That evening, Qin Xiaozhou boiled a pot of water, took a good bath in the house, and smelled himself. Not bad, the meaty smell on his body was almost gone. The day after tomorrow is the 20th of the first lunar month, the day of the market. Tomorrow, the family will go to dig bamboo shoots, and the day after tomorrow, they will sell them. They can also sell some soap, which can be used by the women of the Lu family. Of course, Xiao Si can use it too. As for the two grown men, they can use soap pods for now. They will need to take better care of them when they have more money later.
As for the new clothes Wang Lan mentioned, she doesn't want them now; she'll have plenty of clothes to wear once she loses weight.
After taking a shower, she quietly entered the room and slipped into Lu Yan's bed. Zhao Fen and Xiao Si slept in one bed, while Lu Yu and Wang Lan slept in another. There were three beds in the room, and besides the beds, there were only a few cabinets stacked together, making it difficult to turn around.
The village was quiet at night, and she quickly fell asleep. Suddenly, a goose halfway up the mountain made a loud cawing and flapping sound, which startled Qin Xiaozhou awake.
The sounds of the Lu brothers getting up could be heard from the next room, followed by them going out. Wang Lan got up and chased after them without even putting on her shoes, anxiously instructing, "Be careful, make sure you see what it is before you act, don't be reckless."
After thinking for a moment, he chased after them out of the yard, saying, "If it's a wild beast, forget about the chickens and come back quickly. People are the most important."
It was pitch black, and human eyesight isn't as good as those of wild animals. Besides, it was only the beginning of spring, and the grass and trees in the mountains hadn't even sprouted yet. Who knew what might have come out?
Wang Lan paced back and forth in the yard before finally going into the kitchen to boil water. Her two grandsons would be able to have a bowl of hot water when they came back, as it was still quite cold at night.
Qin Xiaozhou kept her eyes open for a while before she came to her senses.
The chicks are being attacked!
Her chicken!
She immediately jumped up and bumped into Wang Lan at the door. Wang Lan grabbed her, saying, "Don't go..."
There are many wild animals in Xishan. Because of her husband and son's situation, Wang Lan was always terrified at this time. She originally did not want her two grandsons to go, but she felt sorry for the chickens on the mountainside, so in the end she had no choice but to let them go.
Qin Xiaozhou broke free and grabbed a machete in the yard. "I'm strong, you guys stay home."
"Wait!" Wang Lan grabbed a large bamboo pole, lit one end of it, and gave it to Qin Xiaozhou. "Take this torch; wild animals are afraid of fire."
Well, this torch is three meters long, so it can burn for quite a while. So, Qin Xiaozhou carried the three-meter torch up the mountain. When he got to the mountainside, the hens in the chicken coop were still clucking, and the geese were not quiet either.
Lights began to appear in the village, and voices gradually came out. However, no one dared to go up the mountain. If there were wild animals, they would die. Even if they didn't die, the medicine and treatment they needed after being injured could bankrupt a family. Just look at the Lu family; what they were spending wasn't medicine, but their entire fortune.
Lu Yunfeng stared at the torch speechlessly, but finally mentioned the fox in his hand. The fox was already dead, its eyes pecked out by the geese, and it was covered in blood. "It wasn't a ferocious beast. This fox was discovered and pecked to death by the geese outside before it even got into the chicken coop. Let's go back."
Lu Yunxing followed behind and quietly exhaled. He was not as strong or agile as his older brother. He was so nervous on the way to the chicken coop tonight that his palms were sweating. His older brother took care of him and went in first to check the situation. Only after seeing that there was no danger did he let Lu Yunxing go around the chicken coop to check where there were any holes or cracks.
In the corner of the fence west of the chicken coop, the soil had been dug up, and the fox had crawled in through this hole. The Lu brothers filled the hole with stones.
The happiest thing in the world is a false alarm. After the three of them returned home, Wang Lan breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that it was just a fox. "Thank goodness, it's all right. Go to sleep now."
Back inside, Zhao Fen and Lu Yu were already awake, sitting on the bed waiting. Neither of them could sleep soundly. Hearing that it was just a fox, they felt sleepy and lay down to sleep.
