Lu Qingjiu sat by the grave for a long time, chatting with his grandmother about many things. Among them were Yin Xun, who had become a mountain god, and the tenant, White Moon Fox, who had just accidentally lost her tail. Whenever he saw his grandmother's grave, he was overwhelmed with sadness, regret, and remorse. He regretted not returning before her death, leaving her to die alone.
Now that he was back in Shuifu Village, by her side in a different way, Lu Qingjiu's grief had dissipated considerably. He cleared the snow from the tombstone and neatly arranged the offerings before saying goodbye to his grandmother with a smile and leaving.
After arriving home, Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun didn't dare to come over to disturb him. The cautious look of these two people made Lu Qingjiu feel a little funny. He was also an adult. Even if he was in a bad mood, he would not take it out on the people around him.
"What do you want to eat tonight?" Lu Qingjiu asked the most frequently asked question.
"I want hot pot." Yin Xun raised his hand. "The extra spicy kind."
"I'm fine with anything." Bai Yuehu said.
Lu Qingjiu said, "Then let's have hot pot. Spring is almost here, so let's clean up the remaining ingredients and eat them up before they go to waste."
Lu Qingjiu used broad bean paste and butter spices to make a spicy hot pot base. The soup was made from chicken broth, which was bright red in color and was topped with dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns.
Part of the hot pot dishes are fresh meats brought back by Baiyue Fox, and part are stocks frozen in the refrigerator. There are not many vegetables, only dried tribute vegetables and black fungus, etc. Foods that can be dried and preserved for consumption can be directly soaked in water.
Lu Qingjiu's favorite wide noodles and tofu skin were not left out. Compared with Yin Xun Baiyue Fox, he was almost a complete vegetarian.
After bringing the pot to the charcoal basin in the living room, Lu Qingjiu invited them to come and eat.
Hot pot is truly the perfect winter pastime. Friends can chat while eating, and there's no need to worry about the food getting cold; instead, the more you eat, the hotter you get. Lu Qingjiu took a big mouthful of their local specialty, wide noodles, chewed it, swallowed it, and wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose. Wide noodles are made from sweet potatoes. They're hard when raw, but become soft and chewy once cooked, making them incredibly flavorful. It's a favorite ingredient of Lu Qingjiu. The fresh meat White Moon Fox brought back was also delicious, sliced thinly and blanched in the red broth for just a dozen seconds before being scooped out. It's not only spicy and fresh, but also incredibly flavorful, with the flavor of the ingredients themselves.
The house was filled with a fiery aroma. Lu Qingjiu took off his down jacket at the end of the meal, with a drop of sweat on the tip of his chin.
"It's so spicy." Yin Xun took a sip of water. "Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow will be the last snow. The temperature should rise after the snow stops."
Spring is finally here.
"I'm almost out of candy." Lu Qingjiu swallowed the meat and said, "We can think about what vegetables we can grow in the spring."
"Anything is fine." Yin Xun said, "I'm not picky."
Lu Qingjiu said, "Well, let's go to town and take a look. Last year's snow was heavy, so this year's harvest is sure to be good." The idea that auspicious snow indicates a good harvest has its own reasons. Snow kills most pests in the soil, which will increase the germination rate of seeds next year. Of course, their family didn't have to worry about this at all. After all, with Bai Yuehu, a skilled farmer, Lu Qingjiu only had to choose the vegetables he wanted.
As the temperature warmed up, the snow gradually melted. Pieces of snow began to fall from the roofs and treetops. When I slept in the house at night, I could hear the sound of melting snow.
Yin Xun removed all the icicles hanging from the eaves to prevent them from falling and injuring anyone when the snow melted. It was said that there had been an incident where a girl was walking under the eaves during the melting snow, and an icicle fell and pierced her head, killing her.
The difficult season was finally over, and Lu Qingjiu was a little happy. He finally didn't have to wrap himself up like a bear for winter every day, and could wear some light clothes.
