Author Archives: Thandar

In the end, Grandpa Chang was persuaded by the three younger ones.

In fact, Yu Qingze also leaned towards the courtyard-style design. With this design, the main house and the east and west side rooms were separated by a certain distance. They could have Grandpa Chang stay in the main house, he and Brother Le in the east side room, and the two young boys in the west side room. This way, they wouldn’t have to worry about being overheard when they did something at night.

Yu Qingze didn’t have high expectations for the soundproofing measures of ancient houses, so the courtyard-style design clearly aligned more with his expectations.

In the end, Grandpa Chang was persuaded, so they decided to build the courtyard-style house.

Once the style was determined, Yu Qingze redrew the designs and carefully marked how each part should be constructed. Then he went to find the village chief.

He had the blueprints ready, but he didn’t know the specifics of how to implement them. He had never built a house before and didn’t know what needed to be done, so he had to seek the help of the village chief.

In the village, when people built houses, they would ask the villagers for help. The village chief knew more about these matters than Yu Qingze. Moreover, they would need to seek assistance and consult with knowledgeable people when it came to hiring workers and purchasing materials.

“Wow, you’re planning to build something this big?” The village chief was taken aback when he looked at the blueprints that Yu Qingze brought.

“Yes,” Yu Qingze nodded and proceeded to explain the functions of each room in the blueprints to the village chief.

The village chief scratched his head and pondered for a while.

Dajian and Dayong also looked at the blueprints, and their eyes lit up.

“Dad, this house design is great. We can also build something like this. Look, Big Brother can live on this side, we can live on this side, and if Little Brother gets married in the future and is willing, he can live here too. It won’t interfere with each other, and we can take care of one another. It’s perfect,” Dayong said excitedly.

Dajian also nodded, “Right, the new house can accommodate two households, and we can still live in our current house. It’s enough.”

The village chief gave them a stern look and said, “Of course, I know it’s good, but have you thought about how much money it will cost to build such a courtyard? Do we have that much money?”

Upon hearing this, Dajian and Dayong fell silent. Yeah, they needed to have enough money!

Yu Qingze smiled and said, “My situation is different from yours. When Xiao Hao and Jiabao grow up and start their own families, they probably won’t live with us anymore. I will build another house for them.”

Even the closest brothers could inevitably have conflicts after starting their own families, so it was best to live separately. Moreover, by that time, he was confident that he could build them a good house.

“Aze, are you planning to build a house with blue bricks and tiles?” the village chief asked.

Yu Qingze nodded, “Yes.”

“Regarding the materials, you can go and ask Scholar Yu. He knows the prices of the materials they bought when they built their houses,” the village chief suggested.

“Alright, I’ll make a note of that. And if I want to finish the construction within a month, how many workers should I hire for help?” Yu Qingze asked.

“So urgent?” the village chief asked in surprise.

Yu Qingze nodded and smiled, “Once the house is built, I will marry Brother Le.”

Understanding his intentions, the village chief and the others laughed.

The village chief said, “In that case, you’ll need to hire at least fifteen to twenty workers and a couple of helpers to cook. When building houses in the village, it’s common to have someone in charge of meals. The daily wage for the workers is usually sixty wen, while the cooks would receive around forty to fifty wen. You can figure out the expenses yourself.”

“Which workers in the village would be more suitable for this?” Yu Qingze inquired.

The village chief then recommended about twenty people to him, but he warned that some of them might be busy with their farming duties in the second lunar month.

Yu Qingze noted down the names and said, “By the way, Village Chief, I also need your help to make some furniture, like cabinets, wooden beds, and tables. I’ve written down the designs in this notebook. There are two designs for the cabinets and wooden beds. They need to be painted as well. We can start making them now, or else I’m afraid we won’t finish in time.”

“Oh, let me take a look.” The village chief took Yu Qingze’s notebook and flipped through the pages.

…

After discussing with the village chief, Yu Qingze went to see Scholar Yu and inquired about where they used to buy blue bricks and tiles, as well as their prices.

Afterward, Yu Qingze visited the place Scholar Yu recommended for buying blue bricks and tiles. He also went to the master who had previously built their stove to ask for recommendations and visited two familiar shops, comparing prices. Finally, he chose two that seemed more suitable.

From the Lantern Festival onwards, for the next half month, Yu Qingze would visit the shops only once every other day. He was busy with the preliminary preparations for building the house, consulting with people, hiring workers, examining materials, negotiating prices—his days were filled with constant busyness. Fortunately, by the end of the first lunar month, everything was ready.

After the first day of the lunar month, the construction of the house could begin.

There was a skilled worker in the village who was known for his expertise in house construction. Yu Qingze hired him as the foreman, and they had already discussed and assigned the tasks beforehand.

On the first day of the second lunar month, the foreman gathered all the workers and reiterated the requirements and job assignments. Everyone started working.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

With the commencement of construction, Yu Qingze had to supervise the progress every day. He was busy coordinating the work and managing the materials, leaving him with little time to visit the shop. He could only go occasionally and rely on Jiabao’s updates in the evenings. Fortunately, everything was going well at the shop. He heard that the newly opened restaurant next door was doing quite well.

While Yu Qingze was occupied with the house construction, Brother Le had an additional task every evening apart from managing the shop.

Making wedding attire!

In fact, he had been secretly working on it before the Lunar New Year, but he didn’t dare let others know.

Brother Chang and his mother were also helping him with embroidery.

The wedding attire for a rural groom was not as grand and luxurious as those in wealthy households, but it still required a lot of effort. After all, this bridal attire was not like ordinary clothes—it would be worn only once in a lifetime and needed careful preparation.

“Brother Le, what about you? Why didn’t you tell us before the New Year? Now you’re in such a rush. Can you finish it in time?” Brother Chang said.

Brother Le’s mother added, “It’s okay. Let’s work a bit harder. We should be able to finish in time. But Brother Le, how about Yu Qingze’s wedding attire?”

Brother Le gestured that he had already completed it.

Brother Chang was surprised, “You made it for him? So fast?”

Brother Le nodded gently and gestured, “The groom’s wedding attire is not as complicated. It can be made quickly.”

He had secretly worked on it during the New Year holiday when everyone else was asleep.

Brother Chang covered his mouth and chuckled, saying, “I’ve never seen a bride-to-be making wedding attire for his fiancé before.”

Brother Le blushed and reached out to hit him. Brother Chang teased him again.

Brother Chang’s mother also laughed and said, “Well, this is a special case. Yu Qingze doesn’t have anyone else in his family to prepare it for him. Maybe he hasn’t even thought about it yet.”

Brother Le nodded. Indeed, he had never heard Yu Qingze mention this matter.

In fact, Yu Qingze had thought about it, but he had oversimplified it. He thought he could just go to a ready-made clothing store and buy a suitable set. After all, they had readymade options there.

Both of them were busy with their respective tasks, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed. Finally, on the fifth day of the third lunar month, the house was completed!

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Thandar: I feel like this chapter was really rushed 🤔

The House is Built

Yu Qingze and Chang Le sat for a while before they went to freshen up and prepare breakfast.

As the day grew brighter, households everywhere started lighting firecrackers to welcome the new spring. Yu Qingze also ignited firecrackers at the entrance of the courtyard to greet the new year.

As the firecrackers crackled, Chang Hao and Jiabao woke up and hurriedly ran to the door to watch. Chang Hao regretted waking up just a little late and missing the chance to light the firecrackers.

After they finished watching the firecrackers, Chang Le handed Jiabao the new cotton shoes they had just finished making last night and told him to put them on.

“Thank you, Brother Chang Le,” Jiabao’s nose turned slightly red as he held the shoes and looked at them for a while, reluctant to wear them.

