Chapter 34.1
translator: baumkuchen editor: ellabells
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When they got home, Lu Qingjiu cooked a roasted chicken for Bai Yuehu . The roasted chicken was coated in a layer of honey, so after being roasted, the skin became particularly golden and tempting . The skin was crisp and the meat was tender when in the mouth and fragrant meat juices would ooze out with each bite . The unique fragrance of chicken lingered in the house, making it so that people couldn’t help but want to take another sniff .
Bai Yuehu still kept his habit of eating the bones along with the meat . Only after demolishing the entire chicken did he return to his rocking chair and sit back down . It just so happened that Li Xiaoyu came over from next door to look for Xiao Hua and ask for help with some practice questions . Lu Qingjiu took out the frozen grapes he had put in the freezer earlier, placed them in a bowl, and passed it to Li Xiaoyu .
The pulp and juice inside the grapes had become frozen; sweet, sour, and perfect for relieving the summer heat .
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Both Li Xiaoyu and Xiao Hua liked it very much . One human and one pig laid on the table, continuing to solve practice questions Lu Qingjiu couldn’t understand at all .
After the incident with Shui Feng, Bai Yuehu didn’t speak much for many days, completely returning to his lazy state from when he first came here . Other than when he ate and farmed, he had practically completely melded with his rocking chair .
Lu Qingjiu was worried that he wasn’t in a good mood so he wanted to make some good food to make Bai Yuehu happy . In the summer, everyone loved to eat cold dishes . Chili oil tended to be used up particularly quick and the stock at home was almost used up . Seeing the sun set behind the mountains, Lu Qingjiu planned to go to the fields to pick some fresh chili peppers to make chili oil .
Here, all the chili oil was homemade . They would sundry the chili peppers, chop them up into fine powder, then add various spices to the powder, and finally, with a quick fry in oil, the hot, spicy chili oil would be done . The main purpose of this kind of chili oil wasn’t to be spicy, but to be fragrant . When added to cold dishes, it really improved the taste .
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Carrying a basket on his back, Lu Qingjiu went to the fields .
The weather was really hot . Even though the sun had already set, the heat emanating from the ground still roasted his ankles . When Lu Qingjiu reached the fields, he saw the chilies Bai Yuehu had planted .
The chilies grown by his family’s fox spirit were, as expected, different from others . Each chili pepper was big and full . Lu Qingjiu plucked one, licked it, and immediately began to feel a burning pain . After the chili pepper entered the mouth, what it provided wasn’t a taste but a feeling of pain . This kind of pain could stimulate the brain to produce chemicals that made one feel happy… He went off-topic . In short, the more spicy a pepper was, the better its quality .
By the time Lu Qingjiu picked about two to three jin of chili peppers, the sky had already turned dark . Nights out in the mountains were different from nights in the city . Because of the lack of light pollution, as long as the weather was clear, one would be able to see the enchanting star-filled night sky . There was no moon tonight, but the stars were very bright — to the point that if one looked carefully, one would be able to see the pure white stars of the Milky Way .
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He walked forward a few steps and seemed to step on something . Lu Qingjiu looked down and unexpectedly saw a hundred-yuan bill lying by his feet . It was especially eye-catching against the dark mud .
“Whose money is this?” Lu Qingjiu bent down and picked up the money . No one in the village was rich . One hundred yuan was not a small amount . If some auntie had lost it, it might hurt them for a whole month . But on that note, ever since Tai Feng gave him that bag, his luck had visibly improved . It had become routine for him to find money by the side of the road . The most extreme one was when he bought a lottery ticket for fun and actually won the third prize a few days ago .
But in the end, Lu Qingjiu didn’t go to cash in the prize . He had always felt that money earned with luck couldn’t be counted on .
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Just as Lu Qingjiu was thinking of looking for the owner of the lost money the next day, he once again stepped on something . This thing was hard and pressed a little painfully into his foot . With his hand, Lu Qingjiu dug out a coin with a strange design from the dirt . The coin was about as big as his thumb and seemed to be a dark yellow . Lu Qingjiu picked it up and confirmed that this wasn’t his country’s currency, rather like some game coin left over from somewhere . He wanted to get a closer look at the design on the coin but it was truly too dark and he hadn’t brought his phone, so he had to give up .