Around the end of January, Su Yan sent Su Xi back home, along with the unhappy Yu Shiqi. She changed into a particularly cute puffy skirt and sat gloomily in Su Xi's fur. Su Xi's simple Lu Qingjiu-made clothes were also replaced with an exquisite cotton-padded jacket. It was obvious that the craftsmanship was excellent, but unfortunately, because of the hair, Su Xi still looked like a little poodle in the jacket...
"This is the clothes my wife made for them." Su Yan handed Lu Qingjiu a huge bag.
Lu Qingjiu was stunned when he saw the clothes in the pocket. At first, he thought these were Su Xi's daily necessities, but after looking at them, he found that it was actually a bag of small clothes. And judging from the size of the clothes, it was obviously not for the little fox, but for Yu Shi's concubine.
Su Yan coughed dryly, seeming a little embarrassed. He explained, "Su Xi's mother quite likes that girl."
Lu Qingjiu: “…Ah?”
Su Yan said: "Isn't it true that fox spirits look like foxes when they are young? After they grow up and transform into adults, they all become the appearance of adults. That's why we don't see children in human form." Not to mention this little girl who is the size of a thumb and looks quite cute. Although the girl's identity is a bit scary, it does not prevent his wife from showing her maternal instinct.
Lu Qingjiu seemed to understand the reason behind Yu Shiqi's unhappy expression. He said with a smile, "Okay, I understand."
"My wife even built her a wooden house, saying it could be placed next to Su Xi's nest." Su Yan said, "I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."
"No, no." Lu Qingjiu saw the small wooden house Su Yan mentioned. It was a two-story wooden building with a very beautiful structure. It seemed to have a bed and a dressing table inside. It seemed that Su Xi's mother had completely regarded Yu Shiqi as a cute Barbie doll...
Su Yan put his things down and left. Yu Shiqi also disappeared into Su Xi's scarf. Lu Qingjiu moved his things to Su Xi's nest and folded the clothes one by one and put them in the room of the cabin. He looked at the little fox cubs rolling together with Xiaohua and Xiaohei, and for a moment he had the illusion of being a mother. Fortunately, Yin Xun's appearance made Lu Qingjiu erase this illusion, and he realized that he was just a father.
"The road to town seems to be open." Yin Xun came back to inform Lu Qingjiu, "We can drive the pickup truck to town to eat dumplings."
Lu Qingjiu said, "Is it clear now?"
Yin Xundao said, "Yes, the temperature seems to have risen quite quickly this year."
Lu Qingjiu said, "Okay, I'll prepare it. Let's go to town to buy some fresh vegetables and eat some dumplings. You can call Bai Yuehu as well."
"Okay." Yin Xun ran away happily when he mentioned the dumplings.
Lu Qingjiu changed his clothes and went to drive the pickup truck parked at the door. He felt embarrassed that he hadn't driven his pickup truck for almost a whole winter. However, during the coldest period, the pickup truck disappeared. Lu Qingjiu asked Bai Yuehu about it, and Bai Yuehu said it had dug a hole to spend the winter. As soon as the weather warmed up, the pickup truck appeared at Lu Qingjiu's door again.
Lu Qingjiu fed the last remaining jelly candy to it. The small truck ate it happily and beeped twice.
The three of them got on a small truck and headed out of the village. When they were leaving the village, they met Uncle Chen, who greeted Lu Qingjiu when he saw him.
Winter had passed, and the whole village was beginning to revive. Along the roadsides, villagers could be seen preparing for spring plowing. This winter hadn't been long, and it seemed everyone hadn't had a particularly hard time.
Lu Qingjiu drove the small truck up the mountain road.
There was still some unmelted snow on the mountain road, but it was passable. The small truck was not going fast, but it was stable enough. Even if Lu Qingjiu didn't hold the steering wheel, it could drive well by itself. It also memorized the direction of the mountain road and slowed down in advance where it should.
A few hours later, they arrived in town. Lu Qingjiu parked the car and took his two children to the Xiaolongbao restaurant.
Unlike Shuifu Village, the town was quite lively. The shop owner had long been impressed by the White Moon Foxes because of their outstanding appearance and astonishing appetite. Seeing Lu Qingjiu coming, he smiled and greeted him, "It's been so long since you came. Like before, would you like to have ten baskets first?"