Chang Le patted his shoulder, gesturing that there was no need to thank him.

“Brother Jiabao, hurry up and put them on,” Chang Hao urged him.

“Okay.” Jiabao put on the shoes, and after wearing them, he carefully admired them from all angles, a happy smile spreading across his face.

Before breakfast, the four younger generations took turns paying New Year’s respects to Grandpa Chang.

Grandpa Chang sat in his chair, very happy, and then generously gave each of them a couple of silvers as New Year’s money.

Chang Hao held the silvers and smirked. In previous years, Grandpa only gave them a token amount of two wen as New Year’s money. This year, it’s a lot more! Two silvers!

However, he just enjoyed the feeling for a moment. After breakfast, he handed the silvers to his older brother to keep. They were going out to pay New Year’s visits later, and he didn’t want to lose them. Otherwise, he would be heartbroken.

When the time was right, Chang Le placed the melon seeds, peanuts, and other snacks that were served to guests on the table, along with raisins and the like. They were waiting for someone to come and pay respects to Grandpa Chang so they could entertain them. Then he and Yu Qingze went out to pay New Year’s visits with the others.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, they didn’t visit relatives. Instead, they visited each other in the village to pay New Year’s respects. They would start visiting relatives on the second day.

Chang Le and the others first paid respects to the head of the Chang family and Chang family elders, and then they joined other members of the Chang family to visit the elders in the village and other villagers one by one.

The descendants of the Yu family were doing something similar.

In the morning, the whole village was bustling with New Year’s visits. Smiling faces and the scene of bowing and paying respects could be seen everywhere. The children were happily eating and holding various snacks given to them by the adults. Their pockets were full.

When they finished the rounds of visits and returned home, the house was lively. Many people were sunbathing and chatting at the door, mostly waiting for Yu Qingze to return so they could pay their respects to him.

Yu Qingze chatted with the adults while Chang Le was busy greeting guests. Chang Hao and Jiabao were playing with the other children in the yard. The younger boys enjoyed kicking shuttlecocks, while the little gers liked squatting and playing with fighting cocks or throwing stones.

It was very lively.

It wasn’t until close to noon that the villagers gradually went back home.

Since they had moved here and didn’t have relatives living nearby, Chang Le’s family didn’t have to visit relatives during the Lunar New Year.

During these few days of rest, Chang Le and Yu Qingze, along with the others, completed all the work that needed to be done in the fields. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have time to do it once the snack shop opened.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

In the evening, after studying together for an hour, Chang Le started making clothes for the spring, and Yu Qingze continued to work on the unfinished toothbrushes. The two boys also helped him.

Through their experiments, they made a total of four different styles.

One style involved threading pig bristles through two holes and securing them with hemp rope or thin wire. The second style involved folding the pig bristles in half and pulling them through a hole, then securing them with wire at the bent part on the back. The third style involved creating a small wooden groove and embedding the back of the toothbrush into it, similar to a drawer, so that the bristles would naturally stay in place. The fourth style involved making the toothbrush hole narrow at the top and wide inside, resembling a gourd shape, and then folding the pig bristles and inserting them, with a small bamboo piece wedged in the middle to hold them in place.

Each style had its advantages and disadvantages, but at least they could be used for a while. They made several brushes, ensuring that each person had one, and the remaining brushes could be kept as replacements. Then they made two larger brushes specifically for washing clothes.

Afterward, the village chief came to find Yu Qingze and saw the toothbrushes and larger brushes. They discussed the idea of making and selling them.

Yu Qingze had no objections if the village chief could make them. Making money was always a good thing, so he explained the process to the village chief.

On the fifth and sixth days of the Lunar New Year, Yu Qingze took the two boys to pay New Year’s respects at the Cai family and Zhao family. When they went to the Cai family, they learned that Master Cai (Governor) and his family had also returned for the New Year but had gone back to Yunzhou on the third day.

Then, on the eighth day, the snack shop opened for the New Year. Yu Qingze gave everyone red envelopes and motivated them. The enthusiasm of the people was high, and they worked energetically.

On the opening day, many old customers came to visit. They were used to eating dim sum from here, and during the New Year, breakfast at home just didn’t taste the same; it felt bland. Now that the snack shop was open, they naturally couldn’t wait to come.

After the smooth opening of the snack shop, Yu Qingze began to consider building the house.

Because of the custom of “no construction during the first month of the Lunar New Year,” building a house had to wait until after the first month. However, this period of time could be used to prepare for the initial work.

He fenced off an additional two acres of land next to the plot he had originally chosen for the house, and then he went to Li Zheng with the village chief to pay for the two acres of land and complete the necessary procedures.

Coming back and looking at the large empty land, Yu Qingze started thinking about the style of the house.

Originally, he planned to build a four-bedroom, one-living-room house, but now he changed his mind. With the addition of Jiabao to the family, the house needed to be a bit larger. He also wanted to have a study and a storage room.

He made a good amount of money from selling cured meat before the New Year, and he could sell it for another half a month. With that, he would have enough money to build a bigger house.

In his mind, Yu Qingze drew several sketches of house designs. Some were based on the typical style of local residences, while others were new styles created by Yu Qingze combining modern architecture. There were also courtyard-style designs. He planned to discuss with Brother Le and see which style they liked.

On the evening of the eleventh day of the Lunar New Year, Yu Qingze specifically called Brother Le back home. After dinner, Yu Qingze took out the house designs and explained them to everyone, then asked them to choose their favorite design.

As everyone looked through the designs, the three younger ones chose the courtyard-style design, while Grandpa Chang chose a design where all the rooms were under one roof, probably because it felt more like a family.

Then the three younger ones started persuading Grandpa Chang, saying how nice the courtyard-style yard looked and how it wouldn’t feel so crowded to live in, and so on.

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Thandar: Does this mean the wedding date is soon? woooooo!!!!

Chang Sheng hesitated for a moment, lowered his gaze, then raised his head with a silly smile and said, “I… I won’t go. You go back and eat quickly. It’s cold outside, and the food will get cold soon.”

Chang Le looked at his second uncle for a long time, and then gestured a long message.

Chang Hao said, “My brother says that what happened back then was an accident, and it’s not your fault. Father and mother have never blamed you either. My brother also said that our family is doing well now, and he is doing well too. Brother Yu treats him well, and he will get married next year. It’s time for you to let go of the past and live a good life.”

Upon hearing this, Chang Sheng’s nose tingled, and he quickly turned his head, wiping his eyes with his hand, and whispered, “If only I had taken better care of you, all of this wouldn’t have happened… Sigh, let’s not talk about this. You should go back and eat, don’t worry about me, go back quickly.”

Chang Le frowned, stepped forward, took the bowl and chopsticks from his second uncle’s hand, and placed them in the kitchen. Then he grabbed his second uncle’s wrist and started walking.

“Hey, Xiao Le, wait, wait…” Chang Sheng was a bit flustered, but he couldn’t resist the strength of Brother Le, who was dragging him along.

At the door, they ran into Wen Li, and Chang Sheng asked Wen Li to help stop Brother Le.

Wen Li sneered at him and said, “If you have the ability, stop him yourself. Every year it’s the same, we invite you but you never come. You’re already old, yet you insist on having Brother Le and the others come and invite you!” With that, he turned his head and walked away. It wasn’t until they had walked quite a distance that Chang Sheng finally sniffed hard, blinked his eyes, and held back the sour feeling.

So, Chang Sheng was forcibly dragged to the Chang’s courtyard by Brother Le.

“Oh, Chang Sheng is here! Come, come, sit here. Aze has cooked some delicious dishes. We must have a good drink.” When the men at the table saw Chang Sheng, they called out to him.

