Chapter 72 Lively
The earthenware pot contained rice, bacon, mushrooms, and green vegetables. As soon as the lid was opened, the aroma came out. Not only Lin Qi, who had not eaten dinner, but also the two captains and the two chefs could not help but swallow their saliva.
However, Xu Hexiao had no intention of inviting them. He used a spoon to mix the rice and vegetables together and filled a bowl for Lin Qi. "I had prepared chili peppers, but it's not suitable to eat spicy food at night, so I only put a little bit for you."
"It's okay, I'm not afraid of spicy food." Lin Qi said.
"Okay, I'll bring you some peppers next time. There's egg drop soup in here, and it's still warm." Xu Hexiao placed a bamboo tube in front of Lin Qi.
Lin Qi picked it up, took a sip, and continued eating.
The captain and several of his men had gone to the kitchen to process the prey, and a kerosene lamp was left for them.
"Sorry." Xu Hexiao said suddenly.
Lin Qi raised her eyes to look at him, but didn't respond and continued to eat with her head down.
"I should have waited for you in the bullpen, but I couldn't help it... I was jealous of those people... They spent the whole day with you..." Xu Hexiao's voice was low, with an uneasiness that he himself was not aware of.
Would she be unhappy if others knew about their relationship?
Sensing his uneasiness, Lin Qi softened her heart. She was not angry. In fact, because of his little thoughts, she was in a good mood.
So she said, "There are indeed a lot of people today, but I didn't see them. We found black bears, leopards and tigers today, oh, and a python. There seem to be more animals in that place."
Xu Hexiao: “..........”
Among so many people, she only paid attention to the animals.
Should he be glad?
Lin Qi ate up all the food in the clay pot, even drinking up the soup without leaving a drop.
After eating, Lin Qi went to the kitchen, said hello to the team leader, then left the cafeteria with Xu Hexiao and walked towards the cowshed.
"Are you tired? I'll carry you." Xu Hexiao asked.
"Not tired." Lin Qi said, and seeing a flash of disappointment in Xu Hexiao's eyes, she added, "You can carry it even if you are not tired."
Xu Hexiao's eyes lit up and he squatted down in front of her without saying a word.
Lin Qi lay on his back, and relaxed. "Everyone in our team is a big eater. I don't know if the meat we brought back is enough. Tomorrow morning I plan to clean up the rats and sparrows in the planting area. There are too many of them."
It was just cleaned up during the autumn harvest, and a month later, it is about to flood again.
"Don't you like eating sparrows and mice?" Xu Hexiao found that she was particularly straightforward and generous when giving away sparrows and mice.
“It’s not that I don’t like to eat it, it’s that I don’t like to prepare it.” Probably because she was never full in her previous life, Lin Qi had no taboos about various game.
"If you want to eat it in the future, I'll take care of it." Xu Hexiao said.
"Okay." Lin Qi agreed and made a request, "Xu Hexiao, do you know how to castrate a pig?"
Xu Hexiao felt an inexplicable chill between his legs and his throat went dry. "Are you planning to castrate the wild boars in the planting area?"
"Yes, wild boars have a strong smell and the meat is tough, so it takes a long time to cook until it's delicious. After castration, the smell is gone and more meat can be grown. However, after castration, they will lack their wildness and their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. I plan to plant dense thorns and bushes on the side of the planting area facing the mountains to keep animals outside from coming in and animals inside from going out." Lin Qi said.
"The pigs in our brigade were castrated by Doctor Ma." Xu Hexiao said, gritting his teeth, as if he had made a difficult decision. "Next year, when the brigade has new piglets, I can go and learn from Doctor Ma when he castrates them."
"Then you must study hard." Lin Qi instructed him seriously, "I not only want to castrate pigs, but also roosters."
A hint of helplessness flashed across Xu Hexiao's eyes. He looked up at the hazy moon in the sky. In such a good atmosphere, was it necessary to mention castration?
The next morning, Lin Qi woke up at daybreak.
After a quick wash, she carried two large bamboo baskets and a backpack out of the cave and headed for the planting area.
Because she came often these days, the pheasants and rabbits were no longer so afraid of her. They would sneak a peek at her from afar, but when they saw that she was just picking vegetables, they relaxed their vigilance.
The wild goats and wild boars in the distance did not come near and kept hiding far away.
Lin Qi let her special powers go around the planting area. Wherever her special powers went, the crops and fruits and vegetables that had been damaged instantly returned to their lush green appearance. And with the constant nourishment of her special powers, the wild fruit trees she transplanted, which were not in season, are now blooming and bearing fruit, such as wild hawthorn, wild kiwi, wild pear, wild persimmon, etc. The wild grapes and jujubes that she had picked before are also blooming and bearing fruit. Because of the nourishment of her special powers every day, these wild fruits not only have a large number of fruits, but are also several times larger than wild fruits in other places.
