"Brother Nanxun, it seems that Zhao Xi has already realized that I am pregnant."
"I didn't intend to hide it from them, but it wasn't three months yet, so it wasn't appropriate to tell them. It's good that they noticed, they'll definitely be more careful when cooking in the future."
Gu Nanxun has been preparing all the groceries for the family recently, so he hasn't kept any foods that pregnant women can't eat at home. However, it's a good thing that Zhao Xi found out, as there's one more person to take care of Qingqing.
"Yes, I just didn't expect Zhao Xi to be so thoughtful."
"She's naturally good at things that girls do, like cooking and sewing, which are more delicate tasks. It's normal that she could guess you were pregnant."
Lin Qing nodded in agreement and continued, "Well, Brother Nanxun, why did you come up the mountain today?"
“After you fell asleep, I went for a walk in the mountains whenever I had free time. I saw a tiger and a wolf fighting the other day, and the wolf came down the mountain again yesterday. I was worried, so I decided to go for a walk in the mountains whenever I had free time these next few days.”
"So you just spent the whole afternoon chopping wood?"
Looking at the pile of wood in the space, Lin Qing said helplessly, "Brother Nanxun has chopped quite a lot this afternoon."
"I didn't spend the whole afternoon cutting down trees. I came across a few dead trees and cut them down. We need to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed) here in winter, so we have to have enough firewood. Otherwise, we won't be able to cut firewood once it snows at the end of October."
"We have enough timber already!" Lin Qing went to the woodshed to get firewood today and saw that the woodshed was almost full. In the past few days, through spring, summer, autumn and winter, people have been going up the mountain to cut firewood every day.
"It's still not enough. Tomorrow, I'll take them to expand the woodshed. We used to only need to heat one kang (heated brick bed), but now we need to heat four! It's still not enough."
“Okay, since the backyard is big, let’s expand it a bit. Luckily, I built the house big back then. When I built the house, I only thought I would live here for ten years! It’s more comfortable to live in a bigger house. I never thought that so many people would come to live here.”
"So, it turns out that our Qingqing was right to have foresight."
"..."
The next day, Gu Nanxun took Chunxia, Qiudong, and the others to the backyard to expand the woodshed. Lin Qing took Zhao Chen and Zhao Xi, pushing a wheelbarrow to the carpenter's house. She had already discussed with the carpenter's wife about exchanging some cabbage and radishes to make pickles.
The carpenter's aunt's house was on higher ground, so it wasn't flooded. The cabbages and radishes were planted by the carpenter's aunt in her backyard. The carpenter's aunt's yard was quite large, and she planted a lot of vegetables, so she shared some with Lin Qing.
"Auntie...is Auntie home?" When Lin Qing arrived at the carpenter's house, the door was wide open. Lin Qing didn't go in, but stood at the door and shouted loudly.
"Is that Lin Qing? Come in quickly." The carpenter's family was chopping cabbage in the backyard when they heard Lin Qing's voice. The carpenter's aunt walked towards the front yard and called out loudly.
"Auntie, I've come to haul the cabbages and radishes," Lin Qing said with a smile to the carpenter aunt, then pointed to the grain on the wheelbarrow.
"Qingqing, come in quickly. Come on, let me load the car for you in the backyard."
With a broad smile, the carpenter took the handcart from Zhao Chen and beckoned Lin Qing to walk towards the backyard.
"Qingqing! Thank you so much. If you ever need anything in the future, just come to me. I'll do my best to help."
As the carpenter's wife walked towards the backyard, she kept thanking Lin Qing. She was truly grateful to Lin Qing. At this time, grain was such a precious thing! It was more precious than money. Lin Qing was actually willing to exchange grain for vegetables with her. How could she not be grateful!
"What are you saying, Auntie? You've helped me a lot too. Just don't refuse to help me in the future."
"Of course not! Don't worry, Qingqing, just come to your aunt if you need anything in the future."
"Okay, I'll remember that."
"Yes, remember that, don't be polite with your aunt."
Lin Qing is a grateful person. Because she lacked love since childhood, she always repays others tenfold for any kindness they show her. She takes care of the carpenter's wife because when she first came to the countryside, the carpenter's family helped her a lot. She didn't understand many things when she first arrived, and the carpenter's wife always patiently explained everything to her. She remembers all of this, so now that the carpenter's wife's family is in trouble, she always thinks she can help as much as she can.
As for the captain's family and Zhao Youcai's family, Lin Qing doesn't need to worry about them, because Gu Nanxun has already made arrangements.
"Qingqing, do you know how to pickle vegetables? Do you want your aunt to help you?"
The carpenter's wife loaded the cabbage and radishes that Lin Qing needed onto the car, and then asked with a worried look.
"Don't worry, Auntie, I know how to do it, and Zhao Xi knows how too."
"Okay, then I'm relieved. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
"Okay, Auntie, we won't keep you from chopping cabbages any longer. We'll head back now."
"Alright, then take care on your journey." The carpenter's wife said as she saw Lin Qing off.
"Okay, I understand. Auntie, you can go back now."
Lin Qing, Zhao Chen, and Zhao Xi returned home and began preparing pickled vegetables.
Lin Qing, Zhao Chen, and Zhao Xi worked all afternoon and finally pickled all the cabbages. They also cut the radishes into strips and hung them to dry in the yard.
Lin Qing and her team made kimchi and northern-style pickled vegetables. The kimchi was simple: just wash the cabbage, layer it, spread a layer of chili sauce on top, then repeat until it was all marinated. The pickled vegetables, however, were a bit more complicated. They needed to cut radishes into strips, sun-dry them until semi-dry, and then marinate them with sugar, salt, cooking oil, chili peppers, and other seasonings.
Lin Qing rubbed her lower back, thinking that she had finally succeeded. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Lin Qing opened the door and saw that it was Zhao Youcai's wife.
Zhao Youcai's wife, carrying a basket of eggs, said with a smile, "Qingqing, these are fresh eggs from my chickens. I brought some for you to help you recover." Lin Qing quickly declined, "Cuilan, how can I accept this? You should keep them for yourselves. I have everything I need. You should take them back to help your children recover!"
In fact, Liu Cuilan is a year older than Lin Qing, but Zhao Youcai always calls her sister-in-law, so she doesn't know how to address Liu Cuilan and just calls her by her name.
Liu Cuilan shoved the basket into Lin Qing's hands. "Don't be so polite, Qingqing. Actually, I came to thank you. If it weren't for your Nanxun helping my Youcai find such a good job, I really wouldn't know what to do! I've been saving these eggs for a long time. Take them and eat them, don't be shy. If I have any more, I'll save more for you." Lin Qing felt a warmth in her heart. "Thank you so much. Wait a moment, I'll clear the basket for you."
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