Edited by Ahzinal~ Thank you F.M., aaa22 and Yui for your ko-fi donations! The support is really appreciated ❤
After arriving in Huaping Village, Luo Fei still had some time, but Xi Yanqing had his own plans. When Xi Yanqing went into the mountains previously, he saw some medicinal ingredients he was familiar with, but he had gone up the mountain in order to cut trees and didn’t have time to get it. Later, he went to the mountain again, to get some thin wood for the fence. At that time, he looked closely and discovered that there were indeed some herbs suitable to take home to raise.
Now that the days have just begun to warm up, many plants have begun to sprout, so he only saw a portion of the perennial ones, such as the ladybell root*. In fall, some of the stalks that would coil around the trunk of trees will dry up. Some may rot, but others would still be coiled on them, so you could see them. Its roots could be used as medicine or for food. He himself didn't know how to make it, but he had eaten it. It should have been fried after pickling it with spices and the taste was not bad. When he put it in his mouth, it felt silky and soft, but when one chewed it, it still had a bite to it. If he could bring it home, there would not only be an extra dish on the table, but also, he could bring it into a medicine shop to ask them if they would buy it or not. Although it did not count as some valuable medicine, there were still others he could plant.
[T/N: I don't think I've ever had this, but I think the picture on the right is the dish that Xi Yanqing talked about.]
Before, Luo Fei asked what the empty piece of land in the vegetable garden would be used for. That piece of land was specially left for the purpose of transplanting and experimenting with medicinal herbs.
Xi Yanqing's way of thinking right now is that he can't just sit here and eat while leaving the mountains empty.
Don’t say that there was not much money in the first place. Even if there is a lot of money, one still can't just stay idle. If you want to live a better life here, being busy seems to be a must.
Luo Fei brought the plate out to Xi Yanqing to eat the fried tofu. Xi Yanqing was especially comfortable, and smiled as he said, "You feed me, I haven't washed my hands yet."
So sappy!
Luo Fei glared: “Xi Yanqing, stop showing off your looks shamelessly! It is good enough to have something to eat, so just eat it yourself!”
Li Yuehua came up and gave him a slap: “Bad child! I told you to change how you speak!”
Luo Fei sullenly retracted the plate and in his heart he said: "What do I change?! I can’t actually call him 'big tiger', right? As for 'Hubby', it is even more impossible!"
Luo Yi at the side laughed: “Hahahahaha, Er-ge, recently, have you been beaten more than me? But Mom, you can't beat him in front of Xi-ge. Xi-ge's heart will hurt.”
Once he heard that, Luo Fei thought, right! Luo Yi called him Xi-Ge. Then, how about he also calls him -ge? Either way, Xi Yanqing is older than him!
“Cough!” Luo Fei cleared his throat and passed over the plate again: “Qing-ge, you eat.”
“En.” Xi Yanqing smiled and took the plate. He was eating the tofu, but most of the time, his eyes were glued to Luo Fei’s face. After eating it, he wiped his mouth and said: “In the afternoon, Chen Huazhang and Han Xu should be coming to our place. We arranged for them to measure some things. Before that, think about what you want the bowl rack to be like, so it will be more convenient to tell them.”
“Oh, all right.”
“Besides this, after we get this settled, tomorrow we have to start planting the dry fields. Do you want to go take a look?" If he wanted to go, then he would have to prepare some things in advance.
“Going is okay.” Luo Fei did not think that there were leeches in the dry farmland. He felt that going to see where his own family's land was good, in case he wasn't able to find it when he went to send a meal. “What do you want to plant?”
“Corn-Covering-Soybeans.”
“What is that?!”
"It's just mixing two kinds of plants. After raising it, it can increase the harvest." Xi Yanqing smiled, "You will see after I grow and harvest it."
Xi Yan Qing's major was in the study of agricultural related technology. Luo Fei did not doubt his skills in his major. However, the "Corn-Covering-Soybean" he mentioned was the first he had ever heard of it.
Although they didn’t come visit on the day they were supposed to, they had already come here and always had to stay to eat a meal before going. So, Luo Fei and Xi Yanqing freeloaded at the Luo House for lunch. They didn’t stay much after they finished, because Chen Huazhang and Han Xu were coming in the afternoon, so the two went back after eating. Before they went back, Li Yuehua also gave Luo Fei many deep fried pancakes to take. Originally, she intended to give him steamed buns, but the dough hadn't finished rising yet, so it couldn't be steamed. Luo Ru, who was good at understanding others, eagerly stir-fried some julienned potatoes* for them to roll in the pancakes to eat. This was a very rare and delicious thing. When Luo Fei went back, he was extremely careful with the stuff.