These fruits cannot be sold directly, so Lin Qi plans to process them and then sell them.
Hawthorn can be dried, kiwi and pear can be canned, persimmon can be dried into persimmon cakes, grapes can be made into raisins and wine. Jujube can be used to make jujube honey, which can be drunk directly with water and used as sugar in daily life. For example, when making braised pork or barbecue, you can add a little bit of it, which will give the meat a light fruity aroma and make it taste better.
Lin Qi picked two bamboo baskets full of seasonal vegetables, a sack of various fungi, and a sack of chestnuts and yams. Then she started catching mice and sparrows.
The thin vines moved so quickly through the soil and among the trees that even their shadows could not be seen.
The forest was silent, with only the sound of the autumn wind blowing through the rocks and grass.
The sparrows and mice in the planting area disappeared silently, and the animals in the planting area were unaware of it.
When Xu Hexiao arrived carrying two large bamboo baskets, Lin Qi had already prepared everything and placed them at the entrance of the planting area.
When Xu Hexiao saw that there were mice and sparrows in each large basket, his expression became a little subtle, and he was curious about how Lin Qi caught them.
His intuition told him that even if he asked, she wouldn't tell him.
So he didn't ask, but took the basket of mice and the basket of sparrows on his own initiative, and left the bamboo basket he brought with him where it was.
Lin Qi was carrying two baskets of vegetables, with a sack tied to each end of the load, one side containing various fungi, the other side containing chestnuts and yams.
Lin Qi and Xu Hexiao came out of the mountain when the sky was just getting bright and the morning sun was just rising.
They delivered the things to Lin Qi's house.
"I have put the grain in the warehouse and locked it. Here are the keys." Xu Hexiao handed a few keys to Lin Qi.
Lin Qi was surprised at how thoughtful he was, and felt a little warm in her heart. She asked, "Did you leave a copy of the key for yourself?"
"I kept it." Xu Hexiao admitted frankly, and said, "I kept a key for the locks of several doors."
This is selfish, and he does not hide it in front of her.
He had to let her know his feelings, that he wanted to enter her life and maintain a close relationship with her. She was so slow in emotions, and if he wasn't obvious enough, she might not be able to feel it, Xu Hexiao thought.
Lin Qi didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Even if Xu Hexiao didn't keep it for himself, she would give him a share.
"I plan to just put up a fence door in the yard and not lock it," said Lin Qi.
In Anliang Brigade, people either planted vegetables or fruit trees or raised chickens and ducks in their yards, and there were no valuables. The gates were made of thatch or bamboo, and were usually fastened with a straw rope.
"Just make a fence gate with fir tree branches. I'll do it." Xu Hexiao took the initiative to take over the job.
"Can you handle it?" Xu Hexiao still has to build his own house.
"That's not difficult. You have already taken four fir trees from the mountain, so you don't need to look for more." Xu Hexiao said.
Lin Qi heard this and said, "Okay, leave it to you. I'll help you with the thatched roof in a couple of days. We also need to dig the foundation, so let's start tonight."
"There's no rush for the foundation. I haven't made the mud bricks yet. Let's get the belongings for your new home first. Do you plan to make the bed, table and chairs yourself, or ask the villagers to do it?" Xu Hexiao asked.
"Make it yourself. Once it's done, I'll move it out of the mountain. I'll make one for you as well." Lin Qi said.
Xu Hexiao refused, "No, no. Your work is too good, it would be too much of an eyesore for us to use, just use it yourself."
As soon as they put down their things, the captain, the deputy captain, two cooks, and several aunts arrived. They also brought wild boar meat, roe deer, and python meat that they had processed last night.
"Wow, there are so many mice and sparrows!"
"Today's dishes are a bit too rich!"
"With so many dishes, I'm afraid we won't have enough pots. If anyone has an iron pot, go borrow a few."
“Go and call a few young men over and have them deal with these rats and sparrows.”
"Green vegetables and mushrooms also need to be cleaned."
"Let's cook some multi-grain porridge first. When everyone is tired from working, they can have some porridge first. The main meal will probably have to wait until noon."
“.......”
The quiet yard suddenly became lively.
Lin Qi wanted to stay in the yard to work, but Xu Hexiao did not stay. He went back to the straw hut, peeled a few boiled eggs, and secretly brought them to Lin Qi.
"Aren't you going to stay for dinner?" Lin Qi asked him.
