Chapter 131

Originally, they planned to rest here for the night and return to the village in the morning. However, Lu Liu was worried about the rabbits.

The donkey and dog weren’t at home, and if the two of them didn’t return, only the two rabbits would be left at home.

The rabbits had only eaten one meal that morning, and he had left some food in the cage, but he was still worried.

The two sides weren’t far apart, so Li Feng told Chen Guizhi that the couple would go home first.

During dinner, they had discussed selling the beehive for money. Li Feng still had to go into the mountains once more to call Wang Meng out, and at that time, he would see what Wang Meng and the others had harvested.

If there was anything good, he would make another trip to the county. If not, he would go again at the beginning of the year.

Chen Guizhi reminded Li Feng, “Don’t forget what your mother told you.”

She said she wanted to buy an iron pot and start a new kitchen.

If Li Feng didn’t do this, how could a son not take care of his mother?

Besides, they were about to open a small shop, and his mother had said she would help. How could she help if one lived down the mountain and the other in the new village? That wasn’t possible.

He nodded silently, not responding.

Lu Liu saw that she seemed angry, so he tried to comfort her, saying, “Mother, what’s the matter? Should I try to persuade Dafeng again?”

Li Feng sighed, “There’s no point in persuading him. Mother, you have to listen to me. Let’s go back first. We’ll come back tomorrow to divide the rice cake money, and I’ll explain everything to you then.”

Lu Liu agreed with him, and seeing that Chen Guizhi’s expression had improved, she smiled and said, “Mother, let’s go back first and come back tomorrow.”

They returned home under the cover of night, avoiding the second couple. When they reached the foot of the mountain and passed by Yao Fulang’s house, Li Feng slowed down while leading the mule.

Someone inside the house called out, and it was Yao Fulang’s voice.

“Lu Fulang? Is that you coming back?”

Lu Liu had a soft voice, so Li Feng replied for him.

“We’re back. We asked about the price of your beehive, and it’s nine taels of silver!”

Lu Liu was surprised, glanced at him, and whispered, “It’s one tael of silver…”

Li Feng nodded, “I know.”

Inside the house, Da Qiang also responded, “Wait a moment!”

He quickly wrapped himself in a large fur coat and came out, asking Li Feng, “How will the beehive be delivered? Before or after the New Year?”

Daqiang nodded repeatedly: “Alright, alright. You guys have connections. Last time I went to the county, I visited all the markets and old customers’ homes, but the highest offer was seven taels of silver. What can you sell for seven taels? Eight taels is the minimum for negotiation.”

His beehive was huge, weighing over ten pounds. There were plenty of wild flowers and fruits nearby. He cut off a small piece to taste it, and it was sweet and sticky, full of the fragrance of flowers and fruits.

This year, he had only encountered people who didn’t know how to appreciate it. What bad luck.

Li Feng told him not to eat any more: “This is a connection through my husband’s brother’s husband’s friend. If you eat any more, it will ruin our reputation, and we won’t be able to sell it for a good price in the future.”

The words were so roundabout that Daqiang had to think for a moment to figure it out.

“Isn’t this just your brother’s friend? Isn’t your husband’s brother your brother? Why are your words even harsher than mine?”

Li Feng: “…”

Lu Liu was holding back laughter beside them.

At this point, they could go home.

Daqiang rubbed his hands, feeling a bit embarrassed, and asked Li Feng, “When are you going up the mountain to find Dameng? Can you take me with you?”

Li Feng was a bit surprised. He thought for a moment and decided to be direct: “Your family has a hunting area, and Yao Fulang’s family does too. You don’t need to go deep into the mountains with me. I can make a trip with more goods, but I’ve been in the mountains for a long time, and you all know that.”

Da Qiang sighed repeatedly, stamping his feet in place, rubbing his hands together, scratching his face, and pulling at his hair. He had many small gestures, clearly reluctant to speak, but for the sake of next year’s livelihood, he finally said, “You know, the hunting grounds of the Yao family don’t have much good stuff. I can help out, but that’s all I can do. Our family’s hunting area… well, the part assigned to me has a lot of wild bee nests. Look at me, day after day.”

The hunting areas have no clear boundaries, just rough territories.

Within the family, each household must divide their share again, usually by drawing lots. Once a year. Daqiang was unlucky; for three consecutive years, his hunting area was swarming with wild bee nests, making it hard for him to hide. Day after day, he pondered how to destroy the bee nests.

Li Feng lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before proposing a condition: “I want to hunt a mature wild boar.”

The boar for the sacrifice must be kept intact, especially the head.

Dragging it out of the deep mountains is too risky. If there are wild boars in other hunting areas, he can make a deal with Daqiang.

Daqiang frowned, “I know where there are some, not far away. It’ll take three to five days round trip, plus hunting, so about half a month.”

That’s acceptable, Li Feng gave his approval: “The day after tomorrow, we’ll head into the mountains in the morning and return in the evening. I’ll see how skilled you are.”

The matter was settled.

Da Qiang hurried back to the house, while Li Feng took Lu Liu home.

Upon arriving home, Li Feng first lit a lantern for Lu Liu, then lit the stove, and boiled water for washing and soaking his feet.

Lu Liu went straight to the doghouse to check on the rabbits.

He was worried that the rabbits might not thrive on cold radishes alone, so he added more rice bran and hay.

He had been taking care of them every day, feeding them dry food one meal and wet food the next, alternating between the two. The two rabbits were doing pretty well, but their appetite was just average.

Recently, he had been going to the county seat every day, so the rabbits had to feed themselves. He looked at the leftovers in the bowl and noticed that the rabbits preferred rice bran and hay. It was the same last time.

Lu Liu made a note of it. He would ask Yao Fulang about it another day. If there was extra rice bran, he could feed it to the rabbits.

Both rabbits were full, so Lu Liu added a bowl of water and piled some straw around the cage to protect them from the wind.

Li Feng tidied up his things and took the mule to the barn. Lu Liu accompanied him to feed the mule.

“Er Huang isn’t home, and I miss it so much. I wonder if it misses us.”

Li Feng nodded, “Yes, it was very small. I could hold it in one hand. It would lie on my hand, licking my wrist, whimpering like it was crying. There were two other puppies at the time, but they weren’t very affectionate toward me. I kept Er Huang for breeding and brought Da Huang back.”

This was just a few years ago, but it felt like a long time ago, and Li Feng sighed.

“Er Huang has already gotten married.”

Lu Liu noticed the sadness in his words and tried to lighten the mood: “Hmm… Er Huang’s situation now is like he’s become a son-in-law.”

Li Feng sighed heavily: “Ah!”

Lu Liu’s face was flushed from the kisses. When it was time to soak his feet, the steam made him unable to sit still on the stool, and he twisted his body back and forth.

This morning, they had hot rice.

This was simple. Li Feng embraced the spirit of one-pot stewing and was very generous, giving Lu Liu more meat and vegetables than he had given himself. When he brought over a bowl, Lu Liu felt a pang of guilt. But he ate the whole bowl anyway.

After breakfast, the couple studied first.

Lu Liu took out the little book his brother had given him for learning characters.

To learn more characters at once, Lu Yang had arranged them in order, and Xie Yan copied them, writing them in large characters and binding them into a small booklet.

The book was palm-sized and thin. The first two pages each had two characters: the first page was Lu Liu’s name, and the second page was Li Feng’s name.