The next morning, Qin Xiaozhou finally saw that it was a male fox, half red and half white, a mixed-breed fox. Lu Yunfeng went to the stream behind the house to deal with the fox, then used wood ash to rub the fur to remove the subcutaneous oil and laid it under the eaves to dry. After repeating this several times, the leather became soft and could be used to make a cushion for Xiao Si, which would be useful for the next few days.
The protective netting woven from bamboo was almost complete. Lu Yunfeng drove several large wooden stakes, each two meters high, into the ground next to the chicken coop and fixed the bamboo netting to the stakes. The mesh was large enough for two fingers to pass through, allowing sunlight to shine in, but preventing eagles from flying down. The chicks could move freely in the chicken coop yard.
Several hens and geese were let out during the day to dig in the soil and eat grass seeds in the orchard. In just a few days, the withered grass roots near the chicken coop were all dug up.
After finishing with the chicken coop, she went to dig bamboo shoots, filling two baskets. The next day, as soon as it was light, Wang Lan got up to grind soybeans and peanuts, boiled them in the stove, and gave everyone a bowl to drink, which warmed them up and made them feel more energetic.
After breakfast, Qin Xiaozhou and Lu Yunfeng went to the county town together. This time they took a boat. Because they had two baskets of bamboo shoots, the boatman charged them for an extra person's share when they paid.
These past few days, Lu Yunfeng has been busy at home and hasn't had time to weave baskets. This time, he's only selling bamboo shoots. When the two of them arrived at the market, it was bustling with people. There were vendors selling wild vegetables, bamboo shoots, chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits. Women were carrying baskets and walking around, with embroidered items, handkerchiefs, sachets, and fragrant pouches in their baskets.
Qin Xiaozhou asked about a sachet, and it cost forty coins. However, it contained calming herbs and was covered with embroidery of magpies and flowers, making it very beautiful.
There was a rabbit embroidery table that was quite nice; she liked the scent of it, so she bought one.
After the start of spring, wild vegetables grow abundantly in damp areas, making bamboo shoots difficult to sell. The two baskets of bamboo shoots were not sold until noon, earning a total of ninety-eight coins. Today, the two jin of bamboo shoots were sold for only five coins, a bargain. After packing up their baskets, the two ate a bowl of noodles at the market and then headed towards the grain shop. They were running low on peanuts and flour at home, so they took the opportunity to buy some more.
As they passed by the restaurant, the waiter Wang Xiaohu spotted her and rushed out, “Miss Qin, it’s great to see you! Our manager has been talking about you for days, saying he’d invite you to the restaurant for a chat as soon as he saw you. Please come in.”
Qin Xiaozhou took out a piece of silver and gave it to Lu Yunfeng, about five qian (approximately 15 grams), saying, "Buy some rice and flour, and come find me after you've bought them."
Lu Yunfeng only told her to be careful, then took the loose silver and left. Qin Xiaozhou entered the restaurant, which was packed with people at this hour.
Chen Haiping pushed his way through the crowd to greet her, "Miss Qin, please come upstairs."
"Manager Chen's business is doing well."
"Haha, thanks to Miss Qin." Chen Haiping sat down in the reception room and personally poured tea for Qin Xiaozhou. "Miss Qin is a very busy person. I've been looking for you for several days, and I'm only fortunate enough to meet you today."
Qin Xiaozhou lowered her head and sipped her tea. The tea was fragrant and clear, a fine tea indeed. However, she said nothing, pretending not to understand. "Manager Chen is busy. What brings you here today?"
Manager Chen calmly put down his teacup. It seemed that she really was just a butcher's daughter who had been exposed to pork since childhood and knew a few unique dishes. That was nothing to be afraid of. After Qin Xiaozhou came to his door last time, he had someone check her identity. Only when there was no doubt about her identity did he dare to approach Qin Xiaozhou again.
“You’re a straightforward girl, so I won’t beat around the bush either. I wonder if you have any other recipes? It’ll still be two dishes for fifty taels.”
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