Chapter 51: Brother Xiao, Why Are You Even Jealous of Me?

Aunt Xie was surprised to see Lin Xiangyi getting up so late. She laughed and said, “Yeah, your mother told us to come over early to see if there’s anything we can do.”

“Qingxiao hasn’t come back yet, why don’t you help chop the firewood in the backyard?” Lin Xiangyi suggested.

“Alright,” said Aunt Xie, and she took Su Xiaomei to chop firewood.

Xie’s mother had just gone to the field to pick vegetables for lunch. When she came back, she saw this scene and was surprised.

Xiangyi was really not polite at all. She didn’t hesitate to ask people to work. If it were her, she wouldn’t be able to do it.

After all, they were relatives, and Aunt Xie was older than her. Even though they were paid to come, she felt embarrassed to be ordered around so directly by Xiangyi.

Xiangyi’s personality was quite good.

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Xie Qingxiao came back earlier than yesterday, carrying two large baskets of goods back with Zhang Pengfei.

As soon as Lin Xiangyi saw Xie Qingxiao come back, she went back to the room and took out two towels. Xie’s father, Xie’s mother, and Aunt Xie and her daughter-in-law had already gathered around to help unload the goods.

Lin Xiangyi walked to Xie Qingxiao’s side and handed him a towel to wipe his sweat. The weather was too hot now, and any work would make you sweat.

She gave the other towel to Zhang Pengfei.

Zhang Pengfei took it with a smile, “Thank you, sister-in-law.”

“You’re welcome. The wound on your face…” Lin Xiangyi noticed the injury on Zhang Pengfei’s face.

Zhang Pengfei touched his face. This was a scar from fighting with Wang Xiaofeng last night. He didn’t care and said, “I fell off my bike, it’s not a serious injury, it will heal in a couple of days.”

Lin Xiangyi wasn’t blind. She could tell that the wound on his face wasn’t from falling, but seeing him say that, she didn’t ask further. She said, “Did you have breakfast? There’s breakfast left inside, if you haven’t eaten, go eat.”

“Okay,” Zhang Pengfei hadn’t eaten yet, so he went to the kitchen.

Lin Xiangyi looked up at Xie Qingxiao, and saw that Xie Qingxiao was also looking at her, his peach blossom eyes filled with tenderness. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was very affectionate.

Lin Xiangyi asked, “What are you looking at?”

“Looking at you, you’re beautiful,” Xie Qingxiao answered.

Lin Xiangyi immediately heard the laughter from Xie’s father, Xie’s mother, and the others, who couldn’t hold it in and deliberately suppressed their laughter. She felt a little embarrassed and twisted Xie Qingxiao’s arm. But his arm was covered in sweat, and her hand slipped.

Really, why was he being so flirty in public?

Xie Qingxiao felt wronged.

He had worked hard all day and came back to see his wife, whom he had dreamed of day and night and who had now married him, waiting for him at home, looking fresh and clean, and thoughtfully handing him a towel. At that moment, he felt that all his hard work was worth it.

And she wouldn’t even let him tell the truth?

“How much goods did you get?” Lin Xiangyi asked.

“One hundred and fifty pounds of duck innards, fifty pounds of pig intestines,” Xie Qingxiao said, “Wang Xiaofeng didn’t come, so we didn’t take that much.”

They had originally planned that if Wang Xiaofeng came, they would go out in three groups to sell, so they would have to take more goods.

“Why didn’t he come?” Lin Xiangyi had just noticed that Wang Xiaofeng wasn’t there.

Speaking of Wang Xiaofeng, Xie Qingxiao’s expression softened slightly, “He didn’t come, so he didn’t come. Never mind him.”

Lin Xiangyi could tell that there must be some reason that couldn’t be said in public, so she said, “Then you go and rest, go eat breakfast. I’ll go and work with father and mother.”

“Okay,” Xie Qingxiao said.

With three more people, they quickly processed all the duck innards and pig intestines. Because the quantity was quite large, they needed to be braised in batches.

Around 12:30, they took a break and had lunch.

When Xie Qingxiao was getting the goods, he saw someone slaughtering cows at the meat factory, so he asked if they were selling them.

He had been going to the meat factory to get goods for the past two days, and the whole factory had heard about it.