After returning home, Lu Qingjiu casually shoved the coin into his pocket, but who would’ve expected that as he shoved it inside, his hand would inexplicably shake . The coin fell onto the ground and rolled into the grass patch next to him .
Lu Qingjiu reflexively tried to catch the coin . He rushed into the grass patch after it but the moment he entered the grass, he regretted it . He was wearing shorts and a lot of the grass in this grass patch all seemed to have thorns, pricking into his calves and making them burn with pain .
“Ah…” Bending down, Lu Qingjiu saw fresh red blood trickling down his calves . He hissed, wanting to turn back . But when he looked back at the path he was on, he was astonished to find that the original road had actually disappeared — he had come to a completely unfamiliar, barren field .
Lu Qingjiu was stunned stiff . For a time, he didn’t actually know how to react . He looked around and saw there were no paths he could take anywhere around him, only endless wilderness . In the wilderness, there were only clumps of weeds . These weeds were completely covered in little thorns and about as tall as Lu Qingjiu’s waist .
Lu Qingjiu could only force himself to walk forward a few steps before feeling many more bloody wounds appearing on his calves . He had no choice but to stop for a moment and look around .
Soon, Lu Qingjiu found something a little special in this patch of wilderness — a towering withered tree in the center of the wilderness . The withered tree didn’t look too far away from Lu Qingjiu . In an endless field of grass, it stood out as out of place . There even seemed to be a crow-like bird quietly perched on top of its branches .
Lu Qingjiu struggled forwards . Looking at his legs running red with fresh blood, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly . He spoke to himself, self-deprecatingly, “This is probably what the little mermaid felt like after she grew legs…”
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Fortunately, as he approached the tree, the weeds began to thin out . By the time he reached the foot of the tree, there was already only dirt left .
The crow on the tree’s branches seemed to have been scared off by Lu Qingjiu’s approach, flapping its wings and flying away . In the night, the bird cries made the entire world seem even quieter, to the point that Lu Qingjiu even felt a little as if he’d been abandoned by the world .
But soon, something else caught his attention .
It was a stone tablet standing behind the withered tree . Because of the angle, Lu Qingjiu hadn’t noticed it before . Only when he walked behind the withered tree did he abruptly notice this unexpected stone tablet .
However, when Lu Qingjiu got a closer look at stone tablet’s appearance, he realised that what he thought was a stone tablet seemed more like a tombstone .
A lonely tombstone that had been forgotten by the world .
It was too dark, so Lu Qingjiu couldn’t clearly see the words written on it . He thought for a moment, then got closer and placed his hand on the tombstone to carefully feel around .
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The tombstone was both rough and cold . There weren’t many words written on it, maybe about six words . Lu Qingjiu did a rough count of them on the first pass, and then he began to carefully try to read them on the second pass .
The first word was “Here”, written in traditional Chinese . The second word was “lies”, very easy to recognise .
However, when Lu Qingjiu felt around to the third word, his expression froze and his hand began to tremble . He carefully felt every stroke . Only after feeling it over about three to four times did Lu Qingjiu finally confirm that it was indeed the word he was thinking of .
Lu Qingjiu’s movements paused for a moment . He felt a little as if all strength had left his body . He leaned against the tombstone and took several rough breaths before gathering up his courage and feeling over towards the fourth word .
A flipped “mountain”, an upright “inch”, it was a “Xun” .
Lu Qingjiu’s body exploded in goosebumps . He opened and closed his mouth, for a time, not knowing what to say . After he checked again, he finally confirmed what the six words on the tombstone were .
Here lies Yin Xun, beloved son .
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Here lies……Yin Xun……beloved son .
Like he had been given an electric shock, Lu Qingiu’s hand flew off of the tombstone . He stared at the tombstone as if he were looking at a malicious ghost .
How, why was Yin Xun’s grave here? Was this a prank? But how could such a malicious prank exist in this world . His best friend’s smile appeared before Lu Qingjiu’s eyes . It was as if he could see that bright smile of Yin Xun’s, as well as that cute tiger tooth poking out by his lip .
“Lu Qingjiu, Lu Qingjiu . ” A smiling Yin Xun waved at him . “Welcome back to Shuifu village . ”