Brother Le pulled Chang Sheng directly to that table and gave him a bowl and chopsticks. With these men around, his second uncle couldn’t leave.

Grandpa Chang and Yu Qingze were also sitting at that table. When Chang Sheng sat down, Yu Qingze poured him a drink and raised his glass first, saying, “Second Uncle, we’ve been looking forward to your arrival. It’s almost New Year, so let’s have a good drink. Cheers, and Happy New Year!”

Chang Sheng was still a bit reserved, but seeing Yu Qingze toasting as soon as they sat down, he instinctively picked up his glass and replied, “Happy New Year! Happy New Year!”

…

They had a lively meal of the pig-killing feast, and everyone praised Yu Qingze’s cooking skills. Finally, they understood why his shop was so popular.

His skills were extraordinary!

After breakfast, the men who helped with the pig slaughter stayed behind to cut the remaining pork, while others went back home.

They kept the meat they would need during the New Year and turned the surplus into cured meat. Some of it was stuffed into jars to be cured. It took them a whole morning to process the entire pig.

The next day was New Year’s Eve.

They woke up early that day. The whole family was wearing new clothes made by Brother Le and looked especially spirited.

After breakfast, Grandpa Chang and Brother Le were busy killing chickens and ducks, while Yu Qingze and two young boys posted couplets, hung lanterns, and put up New Year paintings.

After finishing the decorations, everyone started preparing for the New Year’s Eve dinner together. It was a bustling scene.

The New Year’s Eve dinner here usually starts in the afternoon and continues until evening. They would then have another meal of dumplings a little later in the evening.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was prepared extravagantly, with chicken, duck, and fish on the menu. Yu Qingze also bought some lamb and made braised lamb. He also stewed pig’s trotters with sweet potato vermicelli, which was delicious.

“Come, come, the final dish, ‘Year after Year with ‘Yu’!’ Xiao Hao, you can set off the firecrackers!” Yu Qingze placed the last dish of braised fish on the table and called out to Chang Hao, who was in the yard.

“Oh, great!” Chang Hao had been waiting to set off firecrackers. When he heard Yu Qingze’s voice, he lit the fuse of the firecrackers with the incense in his hand.

Crackling sounds filled the air—crackling sounds filled the air—

It’s New Year!

After paying respects to their ancestors, the five of them sat around a table and could finally start their meal.

This was Yu Qingze’s first New Year’s Eve dinner since he came here, and it was the happiest New Year’s Eve dinner he had in the twelve years since his grandfather passed away.

Because he could finally celebrate the New Year with his family again.

He was filled with joy and excitement, but unfortunately, Grandpa Chang was drinking Chinese medicine and couldn’t have alcohol. Brother Le accompanied him and had a few drinks instead.

The two young boys couldn’t drink, so Yu Qingze bought fresh apples and oranges and made juice for them. The two boys were delighted with the drinks.

They spent a whole hour enjoying the meal. After finishing, Brother Le just collapsed and fell asleep.

Yu Qingze helped him to his room and let him rest. He himself took a short nap and then woke up to make dumplings.

In the evening, the family had another meal of dumplings. They sat around the charcoal brazier, eating melon seeds, peanuts, and red dates, chatting and staying up late together. The atmosphere was joyful.

Brother Le listened to their conversation while making shoes. These were cotton shoes he was making for Jiabao. There was one shoe left without the upper part, and he wanted to finish it tonight so that Jiabao could wear the new shoes tomorrow.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

They chatted for a while, and Yu Qingze remembered the pig bristles he deliberately kept from yesterday’s pig slaughtering. He went to find a piece of wood and picked up the small knife he borrowed from the village chief’s house to start shaving.

“Big brother, what are you doing?” Jiabao asked.

“I’m trying to make a toothbrush,” Yu Qingze said as he shaved. He remembered reading online that ancient people used pig bristles to make toothbrushes. They would make small holes in the wood and insert the pig bristles into them.

Upon hearing this, Chang Hao curiously asked, “Toothbrush? For brushing teeth?”

Yu Qingze nodded and said, “Using willow branches is not very convenient for us, especially in winter when the willow branches are dried up. If I can make it, it will be more convenient for us to brush our teeth.”

“Oh, what does it look like?”

“It’s probably like this. I’ll thin down this piece of wood a bit, then carve a row of small holes inside and secure the pig bristles in them…”

“But how do you secure them?”

“Well, I have to think about that. Maybe you can think about it too?”

“Oh, then let’s think. Can we tie it with a rope?”

“If the rope gets wet, it might break, right? How about using wire?”

“Like a shuttlecock, if we fill it up with bristles, they won’t fall out, right?”

“…”

The two young boys started discussing back and forth.

They stayed up until late at night, but Grandpa Chang couldn’t stay awake any longer and went to sleep. The two boys were also dozing off.

Yu Qingze told the two boys to go to sleep and stayed up for the New Year’s Eve with Brother Le.

“Brother Le, if you’re sleepy, you can go to sleep. I can stay awake.”

Brother Le shook his head and gestured with the shoes in his hand, indicating that he wouldn’t feel sleepy as long as he had work to do.

So, one was making shoes while the other was making a toothbrush. They would steal glances at each other from time to time, and before they knew it, the sky was already getting bright.

When they saw the first light of dawn on the horizon, they smiled at each other.

The new year had arrived.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

It’s New Year’s!

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, the winter sun was warm and gentle.

Brother Le took all the bedding and sheets from the entire family to be washed, while the four men took charge of cleaning the house.

Lately, their cured meats were selling well, and even Grandpa Chang and Chang Hao were helping out at the snack shop. So on that day, the snack shop didn’t close for the holiday. They only finished work half an hour earlier, which meant the house hadn’t been cleaned yet.

Wearing straw hats and holding clean brooms tied to long bamboo poles, they began sweeping the house.

The two young boys didn’t have much strength, and their hands quickly grew tired from holding the bamboo poles. So, Yu Qingze instructed them to sweep the floor and wipe the tables and cabinets.

The four men thoroughly cleaned every nook and cranny of the house, moving cabinets and beds to sweep underneath.

“Hey, Xiao Hao, look, I found a copper hairpin here.” Jiabao discovered a hairpin covered in mud while sweeping under Chang Le’s bed. It had been buried in the ground for quite some time. He picked it up and showed it to Chang Hao.

“Where? Let me see.” Chang Hao walked over and carefully examined the hairpin. “I’ve never seen it before. It doesn’t seem to belong to my brother. I’ll ask Grandpa.”

“Grandpa, we found a hairpin.” Chang Hao went to the main room, holding the copper hairpin, and asked Grandpa Chang. He added, “It doesn’t seem to belong to my brother.”

“What hairpin?” Grandpa Chang stopped what he was doing, turned his head to take a look, paused for a moment, then reached out and gently wiped off the dust on it. He said, “This belongs to your mother.”

Chang Hao widened his eyes in surprise and exclaimed, “It belonged to my mother?”

When Chang Hao’s mother passed away, he was only two years old, so he has no memories of his mother. The only thing he remembers is the annual worship during holidays. From the time he had memories, he only had his older brother and grandfather.

“Hmm.” Grandfather Chang looked at the hairpin for a while and then said, “When you were young, you were playing with it and accidentally lost it. Your brother searched for it for a long time but couldn’t find it. Where did you find it?”

Chang Hao replied, “Brother Jiabao found it between the bedpost and the corner of the wall. We moved the bed, and it was buried in the soil.”

Grandfather Chang nodded and handed him the hairpin, saying, “Take it and clean it. Give it to your brother when he comes back.”

“Okay.” Chang Hao took the hairpin and went to the kitchen to wash it.

When Brother Le came back and saw the hairpin in his younger brother’s hand, he excitedly snatched it away, caressed it repeatedly, smiled silently, but his eyes were moist.

