Chapter 78 Rare Goods as Gifts, Return Gifts
For dinner, Lai chose a male and made soup with dried mushrooms.
The red rockbird is large. It's more than enough to feed two adults, a child, and a small pet the size of a cat.
Neil slept upstairs for almost two hours. When he came downstairs, he smelled a wonderful aroma of stewed meat. There was no one downstairs; Lai was nowhere to be seen. Only the sleepy Tata was lazily nestled in her basket.
Neil secretly lifted the pot lid to peek at what was stewing inside, and as soon as he lifted the lid, he saw the red wild bird that had been stewed until it was oozing oil.
"Hmm? My brother killed a bird."
Neil put down the pot lid, feeling a bit bored and unsure what to do, so he took a small shovel and loosened the soil in the "little vegetable garden" inside the house.
The vegetables are growing very well, even too well; some of the bok choy leaves have even gotten infested with insects.
The weed seeds in the soil also began to grow when they encountered suitable temperature and moisture. Although I kept pulling them out, new little weeds would sprout up in just a few days, competing with the vegetable seedlings for nutrients.
Neil pulled out all the sprouting weeds and watered the vegetables. After washing his hands, he remembered that there were still some clothes to wash, so he ran back upstairs and brought them down.
The door opened, and Lai changed his shoes at the door before entering the house.
"Are you awake?"
"Hmm. Did your brother just go out?"
"They've gone to empty the swill; we're having bird meat tonight."
"good!"
The bird meat simmered in the pot for quite a while before it was finally ready. Lai first brought dinner to Gug, and then the two brothers began to eat.
After finishing dinner and washing the dishes, it got dark, and the house quickly became dim. Since no candles were lit, the only light on the entire first floor came from the fireplace.
Lei drew all the curtains on the first floor before taking out the glass lamp that Temuji had given him.
"What's this?"
The bright glass lamp quickly caught Neil's attention.
"lamp."
Lei explained briefly.
I chose an energy stone and installed it at the end. The glass lamp immediately lit up, its warm yellow light filling the entire first floor and illuminating every corner. It gave people a warm and comfortable feeling.
Finally, I can live a normal life again.
Lei breathed a sigh of relief.
Life without electricity is so unbearable. The light at night is too dim, making it impossible to get anything done, which is a huge hindrance.
Temuji's gift was both practical and thoughtful. Rae decided he had to find a chance to properly thank him.
The lights came on, and Neil and Tata looked at Ray and the lamp in his hand with a mixture of shock and admiration.
"Wow!"
"Aww!"
There was a large gap at the end of the glass lamp, enough to tie a rope to. Ray found nails and rope and hung it from the first-floor ceiling; the height made the light seem brighter.
"Brother, where did you get this? It's so shiny!"
Neil asked excitedly.
No wonder my brother blocked all the curtains; it turns out it was because of this "lamp"!
"We should properly thank Temuki for the gifts he brought back from the city."
"Uh-huh."
Neil nodded vigorously, indicating his complete agreement.
"Awooo? Awooo!"
Tata kept its head tilted back to look at the glass lamp, but Lai pressed its furry little head down. Tata suddenly felt dizzy, as if there were specks of light flying around in front of its eyes.
To put it simply, this symptom is just seeing flowers blooming.
But Tata thought her eyes had been injured by this weapon called a "glass lamp," and she screamed incoherently.
"It's okay, just don't look directly at the light, it's bad for your eyes."
Neil also lowered his head, feeling a sudden darkness before his eyes, but it quickly subsided.
“Neil, we can only use this lamp secretly for now. It’s too conspicuous in the village and will easily arouse jealousy and cause trouble for Temuji. Put it back in the box immediately after you’re done using it, and make sure no one sees it.”
"I know, brother."
Neil took Ray's words to heart.
On the other side.
As darkness fell, Temuqi hastily finished his dinner and, under the cover of night, went out, carrying a package in his arms.
Knock knock knock.
A knock sounded at the door, and Carrie, who was still sharpening his knife by the firelight on the first floor, opened the door.
"Temuki? What brings you here? Come in quickly. Is there some bad news from the city?"
Temuqi entered the house.
The large living room on the first floor, which was usually used for meetings, was empty at this moment, except for Kari and his son.
Where is the clan elder?
"Upstairs. Pete, go and call Grandpa down."
Kari's youngest son ran upstairs and called Barnett down, who was packing his things.
Temuqi wanted to say that there was no need to trouble the elders to come down, but Pete had already run up the stairs, so he shut his mouth.
The living room was quiet. Timothy was socially awkward and didn't talk much, while Kari was also quiet. It wasn't until Barnett came downstairs that Kari's eldest son, who was also downstairs, breathed a sigh of relief.
