11 New Business
◎Tian Xiaoxi has plenty of strength and means◎
When the two returned to the village, the sun was already setting.
Two people, a donkey, and a pile of bamboo were pointed at from behind by the people from Tianjia Village who were passing by in the sunset.
Bu Qin already felt sorry for Ma Bao, and now she was like gunpowder, ready to explode. She wanted to curse everyone who looked at her from head to toe.
After Tian Nongxi pulled for the eighteenth time, he finally arrived home exhausted.
She jumped off the donkey cart first, gently pushed open the door, and looked around - there was no one in sight.
Mr. and Mrs. Tian were so happy that they didn't want to leave, and the mountains and forests were nowhere to be found.
She hid the expression in her eyes, put the backpack on the ground, and walked out quickly to move the bamboo.
Not long after the two of them moved, the door next door quietly opened a crack. Qi Hengan poked his head in, "Do you need help?"
"Yes." They both said in unison.
When three people work together, they can cut through metal.
In less than half a cup of tea, more than a dozen bamboos were moved into the Tian family courtyard.
Bu Qin wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeves and said, "Then I'll go back first."
Tian Nongxi held her back and advised, "Just sleep here tonight."
She was not trying to keep him politely. It was already dark. Even if Bu Qin was not afraid, they were passing through the wilderness and it would be troublesome if anything went wrong.
Bu Qin looked hesitant, and Tian Nongxi said, "I have some for Ma Bao at home. Besides, you can take a look at the mothballs and take some back to sell."
She thought for a moment and added, "Those slaps you gave me will definitely keep your man from running around."
Bu Qin was angry. "What do you mean my man is just a consumptive. I'm just unlucky and have to take care of him."
Having said that, he didn't move.
Tian Nongxi hurriedly pulled her to sit on the stone bench, and took out two blocks of tofu and half a pound of pork that he had specially taken a detour to buy in the evening, and called out to Qi Hengan, who had half stepped out of the door, "Hengan, let's eat together. Thank you for your help."
"Okay." Qi Heng'an felt relieved and hurriedly retracted his foot, which he didn't want to stretch out in the first place. He didn't have time to care about the change in the way his second sister addressed him. He just kept smiling foolishly.
Bu Qin pulled Tian Nongxi and asked in a low voice, "Is he a fool?"
Qi Hengan dropped his smile, sat down, and shook his head in a cryptic manner. "I'm Qi Hengan, the neighbor who lives next door to the Tian family." He added, "I'm mature and not a fool."
The two looked at each other. Qi Hengan poured a cup of tea and handed it to Bu Qin, smiling inexplicably.
Tian Nongxi went to the kitchen and started working.
She first lit the firewood to heat up the pot, and took the opportunity to wash the meat and slice it for later use.
The meat cost forty cents per pound, and Tian Nongxi spent a full twenty cents to buy half a pound of meat, so he treated the meat with a solemn expression. He was so serious that Bu Qin and Qi Hengan asked him several times at the door if he needed help, but he didn't hear.
By the time she heard this, the firewood had already started burning, and she had no time to pay attention to them, so she could only wave the spatula to refuse.
The two of them turned around awkwardly and sat back staring at each other.
Tian Nongxi in the house took a ladle of clean water and poured it into the pot. He casually used a spatula to stir it twice as a rinse, wiped the pot clean with a freshly washed rag, and picked up two pieces of fat meat with bamboo chopsticks and put them into the pot.
The Tian family was extremely poor, and even if they searched the house upside down they couldn't find a single cent of money.
Therefore, Tian Nongxi specially selected half fat and half lean meat so that it could be fried to bring out the fragrance.
After boiling out the lard, Tian Nongxi poured the freshly chopped meat into the pot. With a "sizzling" sound, he kept stirring with a spatula until the meat became darker in color and emitted bursts of fragrance.
Tian Nongxi put down the spatula, poured all the tender tofu cubes at hand into the pot, took a bowl of water and poured it in, adding a little salt to season.
Cover and simmer for two minutes.
I don’t know if it’s because there are few seasonings in this world, or because the Tian family is too poor, but Tian Nongxi searched the kitchen and only found half a bottle of salt, half a bottle of vinegar, and two or three chili peppers.
However, this kind of minced meat tofu has its own unique flavor - Tian Nongxi looked at the dish that had just been served with a smile on his face.
She didn't have the habit of tasting the food, so she just carried it out of the kitchen.
Qi Hengan hurried forward to serve the dishes, but Bu Qin got there first.
"There are still dishes. You guys eat first, I'll continue." Tian Nongxi turned and left.
"Don't bother." Qi Hengan said.
"Don't bother." Bu Qin took the dish.
"No trouble, just one dish."
Tian Nongxi returned to the stove, picked out the remaining fat, threw it into the pot and fried it until the oil came out, then took it out.
Wash the peppers you just turned over, remove the seeds, cut them into strips, and stir-fry them in a pan until they are cooked.
