soft as mud in her hands, and she could squeeze it however she wanted. Isn't this perfect? ​​Now she won't have to worry about money. Tomorrow she will go to town to look at shops, inquire about prices, and buy the right ones. As for what to do after that, she'll think about it later.