"Yeah." Lu Qingjiu sat at the door and saw the commotion outside. It seemed that there were people holding cameras or something. He asked, "What are these people doing?"
"Looks like they're filming some show." The boss reached out to Lu Qingjiu and the others to get some dumplings. "We just arrived in town today, and it's quite noisy."
Lu Qingjiu looked at it curiously. Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun were not very interested. Instead of staring at people, they would rather focus their attention on the hot dumplings.
Yin Xun stuffed his face with buns one by one, like a frog, and his eating manners were very unsightly. However, Bai Yuehu's face was obviously not big, but the buns could not be seen in his mouth at all, so it was unknown how big his mouth was.
Lu Qingjiu looked at them for a while and said, "These people don't look like they are from here."
They were all very fashionably dressed, a stark contrast to the town's austere atmosphere. Several vans were parked nearby, and some were carrying cameras, seemingly filming something. Surrounded in the middle was a young man with beautiful silver-gray hair. Although his back was turned to Lu Qingjiu, his face couldn't be seen, but his straight back suggested that his temperament was somewhat different from that of an ordinary person.
Lu Qingjiu looked at him for a while, then retracted his gaze. This person seemed to be a celebrity. However, he was not a fan, and he rarely watched dramas. He knew most of the celebrities by name, but he couldn't recognize their faces.
Seeing that Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun hadn't eaten enough, Lu Qingjiu said, "You guys continue eating. I'll go buy some seeds first."
"I've had enough." Yin Xun had eaten more than twenty of them, and his stomach was already bulging. "I'll join you."
"Then you eat first, Moon Fox." Lu Qingjiu said, "We'll come find you when we finish shopping."
Bai Yuehu nodded.
Lu Qingjiu first paid a few hundred yuan to his boss, then went with Yin Xun to the seed shop. This year, Lu Qingjiu was financially well-off, and planned to take back all the rented land and plant it himself. Of course, he had asked Bai Yuehu in advance, and Bai Yuehu said that planting more land would not be a big deal for him, and that Lu Qingjiu could just do what he wanted.
Lu Qingjiu wants to grow a lot of things, and the things grown by Bai Yuehu are tastier than those bought in town. Last year's tomatoes and cucumbers are the best example.
Lu Qingjiu bought a lot of seeds and seedlings and asked the owner if he had any fruit tree seedlings. The owner said he didn't have any right now and would have to come back later. Lu Qingjiu left his phone number and asked the owner to call him after he got the stock.
After buying things, Lu Qingjiu remembered something. He took out his mobile phone and called Zhu Miaomiao to tell her that the snow had melted there.
Zhu Miaomiao said, "You worried me to death. You disappeared for two months and there was no news during the Chinese New Year."
"I forgot..." Lu Qingjiu said, "The signal in the village is intermittent, sometimes there is no signal, and sometimes there is no signal. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."
Zhu Miaomiao said: "Okay, I'll come to see you during the holidays."
Lu Qingjiu said, "Hey, please send me some more of that candy. The stock at home is gone."
Zhu Miaomiao laughed and said angrily: "I think you will call me only after you finish the candy. Is the candy really that delicious?"
Lu Qingjiu answered honestly: "It's delicious." Everyone liked it very much, even the small truck was enjoying it very much.
Zhu Miaomiao said okay and hung up the phone.
Lu Qingjiu and Yin Xun returned to the xiaolongbao shop with their purchases, picked up Bai Yuehu, and prepared to go home. But before leaving, Lu Qingjiu noticed that the group of people who had been making noise at the door seemed to have been arguing with the town police. Hu Shu was among them, and he seemed to be arguing with someone about something, frowning and looking unhappy. Pang Ziqi, standing nearby, almost got into a fight several times, but was stopped by Hu Shu.
"What's this for?" Lu Qingjiu didn't understand.
"I don't know." Yin Xun shook his head to indicate that he didn't understand either.
If you don't understand, just don't read it. Lu Qingjiu felt that this matter had nothing to do with him, so he decided not to get involved. The three of them returned to the truck with their full harvest and went home.
