Chapter 22 Feeding Each Other
The people at the educated youth site had already eaten, leaving only a kerosene lamp in the kitchen.
"It's dark now, and we can't see the road outside. How about we go look for it?" Jian Tongyi looked at Ming Kangjian and asked tentatively.
Without waiting for Ming Kangjian to speak, Mo Mingyang spoke first, "He is indeed a fool. He doesn't even know how to go home."
"I said she is a burden and a trouble. Look, she is a trouble now! It's so dark now and we have been busy all day. We have to go to work tomorrow. It's time to have a good rest. If we go to find her now, we won't have the energy to work tomorrow!" Ma Guizhi said with reluctance in her tone.
Zhao Yi and Gan Tian did not say anything, subconsciously they agreed with Ma Guizhi's words.
Jian Tong laughed in unison, "Are we just going to leave her alone and not look for her? What if you are the one who doesn't come back one day? We won't look for her either?"
"How could we not go home when it's dark?" Ma Guizhi retorted.
"What if you get hurt accidentally and can't come back?" Jian Tongyi sneered and no longer paid attention to Ma Guizhi and others. He looked at Ming Kangjian, waiting for Ming Kangjian to make a decision.
Ming Kangjian frowned, supported his knees with his hands and stood up, "You two girls stay at the educated youth center, and the rest of you come with us to look for someone."
"It's just getting dark, why don't you wait a little longer?" Zhao Yi didn't say he wouldn't go looking for it, but after walking for a whole day, he was feeling lazy and didn't want to move at all.
Ming Kangjian's brows furrowed even deeper, "You——"
Crunch!
The door was pushed open from the outside, and Lin Qi walked in carrying a backpack.
"Are you back? Why so late?" Jian Yitong stepped forward and took her backpack naturally.
Lin Qi hummed, "Is there anything to eat?"
"Yes, cakes and wild vegetables." Jian Yitong looked at Lin Qi's backpack and found a clay pot inside. He asked curiously, "What's in this? Can you open it and take a look?"
She couldn't find any water in the mountains to wash the jar, so she had to bring it back.
There was still some jujube honey in the earthenware jar, and she didn't want to waste it.
"Okay." Lin Qi said, she took a stool and slowly washed her hands.
"What did you go do and why do you come back so late?" Ming Kangjian asked.
"In the mountains." Lin Qi said. At this moment, she was so tired that she didn't even have the strength to raise her hands.
"There seems to be something in the jar." Jian Tongyi said, his burning eyes swept towards Lin Qi.
Lin Qi nodded slowly, "Similar to honey, for you to eat."
It is for you to eat, not for you to eat.
Everyone present could hear this difference.
Jian Yi was delighted. "It's something similar to honey. Very good. I like it very much."
Ming Kangjian was also happy and teased, "I don't have a share?"
Lin Qi remained calm and said, "Ask him."
What it means is that it is given to Jane Tongyi. If you want to eat it, you need Jane Tongyi’s consent.
"Haha," Jian Yitong laughed, "Did you hear me? If you want to eat, please me."
Ming Kangjian elbowed him and said, "Don't try!"
"I dare not. I'm scared." Jian Tongyi held the jar and went to get the bowl and wooden spoon with a smile.
I originally thought there was only a little bit at the bottom, but after pouring it out, it actually filled the entire bowl, and there was a shallow layer at the bottom.
"Go get your kettle and pour the hot water in so we can drink the water used to wash the pot." Jane said jokingly.
"Okay, I'll get it right away. But you can't just leave this bowl there. You have to find a sealed jar, otherwise the ants will come here following the smell." Ming Kangjian said.
"I have a sealed jar, I'll pack it later." Jian Tongyi protected his bowl very well. Since Lin Qi said it was for him, he shamelessly kept it for himself.
At most, I would give everyone one or two spoonfuls on weekdays.
Boiling water was poured into the earthenware jar, and a rich and sweet aroma wafted out.
