The sweet potato was torn in half, with wisps of steam rising from it.
The villagers nearby smelled the aroma and all turned to look.
Lu Qiqi had eaten her lunch before going out to deliver food to Lu Dahai and the others. She walked to the place where the villagers had piled up firewood to check its quality.
Lu Qiqi approached and took a quick look. Most of the firewood was only suitable for burning black charcoal, and only a small portion could be used to burn white charcoal.
But it doesn't matter, they can win by sheer volume.
As Lu Qiqi was about to go back to find Lu Dahai and the others, she caught a glimpse of a pile of firewood with a lot of wood piled up behind it.
She guessed that this must be timber that the villagers had cut down on the mountain to build houses.
Just then, Li Shoucai walked past Lu Qiqi, and Lu Qiqi immediately called out to him, "Uncle Shoucai."
Li Shoucai turned around and saw that it was Lu Qiqi calling him. He smiled and said, "Girl, what's wrong?"
Lu Qiqi took two steps forward, raised her right hand, pointed her index finger at the pile of firewood, and asked, "Uncle Shoucai, whose wood is that?"
Li Shoucai looked in the direction Lu Qiqi pointed and said, "These timbers are leftovers from the villagers' house construction. Why are you asking about this?"
After thinking for a moment, Lu Qiqi said, "Uncle Shoucai, I want to buy all this firewood. Could you help me ask the villagers if they are willing to sell it and how much they would sell it for?"
"Didn't you already finish building your house?" Li Shoucai asked, somewhat puzzled. "What's the use of having so much timber?"
Lu Qiqi explained, "My family has grown again, and with more people, the house isn't big enough, so we definitely need to build another house."
"But right now everyone is burning charcoal, and no one has time to go up the mountain to cut down trees anymore."
“The villagers don’t need this timber. They might as well sell it to me instead of burning it as firewood.”
Lu Qiqi not only wanted to build another house for Hu Jinfei and Zeng Shi, but also wanted to use the timber to build a factory.
Once the factory is built, it will be useful for raising pigs, ducks, or chickens.
Li Shoucai thought Lu Qiqi made sense; anyway, the leftover timber after the house was built was useless.
It would be better to sell it to Lu Qiqi, so that the villagers would have some money in their pockets to get through the winter.
After all, he himself had quite a bit of unused wood left over!
Li Shoucai's face was already beaming with joy. He laughed and said, "Okay, I'll go ask for you. If I can't find you later, I'll tell Dahai."
Seeing that Li Shoucai had agreed, Lu Qiqi smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Shoucai."
After Li Shoucai left, Lu Qiqi also walked back to the place where Lu Dahai and the others had lunch.
After eating and drinking their fill, Lu Dahai and his companions felt full of energy.
Lu Dahai joked, "Seventh Girl, is this water some kind of magic potion? We don't feel tired at all after drinking it."
"You know what, it's true." Li Qingshan stretched his shoulders. He had felt a little sore before, but now he didn't feel any soreness at all.
Lu Qiqi knew the effects of the spiritual spring water, so she quickly changed the subject, afraid that if Lu Dahai and Li Qingshan pressed on, she wouldn't be able to find a good excuse to fob them off.
Lu Qiqi said, "Third Uncle, Eldest Uncle, how about I steam some more sweet potatoes tomorrow? These sweet potatoes are warmer than flatbreads. Flatbreads get cold by the time they reach the foot of the mountain."
"Great!" Lu Dahai said, "I don't know what kind of fertile soil these sweet potatoes grew in, they taste so good."
Li Qingshan also said, "Yes, it smells and tastes sweet. In all my years, I have never seen such good grain."
Lu Qiqi smiled faintly, but thought to herself, 'If my third uncle and eldest uncle saw the rice in my spatial storage, they'd probably want to stay in the fields all day and never want to go home.'
'The rice in her space is plump and full, glistening white after being husked; if she sold it, she could definitely make a lot of money.'
However, Lu Qiqi planned to use the rice from her space as seeds. She wanted to see if the rice grown in her space would yield a high harvest when planted on the land outside.
If it can truly produce high yields, then it will be a great benefit to the people.
...
From the foot of the mountain, someone shouted, "Work has started!"
Lu Dahai, Li Qingshan, and the others picked up their machetes and baskets and headed up the mountain.
Lu Qiqi packed her things, put on her basket, and went home.
When Lu Qiqi arrived home, she saw Zeng Shi and Lu Yao sitting at the table in the main room, each embroidering.
Xi Bao was squatting on the ground drawing small squares with stones. When she saw Lu Qi Qi come back, she stood up and rushed over to hug Lu Qi Qi's leg.
Xi Bao blinked her bright, starry eyes and looked up at Lu Qi Qi. Lu Qi Qi was completely charmed by this little gesture.
Lu Qiqi put down her basket, picked up Xibao, and walked towards Lu Yao and the others.
Lu Yao was so engrossed in her embroidery that she didn't even notice Lu Qiqi walking over.
Zeng put down her work and said with a smile, "Qiqi is back."
Upon hearing that her sister had returned, Lu Yao immediately looked up. Before she knew it, she pricked her hand with a needle and hissed softly.
Lu Qiqi pursed her lips, watching Lu Yao put a bead of blood from her finger into her mouth, and said, "Be careful, I'm not going to run away."
Lu Yao sucked on her index finger and gently shook her head.
Xi Bao chimed in, mimicking Xi Bao's tone, "That's right, I can't run away."
Xi Bao's words immediately amused Lu Qiqi, Lu Yao, and Zeng Shi.
Lu Qiqi sat down holding Xibao, and Lu Yao handed Lu Qiqi a white handkerchief that she had embroidered.
"Did Ayao embroider this for me? It's so beautiful!" Lu Qiqi said, taking the handkerchief.
A stunning peony is embroidered on the white handkerchief, alluring yet not vulgar, with tight stitches that reveal not a single wrong stitch.
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