Spring was approaching, and although there were many things to do at home, Lu Qingjiu was in a good mood. After all, he didn't have to guard the charcoal brazier every day, and he felt a lot more flexible after taking off his heavy winter clothes.
Taking advantage of the good weather, Lu Qingjiu cleaned the entire house, including the well in the backyard. He cleaned all the moss and stains on the well and offered new offerings and incense to the ghost girl.
After winter ended and the electrical and internet cables were repaired, Lu Qingjiu's Taobao store reopened. Although he had been mentally prepared, he was still overwhelmed by the sheer volume of messages when he opened his chat app. He didn't dare click on any of them, and simply changed his store description, explaining that his store would reopen in the middle of the month. Because he had been closed for two months, he was making up for the previous two months' sales by selling 300 bottles at once.
After finishing the shop, Lu Qingjiu turned off the computer. He had too many things to do and had no time to rest.
The yard needs to be cleaned carefully, part of the chicken coop that was damaged by the snow needs to be repaired, and the bedding in the house needs to be dragged out to the yard to dry in the sun for sterilization. In short, spring is the busiest season.
The whole village came alive, the winter silence was gone, and the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard everywhere.
Lu Qingjiu was studying how to repair his chicken coop when he heard a noisy commotion outside. It seemed that a large group of people were talking. Yin Xun happened to come back from outside, and Lu Qingjiu asked him what happened outside.
"Do you remember the group of people we saw in the bun shop that day?" Yin Xun said, "They ran into our village."
"Ah?" Lu Qingjiu was stunned. "What are they doing here?"
"I don't know." Yin Xun was also a little puzzled. "There were quite a lot of them, about 20 or 30 of them, and they were carrying cameras..."
Hearing this, Lu Qingjiu walked to the door and looked around. He found that the group of people were gathered in an old house not far from their home. Everyone in that house had left Shuifu Village and no one had lived there for a long time. Judging from the posture of the group of people, it seemed that they were going to live there.
Other villagers also watched the group from afar, some were wary and some were curious. Shuifu Village had very little contact with the outside world, and it had been a long time since so many strangers had suddenly visited.
Lu Qingjiu looked at them for a while and suddenly felt that one of the faces looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where it was, so he simply took a photo with his mobile phone and sent it to Zhu Miaomiao via WeChat, asking her if she knew him. Zhu Miaomiao was a star chaser and knew the entertainment industry very well.
Soon, Zhu Miaomiao replied to Lu Qingjiu, saying that the person Lu Qingjiu had photographed was a celebrity and asked where Lu Qingjiu had taken the photo.
"It's in the village." Lu Qingjiu said, "A group of people came to Shuifu Village and made a lot of noise."
"He went to Shuifu Village?!" Zhu Miaomiao exclaimed in surprise. "I heard he seemed to have accepted a large-scale variety show... and he actually came to Shuifu Village to film it?"
"It seems so." Lu Qingjiu said, "I saw the photography crew."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Miaomiao rubbed his hands in excitement: "Great, I'll find time to come over too, I want to watch it too, hahaha." The filming locations for this kind of variety show are very remote and kept secret throughout the process, otherwise it is easy for the show to be disrupted by the onlookers.
Lu Qingjiu had no interest in celebrities; he simply felt that this group of people was a bit noisy and out of place in the quiet Shuifu Village. He took a look and then continued with his work.
A few days later, Lu Qingjiu heard gossip about these people from Uncle Li next door. It seemed that they had rented the house for three months, specifically for filming a program. The village chief and the villagers were not very welcome to the arrival of this group of people. The village chief even went to ask them to leave, but ultimately failed. The program crew said that they had paid for the right to live here, and that they would not disturb the normal lives of the villagers...
The village chief had no choice but to let them go.
As Lu Qingjiu listened to Uncle Li's words, he remembered that when he saw this group of people a few days ago, Hu Shu seemed to be arguing with them. He didn't know what they were arguing about. After thinking about it, he called Hu Shu to ask about the situation.
After receiving the call, Hu Shu complained to Lu Qingjiu, saying that they had advised this group of people not to come to Shuifu Village, but this group of people did not listen at all. They also said that Shuifu Village was not suitable for outsiders to enter, and that if too many people went there, something might happen. However, this group of people completely turned a deaf ear to Hu Shu and Pang Ziqi's persuasion, and directly moved into Shuifu Village a few days later.