"It's the aroma of sugar mixed with fruit, very similar to honey." Jane said.
Ming Kangjian swallowed and said, "Even the smell is sweet."
Mo Mingyang, Zhao Yi, Ma Guizhi and Gan Tian also smelled the scent, but thinking of what they had just said, none of them stepped forward.
Ming Kangjian glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, sighed silently in his heart, and poured a kettle of hot water into the earthenware jar.
Jian Tongyi looked at the pot of water and said self-deprecatingly, "It seems that we really have to drink the water used to wash the pot."
As he spoke, he scooped two spoonfuls of jujube honey from the bowl with a wooden spoon and put them into the earthenware jar.
"Two spoons are too little, add a little more." Ming Kangjian said.
Jian Tong glanced at him sideways and said nothing. Instead, he scooped up a spoonful of sugar water, blew on it twice, and put it into his mouth.
"How is it? Is it sweet?" Ming Kangjian asked.
"Sweet." Jian Yitong gave an affirmative answer, and added, "Sweeter than the honey water I drank before."
Upon hearing this, Ming Kangjian filled a large bowl without saying anything. After filling it, he stood up and gave up his seat, "If you want to drink, help yourself."
Jian Tongyi also filled a bowl for himself, "I think I can drink three bowls."
"Three bowls, aren't you afraid of wetting the bed in the middle of the night?" Mo Mingyang also took a bowl over.
With Mo Mingyang taking the lead, others followed suit.
Lin Qi was sitting at the table, slowly munching on some bread and chewing some wild vegetables, her eyes wandering, as if she knew nothing about what was happening around her.
Everyone was very curious about where Lin Qi got the molasses, but Lin Qi either didn't answer or seemed to know nothing about it, so nothing could be learned.
"Next time we have a day off, let's follow her." Mo Mingyang suggested.
Others agreed, “That’s a good suggestion.”
Lin Qi: “….”
Xu Hexiao said that the jujube honey would be sold out very soon. Lin Qi thought that he meant three or four days, but he came to her the next day.
"The two cans from last time, plus the six cans from yesterday, sold for a total of 42 yuan, five industrial coupons, four kilograms of food coupons, and six other kinds of coupons." Xu Hexiao handed a small black cloth bag to Lin Qi.
Lin Qi didn't even look at it and just stuffed it into her pocket.
Xu Hexiao felt very relieved when he saw her action, but he said, "You don't want to count?"
"No need, I believe you." Lin Qi said.
Xu Hexiao's mouth curled up slightly, "It's getting dark, you should go back."
Lin Qi didn't say anything, and took out two wrist-sized black fish from the bucket, "Here you go."
These are the only two big fish in her bucket, the rest are small fish and shrimps.
Xu Hexiao was somewhat touched, but refused to take her fish. "Take it back and eat it. You have already paid me."
"I have some." Lin Qi pushed the fish forward again, "If you don't want it, give it to them. Eat it."
They refer to the people in the educated youth centers.
It seems that she doesn't have a good relationship with those people at the educated youth center, Xu Hexiao thought to himself.
He hesitated for a moment, then took the fish and said, "Next time I go hunting, I'll grill it and bring it to you."
Although the jujube honey was sold, the glass jars were gone, so Lin Qi had to stop making jujube honey. These days, she cut grass for pigs in the morning and went to the river to catch fish and shrimp in the afternoon.
After she had other income, she was not so obsessed with fish and shrimp. She didn't catch much each time, only about three bowls. But in addition to small fish and shrimp, she would catch two or three big fish every time. Sometimes, in order to catch these two or three big fish, she would dive in the water for half an hour.
Due to the drought in the past few years, there were few big fish in the river, and it was quite challenging for her to find and catch big fish.
But she enjoys it.
Because she found that swimming in the water for an hour or two every day could improve her body's coordination.
She gave all the fish she caught every day to Xu Hexiao.
