CH 132

Chapter 132 - I'll wait for you (3)

"Really?" Bei Nuan wanted to complete her task, so she was naturally very willing. "Then I-"

"Bei Nuan." Lu Xingchi's cold voice came over. It was like a hammer smashing through ice. Bei Nuan instantly became clear-headed. She was standing on the staircase, and Lu Xingchi and the others were waiting for her.

Lu Xingchi had been standing a few steps away and watching Bei Nuan teasing the cat the entire time. It was only now that he spoke.

Bei Nuan quickly dropped her hand and stopped touching the cat. She said to Xie Yuanqing, "I have to go."

Lu Dahua shook her ears like she was being relieved of a burden.

"Your name is Bei Nuan? Okay, see you next time," Xie Yuanqing answered with a smile.

Bei Nuan waved at him and skipped up the steps. She thought; it didn't matter if she saw him again or not, but she had to see Dahua again.

Xie Yuanqing and his group went down the stone staircase.

Xiao Ji and his mom were very happy. They didn't pay attention to the others and were chattering nonstop on the side of the path.

Xiao Ji had been thinking about her son, who was far away in Hui City. She knew that something bad happened in Hui City a while ago, but her son still hadn't come back. She was so anxious that she hadn't been able to eat or sleep. Now that her son had come back, and he was perfectly fine, she was overjoyed.

She asked in detail how Xiao Ji was able to safely come back. Finding out that it was Bei Nuan and the others that had rescued her son from the bank, she was speechless with gratitude.

"If you're not in a hurry to leave, come over to my house," Xiao Ji said to everyone.

"Yeah, stay here for two days before leaving. There's plenty of empty rooms in my home. It's just that they're not in good condition. Don't mind it." Xiao Ji's mom held Bei Nuan's hand, not letting go.

"Okay." To Bei Nuan's surprise, Lu Xingchi nodded. He didn't seem in a hurry to leave either.

Bei Nuan had been worried about how to convince him to stay here for a few days so that she could complete her task. Since he didn't want to leave, that was perfect.

And so, the group went up the path. The path there was like a labyrinth, and they went left and right multiple times before finally arriving at Xiao Ji's old home.

The old home was made of gray bricks and wood and looked quite old. Large, eye-catching strings of red pepper were hanging from the eaves.

The Ji family had finally reunited.

Yao Town really wasn't lacking in food.

Xiao Ji's home had a storage room filled with rice. It could last the family for several years.

When Xiao Ji's parents went up the mountain, they even brought their chickens. A rooster and hens were digging for worms in the vegetable patch in the courtyard. There was also a large cardboard box in one of the room, which housed a large group of newly hatched fluffy yellow chicks. They were like a group of chirping furballs.

Bei Nuan really liked them and kept looking in the box, reluctant to leave.

This home had a place to raise chickens and grow vegetables, and there was a spring on the mountain where they could fetch water.  This looked like a self-sufficient place.

The group came here at lunchtime. Xiao Ji's dad fried a plate of bacon and cooked another dish of fried pickled beans with minced meat. The two dishes were accompanied by rice that had been steamed with sweet spring water. It was a delicious meal.

Bei Nuan asked them, "What will you do if the rice in the storage room runs out and the outside world hasn't returned to normal?"

"We're not worried. We can grow vegetables in the courtyard and sweet potatoes can be grown in the back mountain," Xiao Ji's mom said, "I heard my great-grandfather say that when there was turmoil and chaos of war, the townspeople sealed off the town. At that time, all the households planted sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes aren't picky about soil and don't need much water. They grow fast and have high yields. With it, there's no worry about starving."

Xiao Ji's dad chimed in, "The mountain has rich soil, and the sweet potatoes grown here are big and sweet. Since sweet potatoes are worthless in normal times, not many people grow them. People usually only grow them to raise pigs and cattle."

Xiao Ji's dad instructed Xiao Ji, "Go get a bunch of dried potatoes for the guests to taste."

Xiao Ji entered a room and soon came out with a large bunch of dried sweet potatoes. This was made by cutting steamed sweet potato into thick slices and stringing the slices onto a string. It looked like a giant necklace.

Bei Nuan tasted a piece. So delicious!

This kind of home-made dried sweet potato tasted completely different from the ones she bought at the supermarket. It was very hard, so hard that she had to slowly gnaw on it to finish it, but it was very sweet and chewy, which made it very addicting.

Bei Nuan matched herself against a piece of sweet potato. It took a long time before she  gnawed off a sliver from the slice.

This place had enchanting scenery and was cut off from the world. It was like a hidden utopia. There were no traces of the apocalypse here, making people unwilling to leave here.

After lunch, Bei Nuan informed the others where she was going and left with a large piece of dried sweet potato. The countdown was always running, so she had to hurry up with seeking out Li Dahua. Even if she had ample time to finish this task, she couldn't waste any time.

No one could speak cat language. It would definitely take a lot of time to figure out what a cat wanted.