Seeing his brother so emotional, Chang Hao said, “Brother, Grandpa said this is mother’s hairpin, right?”

Brother Le nodded.

“I lost it when I was little?”

Brother Le continued nodding.

“I’m sorry, brother.” Seeing his brother’s expression, Chang Hao knew that his brother cherished this hairpin a lot. Although he didn’t have much impression of their mother, he knew that his brother had a deep emotional connection with him.

Upon hearing this, Brother Le shook his head, touched his younger brother’s head, indicating that it was alright.

Brother Le put the hairpin in the room and carefully stored it.

Unexpectedly finding a long-lost item, especially their mother’s belonging, made Brother Le very happy.

The next day, on the twenty-ninth day of the lunar year, Brother Le’s family was going to slaughter the New Year’s pig.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Early in the morning, before the sun rose, the whole family woke up. Chang Hao, Jiabao, and the rest of the family joined in to watch the lively scene.

The skilled men from the village who were good at slaughtering pigs and a few helpers had arrived. Wen Li and Brother Chang’s family also came over. It was a custom in the village to invite relatives and close friends to help during the pig slaughtering and have a meal together. Yesterday, when Brother Chang’s family slaughtered the pig, Brother Le’s family also went over for lunch.

The boys were in the kitchen boiling water and steaming rice. They prepared three big pots of boiling water.

The men brought two large long benches and placed them in the yard. Then, they went into the pigsty. The man responsible for slaughtering the pig hooked its neck with an iron hook and dragged it out.

The fat and sturdy pig screamed, waking up the people from nearby houses. Upon hearing the noise, they realized it was pig slaughtering and went back to sleep peacefully, as they had been hearing it frequently lately.

Some people helped drag the pig from the front, while others chased from behind. It took some effort, but they managed to get the pig out of the pigsty and into the yard. They then lifted the pig onto the bench, placing it on its side. Several men held down the pig’s limbs and body firmly, preventing it from moving.

Chang Hao, Jiabao, and the children from Brother Chang’s and Wen Li’s families stood by curiously watching. Even though they had seen it yesterday, they couldn’t take their eyes off the scene.

The man slaughtering the pig saw that Brother Le had already prepared a wooden basin and instructed him to collect the blood later. Then, he positioned himself and swiftly slaughtered the pig.

Upon seeing this, Brother Le quickly took the wooden basin to collect the pig’s blood.

After collecting the blood, Brother Le immediately carried the basin to the kitchen and added some water and salt to it, so it would solidify.

In the yard, once the pig stopped moving, the man slaughtering it made a cut just above the hind hoof. Then, they began blowing air into it. After inflating the pig, several men lifted it and placed it into a large wooden basin. They then started pouring hot water over the pig, thoroughly wetting it, and began scraping off its hair.

After cleaning off the pig’s hair, they hung the pig upside down on a ladder and started the process of gutting it…

Upon seeing the pig’s hair, Yu Qingze remembered something and gathered all the pig’s hair together, placing it under the eaves of the house.

Once the pig’s internal organs were removed, Yu Qingze immediately asked Brother Chang’s mother to take the pig intestines and clean them. He planned to make blood sausages for everyone later.

While the men in the yard were busy cutting the pig into pieces, Yu Qingze and Brother Le started washing and cutting vegetables to prepare dishes.

They busied themselves all morning, and the food was ready. People in the countryside were not so particular, so they simply set up tables and benches in the yard to eat. Altogether, there were three tables, and it was lively.

The dishes were served.

Blood sausages, stir-fried pig liver, stir-fried pork kidney, braised pork, stir-fried pork, braised pig intestines, assorted cured meats, vinegar-braised cabbage, and lean meat soup.

As everyone smelled the aroma of the dishes, they became invigorated. After taking a bite, they couldn’t stop themselves from eating, exclaiming how delicious it was.

After Brother Le had arranged the dishes on the table, he looked around and didn’t see his second uncle. He found Wen Li and gestured, asking why his second uncle hadn’t come.

“You’re asking about your second uncle?” Wen Li looked at Brother Chang Le gesturing and guessed. Every year, he would ask the same question.

Chang Le nodded.

Wen Li shook his head and said, “You know, every year we invite him, but he never comes. It’s okay, don’t worry about him. You should go ahead and eat.”

After hearing this, Chang Le fell silent for a while. Then he gestured again, saying, “I’ll go call him.”

Saying that, he untied his apron, called Chang Hao, and went out.

“Hey, Brother Le…” Wen Li watched from behind, sighed, put down his chopsticks, and followed them.

They arrived at the second uncle’s house, and he was sitting at the kitchen doorway, drinking porridge. When he saw Brother Le and his brother coming in, he froze.

“Xiao Le, Xiao Hao, why are you here? Isn’t it time for lunch?”

Brother Chang Le gestured a couple of times, and Chang Hao said, “Second uncle, my brother says to come with us for lunch.”

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Thandar: I want to eat all those dishes … Brother Yu, adopt me toooooo

Ji Cha had no idea that there was such a place in the base. Now that he was inside and heard the sound of the door being closed behind him, he realized that he had been a bit reckless.

However, when he borrowed the information card from Zhang Xing, he had told him that he was going to in the eastern district, and he had also brought his own information card. Even if something happened, he didn’t believe that the group of people led by Brother Qiang would dare to lay a hand on him.

As soon as the door closed, the light inside immediately became insufficient.

Brother Qiang walked in front of him and systematically introduced the situation here to Ji Cha.

“We have all kinds of women here, ranging in age from their teens to their forties and fifties. It just depends on how much money you have. We offer all kinds of services.”

Ji Cha pretended to be timid: “I’m just afraid that if I spend money here, someone will find out, you know?”

Brother Qiang laughed heartily: “Who knows about that? Those who have the authority to check consumption records are not ordinary people. We use shopping points to pay here, just like going to a supermarket, except that the pricing is more flexible.”

In fact, to put it bluntly, this kind of business always has someone covering it before they can dare to be so open and aboveboard. Ji Cha was very sure that there must be high-ranking people above them who paved the way or provided protection.

Afraid of arousing Brother Qiang’s suspicion, Ji Cha asked again, “How do we choose, do you have any photos?”

Brother Qiang nodded, then took out a phone from his pocket, opened one of the albums, and handed the phone to Ji Cha: “Take a look, the price is listed below each photo.”

Ji Cha took the phone, and the photos were obviously arranged in order from young to old. The women had different looks, and their eyes facing the camera were not lively at all. Here, they were not considered human beings, but commodities with prices clearly marked.

Ji Cha chose a girl in her twenties with a good appearance: “Is this one okay?”

Brother Qiang glanced at it and smiled, “Kid, you have good taste. Although this one is a bit expensive, her service is absolutely top-notch.” He patted Ji Cha on the shoulder and asked him to follow him.

Ji Cha was led through a maze-like building, wondering what the place was originally used for. After a couple of turns, they reached a small door at which Brother Qiang stopped. On the way, they saw many rooms with pictures of women pasted on the doors, and as they climbed the stairs, they could hear ambiguous sounds coming from between the door seams.

Ji Cha noticed security guards stationed at each corner, and there were three on that floor alone.

Brother Qiang took out a key from his pocket and after counting, he picked one and inserted it into the lock. It took a few turns before the door finally opened. The room was dark, but Brother Qiang turned on the lights. Ji Cha saw only a mattress with a girl sitting on it, just like the one in the photo.

“Half an hour, you can finish early if you want,” Brother Qiang said. “It’s 30 points. Swipe the card downstairs after you’re done.”

He closed the door again, but this time he didn’t lock it, so Ji Cha could open the door from the inside.