Finally, pour the chopped lean meat into the pot, stir-fry until it changes color, then add the chili pepper and stir-fry with a spatula until the aroma is everywhere. Add half a spoonful of salt and continue to stir-fry for a few more times until the salt is evenly distributed on every piece of meat.
Serve and take away.
Qi Hengan, who had been ready for a long time, came out and took over the dish.
There was a movement of dark shadows nearby. It turned out to be Bu Qin who entered the kitchen and took out three pairs of chopsticks and three bowls in a flash.
Qi Hengan: "..."
The three of them took their seats.
Tian Nongxi took a sip of tea and smiled faintly: "Sorry, there are only two dishes for three people. I feel a little sorry."
They were really short of money, and Tian Nongxi felt guilty from the bottom of her heart. If it weren't for the two of them helping her, she would still be moving bamboo at this moment.
The two shook their heads in denial.
Bu Qin picked up a piece of stir-fried pork with chili peppers and put it into her mouth. Her eyes lit up and she praised, "It's delicious! It's as good as Linqing Pavilion."
Qi Hengan picked up a piece of tofu and nodded in agreement, "My sister's cooking skills have improved over the past two years."
The three of them did some physical work today, and soon they had finished eating everything on the table.
After dinner, Qi Hengan asked to wash the dishes. Bu Qin was sleepy and couldn't argue with him, so Tian Nongxi pulled her into the house.
There was a smell in the house that was a mixture of an unknown fragrance and the sweet smell of sugar, which became more obvious the closer to the stone mortar.
Bu Qin bent down to pick up a bag of mothballs. Just as she was watching, Tian Nongxi brought in an empty backpack.
The two of them worked together to put all the mothballs prepared in the house into the room.
After Tian Nongxi confirmed the quantity, he instructed, "Here are thirty mothballs, four cents each."
Bu Qin asked, "Why is there no sachet?"
Tian Nongxi was stunned. She was too embarrassed to admit that she couldn't embroider, so she said, "Let's see if anyone wants to buy it first. If a noble wants it, it won't be too late to make a sachet."
Bu Qin nodded, but her mind wandered to the sickly girl at home who was proficient in painting phoenixes.
However, if there were no ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum to hang on to, he would probably die before he finished embroidering half of it.
The cold touch on her hand interrupted Bu Qin's thoughts. She lowered her eyes and looked, and saw a white inner garment.
Tian Nongxi poked his head out of the mahogany cabinet and said, "This clothes has just been washed. Let me take you to wash up."
Bu Qin agreed and just opened the door.
Qi Hengan was standing at the door with his hand raised and fist clenched, looking like he was about to knock on the door.
Seeing the door open, his face flushed to his neck. He quickly looked at Tian Nongxi in the room and waved his hands, "I didn't hear anything. I didn't mean to. I just came to find you..."
"I just happen to have something to give you." Tian Nongxi reached into the cabinet again and fumbled for something.
Seeing this, Bu Qin chuckled, strode out of the door, and his words disappeared in the wind.
"I'm going to feed Ma Bao some grass."
Qi Hengan stood there. This was the first time he saw a woman's boudoir. Even though the room in front of him was so simple that it could hardly be called a "boudoir", he didn't know where to look.
Qi Hengan came back to his senses only after the charming fragrance approached.
Tian Nongxi placed something in his palm.
He looked down and saw a sachet with fine stitching that exuded a faint fragrance.
Even though his beloved, who was obviously more attractive, was right in front of him, his eyes were attracted by this sachet which was not particularly unique.
The word "peace" was crookedly embroidered on the sachet, as if it was embroidered by an illiterate person copying from a model.
When Qi Hengan looked up while holding the sachet tightly, he found that the girl in front of him had been talking.
He was distracted, his unfocused eyes suddenly became clear, and the soft voice finally reached his ears.
“…Even though it’s withered, don’t throw it away.”
Qi Hengan responded in an inaudible voice.
Tian Nongxi paused and repeated the whole thing from beginning to end, "Thank you for helping me carry the bamboo. This is the sachet that Er Niang embroidered. I put mothballs and plum blossoms in it. Even though it's withered, please don't throw it away."
The two words "Er Niang" were spoken very lightly and quickly, but Qi Hengan caught it.
He calmed his thoughts, thanked her and said, "I will stay in Tianjia Village for another month or so until my father's death anniversary, and then I will return to Beijing. During this time, if my sister needs help, please remember to call me."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "You and I are like brother and sister, so it's only natural for me to help you."
The voice was dry, like a farmland exposed to the scorching sun.
Tian Nongxi looked at the sachet he was holding tightly, her round eyes rolling around. She was at a loss and tried to change the subject, asking for something to talk about: "Why hasn't Lin Luan come back yet?"
【Author’s words】
The author quietly straightened out the plot during the final week when he was exhausted both physically and mentally. It doesn't matter if there are no comments or favorites. I can type by myself ()
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