Chapter 20: Entering the Mountains Again
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qiao Mei stayed at home all the time. There was no way that her grandfather would badmouth her, so all the rumors about her were actually spread by Qiao Zhuang's family based on what Qiao Yu told them.
Qiao Mei continued her way up the mountain. Now, she had another reason to go up the mountain and that was to earn money.
As a villager, how could her family not be cultivating some agricultural products?
The eggs laid by chickens every year would be enough for a family's cooking expenses.
As for pigs, they were indispensable in the countryside. Selling a pig would make some money, slaughtering another pig would be enough for a family to eat for half a year.
A piglet would cost more than ten dollars.
Chickens and ducks were usually hatched from eggs at home. However, as she did not have a mother hen, she had to buy chicks and ducklings.
One would cost about thirty cents. If they wanted to raise more than ten, it would only cost around three dollars.
But right now, there was not even three dollars in the house, Qiao Mei thought as she did the calculations.
Although her grandfather held the purse strings in the family, the original owner of the body only wanted to eat all day long, so he spent all of his retirement salary every month. They had no savings at all.
Even if her grandfather still had money, she also did not want to rely on him. She wanted to be self reliant!
Earn money! Earn more money!
Qiao Mei walked forward excitedly with the carrying pole on her shoulder. Her steps were swift like the wind and she was filled with motivation. She really liked this feeling of working hard on her own!
As she reached the mountains, waves of energy washed over her, causing every hair on her body to stand on end.
Qiao Mei did not stay in one place for too long as she was afraid that the plants would exchange too much energy and bear fruit in advance.
She stepped onto a small path and headed deeper into the mountains where there was a hot spring area.
This place was located in the most northeastern region of the country. It was a continuous stretch of mountains and deep within the mountains was a geothermal region.
The straight road did not seem to stretch far, but by the time she reached the area, it was already noon.
There was a small hot spring here. Pools of all sizes formed a large pool and the surroundings were misty like a fairyland.
Qiao Mei did not dare to get too close. The original owner of the body did not know how to swim, but even though she knew how to swim, she did not know if she would be able to swim with this body weighing more than 200 pounds.
Besides, she was pregnant with two babies so she did not dare to take the risk.
Qiao Mei observed her surroundings and found that the plants here were indeed more lush than in other places. The surrounding aquatic plants had already grown to half a foot tall, the little flowers beside them had also bloomed and new leaves were emerging from the big trees next to them.
She immediately saw a fruit tree.
Qiao Mei walked towards a relatively lusher place where all kinds of wild vegetables grew. She used the energy from the jade pendant to accelerate the process of ripening, harvesting, maturing and re-harvesting. Soon, she filled half the basket.
When she was done, she looked up and saw that there were only a few birds chirping around her. It was silent all round and there was no one around.
It was now already peak springtime which was a busy period for farmers. The villagers had all gone to work and no one had the time to come to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables and soak in the hot springs.
Qiao Mei was worried. She walked to a deep bush and squatted down so that her body was hidden by the lush grass. She then pushed aside the weeds on the surface of the soil, revealing the dark soil.
Finally, she planted a sweet potato seed. Very quickly, the sweet potato seed turned into a sweet potato seedling and then matured and bore fruit.
Just like that, Qiao Mei collected more than ten sweet potatoes, each weighing more than one pound.
Then, she planted a pumpkin seed and soon harvested three big pumpkins. Each of them weighed more than ten pounds, filling up the two baskets she brought.
Qiao Mei then pulled a few layers of weeds and covered up the baskets securely.
After that, she stood by the side of the hot spring, took out a towel that she carried with her and wiped her entire body several times.
In just half a day, another layer of black mud had surfaced on her body. It was so smelly!
After cleaning up, she changed into her clean clothes and carried the pole down the mountain.
At the village entrance, she met a group of villagers who were rushing back home after finishing their farm work. When they saw her carrying two loads of things, they stared at her in surprise.
"Qiao Mei, where did you go?" The village officer, Zhao Liang, could not help but ask in the end.
"Oh, it's Uncle Zhao!" Qiao Mei put on a big smile and said, "Isn't my family planning to raise a little piglet this spring? I cut these pigweeds for it. Otherwise, it won't have anything to eat."
