CH 80

Mar 13 2023

“They can feed ducks and chickens all they want! It’s none of our business.” Chen Qi didn’t want to argue too much with Chen Ama and the others, so he took his wife, who was standing by the side silently, back to the room.

When they were in the room, Chen Qi looked at his wife who was sitting on the bed without saying a word. After thinking about it, he said with ease, “Don’t think too much, it will be fine after a while. It’s just a matter of time.”

Chen Qi’s wife continued to sit there quietly, neither speaking nor answering. His face was expressionless, and one couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com. Chen Qi didn’t think much about it, even though he was still so angry after hearing what Chen Ama said, “Don’t think too much, I will never marry another ger anyway.” He walked over and gently hugged his wife, “I will never let you down.”

Who knew that the next day, Chen Qi’s wife was gone. Nothing was missing in their room, but the person did not come back until it was dark. It was already later in the afternoon when Chen Qi came back, looking anxious. His lips were about to crack; he had searched all the places to look but couldn’t find his wife. In the end, he went to Anle Village hoping his wife would be there.

“Who knew that my father-in-law would not allow me to see my wife and said that since his son is being disliked, he would leave our Chen family! How could he think of separating?!” Chen Qi said to Li Changfeng with a sigh.

After listening to Chen Qi’s words, Li Changfeng felt that the old Chen couple did not handle the situation properly, but it was the Chen family’s own affairs and not appropriate for him to comment too much. The only thing he could do was to accompany Chen Qi to drink.

After parting with Chen Qi, it was almost dark. Li Changfeng thought about Xu Qing and the child who were waiting at home, he drove the cart home in silence.

By the time he got home, Xu Qing had already brought the food to the dinner table.

“You’re right on time every time, the meal has just been served and you’re back.”

Xu Qing put Tuantuan aside and looked at Li Changfeng who had washed his hands and sat down.

Li Changfeng gave a flattering smile, “Don’t you know that my wife’s cooking is delicious. Of course I have to come back early.”

Xu Qing heard the smell of wine coming from Li Changfeng’s body and thought that he had been drinking with Wang Lei, “Did you really drink Wang Lei’s apology wine?”

“No, I met Chen Qi.” While chewing a delicious meal, Li Changfeng told Xu Qing about meeting Chen Qi on the street and the situation at the Chen family.

“It’s not really my concern though. After all, it was his Ama’s idea. So I just accompanied him to drink some wine and let him talk things off his chest. It worked for him; he seemed to feel better.” Regardless, he didn’t care much about others’ affairs.

After listening, Xu Qing instantly understood the reason why Chen Qi’s wife left. The in-laws already found someone who was willing to be the second wife of his own man. How could he have any face to stay in that house any longer?

“Eat quickly, take a hot bath afterwards, and wash off the smell of alcohol on your body, or I won’t give you a hug.”

Li Changfeng nodded again and again. While he was eating, he did not forget to add vegetables to Xu Qing’s bowl.

“By the way, speaking of Wang Lei,” Li Changfeng suddenly thought of what Wang Lei said to him today, “He said that in the future, we can go to his store to buy goods for the base price.”

Xu Qing already ate dinner and was feeding Tuantuan fruit powder. “What did you say?” He didn’t think Li Changfeng would agree.

“Of course I didn’t agree. I’m not like others.” There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Besides, it would be a loss for the Wang family. Li Changfeng could not go and ruthlessly kill his newly-married brother’s family.

“Also, if relatives are involved in business, it is easy to create conflicts. It is better to act separately and peacefully.” Xu Qing did not know how many times he had heard of relatives who turned against each other because of business, and naturally he did not want Li Changfeng to go down that route.

The two had a warm dinner, and after washing, they talked for a while before hugging each other, feeling each other’s body temperature, and gradually falling into dreamland.

***

There was a saying that when the spring was over, summer wouldn’t be far behind. The seedlings were sown in the ground, corn was planted in the fields, and the weather was getting warmer.

In a blink of an eye, it was May. The apricots and peaches in the mountains were ripening early, especially the wild cherries that fell off a tree. Although the fruit was small, it had a lot of volume!

Not only did the children like to pick these wild fruits, Xu Qing was also moved when he saw it. When he was a child in the orphanage, he had no money to buy food. What the little kids in the orphanage looked forward to the most was the wild cherry tree in the yard. Not only were the flowers beautiful when they bloomed, the fruit was also the delicacy they looked forward to. So, Xu Qing had a different feeling for this wild cherry.

Li Changfeng walked out with Tuantuan, who was almost half a year old, and watched Xu Qing cleaning the wild cherries that Li Changfeng picked up for him this morning.

“It’s good to eat less of this stuff. It gets a little bitter the more you eat,” Li Changfeng didn’t eat less of this when he was a child. Tuantuan stretched his neck hard and looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing lowered his head to wash the red cherries, and when he heard Li Changfeng’s words, he shook his head with a smile.

Few people know that cherries were high in iron, ranking first among all kinds of fruits. Regular consumption of cherries could supplement the body’s demand for iron and promote the regeneration of hemoglobin, which could not only prevent iron-deficiency anemia, but also enhance physical fitness and strengthen the brain. Also, drinking cherry juice for children could prevent infection, and cherry pits had the effect of sweating and detoxifying.

