72 Chapter 72
"Hey, a pig's leg?" Shu Hua's eyes lit up when she saw what Tong Shu was carrying, and she quickly came over. "Is it fresh? Where did it come from?"
The group tacitly kept the fact that they helped the villagers of Yangshan Village ambush the fugitive a secret from the others. Tong Shu also skipped over this part, only saying that she had helped the villagers a little in the woods: "...and then they slaughtered a pig today and brought us two legs."
"They're so honest, sending us pig legs at a time like this. I wonder how many supplies this one pig leg could be exchanged for outside," Shu Hua remarked as she accepted the pig leg.
Everyone is craving fresh meat. When we were buying ingredients, we mostly bought frozen products. Although the nutritional value is about the same, the taste and texture are quite different.
"Then let's make braised pork trotters with soybeans and braised pork trotters today. I'll slice off the rest for you guys to make roast meat." Shu Hua said, carrying a pork leg with her plan.
Everyone was happy to have fresh meat to eat, and they all wholeheartedly supported Shu Hua's arrangement.
Tong Shu ate her meal to her heart's content. After swallowing the last piece of meat, she excitedly suggested, "How about we trade with them for some piglets or something? When we find a new home, we can raise pigs and chickens too."
The two uncles were also eager to support it, but they were both a little worried. Wang Jianye said, "It's good, but we can't get any living things into our small island. Where will you raise the livestock calves on the road after you get them?"
This is indeed a problem. Chicks are alright, but anyone who has never raised piglets knows how smelly they are. If she were to raise them in the car, her mother would be the first to object.
“What’s the big deal? We can keep them on the second floor!” Wang Jie said. “There’s a terrace upstairs, and we don’t usually go up there. If we really want to keep livestock, we can just cover the partition at the top of the stairs, and there won’t be any smell down there.”
Shu Hua and her two sisters are all germaphobes. Upon hearing this, they frowned and wanted to object. At this moment, Grandma Tong also spoke up: "Then let's raise them. My husband and I will take care of them. We all helped raise pigs when we were young. We'll make sure they're fat and strong."
The two elderly people had been sitting on the island all day watching others busy themselves, and they were getting restless. Plus, it was always the same few people coming and going, so they were really bored. Naturally, they were very happy to have something to do.
Seeing her mother-in-law's joyful expression, Shu Hua swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Tong Shu, seeing her mother's expression, knew that she probably wouldn't object anymore, and quietly gave Wang Jie a "V" sign.
After finishing his meal, Wang Jie remembered the vine and went to the island to find Butuo after saying goodbye to Tong Shu. He was still very curious whether the villagers of Yangshan Village were unaffected by the poisonous mushrooms because they had eaten the vine.
Tong Shu was quite tired after the day. After washing up on the island, she returned to her car, wrapped herself in a blanket, and lay down on the bed to sleep.
Tong Shu slept without any dreams. She woke up refreshed the next morning.
Tong Shu had just finished brushing her teeth when there was a knock on the RV door. She was a little surprised, wondering who would be looking for them so early. She checked the outdoor security camera; Ah Shun was outside, carrying something. She opened the door and poked her head out: "What's up?"
Ah Shun, holding a basket in his arms, hesitated before asking, "Sister Hua, do you have any instant noodles? I went to the ravine this morning to collect some eggs, and I'd like to trade them for some instant noodles with you."
When it comes to exchanging things, Tong Shu is always willing to accept anything, especially fresh eggs. She immediately perked up, opened the car door, got out, and took the eggs from Ah Shun to examine them.
These chickens are all free-range, and the eggshells are not the usual pale yellow, but greenish-blue, which indicates that they are of good quality.
"Wait here." Tong Shu put the eggs into the car and closed the door, then took out two boxes of instant noodles. These instant noodles were all processed and made on the island, and she would earn faith points as long as the transaction was completed.
"...So much?" Ah Shun was stunned.
Tong Shu nodded: "This is the price outside the mountain. Fresh meat, eggs and milk are almost extinct outside the mountain. As long as someone brings them out to trade, the price will be very high. Just don't think I'm giving you too little." Tong Shu said truthfully.
"No, no problem! Thank you, Sister Hua!" Ah Shun understood that Sister Hua didn't actually need to tell him these things. He had already told her that Yangshan Village raised a lot of livestock. No matter what happened outside the mountains, these things weren't worth much here. She could have easily fooled him with a few packs of instant noodles, and he wouldn't have noticed. Ah Shun was very grateful that Sister Hua was willing to exchange them with him at the price outside the mountains.
"...Sister Hua, do you have a lot of things from outside the mountains? Our village rarely has anything from outside the mountains. Do you have anything you like? We can bring it to you to trade." Ah Shun stammered, thinking of his grandparents' tattered quilts and clothes, he suppressed his shame and asked.
Tong Shu quickly changed her expression and said in a friendly tone, "Of course, my family used to run a supermarket. Our truck is full of goods from the supermarket. You can have whatever you need."
"Really, really!" Ah Shun exclaimed excitedly, "Then, then I, I'd like to change some clothes and blankets, do you have any?"