[T/N: I love this dish! It's super easy to make and I like stir-frying it with soysauce (third pic) but you can also get light flavors with just some spring onion (first pic) or with other veggies for some color (second pic)]
In the evening, Luo Fei had heated up some deep fried dough cakes and julienned potatoes. This meal with Xi Yanqing, was quite an improvement. In fact, taking into account how they lived in the modern world, this was not really some super fancy thing to them. However, eating it for a few days straight was doable, so, comparing it with a treasure, there was not much difference.
After eating the flat cake, Luo Fei moved away the table and then scratched his back.
After getting married, he hadn't taken a bath. But now, since it was getting hotter by the day, he is cooking and cleaning up the house, and he also had to clean the yard every day, his body got very dirty easily. He had long wanted to take a bath, but he wasn't able to lift so much water or the bathtub. That thing was extremely heavy and also quite tall. It was impossible for him to lift a large bucket of water up and pour it inside. He guessed that, even if he had the strength, he would not have enough remaining energy to even take the bath.
At this time, he had to find Xi Yanqing to help.
Xi Yanqing was outside and gathering the rootstalks of something; Luo Fei couldn't make out what it was. After Luo Fei came over, he scratched at the side of his mouth—when he was hesitant, he liked to do these small movements of bad habit.
“Is there something you need?” Xi Yanqing turned to look at Luo Fei.
“I want to take a bath, but I can’t lift the bathtub.” Luo Fei himself did not realize how pitiful the way he said it sounded like, and Little Donkey Luo had turned into Little Puppy Luo.
“I will help you lift it in a moment.” Xi Yanqing looked at Luo Fei tenderly. “You should first find some clothes to change into.”
“Okay, thank you!” Luo Fei seeing Xi Yanqing answer so straightforwardly happily ran into the house. He opened the cabinet next to the bed, took out a set of clean inner garments out, and also took out a piece of cloth. This piece of cloth was not intended to be used for cleaning, but intended to be used as a dish cloth instead.
Tomorrow, he was going into the fields to take a look. There would definitely be no time for needlework, so he planned to just take advantage of the time it took for his hair to dry to embroider a bit before going to bed. He wouldn't decide the size yet, just embroider a little something on it.
After Xi Yanqing organized a few pieces of wolfsbane* and put it aside, he went to go help pump water for Luo Fei. The hot water had already been heated by Luo Fei, so they just had to add a little cold water to adjust it. There is a large water tank in the kitchen, and Xi Yanqing would fill it up every day. He took the water out of the water tank and poured it into the tub, then he tested the water temperature for Luo Fei.
[T/N: Chinese wolfsbane; actually really toxic if not prepared properly]
“This way, won't we just have to pour in new water again in a little while?” Otherwise, the water in one tank was enough for two or three days. Luo Fei said: “We might as well just pour the newly pumped water directly into the tub, so we can save a little bit of effort.”
“The well water that was just pumped is too cold. Adding both pots of hot water in still won't make it too hot. This water was placed in the house for a long time, so it should still be warmer than the water outside. If it's troublesome, then just let it be troublesome. It isn't every day that we can wash. I will help you warm the water a little more. If you can wash comfortably, then that would be good.” After Xi Yanqing finished saying that, he poured in the rest of the water and put the bucket aside. “You go wash, I'm going into the house to calculate some things.”
“Okay.” Luo Fei paused a little. “Thank you Qing-ge.”
“You’re welcome.” Xi Yanqing walked to the door of the big house and suddenly stopped. He turned his head and smiled while asking: “Wife, are you sure you don’t need a back-scrubbing service?”
“Don't need!” Luo Fei's hair stood up, “If I don’t call for you, you are not allowed to come!” He wasn't able to be decent for more than 3 seconds! He shouldn't think that this person in front of him is a kind and honest person!
When Luo Fei undressed, he repeatedly looked towards the door in fear that Xi Yanqing would actually come. However, Xi Yanqing actually did not appear, contrary to what he thought. He kept thinking about Xi Yanqing as if he had a mental illness all the way until he finished his bath.
What on earth was that guy calculating in the room?
After Luo Fei wiped his body, he changed into clean clothes then rubbed at his hair as he was walking into the room. He didn't know that right now, his cheeks that were flushed pink, his eyelashes that were slightly wet, and his whole body that brought in a cloud of steam were more than enough to make a hundred Xi Yanqing's go crazy!
Xi Yanqing, hearing the noise, turned his head, and really forgot to breathe…
Luo Fei was still not self-aware. He sat on the bed towards the paper in front of Xi Yanqing and gestured with his chin: “What are you calculating?”
Xi Yanqing didn't say anything. After a moment, he got up and walked over, took the cloth from Luo Fei’s hand, and gently tilted up his chin.
Luo Fei stared blankly for a second: “What?”
Xi Yanqing did not speak. He just stared silently at Luo Fei for a moment then suddenly bent down to kiss Luo Fei’s mouth…
Notes:
*SQUEAL* σ(≧ε≦ｏ)
Recipe for Julienne Potatoes: