Chapter 92 I Listen to Her
It snowed for two days. On the morning of the third day, the sun came out and the snow began to melt. The temperature was even lower than the previous two days.
Lin Qi was shivering from the cold, and the ten-pound quilt still couldn't keep out the cold.
There was a rustling sound. Lin Qi opened her eyes a little and saw Xu Hexiao filled two clay pots with burning charcoal and placed them under the bed.
Fortunately, the bed she sat on was high enough, Lin Qi thought dazedly and closed her eyes again.
The next second, the quilt was lifted and a warm body lay down.
"I've taken a shower." Xu Hexiao said seriously.
Lin Qi hummed and fell asleep again.
The two slept from morning to afternoon. Lin Qi didn't want to get up, but Xu Hexiao opened the quilt and said, "Keep sleeping. You won't be able to sleep at night."
Lin Qi pulled the quilt back and muttered, "I won't be unable to sleep."
Seeing that she was about to fall asleep again, Xu Hexiao was somewhat helpless, "I want to cook dinner, go get a chicken."
"I don't want to eat chicken, I want to eat lamb." When Lin Qi mentioned food, she realized that her stomach was empty and she felt a little uncomfortable with hunger. "The team is going to kill a pig for the New Year, let's kill a lamb."
Xu Hexiao had no objection, "Okay. I'll go boil some water first."
Lin Qi looked at Xu Hexiao's back. It seemed that with the burial of Grandpa Xu, the grief on his body had faded a little.
Maybe I can find something for him to do to keep him busy and not dwell on the grief of losing his grandfather.
Lin Qi put on her clothes and left the cave. Before Xu Hexiao boiled the water, she brought back a fat wild goat.
"The fruit trees in the planting area are bearing fruit again. You take care of them and I'll go pick the fruits." Lin Qi left the goat behind and went out again.
Xu Hexiao looked at the rice, jam, dried fruits and other things that filled most of the cave, and couldn't help but hold his forehead. He never thought that one day he would be troubled by too much food.
Think about the days a few years ago when people were starving and cold and had to eat tree roots and grass, and then look at the days now when there is almost no place to store food. The contrast is quite huge.
Although I was worried about where to put all the food, I also felt an indescribable sense of security and peace of mind.
Lin Qi was thinking about finding something for Xu Hexiao to do, and before she knew it, she had picked ten large baskets of various fruits.
This time, the cave became more crowded.
"Qiqi, didn't you notice that there are no empty jars and cans in the cave? And those rice grains, it would be better to put them in sacks." Xu Hexiao said.
"Then shall we go to Brother Tan to ask for sacks, jars and cans later?" Lin Qi asked.
Xu Hexiao did not answer directly, but asked, "Will the fruit trees in the planting area continue to bear fruit?"
"If I don't try to control it——" Lin Qi nodded, "Yes."
"Control?" Xu Hexiao was puzzled.
Lin Qi tilted her head and thought for a moment, "It's similar to inputting energy."
"Will it harm your body?" Xu Hexiao was inexplicably flustered.
“No. It’s just like when we breathe. With each inhalation and exhalation, there is energy output but also energy input. It’s just that the speed of input is much lower than the speed of output. Even if we accidentally use up our energy, we will just feel a little tired and will be fine after a good sleep.” Lin Qi looked calm and composed.
Xu Hexiao felt relieved when he saw that she didn't seem to be lying. "Let's go find Brother Tan tonight and ask him to come again and take the rice away. We can say that I secretly planted it in the mountains."
Lin Qi raised her eyebrows, "Will he believe it?"
After all, the taste of what she grows is so different from what others grow that you can taste it at once.
"It's only a dozen hours' drive from Zhoucheng to Yao County. Just assume we knew each other before, so you chose this place when you came to the countryside. It's not impossible for you to come to Yao County from Zhoucheng, stay for a few days, and grow rice with me." In this day and age, who doesn't have their own little secrets? Brother Tan can't come to this mountain. Even if he came, he wouldn't doubt anything without seeing how these plants grow with his own eyes.
Lin Qi calculated the distance from Zhoucheng to Yao County. If she ran non-stop, it would take less than ten hours. Her current speed was still faster than the train, and the train had to stop several times along the way, and each stop took quite a while. So she should be able to get there in five or six hours, right?
After dinner, I cut off a lamb's hind leg and put two kilograms of rice that I had just pounded in the afternoon. Nowadays, the cave not only has a stone mill, but also a stone mortar, which can be used to grind beans and pound rice. The completeness of the furniture should be ranked among the top three among all the families in Anliang Brigade.
"Let him taste the new rice, then he will have an idea in his mind." Xu Hexiao said. After eating a lot of the plants grown by Lin Qi, he was still amazed by the rice she grew.
When he was young, he ate a lot of good rice, even the rice that was given to the emperor. However, compared with the rice grown by Lin Qi, the tribute rice was still a little inferior.
The taste and aroma of tribute rice are naturally excellent, but compared with Lin Qi's rice, it lacks the feeling that makes people unable to stop eating.
After eating Lin Qi's food, in addition to the ultimate enjoyment of color, aroma and taste, there is one more thing, and the most important thing, which is not available in other foods, which is a sense of comfort. It is a feeling as if the body is recharged, very comfortable, and it feels like every pore in the body is open and alive.
