Chapter 23: Preventing Thieves

After Li Feng left, Cao Xi took a nap. Li Feng walked over to Cao Xi, who had just woken up. The sun was shining brightly, and he put the dirty clothes into a basin before heading to Qin Zhao’s room to fetch his dirty clothes.

Qin Zhao’s room was tidied up and organized; everything was in order, even the dirty clothes were neatly folded.

Cao Xi had already figured out his cleaning habits, so she went straight to the place where the dirty clothes were. She found his underwear under the bed and quickly threw it into the basin for washing.

With the outer and inner clothes piled together, by the time she finished washing, it was already close to noon, and the courtyard was filled with drying clothes. Cao Xi poured some water into the vegetable patch and took a hoe to turn over the soil.

When Li Feng arrived, he saw Cao Xi awkwardly swinging the hoe to till the soil, and he rubbed his forehead, wondering how long it would take her to finish this heavy work.

“Give me the hoe. If there’s this much heavy work, I’ll do it when I arrive,” Li Feng said as he took the hoe from Cao Xi. After just a few swings into the soil, Cao Xi’s eyes sparkled with admiration; there were indeed differences between men.

The vegetable patch was not big, and Li Feng finished quickly. Cao Xi handed him a clean towel, indicating for him to wipe off his sweat.

Li Feng took the towel and shook it out, “This isn’t Qin Zhao’s towel, is it?”

Cao Xi replied, “No, it’s new. I bought it myself.”

She didn’t dare use Qin Zhao’s towel, as he had a cleanliness obsession and would turn against her if she did.

Li Feng spread the towel over his face and wiped it down before asking Cao Xi, “When are we leaving?”

“Let’s go now; I’ll get the baskets.” Cao Xi took four baskets and handed two to Li Feng.

Cao Xi said, “Let’s first pick up Qin Zhao and then go to the vegetable market after that.”

Li Feng raised his eyebrows; his silence signified agreement. When they reached the academy, there were already quite a few people waiting at the gate.

Cao Xi pulled Li Feng to one side of the wall, “Wait for me here; I’ll go and pick him up.” After leaving the baskets by Li Feng’s feet, she quickly squeezed into the crowd and disappeared from sight.

Li Feng muttered under his breath, “Why is he coming?”

“Qin Zhao! Qin Zhao!” As soon as Cao Xi saw Qin Zhao, she waved her arms excitedly.

Qin Zhao was busy preparing for the day’s exams and, upon hearing someone call him, turned to see Cao Xi waving at him from the courtyard entrance.

Qin Zhao smiled happily, “I’ll head off first; my sister is here to pick me up.” Before the paper could even react, he had already run to Cao Xi’s side.

Cao Xi said, “How did the academy go today?”

Qin Zhao replied, “It went well; the teacher praised my progress.” At first, he struggled to keep up; he felt lost and mixed in with everyone else, contributing to his difficulties.

Yesterday, following Cao Xi’s study methods, he had managed to grasp the material somewhat today.

Cao Xi responded, “That’s right; you’re doing great, Qin Zhao.”

Qin Zhao was flattered by Cao Xi’s praise. The two of them struggled to push through the crowd, and when Qin Zhao saw Li Feng lazily leaning against the wall, he waved at him.

To Qin Zhao, this was a provocation, and he turned to Cao Xi, annoyed.

“Why is he here?”

Cao Xi replied, “We went together to the market to buy supplies; I couldn’t carry everything by myself,” pointing to the several baskets she had brought.

Qin Zhao said, “Today’s market is quite busy.”

Cao Xi: “Yeah, it’s really bustling.”

As they approached, Li Feng glanced faintly at Qin Zhao, then bent down to grab two baskets from Cao Xi, saying, “Let’s go.”

The market truly lived up to Cao Xi’s words; the prices of vegetables were indeed cheaper than in the morning. From one end of the street to the other, they filled the baskets as they went.

When they arrived at the charcoal vendor, they were taken aback by the price when they inquired—it was shockingly expensive. The more choice the charcoal was, the pricier it became; the cheaper charcoal produced smoke easily, so everyone chose the higher-quality type.

Cao Xi exaggeratedly covered her mouth, while Li Feng said, “Li Ge, it hurts!”

Li Feng laughed, “Charcoal is priced like that; as long as we solve the charcoal issue, it won’t be a huge expense.”