"Qingjiu, please keep an eye on them. I have a bad feeling," Hu Shu said. "I feel like this group of people is going to cause big trouble."
Lu Qingjiu said, "How can I keep an eye on so many people?"
"Well, that's right. We can only let them be." Hu Shu said, "It's really hard to persuade a ruthless person..."
Lu Qingjiu: "Why did they have to choose Shuifu Village for the filming?"
Hu Shu said, "I don't know who told them that Shuifu Village has a good environment and is in a remote location, so it's hard for fans to find them. So they just moved in like that?"
Lu Qingjiu said, "Oh, I see." After thinking about it carefully, it seemed that what these people said made some sense. "But let's just move in. Shuifu Village is quite safe and there are no dangerous places."
Hu Shu: "..." It wasn't the case before, but it might not be the case now. He didn't dare to say it out loud, but just responded with "hmm" and "ah" to get by.
Lu Qingjiu didn't think much about it. He chatted with Hu Shu for a few more words and hung up the phone.
Shuifu Village is not big, and it only takes twenty minutes to walk from one end of the village to the other. The news that this group of people settled in the village spread quickly, and the villagers all cast curious eyes on the old house.
Lu Qingjiu also learned from Zhu Miaomiao that they were going to record a rural life program, which probably meant that the guests would need to find and cook their own food, and the program crew would not provide any food.
After Yin Xun found out, he felt that these people were really bored. They had such a good life but they had to come to this small place to suffer.
Bai Yuehu didn't say anything, but Lu Qingjiu keenly felt that he seemed to be in a bad mood. He lay in the chair with his eyes closed and rested.
Yin Xundao: "And why would someone rent out the old house...it's really strange."
Lu Qingjiu asked, "Who lived there before?"
"Don't you remember? It was the Liu family." Yin Xun said, "Once they went to the city to play, and their child died in a car accident. After that, they left Shuifu Village... I don't know where they went." He was just the mountain god of Shuifu Village.
Lu Qingjiu asked, "Have they ever come back?"
"No," Yin Xun said, "I never saw them again."
Lu Qingjiu thought this was a bit strange. If the Liu family had left, who rented their house to the production team? If they hadn't left, why hadn't Yin Xun seen them again? Or had they simply moved to the town?
Lu Qingjiu said, "Okay, forget about them. Go wash the rice and prepare dinner."
"Okay." Yin Xun went to wash the rice happily. He didn't care what these people were going to do. What he cared about most was whether they could eat delicious food.
After Yin Xun left, Lu Qingjiu was about to ask Bai Yuehu what he wanted to eat when he heard a knock on the door. He walked to the door and opened it, only to see a strange face. The man said, "Excuse me, fellow villager, can I borrow some rice from your family?"
Lu Qingjiu: "Borrow rice?"
The man said, "Yes, we want to cook, but we have no rice."
Lu Qingjiu noticed the camera behind him and knew that this group of people were doing a show. After thinking for a moment, he asked Yin Xun to come out of the house with a small bag of rice in a plastic bag and handed it to him: "I suggest you don't ask door to door like this. This place is quite exclusive. You won't be able to borrow anything like this."
The man took the rice bag and thanked him with a smile, but he obviously didn't take Lu Qingjiu's words to heart. After all, wasn't it a good start to borrow the rice?
Lu Qingjiu closed the door and saw the White Moon Fox, which had been resting with its eyes closed, open its eyes, its eyes filled with gloom. Lu Qingjiu suddenly realized... it was over. The fox spirit in his family was no ordinary food protector.
The author has something to say: Bai Yuehu: Someone is eating my rice, I’m angry.
Lu Qingjiu: It’s okay to feed them fatter so that you can eat them better.
White Moon Fox: Okay.
Yin Xun: ??? Lu Qingjiu, what’s wrong with you? Wake up!
I misremembered the amount of hair growth water, I wrote it down as ten bottles_(:з」∠)_I need to correct it
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