This is probably related to the energy that Lin Qi mentioned.
He didn't understand what that energy was. It should be something extremely precious and mysterious.
Now Lin Qi can still hide herself in the deep forest, but what about the future?
A long-lost sense of urgency surged in Xu Hexiao's heart. Perhaps he should slowly prepare himself.
"I will go find Brother Tan by myself tonight. Tomorrow morning I will go into the mountains and help you process these fruits." Xu Hexiao said.
"Huh?" Lin Qi was surprised, "Are you going alone?"
"Yes. I have other things to discuss with Brother Tan, which will take a little longer." Xu Hexiao didn't say what it was.
Is it something that she can't know?
Lin Qi was curious, but she didn't really need to know. "Let me take you out of the mountain. I'm going back home tonight. We can go back into the mountain together tomorrow morning."
It was getting late. It took Xu Hexiao nearly three hours to walk from here to Anliang Brigade. It took another two hours to walk from Anliang Brigade to Brother Tan. So, five hours were gone. It took another two hours to come back from Brother Tan. Almost the whole night was spent walking.
Xu Hexiao knew that she was worried about him and did not reject her kindness.
Lin Qi didn't know what Xu Hexiao was going to talk to Brother Tan about or how long the talk would take, so she waited from morning till morning the next day, waited for Jian Tongyi, but never saw Xu Hexiao.
"The team will slaughter pigs tomorrow." Jian Yitong came to inform Lin Qi.
Lin Qi was not surprised at all. It was only three days until New Year's Eve, and it was time to slaughter the pig for the New Year.
"We'll go to the station to buy tickets today and go home the day after tomorrow." Jian Tongyi looked at Lin Qi dimly, "Have you decided whether to go back or not?"
Lin Qi was still hesitant.
"Go back." Xu Hexiao had arrived at some point and was now walking towards the courtyard. "Qiqi is also going home for the New Year. Please buy her a ticket."
Xu Hexiao said, taking out six big unity notes from his pocket, "If possible, please buy her a sleeper ticket."
Jian Yitong looked at the money that was handed to him, then looked at Lin Qi, "You can't make the decision yourself? Do you want to listen to him?"
"Of course Qiqi can make the decision, but I have to listen to her." Without waiting for Lin Qi to answer, Xu Hexiao spoke first.
Jian Yitong chuckled, "You are quite flexible. What do you think, Lin Qi?"
"Thank you for your help then." Lin Qi said calmly.
Jian Tong froze, then said stiffly, "No help, go buy it yourself."
"Ten pounds of sweet potatoes for your hard work." Lin Qi was not in a hurry at all after being rejected. She was calm and composed, as if everything was under control.
Jian Yitong was shamefully tempted. The sweet potatoes he brought back last time were eaten up by the people at the educated youth camp like hungry wolves. Even those women, who clearly didn't get along with Lin Qi, ate Lin Qi's food without any disdain.
"Your sweet potatoes are too big. There's only one in ten kilograms. One is too little. I want two." Jian Tongyi's attitude was firm and there was no room for negotiation.
Two sweet potatoes, one for his family and one for his grandparents' family.
Lin Qi nodded, "Okay, I'll give you 30 kilograms, go buy the ticket for me."
Jian Tongyi's eyes widened. Why did he agree so readily? Did he ask for too little?
Just as Jian Yitong was about to continue raising the price, Xu Hexiao said coldly, "As a grown man, can't you do what you say?"
"Who can't do it! I'll go find the captain to get a letter of introduction for you right now. After I get the letter, I'll go to the town to buy a ticket. Don't worry, I will find a way to buy you a sleeper ticket!" Jian Tongyi said, snatched the money from Xu Hexiao's hand, snorted coldly, and strode away.
As Jane left, the yard became quiet.
"Sorry, I acted on my own initiative." Xu Hexiao looked sincere.
Lin Qi shook her head. She didn't care about her own decision. She cared about him. "Don't you need me to accompany you?"
"Of course I hope you can accompany me." Xu Hexiao said, "But your family also wants you to spend the New Year with them. I occupy you on weekdays, and it's not good to not let you go even during the New Year. Go back and spend the New Year happily with your family, and we'll see you after the New Year."
Seeing that there was no reluctance on his face, Lin Qi felt relieved. "Then I will go back to celebrate the New Year. You should also eat well here."
"Of course. Prepare some more vegetables for me in the next two days. As for meat, we already have mutton, and a chicken, a rabbit and a fish will be enough." Xu Hexiao said.
"Prepare six pheasants and six rabbits, and six fish as well. One chicken, one rabbit and one fish a day. I will come over from home when you finish eating them." Lin Qi counted on her fingers.
Xu Hexiao looked at her seriously, his eyebrows softened, "Each of your pheasants, rabbits and fish weighs more than ten kilograms. According to your calculation, I have to eat forty to fifty kilograms of meat a day. Do you think I'm a pig?"
"It's better to be prepared. If you can't eat 40 or 50 kilograms a day, you should at least eat more than ten kilograms. Anyway, when I come back, you have to consume at least half of what I left for you." Lin Qi said forcefully.
Xu Hexiao agreed obediently, "No problem."
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