Xue Zhi was a lucky man. On the night he returned, it snowed heavily.
The next day, the sky and earth were covered in snow.
The roofs of several old houses in the village were crushed.
Zheng Xiu's family was fine. They all had newly built tile houses, but an unused utility room in the yard was crushed. The things inside were not important, just some old furniture. It was the end of the year again, and the tilers were on holiday, so they couldn't find anyone to repair it.
Xue Zhi got up early that day and took a few foxes and rabbits he had hunted in the mountains to the town to sell. Because the fur of one of the foxes was very good, he was able to exchange several things for several taels of silver. He bought some more New Year goods and went home before lunch.
In the afternoon, Xue Shao followed his father to deliver a pair of wild rabbits and a fox skin to the Zheng family.
Wild animals are very rare in winter, and fur is even more valuable.
Zheng Ren went to his grandparents' house, where only Zheng Xiu and her brother were. Zheng Xiu knew the price of the fiery red fox skin was high as soon as she saw it, and she thought she could sell it for a few taels of silver, so she naturally refused to take it. Xue Zhi
said: "Things may be rare for farmers, but for us hunters, they are not expensive things. The young lady refuses to accept them because she despises them."
Huaishu Village has a lot of land, and most of them are farmers. Zheng Xiu had limited knowledge. After hearing his firm and sincere words, she really thought that this kind of fur was nothing to a hunter, so she accepted it.
Xue Zhi looked around the Zheng family and asked, "Is there anything your family needs help with?"
He was very tall, and Zheng Xiu was only at the height of his chin. In order to avoid suspicion, she had never looked at him carefully. At this time, she secretly looked at him. Xue Zhi was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, wearing a short blue cotton shirt, and looked very energetic. And under his clothes, the outline of his muscles could be vaguely seen. Looking at his
strong and powerful appearance, Zheng Xiu couldn't help but think of the utility room in her own home that needed to be repaired.
But after all, they were not familiar with each other, so Zheng Xiu was a little embarrassed to speak.
At this time, Xue Shao, who was whispering to Zheng Yu, helped to speak up: "Dad, A Yu said that the roof of their utility room was damaged."
Xue Zhi responded, rolled up his sleeves, and asked where the ladder was in Zheng Xiu's house.
Zheng Xiu hurriedly said: "It's not a problem. That room is not often used. We can find someone to repair it after the New Year."
Xue Zhi shook his hand and said, "It's a piece of cake. I have a lot of strength. Miss, just tell me where the ladder is."
Zheng Xiu pointed to the utility room, and Xue Zhi went there.
After entering the utility room, Xue Zhi found the ladder, lifted it out with one hand, put it on the roof, and climbed up in a few steps.
Zheng Xiu was watching from the side and was a little surprised, but she could also see that his skills were extraordinary.
Xue Zhi looked at the roof for a few times, and soon came down and said, "Some tiles are old, but the rest are fine. There are still extra tiles at home, just lay a layer up first, and hold it until after the New Year, and then find a tiler to renovate it."
Zheng Xiu also meant so. The family's utility room was going to be renovated in winter, but this year's snow was unusually heavy, and it kept falling, so the snow on the roof had not completely melted, so it was delayed. Xue Zhi did what he said.
He took a broom, climbed up the ladder, swept all the snow on the roof, and then found a basket, loaded tiles on it, and laid tiles on the roof. While
he was working, Zheng Xiu pulled Xue Shao into the house to talk. She was really worried about his careless parents. She heard that yesterday was the Little New Year and the two of them just ate the dinner they brought back, so she asked him what he had for lunch today. Xue Shao said that there was still a lot of bacon at home, and his father brought white steamed buns when he came back, and then he ate a piece of steamed bacon together.
At the end of the year, eating so simply, there is no New Year's flavor at all. Zheng Xiu felt sorry for Xue Shao and had a good impression of Xue Zhi, so she said, "You and your father should come to our house for the New Year's Eve dinner." Her family was small, and the Xue family was even more lonely, so it would be more lively if the two families got together.
Xue Shao was naturally willing, but he didn't know what his father would say, so he hesitated for a moment.
Seeing this, Zheng Xiu said, "I'll try to persuade your father, okay?"
Zheng Yu also came to his side and said, "Let's stay up together and play until dawn."
Xue Shao smiled and nodded.
Xue Zhi was very skillful, and it took only half an hour to repair the roof.
After finishing this work, Xue Zhi was sweating. Seeing that Zheng Xiu was not there, he simply took off his short jacket and put on a white middle coat. Then he took a broom and swept the snow in the rooms of Zheng's house one by one.
Zheng Xiu talked with Xue Shao inside for a while, went to the stove to prepare the ingredients for dinner, and went outside to see Xue Zhi.
Xue Zhi was chopping wood vigorously in the yard. The axe seemed to be alive in his hand, and with one axe, he split the cylindrical firewood into two halves.