Chapter 21: Raising Piglets
Editor: Atlas Studios
Hearing that, the villagers were stunned. Instead of thinking about what to eat, Qiao Mei was now concerned about the pigs at home?
How rare!
Furthermore, she was actually shouldering a carrying pole and getting to work? In the past, she had never been seen at the market, not to mention going out with a carrying pole.
At this moment, the only place where one could dig up such lush wild plants would be at the hot spring area deep in the mountains. She actually made such a long trip to dig for pig feed?
Wasn't Qiao Mei supposed to be very lazy?
Although Zhao Liang was also surprised, his surprise was about something else. Qiao Mei actually called him Uncle Zhao? This was even more surprising to him than Qiao Mei getting to work.
"Uncle Zhao, you guys go ahead. I'll go back first." After Qiao Mei said that, she walked back with a smile. She passed by an old farmer who was frozen on the spot and said, "Uncle Wang, I heard that you are selling piglets. Remember to leave a good one for my family, I'll go to your house to buy it tomorrow. Don't worry, I won't forget your money."
"Ah? Oh, oh, okay, okay…" Wang Wu was shocked. He could not believe that these polite words came from Qiao Mei.
Before Qiao Mei reached home, she already saw her grandfather waiting for her at the gate.
Seeing Qiao Mei carrying two big baskets, he held back his emotions and went up to her. As the person closest to Qiao Mei, he naturally knew how lazy she was.
That was why he knew how great the extent that Qiao Mei had changed.
"Grandfather, please rest. I can handle it." Qiao Mei sidestepped him. "I'm strong enough to carry it. Don't spoil me anymore, I should do some work."
"Alright, alright, let's go in!" Qiao Qiang said with a bright smile.
Qiao Mei brought the two baskets into the kitchen and lifted the weeds on the surface, revealing the golden pumpkins and big sweet potatoes inside.
Qiao Qiang froze on the spot and asked, "Where did you get so many pumpkins and sweet potatoes?"
"It's from the hot spring area at the back of the mountain," Qiao Mei said casually. "I was walking around and didn't expect to see so many pumpkins and sweet potatoes. I'll go and see if there are any other crops tomorrow."
From the hot spring area?
Qiao Qiang pondered that it was now the beginning of spring and the pumpkins and sweet potatoes in the fields had yet to sprout. This was the first time he had heard of so many crops growing at the hot spring area.
However, the temperature there was high, so it was not surprising if a few pumpkins and sweet potatoes grew there.
In the past, there might have been people who managed to pluck them, but remained tight-lipped and did not tell others.
"My Mei Mei is just lucky!" Qiao Qiang said with a gratified smile.
He did not think too much about it. Such beautiful pumpkins and sweet potatoes had to be from the hot spring area as nobody's land could produce crops of such good quality.
Qiao Mei put down all the things and started cooking.
Today's menu was a pumpkin feast - fried pumpkin, boiled pumpkin, stewed pumpkin, and fried pumpkin cake.
There was still no skill required in cooking, it all just depended on the fragrance of the ingredients.
Qiao Qiang could not stop praising once the food entered his mouth and the smile on his face grew wider and wider. The way he saw it, compared to other girls, Qiao Mei finally had a strong point. The food she made was so delicious. No matter where she went, she would not be looked down upon, right?
"Grandfather, I just told Uncle Wang Wu that we would go to his house tomorrow and buy a piglet to raise," Qiao Mei said.
Qiao Qiang was even happier when he heard that.
Now, not only did his granddaughter have good culinary skills, but she also knew how to think for her family.
"Okay, okay. We'll go over tomorrow morning. Grandfather feels much better than before and has more strength now. Raising a pig won't be a problem."
"You don't need to raise them. You just need to go and buy a piglet as I don't know how to pick one." Then Qiao Mei continued and asked, "Do we still have any money left?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Qiao Qiang smiled and waved his hand. "Don't worry about the money. Use the remaining money we have first and I will give him the balance when I get my retirement salary in a few days. These few days won't make a difference."
Besides, Qiao Qiang wasn't someone who would default on his payment.
Hearing this, Qiao Mei was stunned for a moment. She suddenly remembered that this was a society bound by relationships. It was not like the future when one would not be able to buy a piglet if one lacked a few dollars off the price
In that case, there was no hurry to sell the remaining pumpkins. After all, the remaining pumpkins were not worth much.
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