Sometimes Xu Hexiao would resist going to the river in order not to take her fish, but after not talking to anyone for a day, he couldn't help getting close to her.
He told himself to go secretly and watch from a distance, but she could always find him.
He swam away and she followed him.
"Xu Hexiao," she called him, each voice louder than the last.
He was afraid that her voice would attract others, so he had to stop and wait for her.
"No need to give it to me." Xu Hexiao was touched but helpless at the same time.
Lin Qi waved her hand indifferently, "I have it."
It's not that I have to give it to him, I just don't want to give it to those educated youth anymore.
Moreover, Xu Hexiao treated her to roast chicken every now and then, and she sent him fish just as a courtesy. Besides, fish is not as delicious as roast chicken.
In fact, she earned it.
"Brother Tan brought me ten glass jars yesterday. He said that the jujube honey is very popular and asked us to make more." Xu Hexiao said.
This was the fourth day after the jujube honey was sold, and Xu Hexiao was a little surprised that Brother Tan responded so quickly. But thinking of the quality of the jujube honey, he felt it was reasonable.
Lin Qi nodded, "Okay."
"Are we going to the mountains tomorrow?" Xu Hexiao asked again.
Lin Qi said without hesitation, "Go."
"Then I'll take the time to send the glass jar to you at noon." Xu Hexiao said. He thought for a moment and said, "Just at the foot of the mountain. You wait for me there. I have to go to work in the afternoon and can't go with you to the mountain. But I can pick you up in the evening."
Lin Qi could keep promoting the growth of jujubes, but the jujubes in the mountains were not inexhaustible. When the jujube honey filled ten glass jars, Lin Qi said to Xu Hexiao, "The jujubes are gone."
"It's okay. We can make jujube honey next year. It's August now, and there will be more wild fruits in September and October. You can go into the mountains with everyone to collect them then. When there are more people, we can go to deeper places." Xu Hexiao comforted her without mentioning himself.
Lin Qi did not comment, "I keep one can, you keep one can, and I will sell eight cans."
Xu Hexiao smiled, "Brother Tan is offering eight yuan a can now. Are you willing to keep it for yourself?"
"I'm willing to do so." Having been hungry for two lifetimes, she is more willing to eat than anyone else.
"Okay. Then let's each keep one can and sell eight cans." There was a doting tone in Xu Hexiao's voice that he himself didn't even notice.
"I want to make wine." Lin Qi had the idea of making wine when she saw the wild grapes in the mountains. However, she was short of money at the time, and it takes a longer time to brew wine, so she made jujube honey first.
"Can you?" Xu Hexiao asked.
"Saya's family makes wine." Lin Qi said.
"You saw them brewing, and learned it yourself?" Xu Hexiao had no doubt.
Lin Qi nodded, "We need a large earthenware jar or a large pottery jar."
"I know. I'll prepare it for you. You want it to be tightly sealed, right? In fact, a tightly sealed wooden barrel is better, but a tightly sealed wooden barrel is harder to find than a clay pot or a ceramic pot." Xu Hexiao doesn't know how to make wine, but the Xu family had made wine before, so he had seen wooden barrels like that. "On my day off, I'll help you pick grapes."
Lin Qi did not refuse. Although she could accelerate the growth of grapes and the quality of the grapes produced was better, the surface of the grapes produced by the acceleration did not have that layer of white frost. That layer of white frost was a natural fermentation agent that could accelerate the fermentation of grapes.
Xu Hexiao, who often walks in the mountains, must know where the grapes are. When the time comes, the grapes she grows and the ones he picks are mixed together to brew the wine, the effect will be better.
Just as Lin Qi was waiting for Xu Hexiao to find a clay jar for her, an unexpected person came to the educated youth point.
One day, Lin Qi came back from the river carrying half a bucket of shrimps in one hand and a winnowing basket in the other. When she was about a hundred meters away from the educated youth site, she saw a familiar figure at the door.
"Brother?" Lin Qi murmured.
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