A private individual could get so many goods from the factory, everyone thought he had a powerful background. Of course, the person in charge was willing to sell to him.

Xie Qingxiao bought two pounds, although it was at the market price, he didn’t need tickets. He also bought two bone marrow bones.

For lunch, they made two bone marrow bones and one pound of beef, leaving one pound of beef for dinner.

Aunt Xie and Su Xiaomei were both stunned. Beef was now a rare commodity, rarely sold in the market. Even if it was sold, it was very expensive, two or three times more expensive than pork. Ordinary people couldn’t afford it.

They usually had trouble even getting pork at home. Today, they came to help with the work, not only did they get paid, but they also got to eat beef?

And it was so delicious?

Xie’s father and Xie’s mother had never eaten beef before and didn’t know how to cook it. Xie Qingxiao, needless to say, had only a half-baked cooking skill.

This beef was cooked by Lin Xiangyi. Considering that there was only one pound, not enough for so many people, she added potatoes to stew together.

The potato pieces were soft, sweet, and fragrant. The beef was tender and juicy, absorbing the rich broth, full of flavor. The broth was also a highlight, rich but not greasy.

The rice was steamed by Xie’s mother, but today they had guests at home, so she put very little sweet potato in when steaming the rice.

Paired with the fragrant potato and beef stew, it was enough to make you want to swallow your tongue.

Xie’s mother was heartbroken when she learned that Xie Qingxiao had bought beef. She thought that Xie Qingxiao was really spending money recklessly after making some money, and he didn’t know how to save at all.

Now, after taking a bite, she felt it was worth it. This beef was worth the high price!

They ate their fill, with both rice and bone broth!

After eating such a good meal, everyone was even more enthusiastic about working. Especially Zhang Pengfei and Aunt Xie and her daughter-in-law. After finishing the work assigned to them by the Xie family, they took the initiative to ask if there was anything else they could do.

The next step was to braise the braised food, just watching the fire, they didn’t need to do anything.

They cleaned the tools used for cleaning and processing the innards, and even cleaned the inside and outside of the Xie family’s house, filled the water tanks, and even chopped the firewood for tomorrow.

All the work was done by two o’clock.

Aunt Xie and her daughter-in-law went home. Xie’s father and Xie’s mother still had to work in the fields, so they went to rest for a while.

Xie Qingxiao and Lin Xiangyi cleaned up the room on the west side of the main house and let Zhang Pengfei rest inside. Then they went back to their own room for a nap.

Today, all the braised food added up to about one hundred and ten pounds, so they had to go early.

They rested until 3:30 and set off. They arrived in the county town a little after four o’clock.

Xie Qingxiao, Lin Xiangyi, and Zhang Pengfei were three people, and they planned to split into two groups. Xie Qingxiao and Lin Xiangyi would be one group, and Zhang Pengfei would be one group by himself.

Xie Qingxiao gave Zhang Pengfei thirty pounds of braised food.

Before they parted, Lin Xiangyi shared her method of selling braised food with Zhang Pengfei, and then said, “We’ll meet at the supply and marketing cooperative at six o’clock. If you don’t sell out, it’s okay, we’ll take it back and think of other ways together. For every pound you sell, we’ll give you a two-cent commission! Wages will be calculated separately.” Zhang Pengfei had also helped with the work at home.

Zhang Pengfei was already eager to try, ready to work hard. When he heard Lin Xiangyi’s words, he was even more motivated.

If he sold all thirty pounds, he would earn six yuan!!!

Plus his wages, he would earn a lot in a day!

“Okay, sister-in-law, I’ve got it all. I’ll try my best to sell all thirty pounds!” Zhang Pengfei said excitedly.

“Okay, okay, go for it, I believe in you!” Lin Xiangyi smiled.

“Go ahead,” Xie Qingxiao said softly behind Lin Xiangyi.

Zhang Pengfei clicked his tongue, dissatisfied, “Brother Xiao, sister-in-law just encouraged me. Why are you even jealous of me? You’re so ungenerous, I despise you…”

“You son of a bitch!” Xie Qingxiao laughed and kicked him.

“Sister-in-law, I’ll go ahead then!” Zhang Pengfei immediately took off like a greased lightning and ran away.