It was the first time Ji Cha had been to such a place before, and he felt nervous, especially when he saw the girl on the mattress. The girl seemed accustomed to this kind of life. She got up, smiled at Ji Cha, and began to undress.

“Wait,” Ji Cha hurriedly stopped her. “Can we talk first?”

The girl was puzzled. She had never met anyone who wanted to chat before getting to the point.

“Talk?” she asked. “About what?”

She was worried that Ji Cha didn’t quite understand what Brother Qiang had said earlier, so she repeated it: “We only have half an hour, and they have already started timing outside.”

She then tried to undress again, but Ji Cha held her hand and said, “Don’t take off your clothes yet. Sit down.”

The girl was quite obedient and sat down as instructed by Ji Cha. She asked, “Do you want to try something different? That will cost extra.”

She thought that Ji Cha wanted to talk to her about some strange sexual fetishes.

Ji Cha had never encountered someone who was so direct. He couldn’t help blushing and asked shyly, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Xiao Rou,” the girl answered, but Ji Cha wasn’t sure if that was her real name.

“I didn’t know there was a place like this,” Ji Cha hesitated for a moment and asked the second half of his question, “Are you doing this voluntarily, or are you being forced to do it?”

Xiao Rou was taken aback and didn’t expect Ji Cha to ask that. She laughed at herself and said, “Does it matter?”

Ji Cha replied seriously, “Of course it matters. This kind of place is not allowed in the base.”

“The base has no jurisdiction over here. If they could, they would have cracked down on this place six months ago,” Xiao Rou realized that Ji Cha was not a genuine client, so she put her half-removed clothes back on. “This place was originally tacitly approved by the upper echelon of the base.”

“How do you know that?”

“You think no leaders have come here to play? There are plenty,” Xiao Rou became a little impatient, “Are you one of those silly people who come here to try to persuade others to change their ways?”

Ji Cha didn’t know how to respond to that, but what caught his attention more was Xiao Rou’s first sentence. Someone clearly knew about this place and even came to participate?

Xiao Rou obviously didn’t want to say much more to him. Ji Cha stayed in the room for about twenty minutes before leaving.

Brother Qiang stood not far from the doorway, smiling as he asked Ji Cha, “Feeling good, aren’t you? Come by more often when you have the time, it’ll do wonders for your spirit.”

Ji Cha handed over his information card, and Brother Qiang took it to have his men deduct the points before returning it to Ji Cha.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

On the way back, Brother Qiang didn’t follow Ji Cha but let him go alone. Ji Cha walked slowly down from the upper floor and turned two corners. He thought he was about to leave the place when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind him.

“Wait a minute,” Brother Qiang’s voice rang out.

Ji Cha’s hand was already on the door handle, and he had even opened the latch when he turned to look at Brother Qiang, “What’s wrong?”

He felt something was off, and when he opened the door a crack, Brother Qiang’s face immediately changed. He yelled to his men to stop Ji Cha, “Don’t let him run!”

The two men guarding the door rushed forward to stop Ji Cha, their hands pressing against the door to prevent him from opening it any further.

In his panic, Ji Cha pushed harder, hoping to open the door wide enough for him to slip out. He didn’t realize that he had used too much force, and the door flew open suddenly, causing the two men to stumble backward.

Ji Cha didn’t have time to ponder why his strength had suddenly increased; he just dodged through the open door. Those outside had heard the commotion and saw Ji Cha rushing out in a hurry, so they knew something was wrong and surrounded him.

“Don’t move!” One of them even had a gun and pressed it against Ji Cha’s waist.

Brother Qiang had also caught up by then and said, “Bring him inside.”

The gun was not a joke, and Ji Cha dared not move. He followed Brother Qiang’s men back inside the iron gate.

“What kind of person are you? You come here without doing business and ask all these questions?” Brother Qiang’s friendly demeanor was gone, and he was now not only wary of Ji Cha but also had murderous intent.

Ji Cha calmly replied, “There is another information card in my right pocket. If you take a look, you’ll know who I am.”

Brother Brother Qiang’s stepped forward to retrieve the information card from Ji Cha’s right pocket. His men then scanned it according to the procedure. When they saw that it was Ji Cha from the farm, even Brother Qiang’s was taken aback.

The farm is neither big nor small, and rumors say that Director Ji and Captain Liang are still close.

Quick to react, Brother Qiang whispered a few words to his men and two of them ran upstairs. Then he turned back to Ji Cha and smiled, “I didn’t expect it to be Director Ji, pardon me.”

The person behind Ji Cha who had been pointing a gun at him also put it down under Brother Qiang’s signal. Since his identity was exposed, Ji Cha saw no reason to beat around the bush, “You guys are doing this here, surely you know that you might get caught one day, right?”

But Brother Qiang played dumb, “What are you talking about? Director Ji, have you misunderstood something? We’re just doing some small business here.”

As he spoke, someone brought a pile of things over, which Brother Qiang handed to Ji Cha, “This is what you scanned with the other card just now, please count it and see that there’s absolutely nothing missing.”

Ji Cha then realized that Brother Qiang’s game was to deny everything even if it killed him. Compared to the women upstairs who were temporarily taken away by him, Ji Cha had no witnesses or evidence, so there was no way to convict him immediately.

Plus, if there were people covering up for Brother Qiang above, a little maneuvering could easily solve this problem.

Of course, all of this was on the premise that Ji Cha was just a farm director, but he wasn’t. He was also Captain Liang’s boyfriend.

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Hidden Thoughts

Among the five carts of cured meat, one cart was reserved for the Cai family, Zhao family, and Boss Liu. Yu Qingze set it aside for them.

Today, there was no rush to start cooking. They quickly set up their stalls and began selling.

According to the two individuals who came from the other side of the river, they owned a restaurant in the city across the river. Yesterday, two customers at their restaurant mentioned how delicious their newly bought cured meat and sausages were. Unable to resist, they took out a piece of cured sausage and asked the staff at their restaurant to steam it. The aroma of the sausage caught their attention.

They shamelessly asked the customers for a taste and, after trying it, they hurriedly inquired where it was bought. It turned out to be from the city on this side of the river. They keenly felt that if they could bring this food to sell at their restaurant, it would definitely sell well. So, early in the morning, they took the earliest boat and came over.

The two expressed their desire to establish a long-term partnership with Yu Qingze, ensuring a continuous supply of cured meat.

“Sorry, both of you. I would also love to have a long-term partnership, but we can’t guarantee a continuous supply of cured meat as the weather gets hotter. We estimate that we can only sell until the end of the first month of next year,” Yu Qingze regretfully explained.

Upon hearing this, the two individuals immediately bought all the cured meat they had brought with them. They planned to come back tomorrow to stock up some more, just in case they run out in the future. They couldn’t afford to miss out!

In the morning, people from the Cai and Zhao families also came to pick up their reserved cured meat. Yu Qingze sold it to them at the purchase price without charging extra.

In the afternoon, when Boss Liu had some free time, he also came by. Standing at the entrance with Yu Qingze, he tilted his chin towards the shop on the left and said, “I heard they’ll open for business after the New Year.”

Yu Qingze glanced at the original Wang’s shop, where people were coming in and out, and renovations were taking place. He asked, “I heard it will be a restaurant?”

After the incident with Boss Wang, their shop closed down completely not long after. Later, someone rented the place, and within a few days, they started making noises inside, doing renovations. Until now, they still haven’t opened for business.

Boss Liu nodded and said, “Yeah, not sure where they’re from. New faces.”

Yu Qingze replied, “No matter where they’re from, as long as they’re dedicated to running their business, it’s good.”

The two chatted for a while, and then Boss Liu used his newly purchased cart to pull his cured meat back home.