"have."
"...Do you have candles? Oh, and shoes too, a kettle? I only have two kettles, and one of them broke a while ago..." Ah Shun felt more and more that he was missing everything at home, and he was so anxious that he started sweating.
"Don't think about it for now. Go home and bring the things you want to exchange. I'll set up a stall in front of the car later, and you can come over and pick what you want. If there are any other people who want to exchange things, you can invite them over too," Tong Shu said with a smile.
Ah Shun nodded quickly upon hearing this, "Sister Hua, do you want some wild fruits from the mountain? I guarantee it! Those wild fruits are hard to find once they leave the mountain, and you can sell them for a good price if you take them out."
“Okay, as long as you can find them, I’ll trade with you,” Tong Shu said generously.
Ah Shun responded with an "Ah," and skipped and hopped his way home.
Tong Shu sighed at the simplicity of the mountain people, and then went to prepare the things for her stall later.
Tong Shu was carrying an egg roll table and was about to leave when Wang Jie rushed out from the island. He glanced at the things Tong Shu was carrying and asked curiously, "What are you doing? Going camping?"
Tong Shu replied irritably, "What's with the camping? I'll go set up a stall."
"ah?"
Tong Shu then told her about Ah Shun's visit to her earlier.
“Sure! You can open a business even in this desolate wilderness. Put it down, I’ll move the table,” Wang Jie said.
Tong Shu didn't stand on ceremony with him. She immediately put down the table and then turned around to pull two chairs out of her backpack.
Several tables were put together to form a large countertop. Tong Shu and Wang Jie carried supplies back and forth: instant noodles, flashlights, batteries, water cups, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, seasonings, spices... a few of each item were laid out. In no time, the entire countertop was filled with supplies, resembling a small department store counter.
"Oh, right, I was actually about to tell you something." Wang Jie suddenly remembered why he had come to see Tong Shu: "Buto's test report is out. He said that the sap of the 'Lala Vine' can indeed provide immunity to the poisonous gas of the poisonous mushroom. That's much more convenient than making potions. Just carry one with you and chew it whenever something goes wrong. But the taste isn't great; it has a grassy smell." Wang Jie said with a hint of disgust.
Upon hearing this, Tong Shu's mind started working again. "Tell me, if there are poisonous mushrooms outside, wouldn't it be quite profitable for us to trade the Lala Vine with others?"
Wang Jie knew, of course, that Tong Shu meant earning faith points: "If we're talking about exchanging, a lot of people will definitely do it, but Lala Vine isn't a resource produced on our island, so we can't make a deal."
"Are you crazy? We can trade with the villagers of Yangshan Village for Lala Vine seeds!" Tong Shu said.
"Oh right!" Wang Jie slapped his forehead and chuckled twice: "I got up too early, my brain couldn't process it."
As for Ah Shun, he climbed up the pear tree behind his house and picked a basketful of pears. Every household in Yangshan Village has a back door, and usually several wild fruit trees from the mountain are transplanted to the back door. Ah Shun was eager to get something new and couldn't wait any longer, so he ran to the mountain valley to pick fruit and collect eggs. He picked up a basket as tall as himself and half a basket of eggs and ran out the door impatiently.
"Ah Shun! What are you doing with so much stuff?" The little girl who had been standing with Ah Shun that day saw him and immediately called out to him.
Ah Shun stopped, put his finger to his lips and shushed her, beckoning her over.
The little girl curiously approached, and Ah Shun leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Ah Hua, go back and find some local specialties. Eggs, wild fruits, anything is fine. Find things that city people don't often see. Sister Hua and her family have a lot of things that can only be bought in the city. She's willing to trade them with us for local specialties. Go quickly, but don't make a fuss. We'll go first secretly so we can pick out the things first."
Ahua blushed with excitement upon hearing this, nodded repeatedly, and ran off on tiptoe.
When someone called him on the street, Ah Shun would hurriedly wave his hand and sneakily quicken his pace to run towards where Tong Shu and the others had parked.
Although the mountain people are simple and honest, they are not all fools. Seeing Ah Shun's behavior, they were all very curious. Those who had nothing to do waited until Ah Shun had walked a distance before following him.
"Sister Hua! I'm here." Ah Shun unloaded the basket on his back, his hands on his knees, panting heavily. The basket of pears weighed about fifty or sixty pounds, and he was exhausted from running all this way.
However, when he looked up and saw the stall that Tong Shu and the others had set up, Ah Shun immediately stopped feeling tired. His eyes were bright as he looked at the dazzling array of goods on the stall, his mouth slightly open, and he looked dazed.
"Wow, these pears are nice, were they just picked?" Tong Shu walked to the basket and picked up a pear. It must be a wild variety from the mountains, which she had never seen before.
Ah Shun nodded unconsciously in agreement, but his eyes were glued to the stall.
"Alright, just put whatever you pick out aside. After you're done, ask Brother Hua to calculate whether your things are enough to pay the bill," Tong Shu said to Ashun.
Ah Shun finally came to his senses and quickly approached the stall to carefully select items.
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