"I still have to make mud bricks, and the captain has given me limited vacation time." Xu Hexiao looked at Lin Qi apologetically.
"Then I'll save some delicious food for you." Lin Qi said.
The sky was getting brighter and brighter, and more and more people came into the yard.
"Lin Qi, my grandfather made four square stools for you to congratulate you on moving into your new home." San Ya and her brothers and sisters carried the square stools over together.
"Thank you." Lin Qi led them into the living room and was about to pour them some water when she was stopped by Luo Dali.
"We are not guests, don't worry about us, we are here to help." Luo Dali said, and walked out of the living room, "I'm going to singe the mice and sparrows. Lin Qi, next time you catch mice and sparrows, call me."
"And us." San Ya and her sisters said.
Lin Qi agreed, "Okay."
"Lin Qi, we are here too." Xiaomei, Hongmei, Yuzhen and Qiuyan came together. They each carried a basket filled with various vegetables and a dozen eggs.
The four of them were very intimate, as if the recent estrangement had never happened.
"Why did you bring something? You're so polite." Lin Qi led them to the kitchen, where someone was already washing vegetables.
"They are all worthless things. I hope you don't mind them." Xiaomei said, "We will stay in the kitchen to help in a while. You can go and do your own thing. Don't worry about us."
Lin Qi asked the team leader to notify everyone in the team, but not everyone came. For example, none of the five female educated youth at the educated youth site came.
However, Sun Xuefeng and Guan Hao, who were not very familiar with each other, came with Ming Kangjian and others.
"Here, a set of bowls and chopsticks. I wish you will never lack food." Jian Tong gave out his gift.
Lin Qi took it and said, "Thank you."
"This is what we bought for you together, an aluminum pot." Ming Kangjian and Mo Mingyang carried a large aluminum pot together.
"Such a generous gift?" Lin Qi raised her eyebrows. Such a big pot is not cheap. There are quite a few industrial rolls. However, this gift touched her heart. Now that the weather is cool, it is just right to use it to boil water for bathing.
Ming Kangjian smiled bitterly, "This is not only a gift for congratulations, but also a gift for apology."
As for why we apologized, everyone knows it.
Lin Qi smiled, "Okay, I'll take it. Let's just write off the past and pretend it never happened."
Ming Kangjian and others breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.
"The last time it was this lively was five years ago, right?" the captain sighed.
The deputy captain nodded. "It's the accountant's youngest son getting married. Although it was lively then, it wasn't as lively as this. They invited half of the team, but now everyone in the team is here. And I've only seen so much meat at the Xu family's banquet."
"Yeah, I haven't seen so much meat in a long time. Even though we raise seven or eight pigs, it's good to have two left by the end of the year. One team gets two pigs, and each family gets a few pounds. It's not as much as we got when we helped Lin Qi build a house some time ago." The team leader sighed, "Last night's meat added up to 500 pounds, plus the two big baskets of mice and sparrows this morning, there are at least 600 pounds of meat, and everyone can eat one pound. Who is so extravagant that each person can eat one pound of meat per meal? It's all thanks to Lin Qi."
I wanted to push the other party back at the beginning, but fortunately, I failed.
"I hope that after this meal, the team will be calmer in the future," said the deputy captain.
"People are easily offended. After all, she has already attended the wedding banquet. Who would still say bad things about her behind her back? Besides, she lives far away and is usually quiet and has little sense of existence. Who would bother her for no reason?" The captain said indifferently.
"I'm just worried that someone might get conjunctivitis." The deputy captain motioned Luo Feng to look ahead. There, Luo Laizi was looking at the meat, his eyes full of greed.
"If there are really those who are blind, let them hit the wall on their own. They have to fall hard before they know how to be afraid." There was a hint of disgust in the captain's tone.
Almost no one who came to the banquet came empty-handed. Some brought two dishes or two eggs. It wasn't a large amount, but it was a token of thoughtfulness.
Lin Qi, who was originally worried that there would not be enough vegetables, finally discovered that there were some leftovers.
Lin Qi's yard is not small, but it is still a bit difficult to accommodate so many people at once, so some tables were placed outside the yard.
Not only did everyone bring their own tables and chairs, they also brought their own bowls and chopsticks. Ten people sat at each table, so there were fifty or sixty tables. Each table had six meat dishes and four plates of vegetables, making a total of ten dishes.
No one cares about the dish, as long as there is enough meat, they don’t care about anything else.
Today's banquet achieved just that. Apart from other things, there was enough meat, enough dishes, and several large pots of steamed rice. It was no problem for each person to eat three or four bowls.
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