In the following days, the cured meats sold very smoothly, and the villagers were enthusiastic about making sweet potato noodles and cured meats. Everything was developing in a positive direction.

In the eyes of Yu Qingze, it seemed that way.

However, Yu Qingze didn’t know that while he was unaware, the village secretly dealt with two households.

The reason was that some villagers noticed that Yu Qingze was selling cured meats for twenty wén more per jin than they were. This immediately sparked some scheming in their minds.

One household went directly to the seldom-visited Chengdong Market to sell, but they were discovered by a villager who was squatting there collecting sweet potatoes. The other household, being more clever, secretly transported their goods to a neighboring town to sell. Unfortunately, that day, they were discovered by a villager who happened to be returning home for personal matters.

They didn’t dare to directly inform Yu Qingze about the two households’ actions, so they told the village chief.

Upon hearing about this, the village chief became furious and extremely angry. He called the men from the two households to his home and scolded them, saying, “Do you have no brains?! Huh? Now you can earn twenty wén more for every jin of cured meat, and you still find it insufficient? Yu Qingze only earns twenty wén per jin, and he still has to pay for labor and rent. He earns even less than you. How can you be so greedy? Without someone like Yu Qingze, can you earn this money? Has your conscience been eaten by dogs?”

One of the men from the household whispered, “We just wanted to make some extra money before the New Year.”

“Make some extra money? You made a few hundred wén more now, but when Yu Qingze finds out, will you be able to earn this money in the future? If he finds other ways to make money, do you think he’ll tell you or not? Have you forgotten the rules he set? You’re blinded by money! You have pig brains! Even calling you pig-brained is an insult to pigs!”

Upon hearing this, the two households immediately remembered the requirements Yu Qingze had mentioned, and they deeply regretted their actions.

A villager nearby said, “Village chief, should we tell Aze about this?”

The two households who had done wrong immediately pleaded, “Please don’t tell him, please don’t tell him. We promise we won’t go out to sell anymore, Village chief, please don’t tell him…”

The village chief looked at the two households, who were indeed poor, and sighed. He said, “I can’t make this decision. If one day you commit another offense, both the village chief and they,” he pointed to the men who had discovered them, “will be implicated because of you.”

“That’s right! How can you guarantee that you won’t do it again? If you do it again, both the village chief and us will know about it. Then, well, we’ll be protecting you. By that time, Aze definitely won’t be willing to teach us anymore. It’s not easy to find a way to make money, and you’ve ruined it. Village chief, I think it’s better to tell Aze,” said the man who was collecting sweet potatoes on the street.

The two households became anxious and said, “We promise we won’t go out to sell anymore! We just had a moment of madness to commit such a foolish act. Village chief, how about this? We can write a written guarantee, promising not to do it again.”

Another man asked, “What if they do it again?”

“If they do it again… we… we…” The two households stumbled and couldn’t come up with an answer.

The man who was collecting sweet potatoes became angry and immediately said, “Fine them! Each household should be fined ten yuan, no, at least twenty yuan of silver to Aze. Additionally, if we are implicated as well, they should compensate for our and the village chief’s losses!”

“That’s too much! Daniu, you’re just being greedy!” one of the men stared at him.

“What else guarantees that you won’t do it again?” Daniu retorted.

The village chief nodded and said, “That’s a good idea! Let’s do it this way. If you agree, I’ll write the guarantee letter for you to sign and affix your seal. If you don’t agree, I’ll immediately go and tell Aze!”

The two households had no choice and eventually agreed to sign and seal the guarantee letter.

After two days, the village chief contemplated the matter and finally found an opportunity to tell Yu Qingze.

Upon hearing this, Yu Qingze fell silent for a moment and then sighed, saying, “My intention was to help everyone make some extra money, increase their income. But with more people involved, it’s inevitable that various schemes would arise. I anticipated this and warned them beforehand. Village chief, I appreciate your handling of the situation. You can pretend that I don’t know about it. Having something to restrain them, making them tremble in fear and dare not go out to sell anymore, is quite good.”

The village chief also sighed, feeling somewhat frustrated.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Qingze continued, “Village chief, here’s what you can do. Pretend that I’m unaware of this matter, but quietly inform the other villagers, especially those households who might have similar intentions. Treat it as your advice to them, reminding them not to commit the same mistake.”

Greed is something that everyone can fall prey to, and such incidents are indeed difficult to avoid. Moreover, Yu Qingze himself didn’t have a good way to handle it. He could choose not to teach them any other methods in the future, but if they became dissatisfied and exposed these two methods, it would create even more trouble. It was better to handle it through the village chief’s intervention.

The village chief pondered for a moment and nodded, saying, “Alright, I’ll go back and talk to them.”

After the village chief spoke to them, those in the village who had similar intentions but hadn’t taken action yet immediately gave up the idea.

A fine of twenty yuan? How long would they have to work to earn that much!

In mid-December, the first snow fell in Tongshan City, and the weather became even colder. At this time, every household began preparing for the New Year, stocking up on goods and getting ready for the festivities.

The atmosphere of the upcoming New Year could already be felt on the streets. Shops had hung up red lanterns in advance, and various fried and dried goods, as well as festive gifts, were displayed throughout the streets. There were more people on the streets than usual, creating a lively atmosphere.

The school had already started its winter break, and during this period, Chang Hao came to the shop every day to help. The mischievous child had a way with words and made everyone laugh with his witty remarks about their snacks.

Grandpa Chang went out for a stroll every day, buying New Year goods, and Yu Qingze accompanied him, selecting a variety of items for consumption and gifts.

At the snack shop, after discussing with Brother Le, Yu Qingze decided to keep it open until the twenty-seventh of the twelfth lunar month and give everyone a holiday starting on the twenty-eighth. They would resume work on the eighth day of the first lunar month.

On the last day of business before the New Year, Yu Qingze distributed everyone’s wages and gave each person an additional three hundred wen as a festival allowance.

The workers were delighted to receive their wages and festival allowance. Boss Yu always paid their wages on time every month without any delays. And during festivals, they even received extra allowances. Recently, their families had also earned a good sum of money from the sweet potato flour and cured meats.

This year, the entire village will be able to have a great New Year.

Everyone cleaned up the shop, wiped the tables and chairs, turned them upside down, and stored any unused ingredients such as flour in the storeroom. The remaining fresh vegetables were taken home by Boss Yu. The stove and firewood were extinguished with water, and the garbage was disposed of properly. All the doors and windows were securely closed and locked. After thoroughly tidying up, everyone finally went home together.

The Lunar New Year is just around the corner!

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Thandar: I wonder where Boss Wang is and what he is doing now. Better not show up in the novel later, Mr. Wang.

Yu Qingze laughed and said, “Dr. He, don’t worry about it. The prescription you gave to Grandpa is incredibly important to us. You don’t need to be polite with me. Just choose whatever you like.”

Dr. He laughed and said, “Alright then. I won’t be polite. I’m still savoring the lunch I had at your place yesterday.”

Upon hearing that Yu Qingze was the person who saved his father’s life, the middle-aged man immediately clasped his hands and bowed, saying, “I am grateful for Boss Yu’s help. We will be forever indebted to you. If you ever need anything in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Yu Qingze smiled and replied, “Brother He, there’s no need to be so formal. We just happened to come across the situation. We’re all villagers here, so no need to worry about it.”

The middle-aged man wanted to say something, but Dr. He interrupted him, smiling and saying, “Alright, you two don’t need to keep being polite. We met by fate, and if we keep going on like this, I’ll be starving.”

“Hahaha, Dr. He is right. Come on, let me take you to get your food.” They helped Dr. He, and Dr. He helped them. It was hard to say who owed a debt of gratitude to whom, just as Dr. He said, it was good enough to have made the acquaintance.

