Two hours later, Dong Li served the meal: stir-fried rabbit with green peppers, spicy rabbit head and fish soup, plus a plate of stir-fried snails and chopped pig's trotters, accompanied by a small beer.
fragrant!
Mingjing took a bite of the red mushroom; the flesh was tender and chewy, with a sweet taste. Paired with wild perch, it was incredibly delicious.
After finishing her meal, Mingjing packed up the leftovers and took them home.
Ming Dahai was doing accounting by lamplight in the courtyard when he saw Ming Jing arrive, and then he put down his pen.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
Minglei and Mingyue came out and took the leftovers from Mingjing's hands, then went to the kitchen to find a plate to put them on.
"We spent a lot of money on building materials today, and the bricklayers are paid by the day. I have to keep accounts, otherwise everything will be a mess."
Ming Dahai had a budget in mind: no matter how many houses he built, it couldn't exceed 100,000 yuan. Rural people shouldn't be too extravagant.
"Sis, tell Dad to stop calculating. He's done that stupid calculation several times, and it keeps getting higher each time. He says seven times nine equals thirty-two. How can that be right?"
Mingyue ate a pig's trotter and laughed.
"Dad, let me do it."
Mingjing took the ledger and carefully calculated the accounts for Mingdahai.
The building materials cost five thousand yuan, which Mingjing considers normal, or even a little low, but Mingdahai considers it an astronomical figure.
With an average income of only tens of yuan, spending five thousand yuan on building materials is simply burning money.
There was nothing he could do; since he had already bought it, he could only bear it. But the thought of losing five thousand yuan like that rekindled Ming Dahai's desire to go to sea.
"Mingjing, the weather's been nice lately, shall we go out to sea tomorrow?"
"What sea voyage? Have you forgotten that my older brother has booked a banquet in town tomorrow and invited us over for dinner?"
Ming, looking bewildered, asked, "What kind of banquet?"
“Your eldest uncle had twin sons and was thinking of having a banquet. He came to invite guests this afternoon, not only our family, but also distant relatives from the Sun family whom we haven’t been in touch with for a long time.”
According to local custom, guests must be invited in person to a banquet. Unless the place is too far away, notifying them by phone is considered very informal, and guests may or may not attend.
Sun Yunmei became emotional when talking about her distant relatives.
When they were landlords, they were quite close. But after their property was confiscated, they stopped contacting each other and didn't know how many of them would come.
...
The first thing Mingjing did upon waking up in the morning was to check the luck value of the fishing tackle shop. It had rebounded a bit, to ten luck values.
I wonder how my luck will be today.
After washing up, Mingjing changed into a yellow bear dress and the whole family went to town together.
The banquet was held in an ordinary restaurant in town, not a high-end one, in a small private room.
As soon as Mingjing entered, she saw several women sitting inside, eating sunflower seeds.
"Oh, Mingjing is here." Sun Yang was dressed very formally today, in a brand-new Zhongshan suit, with a flower tucked into his breast pocket.
"Sun Yang, who is this?"
The woman stared at the mirror with curiosity.
"The one my niece mistakenly switched with, Mingjing."
Just as he finished speaking, Sun Yunmei and Ming Dahai came in. The two were wearing brand-new t-shirts and trousers and looked like city people.
"Really? You're so big now."
Everyone was surprised. They had only heard of Mingjing but had never seen him in person. Seeing him today really shocked them.
This girl looks extraordinary.
"Is this my aunt?" Sun Yunmei glanced at the woman in the middle, and tears streamed down her face.
Several years have passed, and the lady who was once a noblewoman has become an old woman with a face full of wrinkles. You wouldn't recognize her if you didn't look closely.
The women held hands, talking about the hardships they had endured over the years, laughing and crying, while the men gathered together to discuss their careers and all envied Ming Dahai.
Sun Yang had already told them about Ming Dahai and Ming Jing making money by fishing, otherwise they wouldn't have been willing to come.
Mingjing had no interest in talking and focused on eating.