The firewood of Zheng Xiu's family was bought and delivered from the town. Zheng Ren was a weak scholar, and it was even more impossible for Zheng Xiu to do this. Usually, they hired strong people from the village to help. Xue Zhi had chopped half of the pile of firewood.
Zheng Xiu was embarrassed and wanted to tell him to stop working, but when she looked up, she saw Xue Zhi sweating profusely, with his collar wide open, revealing his muscular chest. She could vaguely see beads of sweat running down his neck and chest... Her pretty face flushed, and she hurried back to the house, took some hot water from the stove, poured some cold water into a bowl, called Zheng Yu in, and asked him to take the firewood to Xue Zhi, asking him to help pass on the message.
Zheng Yu went over with a clatter, and Zheng Xiu stood by the stove, feeling the heat on her face. Influenced by modern Korean culture, Zheng Xiu has always liked handsome young men in her life, and has never been interested in muscular men. But when she saw Xue Zhi's appearance just now, she actually felt a little fluttery. Fortunately, no one else saw it.
Zheng Yu brought warm water, Xue Zhi wiped the sweat off his face, took the bowl, raised his head and drank the whole bowl of water in one gulp.
Zheng Yu looked at him with admiration, Xue Shao's father is so handsome! If I can become so strong, I will never be afraid of being bullied by others! What a big shot, he can knock down anyone with one punch, it can't be more powerful!
Zheng Yu held the empty bowl and asked in a very attentive manner, "Uncle Xue, do you want more?"
Xue Zhi wiped his mouth and said, "It will be finished in a while. It's cold outside. You should go inside quickly."
Zheng Yu responded happily, looked at him with envy for a while, and then went back to the house. He was so focused on admiring her that he forgot what her sister asked him to say. After
Xue Zhi finished chopping wood, he patrolled the yard again.
The fence of the Zheng family was a bit old. He looked it over and decided to find time to help repair it in the next few days. There was a lot of snow in the Zheng family yard. Xue Zhi looked around and found a shovel to start shoveling the snow.
When Zheng Ren returned home, the snow in the yard had been almost swept away.
"Xue the Hunter." Zheng Ren called out.
Xue Zhi put down his shovel and bowed to him, "Zheng, the hunter."
Zheng Ren saw the utility room with the roof tiles repaired, and apologized, "How can I trouble Xue the Hunter to do so much work? Come with me into the house."
Xue Zhi wiped his sweat and said indifferently, "It's just a small job. You go in first, I'll come after I finish shoveling this area." He ignored him and went to work.
Zheng Ren went into the house and saw the two children laughing in the main room, and Zheng Xiu busy at the stove.
Zheng Ren thought that it was his daughter who asked Xue Zhi to do those things, so he said to her, "He is a guest after all, why do you ask him to do so many things? I see that the roof has been repaired, the firewood has been chopped, and the snow in the yard has been shoveled."
Zheng Xiu put down the work in her hands and said embarrassedly, "I just asked him to repair the roof, but when I went out to see, he was already chopping firewood. He took off his coat, and I was embarrassed to talk to him much. I asked my mistress to help pass the message, and I don't know what the boy said."
However, Zheng Xiu did not expect Xue Zhi to be so quick. There was so much firewood under the eaves in the yard that an ordinary person might not be able to chop it all in an afternoon. She thought Xue Zhi would go into the house after chopping the firewood.
Zheng Ren shook his head and said, "Xue the hunter is an honest man, and it is not easy for us to ask for a reward. You can make a richer dinner as a return gift."
Zheng Xiu nodded in agreement, and told his father about Xue Zhi's thank-you gift, and showed his father the fiery red fox skin.
Zheng Ren was knowledgeable after all, so he naturally recognized that such a fiery fox was rare. Zheng Xiu had thought that this thing could be sold for a few taels of silver, but Zheng Ren knew that such a complete fox skin would be sold for dozens of trucks. Zheng Xiu
couldn't help but click her tongue when she heard it: "Such a valuable thing? What should I do, I have already accepted it." If she returned it, the other party would definitely not want it.
Zheng Ren said, "Keep it for now. It's almost New Year. You can make a shawl or hand covering with this fox skin. As for the return gift, I'll think about it later."
Xue Zhi finished shoveling snow outside and washed his face with water from the well.
Zheng Yu was sharp-eyed and took a towel from the house and handed it over.
Xue Zhi wiped his hands, face and neck with the well water, tidied his clothes, put on his jacket, and then went into the house.
"It's getting late, so we'll go back first. I think the fence in the yard is a bit old, so I'll come back tomorrow to help fix it."
Zheng Ren was not willing to let him go like this, and said, "Have dinner before going back. You've been busy this afternoon, and it's too late to go back and prepare dinner."
Xue Zhi wanted to refuse again, but Zheng Ren insisted, "I have my own plum wine at home, and it's just opened. Let's have a few drinks."
People also value fate, and scholars like Zheng Ren rarely deal with warriors. But seeing that Xue Zhi was open-minded, honest and generous, he also wanted to make friends with him.
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