Yu Qingze took the two of them to get their food and then said, “We also have a sour and spicy noodle dish, but you can’t have it since you injured your leg.”

Dr. He expressed some regret upon hearing this and said, “My son also said the sour and spicy noodles are delicious. If only I had come on the day when it was available. Now I can’t have it even if I want to.”

Yu Qingze smiled and said, “Then you can come and eat it another time. After all, Yunzhou is not far from here.” Dr. He mentioned that his family was from Yunzhou.

“That’s true. When you visit Yunzhou, remember to come to my house as guests, so I can properly entertain you. I usually go out for two months in spring and autumn, but the rest of the time, I’m at home.”

“Sure, thank you in advance, Dr. He.” Yu Qingze replied with a smile.

Dr. He and his son returned to Yunzhou the next day. Although Dr. He had some other places to visit originally, his leg injury prevented him from doing so. He could only return home and recover. Before leaving, Yu Qingze also gave them some cured meat to take back and taste.

Two days later, the first batch of cured meat and sausages prepared by the villagers were ready. Yu Qingze inspected them one by one and purchased them according to the previously discussed price.

During the purchase, he explained to the villagers in advance, “Fellow villagers, let me make it clear beforehand. You’ll earn 15-20 coins per jin for each type of cured meat. When I sell them, the price will definitely be higher than that; otherwise, I won’t make any profit. That’s for sure. Regardless of how much I sell them for later, if someone sees that I’m selling at a higher price and secretly goes to sell it in the market, once discovered, it will be considered a breach of contract, and I won’t cooperate with them again. I hope everyone remembers.”

The villagers agreed.

After selling the first batch of cured meat, the villagers were extremely happy to receive money. By this time of the year, it was almost New Year’s, and they didn’t have much to sell. There wasn’t much work to be done in the fields, and they mostly stayed idle at home. When it came time for the Lunar New Year, buying New Year goods required money for everything.

Nowadays, every household in the village is making sweet potato noodles and cured meat. Sweet potato noodles are made faster, and once sold, some of the money is used to buy more sweet potatoes, while the rest is used to buy meat to make more cured meat. They can sell sweet potato noodles approximately every two days, and a second batch of cured meat can be sold two or three days after the first batch.

The money that comes in circulates and generates more money. The month that used to require spending money has now become a month of earning money. How can they not be happy?

The entire village now wishes to worship Yu Qingze. Everyone praises Brother Le as well, saying that it’s fortunate he saved Yu Qingze in the first place. He truly made the right choice! Otherwise, they wouldn’t have such a good opportunity now!

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

In one day, Yu Qingze and his team bought all the cured meat and sausages in the village, categorizing them based on the strings representing different flavors. The next morning, he borrowed the village head’s ox cart and flatbed cart, as well as flatbed carts from Brother Chang’s and Tie Zhu’s houses. He also borrowed several scales. Together with the shop’s employees, they first brought five flatbed carts of cured meat to the shop.

The prices and sales arrangements were made in advance.

When it was time to open the shop, they set up two large tables at the entrance, covered them with clean mats, and placed various cured meats on them. They placed price tags in front of them. Afterwards, they brought out stoves and began steaming the cured meat and sausages in front of everyone.

On this day, all the employees were working, and Grandpa Chang also came to help at the shop.

Yu Qingze selected two employees who were good at talking and had arithmetic skills. When the cured meat and sausages were almost steamed, and the aroma had already filled the air, they started banging the gong and shouting at the entrance.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Gentlemen, come and have a look! Our Yu’s Delicious Delights proudly presents a variety of cured meats: cured pork, cured sausages, cured chicken, cured duck, and cured fish. The flavors are unique, mouthwatering, and unforgettable. The fragrance spreads for miles! With the upcoming Lunar New Year, invite your guests, visit your relatives and friends, and bring our cured meats. There couldn’t be a more suitable choice…”

In fact, even during their preparation process, they had already attracted quite a few people. Now, with the aroma of the cured meat filling the air, without the need for the assistant’s shouting, people naturally walked over.

“What is this? It smells so good!”

“Boss Yu, what kind of food is this? It smells amazing!”

“Yes, just smelling this aroma makes my stomach rumble, even though I just had breakfast.”

“…”

When Yu Qingze lifted the lid, instantly, the aroma of the cured meat became even more intense.

Everyone took a deep breath, feeling their saliva production go into overdrive in their mouths, and they couldn’t help but swallow hard.

It smells so good…

“Dear villagers, these are cured pork, cured sausages, cured chicken, cured duck, and cured fish. I’ve cut them into small pieces. Please taste the flavor,” Yu Qingze said, and together with one of the employees, they cut the cured meat into small pieces and skewered them on bamboo sticks. Brother Chang handed them out to everyone to taste.

The oily but not greasy, rich and fragrant flavor immediately captivated everyone’s taste buds!

“Boss Yu, how much is this cured pork? And what about these cured sausages…”

“I like the spicy flavor. How much for the spicy ones?”

“This cured duck is delicious too!”

“…”

While Yu Qingze was busy cutting the meat, Brother Chang took the lead and answered, “Dear villagers, please listen to me. The cured pork and cured sausages come in three flavors: five-spice, spicy, and numbingly spicy. The five-spice flavor is 70 wen per jin, while the spicy and numbingly spicy flavors are 80 wen per jin. Cured chicken and cured duck are 60 wen per jin, and cured fish is 50 wen per jin.”

Yu Qingze set the prices, all of which were 20 wen higher than the purchase price.

“It’s so expensive!”

“Yeah, quite pricey!”

“But the taste is really good! I’ll buy some to try!”

“Same here, I’ll buy some too.”

“Waiter, can I buy half a jin?”

“You can buy half a jin. And you can buy cured sausages by the piece!”

“Give me half a jin of spicy cured pork and a piece of regular cured sausage!”

“I’ll take a piece of cured fish. I love eating fish!”

…”

The entrance of the snack shop suddenly became lively. People were ordering half a jin here and a piece there. The three of them couldn’t keep up. Yu Qingze quickly called another assistant from the shop to help.

In the morning, most of the locals were buying a small amount to take home and taste. After all, it was quite expensive, and if they bought it home and no one liked it, it would go to waste.

Those who bought more were the traveling merchants. They were about to leave, and who knows if they would have a chance to come back? Moreover, at this time, most of the traveling merchants were rushing back home for the New Year. Buying something fresh and unusual to take back for their own consumption or as gifts for relatives and friends was also an option.

As noon passed, in the afternoon, more local people came to buy, and the volume increased accordingly. They no longer bought half a jin or a piece but bought in larger quantities—chunks, five or ten pieces, one or two whole ones.

Yu Qingze and his team were busy, not even having time to return to the shop for lunch. Later, it was Brother Chang who arranged for someone to take turns with them, allowing them to come back and have their lunch.

Before they could close in the afternoon, the five carts of cured meat they had brought out were already sold out. The wooden box used to collect money was filled to the brim with copper coins and silver fragments.

Brother Le carried the large box of money into the room, and Yu Qingze had Brother Chang come in together. They organized the copper coins into stacks and put the silver fragments in a separate small bag.

Then, Yu Qingze and Brother Le carried the large box of money to the bank and managed to exchange it for silver bills before the bank closed.

The cured meat and sausages made by dozens of households in the entire village were not just five carts’ worth. On the following day, Yu Qingze and his team dragged another five carts to the shop.

Even before they opened the shop, many people were already waiting at their front gate. These were the ones who didn’t manage to buy cured meat yesterday but specially came early today to buy. Among them were two individuals who said they came all the way from the other side of the river.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

“Speaking of which,” the two of them changed to Liang Jincheng sitting on one end of the bench, with Ji Cha resting on his lap, “Has the base not yet restored corresponding regulations regarding marriage and divorce?”

