Chapter 45: Coming Home

Watching the sun rise higher and higher in the sky, Cao Xiangnan thought of Qi Wanfeng, wondering if they had reached town yet. He had picked a lot of snails, but he could see the fish in the water but couldn’t catch them. He felt a little regret in his heart, thinking that if he couldn’t catch them today, he could catch them tomorrow, anyway, the stream was here and wouldn’t run away.

Seeing the bamboo basket he had brought, he remembered to cut grass to feed the rabbits. The grass was picked by the three children, and he put it in the carrying basket with the snails. Cao Xiangnan put on the carrying basket and, seeing that it was about time, took the children home.

Fortunately, after playing by the stream for half a day, the children’s clothes were not wet, except for the second son Jing Bao’s shoes.

He ate lunch with the three children, let them play in the courtyard, and Cao Xiangnan fed the snails he had picked back with clean water, letting the snails spit out the sand inside, so that they could be stir-fried at night.

“You guys go to bed obediently and don’t make noise, understand?” He drew water and washed the faces and feet of the three little ones, and Cao Xiangnan gave Cao Gang’s second son a special warning look.

Jing Bao giggled on the bed, burying himself in the quilt. His little face looked like his A-mu, Sun Bailian. His eyebrows and eyes were beautiful, but he was tanned black, like a mischievous monkey.

Seeing that the three children were lying obediently on the bed, Cao Xiangnan went out. As soon as he turned around, the second son on the bed lifted the quilt and started making noise. He heard Kang Kang’s scolding voice and knew that the eldest son would watch him carefully, so he didn’t care about them.

Coming out of the toilet, there was no sound in the house.

Every time after going to the toilet, Cao Xiangnan always felt a sense of hopelessness. He felt that he needed to quickly make some toilet paper. Recalling the papermaking techniques he had seen when studying history, he felt that this method was feasible.

He went into the house and looked at the three sleeping children, covered them with quilts, and then went outside.

The first step in papermaking was to make pulp. After a lot of tossing, he finally managed to set up a pot in the courtyard to boil the plants.

Cao Xiangnan raised his eyes and glanced at the sun in the sky. This world didn’t have clocks, so he could only judge the time based on the sun. He sat down on the stool, watched the fire in the pot, and drew randomly on the ground with a tree branch. As he drew, the prototype of a bicycle appeared on it, and he stared at the ground in a daze.

In town, a group of people was buying rice in the grain store. After asking the prices of several kinds of rice, Qi Wanfeng grabbed a handful of rice from the lowest-priced bag, smelled it under his nose, and turned to whisper to Sun Bailian, who was standing beside him, “This is old rice that has been stored for a long time.”

“Mm, it smells a little. I think that one is better,” Sun Bailian said, pointing to the rice that looked a little better in color, but this rice was naturally more expensive.

The copper coins in the purse were running out, so naturally they had to save as much as they could, but if they were starting a business, they had to make sure that the things were good, otherwise it would affect the future, and the rice was the most important thing.

“Boss, can this be cheaper?” Sun Bailian asked.

The short, fat boss in the rice store waved his hand and said, “You two little ge’ers, this is already the cheapest.”

Qi Wanfeng and Sun Bailian discussed in a low voice, and the two decided to buy slightly better rice. The two ge’ers bargained with the boss for a long time, and the boss took a step back. The store happened to have other grains, and they needed to buy mung beans together. Mung beans were cheap, almost half-given away.

“Hey, this business is really not easy to do,” the boss said with a bitter face. His small eyes were those of a cunning merchant. He looked at the two ge’ers who had bargained with him for so long and said, “You must come to patronize our store often in the future.”

“Can you give us a cheaper price next time?” Qi Wanfeng asked with a smile.

“Sure, if you buy more than 500 jin [A unit of weight, approximately 500 grams], we can discuss the price again.” Rice wasn’t selling well now, and ordinary people were reluctant to spend money to buy rice to eat. If they could find a stable big customer, it would be a good thing for their store, so the boss made a big promise.

“Okay, it’s a deal,” Qi Wanfeng accepted the challenge, knowing that since the boss said that, he knew that the price could still be discussed. Qi Wanfeng paid the money, and the man who had been standing there in silence came over and easily slung the rice onto his back.

After buying all the things they needed, they set off on the return journey.

Before the sun set, they returned to Cao Family Village.

“You’re back, I was wondering why you hadn’t come back yet,” Cao Xiangnan said, opening the door and seeing the people returning, he was very happy.

“Mm,” Qi Wanfeng said, seeing his husband, a faint smile on his face.

“Come and drink some water,” Cao Xiangnan said, pouring a large bowl of water on the table for each person, handing them over.

Cao Gang, who had carried a bag of rice on his back from town back to Cao Family Village, didn’t change his expression at all, picked up the water and drank it down in one gulp, and poured himself another bowl. Sun Bailian felt like he was half dead from exhaustion, and didn’t want to move when he sat down on the stool. He drank a couple of sips of water, didn’t see his two sons, and asked, “Hey, where did the little ones run off to?”

“They’re sleeping in the house,” Cao Xiangnan said, seeing that Qi Wanfeng’s face was a little pale and his forehead was covered in sweat, and was wiping his sweat with a handkerchief. Qi Wanfeng was a little embarrassed to see outsiders, but seeing that Sun Bailian and the others didn’t notice them, he let his husband wipe his sweat, and his heart warmed.

