Chapter 49 Stolen
Liu Ye flashed into the space and arrived at the black soil. With a thought, she instantly harvested all the grain on the black soil. A small hill of wheat was piled up at the edge of the field, weighing tens of thousands of kilograms. The black soil flashed with golden light, and the original 24 mu became 48 mu.
This upgrade of the black soil was a bit different; the entire space had become much larger. Liu Ye was so happy she almost clapped her hands and cheered. It was wonderful! The entire space had become much larger. Otherwise, she would have been worried about where to put the harvested grain. Now that the space had become larger, she didn't have to worry anymore. In addition to the black soil, the open space next to the spirit spring well had also become much larger, probably about ten acres, which was enough for her to store things.
With another thought, she instantly planted rice in the black soil. Next time, she would plant wheat, alternating between the two. Once she had enough grain, she could open a grain store in the prefectural city or town. Otherwise, what would she do with all this grain in her space? She would have to sell it even if it was cheap.
She counted on her fingers and realized that there were 48 mu of black soil now, which would take half a month to mature. As the amount of black soil increased, the grain would mature more and more slowly. Actually, half a month was not a short time. Okay, I'm going to go to sleep.
Liu Ye flashed out of the space and quickly went to sleep. She woke up early the next day and went to the kitchen to cook. The 50 jin of mixed grains that Bai Zilin had given her were all here. Together, they had 100 jin of mixed grains, enough for them to eat for several months.
There were two burners on the stove, one for a large pot and one for a small pot. She put the small pot on the stove, and it fit perfectly. Okay, then she would cook some mixed grain porridge. These days they eat meat every day, and she's getting a little tired of it. It's a bit difficult for her to poop...
Just as Liu Ye finished cooking the mixed grain porridge and ladled it into a bowl, Bai Zilin arrived. After they finished eating, Bai Zilin pushed a cart with Liu Ye in tow and drove them to the town two miles away. Little did they know, no sooner had they left than Zhang the Widow and Wang Ergou, villagers from Erdaogou Village known for their petty theft, took their 100 jin of grain, as well as the meat and apples in their baskets. They didn't take anything else, mainly because the bowls and pots weren't worth much and they already had them at home.
Fortunately, Bai Zilin had brought his bow and arrows with him to town, otherwise his bow and arrows would have been lost too. When the two arrived in town, they first went to the government office to register the house deed, and then went straight to the general store. They bought four oil lamps, four water buckets, two kang mats, and other odds and ends that they could use at home. After buying the household items, they went to the cloth store and each bought a set of quilts and pillows. They didn't buy anything else.
Liu Ye placed the package on the cart, which was already overflowing with other items: "Brother Bai, I'll watch the cart while you go and inquire."
Bai Zilin went to inquire about building a house from others and returned shortly afterward: "Liu Ye, I've found out. There are house builders in town, and I heard their wages are even cheaper than in previous years. They'll do it for a fee. If we contract them to build the whole house, we won't have to buy anything; they'll handle the purchases, and we'll just pay them. That would be much easier. I also heard the materials are quite cheap—bricks, sand, gravel, lime—all cheaper than in previous years. I'm thinking of contracting them to do it."
Liu Ye nodded, thinking it was a good idea: "I think it's feasible. I don't know anything about building houses, so Brother Bai, you can take care of it. Is there any news about the oxcart?"
Bai Zilin pointed to the back street: "The Xiangshan Town market is behind here. They sell livestock there. Let's go take a look."
And so, the two went to the market and spent eight taels of silver to buy a strong yellow ox. Bai Zilin put the ox on a cart, and the two drove back to Erdaogou Village. As soon as they entered the village, their old ox and the things on the cart immediately attracted a lot of discussion among the villagers and the disaster victims who had just moved into the village.
Bai Zilin cracked his whip and drove the oxcart very fast. In no time, they arrived home. Instead of driving the oxcart back to his own house, he drove it to Liu Ye's house.
As soon as Liu Ye got out of the car, she realized something was wrong. She quickly ran into the kitchen and looked at the grain storage area against the wall. Two and a half bags of coarse grains were gone. She then checked the meat in the basket on her back, and it was gone too. She was furious. Well, it was her carelessness!
Bai Zilin sensed something was wrong and quickly came to the kitchen: "What's wrong?"
Liu Ye said angrily, "Our food and meat have all been stolen. It seems we really need to build a house quickly!"
Bai Zilin slapped his forehead in regret: "It's my fault, I should have hidden the grain before leaving!"
Liu Ye shook her head with a wry smile and said, "It's not your fault. This dilapidated house of ours doesn't even have a door. Who else would a thief steal from if not us? Brother Bai, let's unload the things into my room. We can't leave this house alone. If either of us goes out, only one of us can go out."
Bai Zilin nodded and unloaded everything from the oxcart into Liu Ye's room: "Liu Ye, you stay at home. I'll drive the oxcart to town to buy grain."
Liu Ye nodded, and Bai Zilin drove the oxcart to town again. He returned an hour later and put half a bag of mixed rice on Liu Ye's kang (heated brick bed): "I only bought 20 jin of mixed rice to avoid buying too much and losing it. I'll go to town again tomorrow to finalize the house building. You stay here, I'll drive the cart to the mountain to cut firewood and come back."
After Bai Zilin went up the mountain, Liu Ye was tidying up at home, putting everything away at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed). Suddenly, she realized that the people who stole their things were either villagers or the disaster victims who had come to the village with them—those bastards! Today they brought a cart full of things into the village; maybe the thieves saw it. Even if they didn't see it, they would soon hear about it and might try to steal from them again.
You sons of bitches, come at me if you dare! I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!
One afternoon, Bai Zilin brought back two cartloads of firewood from the mountain, all of them dry branches. He drove both cartloads to Liu Ye's backyard. Anyway, he didn't plan to cook. He would wait for a suitable opportunity, after the house was finished, and then propose marriage to Liu Ye.
"Brother Bai, dinner's ready." After finishing his dinner, Bai Zilin returned to his courtyard. Liu Ye was left alone in the dilapidated yard. She placed her wood-chopping knife beside her as she went to bed. Ever since she had killed someone for the first time, she had become bolder. If anyone really came tonight, humph! Better to die than see me die!
In the middle of the night, just as Liu Ye was drifting off to sleep, she was suddenly awakened by a strange noise. Startled, she sat up abruptly and listened intently to the sounds outside. There seemed to be footsteps in the yard. Someone had indeed come. She quickly grabbed the wood-chopping knife beside her, quietly put on her shoes, and went to hide at the doorway.
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