Who could understand? Being alone next to two adults who looked really fierce, both of them just sitting there without saying a word. I didn't dare to even breathe loudly.
"Temuki, how was this year's gathering? Did it pass smoothly?"
Barnett asked.
Temuqi nodded.
"This is a gift."
Temuji opened the package and pushed it in front of Barnett.
"What's this?"
Barnett was puzzled.
Judging from the material, it should be made of glass, but I've never seen this before and have no idea what it's used for.
“This is a ‘lamp’.”
Temuqi took out the energy stone he had brought with him from his package and began to demonstrate its use.
As the bright lights came on, Barnett, Kari, and the others' eyes lit up.
"This is really a great thing."
Kari sighed as he stroked the glass exterior.
"Is this a gift for me?"
Temuji quickly glanced at Barnett's expression, nodded, and explained a few words.
“These are the best works from this year’s gathering. I brought back a few and gave them to you. You should find them useful.”
"Big cities are just different."
Barnett couldn't help but sigh.
Is this a magical artifact?
"No, it's just an alchemical creation; no magic was used. It's powered by an energy stone. The one I brought will last about two months; once it stops glowing, it needs to be replaced. The metal in contact with the energy stone must not be damaged or subjected to severe impact."
Barnett responded that he understood.
Have you encountered any difficulties lately?
"No."
Temu shook his head.
This gift is exactly what I wanted. Having been in the position of elder for so long, Barnett inevitably thinks more deeply than others.
"Do you have enough monster materials? I have a level 5 beast bone here, you can take it back and use it."
Kari's eldest son's face stiffened. He had already asked his father to inquire with his grandfather whether the animal bone could be forged into a bone knife as a coming-of-age gift. This would certainly be more powerful than the two that Uncle Lei had.
Kari ignored his eldest son's reaction and took out a one-meter-long piece of animal bone wrapped in animal hide.
"It's useless to me; only you can bring out its full value here."
Barnett looked at Timur kindly.
Temuqi naturally understood what the elder meant. He just didn't like socializing, but that didn't mean he was an ignorant fool.
"Thank you, elder."
"I should thank you for sending me something so useful."
Temuji and Barnet chatted for a while longer before leaving his house. In the dim light of night, with animal hides and bones tucked under his arms, he trudged home, his steps uneven.
He was alone in the dimly lit room with only a few shelves of various materials.
The several bags of grain in the house had been sitting there for a long time, and rats had already made several holes in them, so they were no longer edible. He had to go to town tomorrow to buy some more grain.
Because he was not good at managing the fields, Temuqi only planted the easy-to-care-for sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Because we don't take good care of them after planting, the fresh potatoes we harvest every autumn are very small. There are still several bags of small potatoes piled up in our cellar.
"well."
Temuqi sighed. If he could, he wished he could maintain his strength without eating.
He began to envy Lai, who enjoyed exploring various tools for cooking; at least Lai never had to worry about what to eat.
The next day at dawn, Lai packed the bean sprouts into a basket and loaded them onto the car.
Today was the day he went to sell vegetables, and this time he brought Neil along to buy some meat and household supplies.
Meanwhile, Gugge's family was running out of candles, so Gugge asked him to take some back with him.
Business is good, and our reputation has spread. Now we don't have to worry about not being able to sell our products if we arrive late.
Not in a hurry to sell the vegetables, Lai carefully drove the cart to avoid it tipping over due to the slippery road.
As luck would have it, they ran into Temuji on the way back from buying grain.
He was carrying two burlap sacks on his shoulders as he walked towards the small mountain village.
"Temuqi".
Temuqi looked in the direction of the sound and saw it was Laiyi, who waved with his free hand.
"Come to my house for lunch tomorrow, I'll make you hot pot."
Hot pot? What kind of pot is used to cook this food?
Temuqi was curious, but also hesitant. The village would be crowded during the day.
When Ray saw his hesitation, he knew what he was worried about.
"Then let's do it tonight, come over at dusk."
"good."
This time, Temuji did not hesitate and readily accepted Laiyi's invitation.
"I'm going to town to sell vegetables. Remember to come over tomorrow night."
Lai lightly whipped the mule and headed towards town, while Temuji continued on his way, carrying his load.
Winter is not even halfway over yet; the coldest time has just begun.
Everyone still had plenty of stockpiled goods, and life seemed peaceful enough that the winter would pass by smoothly. But as the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes," and no one could predict what would happen next.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 08:17:45 on September 13, 2023 and 22:38:15 on September 17, 2023!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Qiuyu (10 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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