“Haha, thank you for your hard work, it’s really not easy to take care of three children. Are my two sons still good?” Sun Bailian laughed and asked.

“It’s okay,” Cao Xiangnan said, thinking about it.

The rice porridge in the pot had been cooked a long time ago. The most they had at home was red rice, and Cao Xiangnan had cooked the rice before they came home. It was cooked now, and all that was left was to stir-fry the vegetables and they could start eating.

The snails that had been fed with clean water in the basin had almost finished spitting out the sand, and it was just right to stir-fry them now. There was also half a jin [A unit of weight, approximately 500 grams] of pork they had bought back from the town. His mind quickly thought about what to cook tonight.

Fortunately, he hadn’t lived a luxurious life in his previous life, so although life was difficult now, but with the most important people by his side, Cao Xiangnan felt that it was still good.

Of the three children sleeping in the house, the second son woke up first. As soon as he woke up, he started making trouble on the bed, waking up the other two. An’an was awakened by his cousin’s noise, pouted his little mouth, sat there in a daze for a while, then stood up and made trouble with his cousins.

“Kang Kang, Jing Bao,” Sun Bailian said, hearing the sound and entering the house. Seeing her two sons tumbling on the bed, she gave them a look, and the two little fellows immediately became obedient. The two little fellows hadn’t seen their A-mu for a day, and after being obedient for a while, they shouted happily when they saw their A-mu coming back, “A-mu, A-mu…”

“Don’t shout, you two get down and put on your shoes,” Sun Bailian said, walking over and picking up Qi Wanfeng’s An’an. He still liked obedient and well-behaved little ge’ers the most, and couldn’t help but kiss his face.

An’an blushed and felt very embarrassed.

The smell of stir-fried dishes came from the kitchen. Cao Xiangnan was standing in front of the stove, responsible for stirring the pot, and Cao Gang, a big man, was putting firewood in the stove for him. The braised pork with potatoes in the pot gave off an enticing aroma. Sun Bailian, who came out of the house with the children, smelled the smell in the kitchen and asked Qi Wanfeng, who was feeding the chickens, curiously, “What are you cooking inside that smells so good?”

“I don’t know, it smells like meat,” Qi Wanfeng said, putting the chicken feed on the ground. He was surprised today to find two hens with a group of chicks, just like an A-mu with a group of children, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Seeing the grass on the side, he grabbed a handful and gave it to the two rabbits.

“A-mu,” An’an said, seeing his A-mu, and ran over with his short legs, hugging his A-mu’s leg. Qi Wanfeng’s hands were dirty, so he didn’t touch the child’s head, smiled and asked, “Our An’an woke up? Did you listen to A-die obediently today?”

An’an was a little conflicted, not knowing whether to say yes or no.

“Mm?” Qi Wanfeng smiled when he saw his child like this, went to wash his hands, saw the strange things on the side, lifted the lid and glanced at what his husband was cooking inside, and put the lid back on.

He turned around and hugged the child in his arms. He really missed his little An’an after not seeing him for a day.

“Wanfeng, I also want to have a well-behaved little ge’er like your An’an,” Sun Bailian said, looking at Qi Wanfeng holding his An’an, with envy in her eyes.

“Isn’t it good to have two sons?” Qi Wanfeng asked with a smile.

“I still like little ge’ers. When I was pregnant with Jing Bao, I thought he was a little ge’er, but I didn’t expect him to be a son,” Sun Bailian frowned, looking disappointed. So now he wanted to have another one but didn’t dare to, what if he gave birth to another son?

While they were chatting, the dishes in the kitchen were ready.

“Dinner’s ready,” Cao Gang said, carrying the dishes out and putting them on the table.

The two little ones who were playing ran over when they heard it was time to eat, drooling over the meat on the table. Cao Gang warned his two sons, “Sit properly.” Seeing his two sons sitting obediently, he went into the kitchen and brought out two more dishes.

“Can we eat this too?” Sun Bailian asked, pointing to a plate of snails on the table.

“Yes, it’s very delicious,” Cao Xiangnan said, seeing what Sun Bailian was pointing at, picking up one and sucking the tail, then chewing the front, sucking the meat out, and saying, “Eat it like this, you’ll learn how to eat it after eating a few times.”

He then remembered that pregnant people shouldn’t eat this kind of thing, and Cao Xiangnan looked at Wanfeng with a little apology, saying, “Wanfeng, don’t eat this, it’s not good for you to eat these things now.”

“Oh, okay,” If her husband told him not to eat it, Qi Wanfeng didn’t ask why.

“Why can’t Wanfeng eat it?” Sun Bailian asked.

There was a fleeting embarrassment on Cao Xiangnan’s face. He organized his words and said, “Wanfeng’s body is not suitable for eating this now, and people with spleen and stomach deficiency and gastrointestinal discomfort are also best not to eat this kind of thing, it’s no problem for ordinary people to eat it.”

“Oh, I understand,” Sun Bailian said, glancing at Qi Wanfeng’s stomach and smiling.

The people who liked to eat snails the most at the dinner table were Cao Xiangnan and Cao Gang. Sun Bailian gave up after sucking two but not being able to get the meat out, and turned to eat something else. The three children ate the meat, their mouths full of oil, and their little faces were satisfied.