CH 17

translator: baumkuchen  editor: ellabells 

Usually, Lu Qingjiu would probably have seriously thought the matter through, but his brain, fogged by alcohol, was no longer able to think clearly. He remained in a dizzy state, just staring blankly at the ceiling, and before long, fell asleep.

The next morning, Lu Qingjiu woke up with a hangover. The first thing he did after getting up was to run to the courtyard and take a look around.

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Bai Yuehu had woken up earlier than Lu Qingjiu and seemed to be on his way to water the fields.

“Yuehu,” Lu Qingjiu suddenly spoke up.

Bai Yuehu looked towards him, “En?”

“Last night…” Lu Qingjiu said, “Last night, did anything happen?” Even though he had been drunk, he did vaguely remember something happening.

Bai Yuehu replied, “Nothing much.”

Lu Qingjiu sighed inwardly, thinking that Bai Yuehu didn’t plan on speaking any further. Who knew that his next line would be, “It wasn’t anything big, I just had another meal.” 

Lu Qingjiu, “…”

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Bai Yuehu, seeing Lu Qingjiu’s face full of shock, thought for a moment, then added, “Today we’ll be having an outsider come by.”

Lu Qingjiu trembled with fear, “Is it a guest?”

Bai Yuehu said, “Guest?” He was silent for a moment, as if considering whether the word “guest” would be appropriate for this person. Finally he said, “We’ll see.” 

Lu Qingjiu, “…” Miraculously, he actually could understand what Bai Yuehu meant by that. “We’ll see” probably meant that he needed to see if this person would taste good or not. If they didn’t, he could reluctantly consider them a guest, if they did… They’d probably end up like that big bird from last night.

Bai Yuehu grabbed the bucket of water, and left. Lu Qingjiu, seeing him go, silently returned to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. In a bit, Bai Yuehu would be done with watering and come back to eat.

Today’s breakfast was tangyuan personally rolled by Lu Qingjiu. The glutinous rice used to make the tangyuanwas bought from the village. After beating it into powder, he mixed it with water and divided the resulting dough into into equal portions, then he added the tangyuan filling inside. The filling had been bought premade from town, it was a sesame seed filling. He wrapped the sesame seed filling in the glutinous rice dough and dropped them into boiling water to cook. Then he poured in some rice wine, cracked in an egg, and the bowl of tangyuan was done.

With Bai Yuehu dealing with the most troublesome thing in the house, the vegetable fields, Lu Qingjiu was a lot more relaxed and could spend more time making food. Bai Yuehu probably also thought similarly, or else he definitely wouldn’t have so enthusiastically taken over the farming. 

By the time Lu Qingjiu was finished making tangyuan, Bai Yuehu had just about returned. Along with him was a still-yawning Yin Xun.

Yin Xun brought a bowl of tangyuan with him to the courtyard. He fed the chickens as he ate. Their chickens were growing remarkably quickly. Under normal circumstances, it would take about half a year for hens to grow up and start laying eggs. However, it was as if their family’s chickens had been injected with growth hormones, already several times larger. Unfortunately, Yin Xun remained unphased by these mutant chickens, not at all seeing a need to mention this matter to Lu Qingjiu. So Lu Qingjiu, who had no experience whatsoever in raising chickens, didn’t notice anything strange about his chickens.

The little chicks circled Yin Xun, chirping. Occasionally, Yin Xun would pick out a tangyuan and give it to them to eat with relish.

As usual, Bai Yuehu was completely unafraid of heat, popping the tangyuan into his mouth one by one. Watching him made Lu Qingjiu’s own tongue hurt. Even though the tangyuan fillings had been bought, they were still very fragrant. When one bit open the glutinous rice dough, black sesame seed filling would pour out. With a roll of the tongue, the liquidy, chewy texture would smoothly be swallowed down. 

When all was said and done, glutinous rice was very filling so Lu Qingjiu was full after just one bowl. Yin Xun also didn’t have much of an appetite, so in the end, the remainder all ended up in Bai Yuehu’s stomach. After he finished eating, he, as usual, went over to “his” chair in the courtyard, and begun to nap.

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Lu Qingjiu went to the pigsty to feed the pigs first. Then, just as he was planning on going with Yin Xun to the fields to harvest some vegetables for lunch, he heard the sound of a car by the door.

This village was incredibly small, there were only two people who owned cars. Hearing the sound of a car, Lu Qingjiu knew that it was an outsider who’d arrived. He immediately thought of Bai Yuehu’s words from earlier—— Whether it was a guest or not, would depend on the circumstances.

The door squeaked open, drawing everyone’s eyes. In the doorway appeared a somewhat familiar face. Lu Qingjiu immediately recognised who this person was, “Mister Chao?!” 

Yes, the visitor was the big customer who had bought all of the tomatoes in town the day before, Chao Qianyu. Although he had said he’d come visit Lu Qingjiu, Lu Qingjiu hadn’t expected him to drop by the very next day. Also, from his expression, he seemed a little anxious.

Chao Qianyu said, “Mister Lu, sorry for disturbing.” He stood in the doorway, having no intention of entering any further. His gaze flitted across the courtyard for a moment, before landing on Bai Yuehu, who seemed to be sleeping.

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“En,” Lu Qingjiu replied, “You came by so soon?”

“Yes,” Chao Qianyu asked, “Would it be alright if I came in to discuss the details with you?” 

Lu Qingjiu said, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Only after hearing this did Chao Qianyu relax. In a few steps, he walked over to Lu Qingjiu’s side. As he crossed the middle of the courtyard, he sniffed. As if he’d smelled something, his face abruptly changed. He exclaimed, “Mister Lu!”