Qin Zhao secretly rolled his eyes and eagerly asked Cao Xi, “What about using wood instead?”

Cao Xi found it a bit difficult: “Wood burns quickly, produces a strong flame, but is hard to store and prone to moisture.”

The three of them fell into silence until Cao Xi suddenly slapped her forehead, “I just remembered, we could try using charcoal for burning!”

Charcoal is essential; if they developed a method for it, it could ensure stable income.

“Have you actually seen anyone burn charcoal?” Li Feng was a bit skeptical, since charcoal-making is a skilled craft, more so a family trade that doesn’t get passed around.

Cao Xi replied, “Let’s give it a try; if we fail, it won’t cost us much in terms of time, and if it works out, our lives might improve. We can do it at the village temple, and let the local strongmen participate—they are meticulous.”

“Alright, let’s start preparing tomorrow. For now, let’s mix wood and charcoal for the fuel; this will save costs,” Li Feng believed in Cao Xi, feeling confident that her decision was definitely not wrong.

When they returned home, the yard full of clothes instantly caught Qin Zhao’s eye. He ran over to the clothesline and tugged at his underwear to put it on.

Blushing and stammering, Cao Xi said, “Aren’t those the clothes I washed?” After saying this, she sprinted back to her bedroom.

Seeing his retreating back, which was engulfed in embarrassment, Cao Xi awkwardly said, “That kid, don’t mind him.”

Li Feng chuckled, “Let’s prepare the ingredients.”

Cao Xi replied, “Dinner time is coming; I’ll cook first and deal with the fish.”

Li Feng said, “Okay.”

As Cao Xi started preparing dinner, Qin Zhao came over, “Can I help with the fire?”

Cao Xi replied, “No, go back to your room to copy your notes; it’s already dark out.”

Qin Zhao reluctantly walked toward the room, continuously turning back to glance at Li Feng by the well, only to see Li Feng’s provocation smile.

Li Feng worked quickly, and soon dinner was ready; the fish was pounded into shape.

“Dinner’s ready!” Cao Xi set out the dishes and called into the bedroom.

Dinner consisted of braised pork and bone soup, served with steamed buns—not because they particularly liked them, but because steamed buns were convenient.

Cao Xi ladled Qin Zhao a bowl of soup, and just as she was about to serve Li Feng, he took the bowl from her, serving the soup himself while saying, “I’ll do it; let’s eat quickly.” After this, he handed Cao Xi a bowl of soup.

Qin Zhao suddenly felt that the soup he had was no longer fragrant, so he stubbornly picked a piece of braised pork and added it to Cao Xi’s bowl, saying, “Cao Xi, eat the meat,” while casually throwing a glance at Li Feng.

“Yeah, the meat Qin Zhao picked is delicious,” Cao Xi enjoyed the piece of meat in her mouth, putting on a performance of savoring it.

“Is the soup I served not fragrant?” Li Feng raised his beautiful eyebrows slightly, and his handsome face made Cao Xi stare mesmerized.

Cao Xi was entranced by Li Feng’s handsome face until she was jolted back to reality by a heavy kick to her leg.

Cao Xi, confused, asked Qin Zhao, “Why did you kick me?”

Hearing this, Qin Zhao shot her a glare, as if to say that she needed to wake up.

“Eat!” Qin Zhao pressed a piece of meat heavily onto Cao Xi’s bowl.

Cao Xi said, “Don’t worry about me; just eat quickly; it’s already dark and we need to study later.”

Qin Zhao let out a heavy humph, clearly displeased. All this distraction over staring at someone—it was no wonder he wasn’t eating properly.

The earlier atmosphere had indeed been awkward, so the meal continued in relative silence.

Once Qin Zhao finished eating, he didn’t leave the table but instead kept his sharp gaze fixed on Li Feng, watching him like a hawk.

Exasperated, Cao Xi finally spoke up. “If you’re done eating, go to your room and read. You need to review everything twice by tomorrow.”

Qin Zhao obediently stood up and returned to his room. Cao Xi had thought he’d finally cooperated, but unexpectedly, Qin Zhao came back out with a book and sat down again.

Cao Xi frowned. “Did you finish the assignments from the academy?”

“I’ve already copied everything, even reviewed yesterday’s lessons. Right now, the lighting outside is better than in my room, so I’ll read out here,” Qin Zhao replied logically and confidently, leaving Cao Xi with no room to argue. In the end, he could only let it go.