Moreover, the wild cherries were versatile and could be used to make cherry wine. The imperial court stipulated that ordinary people could not use grain to make wine, but there was no rule that wild fruits could not be used to make wine.

“Have you ever had fruit wine?”

Xu Qing looked at Li Changfeng and said with a smile. This man was an expert compared to him in drinking wine.

“Fruit wine?” Although Li Changfeng usually pretended to be a pig and eats a tiger, he was not stupid. Looking at the cherries that Xu Qing was cleaning, he immediately understood, “Use these to brew wine?!”

“Ah!” Tuantuan in Li Changfeng’s arms mumbled a few inhuman words very timely.

Xu Qing was satisfied to see Li Changfeng’s surprised look. He put the washed wild cherries aside, stood up, and said proudly, “Let me show you two sirs!”

After he finished speaking, he went to the warehouse and found a few small jars, which were used to store pickled vegetables. They were stored in the warehouse when not in use.

Li Changfeng knew that his wife could definitely surprise people when he made a move. He immediately put Tuantuan in the cart made for him, and rushed over to help Xu clean the jars. At this time, Xiaobao walked slowly to the front of the cart and laid down lazily.

After washing the hands and the jars thoroughly, Xu Qing pounded the washed cherries until juices flowed out, put them in the jar, added sugar inside, and let Li Changfeng try some.

“It’s as simple as that. After two or three days, the skin slag would float up and form a cap, taste the juice then and when you find the sweetness decreased and the wine flavor became more prominent, it means the wine was being brewed properly and the initial process went without error.”

Although Li Changfeng felt that it was a bit too crude to make wine in this way, he still followed every step that Xu Qing said obediently.

Xu Qing became more and more energetic. Seeing that Li Changfeng alone was enough to finish the remaining cherries, he carried the basket on his back, took the knife and bamboo pole and prepared to go out.

“I’ll go out and bring back some more. Finish these cherries at home. You’ll thank me in a few days.”

Li Changfeng looked at what Xu Qing was holding, “Okay, then be careful not to fall off the tree.”

After hearing this, Xu Qing took a deep breath, “Don’t underestimate the Lord!” Thinking that he was the first to climb up when picking cherries in the orphanage back then!

After he finished speaking, he rushed to the back mountain not far away.

There was a large area of ​​wild cherry trees on the back mountain, and it was also relatively safe on the periphery of the mountain. Although there were not many wild fruit trees there, it was enough for the villagers to pick some. When Xu Qing got there, there were already more than a dozen little children chatting excitedly under a wild cherry tree.

“Gǒu zi is the strongest. You go up the tree.”

“Gou dan is the tallest here. You catch the fruits.”

“Da Niu has the most flexible body. You follow behind Gou Zi.”

Xu Qing looked at the child who was arranging everyone. It was the child who came to their house to notify the ancestral hall meeting when Luo Jiao’s incident was revealed.

(T/N: Luo Jiao is the one who cheated on his husband, seduced our ML, and got kicked out of the village).

Xu Qing looked at the group of children who were listening to the child’s words without a hint of dissatisfaction on their faces. Those who climbed the tree were plucking and dropping the fruits onto the ground, and those who did not climb the tree obediently carried the basket and picked up the fruit that fell on the ground.

The little leader was about to climb the tree when he heard another kid, who saw Xu Qing standing nearby for a long time, said, “Someone is watching us.”

“Hey, aren’t you the elder brother from the back mountain?” The little leader had eaten the snacks given by Li Changfeng and Xu Qing before. He and his younger brother especially liked to eat the pickled vegetables sold at the Xu family store. So, when he saw Xu Qing, he naturally wanted to say hello.

“Yeah, I’m here to join in the fun, you guys are at this tree, I’ll go over there.” Xu Qing knew that with him there, the children probably wouldn’t be able to play very much, so he offered to move to a different tree. Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com. As soon as he finished saying this, he saw a few children looking relieved.

While Xu Qing thought it was funny, he also felt that children were indeed children with everything written on their faces. However, he didn’t know that in Li Changfeng’s eyes, he was also like a child.

The little leader looked back at his companions who were waiting for him and nodded, “Okay, when we’re done, I’ll come help you!” The little adult leader patted his chest as if he were a big man and spoke to Xu Qing.

Facing such a cute and kind little kid, Xu Qing naturally wouldn’t refuse his kindness, “Alright, then I’ll thank you first.”

Sure enough, seeing that Xu Qing was not refusing, the little boy’s eyes almost cracked with laughter, and he waved at Xu Qing and returned to the group of children.

Xu Qing didn’t stay any longer. He looked around at the other cherry trees in the area. He chose the one that was more to his liking. He put the large basket down, took out a smaller one, and carried it on his back. He then climbed up the tree in three or two moves. With a flick of the rope in his hand, the bamboo pole was hooked easily, and the branches full of fruits were pulled by the force of his hand.

He took out the basket and put the fruits inside. It didn’t take long for the basket to be filled. Xu Qing climbed down the tree and poured the cherries in the small basket into the large basket covered with large leaves.

Thingyan: Yeah, the hell with sharing a husband. I’d leave too and go get myself a younger, fresh little meat hehe