Lu Qingjiu responded, “Ah?”

Chao Qianyu said, “It was I who was ignorant, unable to recognise the Mt. Tai before my eyes, please Mister Lu, please let off my bird!” 

Lu Qingjiu was shocked by this sudden development. He froze for a few seconds but still couldn’t understand what Chao Qianyu meant, “What did you say?”

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Chao Qianyu’s face had turned an ugly shade of puce, as if he thought Lu Qingjiu was feigning ignorance. “Mister Lu, whatever requests you have, just say them. As long as it’s within my power, I’ll definitely fulfill them!”

Lu Qingjiu seemed to remember something and gave an awkward cough, “By “your bird”, are you referring to that red-beaked, white-feathered, big… bird?”

Chao Qianyu solemnly nodded. 

Lu Qingjiu said, “Oh…” He snuck a glance at Bai Yuehu. Seeing that from beginning to end, Bai Yuehu hadn’t even opened his eyes, he couldn’t help but feel even more guilty. Faced with Chao Qianyu’s sharp eyes, he felt a little like someone whose pet had accidentally bitten someone else’s pet to death…

Chao Qianyu caught a hint from Lu Qingjiu’s expression, and cried out, “Mister Lu?”

Lu Qingjiu said, “This… It’s like this, I uh, even though I did see that bird last night, but it flew off after that.”

Chao Qianyu, “…” 

Lu Qingjiu forced out a fake smile, “Really.”

Chao Qianyu’s expression turned even more somber, he asked, “Then can Mister Lu answer me this one question?”

Lu Qingjiu said, “En?”

Chao Qianyu said, “Since it flew off, then why is Mister Lu’s courtyard filled with the smell of my bird’s blood?”

Lu Qingjiu, “You’re probably mistaken…”

Before he could finished, Bai Yuehu, who had originally been sitting and resting, suddenly opened his eyes. Although his pair of black eyes were the same as ever, carrying no particular emotions, Chao Qianyu’s body shook violently, as if Bai Yuehu’s gaze was terrifying.

“I know where your bird is,” Bai Yuehu said, “Do you want to see it?”

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Chao Qianyu forced out a smile, “This person is…” 

“This is my friend,” Lu Qingjiu said, “His name is Bai Yuehu.”

Chao Qianyu, “Bai Yuehu…” He carefully mulled over this name, deep doubt in his eyes. He muttered in a low voice, “That’s not right?”

Bai Yuehu interrupted him in a cold voice, “What’s not right?” He got up, and walked up to Chao Qianyu. He spoke once more, “Do you want to reunite with your bird?”

Chao Qianyu seemed to finally get the underlying meaning in Bai Yuehu’s words. His eyes went wide, and his entire body trembled a couple of times. He immediately turned around, wanting to leave, but Bai Yuehu grabbed ahold of his shoulder. 

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Bai Yuehu asked coldly.

Even though Lu Qingjiu didn’t know what had happened, he could clearly sense Chao Qianyu’s utter terror. He was terrified to the point where he didn’t even dare meet Bai Yuehu’s gaze. He opened and closed his mouth, then said hoarsely, “Mister Bai…”

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“Weren’t you here to buy tomatoes?” Bai Yuehu asked.

Chao Qianyu made a shocked expression, evidently not expecting Bai Yuehu to say such a thing. 

Bai Yuehu, seeing Chao Qianyu remain silent, seemed a little unhappy. He asked, “What, not planning on buying anymore?”

Not being able to sell their tomatoes = No money to buy meat = no meat to eat = going hungry… Bai Yuehu’s eyes darkened.

“No, no, no, no, I’m buying, buying, buying,” Chao Qianyu, in a burst of energy, shouted, “I’ll buy it all!”

Only after hearing this was Bai Yuehu satisfied. He loosened his grip on Chao Qianyu’s shoulder, then turned and walked away. 

Chao Qianyu suddenly let out a huge sigh of relief. He gasped weakly, “Mister Lu… I want all those tomatoes…”

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Lu Qingjiu noticed that there were actually several lines of sweat running down his face between his temples and his ears, it seemed like he had been shocked to the point of breaking out in cold sweat. For a while, he didn’t quite know what to say.

“Could I be so bold as to ask a question?” After Chao Qianyu recovered from his panic, he seemed to have thought of something and asked Lu Qingjiu in a small voice, “Were those tomatoes grown by you, Mister Lu?”

“The tomatoes? Nope,” Lu Qingjiu shook his head. 

“Then who grew them?” Chao Qianyu asked.

“It was Bai Yuehu,” Lu Qingjiu honestly replied.

Chao Qianyu made an undescribable expression. Because the look on his face was too complex, Lu Qingjiu couldn’t tell what exactly it meant, but the amazement was still very obvious.

“Buy, I’ll buy them all,” Chao Qianyu said, “However many there are, I want that many… by all means, please don’t be polite!” 

Lu Qingjiu, “…This, you’re not forcing yourself, are you?” He was afraid Chao Qianyu was doing this because of Bai Yuehu.

Who knew that just as he finished speaking, Chao Qianyu would burst out agitatedly, “Not at all, not at all! I’ll have to trouble you! From now on please sell all your tomatoes to me! If someone tries to fight me for them—— I’ll kill them——”

Lu Qingjiu: “…” Oh, people nowadays are really hard to understand.

The author has something to say:

Bai Yuehu: Want to buy tomatoes, or want to die?

Chao Qianyu: I’ll buy!!!

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Mister Lu Qingjiu watching on the sidelines expresses that he doesn’t know either of them.