"Dahai, I heard you built a new house. It must have cost a lot of money. You've finally turned your life around."
"That's right. Sun Yang said you're going to build a receiving point for them to collect seafood. That's really amazing. I wonder if your aunt will ever be able to benefit from your success."
The group of people were implying that they wanted to borrow some money and asked Ming Dahai to help take their children out to sea to fish. Ming Dahai smiled and nodded, politely declining.
He only said he would look into it later and find a time to take them out to sea. When it came to borrowing money, Ming Dahai used the excuse of having a shortage of funds to build a house to avoid it.
When they are poor, no relatives help them out, but when they have money, they flock to curry favor with them.
Because there weren't many people, the private room we had booked was cancelled, and the food was cheap. Several relatives took turns giving us small red envelopes.
After the meal, the relatives divided the leftovers among themselves and took them home. Before leaving, they also wanted to visit Ming Dahai's house.
Mingjing asked them to contribute some money for their housewarming celebration, and they all shrank back and ran away.
Sun Yunmei took the remaining dishes home to eat herself.
"Big brother, don't talk to them about making money or not, you'll only cause trouble for yourself," Sun Yunmei complained.
At first, she felt she missed her long-lost relatives, but now she only feels it's hypocritical.
"Hey, I'm just trying to save face for you guys. Look at their faces, just ignore them."
Sun Yang also had his own ulterior motives. Firstly, it wouldn't look good if there were too few people at the banquet he invited. By giving a little hint, he could attract more people and save face for himself.
Secondly, which of these people hadn't kicked him when he was down? Today, he'll show them what it means for a sparrow to rise to prominence and become a phoenix.
"Mingjing, I've been free these past few days, so I'll go to the construction site to supervise for you," Sun Yang said, clearing away the dishes.
Mingjing didn't say anything and agreed.
After returning home, Mingjing went to bed early. In the early morning, she got up very early, opened the fishing tackle shop, and her luck value increased by 20, steadily recovering.
With nothing to do at home, Mingjing decided to go up the mountain to check if there were any traps, and also to dig up some mushrooms, since yesterday's soup tasted good.
After washing up, Mingjing went outside. The sky was overcast, and the wind was quite strong.
Just as he reached the door, Mingjing's ever-present mobile phone rang.
"Mingjing, something's happened! Our boat is damaged! Come quick!" Ming Dahai was extremely worried.
Mingjing frowned and hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
"I don't know how it happened, the steering wheel fell off, water got into the cabin, and the engine is definitely broken. Neither of the two boats is working properly."
"I'll contact the shipyard foreman to come and take a look. Dad, is the camera still on the ship?"
"Yes, it's stuck in the crack and no one noticed."
"Dad, bring the things back first, and find a repairman to fix them. I'm going out for a bit and will be back tonight."
It was obvious that someone had sabotaged it, but she wasn't worried. The real culprit would be caught sooner or later. Her immediate priority was to go up the mountain and check if the trap had caught any prey.
When they arrived in town, Chen Cheng was already waiting for them, with a bundle of snakeskin bags and a basket placed beside him.
“It’s tough up in the mountains, and we can’t light a fire. Take some food with you so you don’t go hungry,” Dong Li said, putting a few salted duck eggs and steamed buns into Chen Cheng’s bag.
"Don't forget the realgar," Xie Jun'an said, then took two dried salted fish and a can of fish tea with him.
The three of them went up the mountain together. They hadn't felt anything climbing yesterday, but today they found it rather strenuous.
The sky was overcast and the air was humid, making Mingjing feel that her clothes were heavy.
When we arrived at the same spot as yesterday, the mushrooms were gone.
"Let's go inside and take a look."
Mingjing pointed to the logging area and said, "I have a feeling there's something big inside."
Soon, clouds and mist rose, green leaves entwined with white mist, like a dream.
"Hey, what's that?" Chen Cheng asked curiously, pointing to a corner of the withered tree.
The huge dead tree was surrounded by weeds, and the moss on it made the corner of red stand out even more.
"Red mushroom?"
Mingjing stretched his neck forward.
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