“Indeed, there are none. Why do you ask?” Liang Jincheng lowered his head and asked Ji Cha.

Ji Cha told Liang Jincheng about the woman he met at the checkpoint in the base and her situation. Without relevant regulations, there is no guarantee in this aspect. Even couples who were married before the apocalypse have lost the legally protected relationship, which is bound to cause some confusion.

They cannot control what happens outside the base, but they cannot let things go unchecked within the base.

During the period from late autumn to deep winter, the workload on Ji Cha’s farm was reduced by half compared to the busy farming season, but his work efficiency did not change, so he had almost half a day of extra time every day. He took advantage of this time to investigate the current situation of women in the base.

The current female population in the base is 3,951, and there are 2,700 people whose job information can be seen at the recruitment office, but whether they are single or have marital status is unknown.

Having experienced the apocalypse, Ji Cha knew that there would be many unimaginable things even in the base, so this investigation focused on understanding this aspect.

Sure enough, he discovered a problem soon. Although there had been crackdowns on the trafficking of women on the black market, similar behavior had only gone from semi-public to completely underground.

In the vast base, the only places Ji Cha would normally stay besides the factory and the farm office were the apartment buildings. He didn’t even go to the cafeteria on weekdays, and no one could enter the farm office except for the farm workers. As for the apartment building, only the senior management of the base could go there, so most people in the base only heard of Ji Cha’s name and had not seen him in person.

Ji Cha had no other way to start his investigation, so he chose to go to the cafeteria farther from the farm for two days. It didn’t take long for him to overhear a few men chatting.

“Did you go there last night? I heard there were two new ones, they look pretty and they’re also quite tender.”

“I was so tired yesterday that I couldn’t go. We have a break tomorrow afternoon, so we’ll go then.”

“Are the new ones much more expensive?”

“Probably raised by twenty points, after all, she’s a newcomer and looks pretty good.”

Ji Cha listened roughly to their conversation and leaned in to ask, “Hey, what are you guys talking about?”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

He was already young and looked quite naive. The men glanced at Ji Cha’s plate and saw two large meat dishes and a bowl of meat soup, along with several vegetarian dishes. One meal could compare to a day’s wages for an ordinary person. Given that even their meals were like this, it was certain that he was a wealthy person.

After the apocalypse, class differences gradually emerged and the wealth gap widened due to different occupations.

However, there was a misunderstanding here with Ji Cha. It wasn’t that he was extravagant or luxurious, he just happened to be checking out the food in this not-so-often visited cafeteria. He couldn’t finish the meal at lunchtime, so he planned to bring it back and eat it for dinner. It wouldn’t spoil anyway.

The men didn’t say directly, but one of them smiled and looked at Ji Cha’s plate, hesitating to say, “Brother, are you a technician? The food is pretty good.”

Ji Cha immediately pushed his plate over to them and smiled, “Hey, no, it’s my birthday today and I just wanted to treat myself to a good meal. I can’t finish it all by myself, so let’s eat together, okay?”

The men didn’t hesitate and immediately started eating from Ji Cha’s plate.

“What were you guys talking about earlier?” Ji Cha asked again.

The men didn’t want to say anything more since eating other people’s food was impolite. One tall and thin man leaned over to Ji Cha and said, “You look like a greenhorn. When did you come to the base?”

Ji Cha smiled honestly, “It’s been a long time. I came in at the end of last year.”

“You don’t know about it?” The tall and thin man was somewhat surprised. “Where do you live?”

“West side.” The factory and apartment buildings were on the west side, so that wasn’t a lie.

The west side was also where most of the technical occupations from before the apocalypse were located, so the men considered Ji Cha to be in a technical occupation. Technical jobs paid around thirty points per day, so it was considered a wealthy occupation.

“So why did you come here today?”

“This is because I was getting tired of the food at the cafeteria over there. They say the taste is different here,” Ji Cha said as he continued, “And it is indeed different when I tried it here. I guess it’s because the cooks are different.”

“Have you ever been with a woman since you arrived at the base?” the tall and thin man asked him with a smile.

Ji Cha blushed at this question, feeling very embarrassed. “No,” he shook his head.

This was not a lie. He had never been with a woman before. Usually, he would glance at women who passed by on the street, and the smell of vinegar would emanate from Liang Jincheng’s body. Let alone being with a woman.

The men saw Ji Cha’s reaction and treated him even more as a naive young man who knew nothing.

“Do you want a woman?”

Ji Cha nodded with a guilty conscience, “Yes, but there are so few women in the base now. I can’t find a girlfriend for a while.”

He put on a sad expression, and the tall and thin man immediately spoke up, “We’re all in the same boat now. It’s a special time, but there are ways to solve this.”

“What solution?” Ji Cha pretended to be very interested.

“I’ll tell you. There’s a place in the east district where there are many women. If you go there and find Brother Qiang, he’ll show you the way. Once you brush up enough information points, they’ll give you the woman you want. The better ones cost more money, and the average ones cost less. If you’re willing to spend, go for the good ones, but even if you don’t, it’s no big deal. After all, women are all the same when the lights go out.”

“What?” Ji Cha pretended to be surprised. “But is this allowed in the base? Will we get caught?”

The tall and thin man smirked, “Brother Qiang is very cautious about his work. Besides, if there weren’t anyone higher up involved in the card-swiping of information points, do you think Brother Qiang could have gotten this done? Don’t worry, the higher-ups turn a blind eye to these things. There are more outrageous things happening in the base than this. Have you seen anyone take action?”

“What kind of outrageous thing is that?” Ji Cha laughed helplessly with interest all over his face. “I just go to work usually and don’t know anything about this.”

The tall and thin man and a few others then educated Ji Cha on the matter.

“I’m telling you, even some women over at Brother Qiang’s place agree to it themselves. Making money this way is much easier than working outside. And even for those who didn’t agree at first, they end up being okay with it. We are considered good because we don’t sleep with other people’s wives. There are some who even steal other people’s wives and become women themselves. Would the woman’s husband dare to say anything? Even the higher-ups can’t do anything about it. They’ll just break your legs.”

Ji Cha listened with anger in his heart, but he couldn’t show it on the surface. He asked for Brother Qiang’s full name and contact information from these people and then left the table, leaving the full plate of food behind.

Back at the apartment building, Liang Jincheng wasn’t there. Ji Cha opened the computer in the apartment and entered Brother Qiang’s full name. The resulting account did indeed show some anomalies.

For ordinary people who earn information points in the base, the amount in their account is transparent and they don’t have much surplus. However, Brother Qiang’s information point balance initially showed a normal value, but when Ji Cha checked again, it was clearly incorrect, with several discrepancies in earnings and the final amount. However, when Ji Cha tried to view the detailed content, the system showed that he didn’t have the authority to do so.

He then logged out of his account and switched to Liang Jincheng’s account. Liang Jincheng’s account had the highest level of authority in the base, and the password was Ji Cha’s birthday. He could see whatever he wanted.

The result was completely unexpected for Ji Cha. From Liang Jincheng’s account, Brother Qiang’s personal information was completely different, with an enormous amount of information points that were almost shocking.

Ji Cha then searched for accounts with similar amounts of information points and found quite a few. Even if these people weren’t engaged in forcing women into prostitution like Brother Qiang, they were probably doing similar things.

Ji Cha suppressed his anger and logged out of Liang Jincheng’s account. He borrowed Zhang Xing’s information card from the factory and rode his electric scooter straight to the East District, where he found the Brother Qiang that everyone was talking about.

Brother Qiang looked like an ordinary man, and was polite when he saw Ji Cha. However, Ji Cha’s peripheral vision caught sight of the several people standing behind Brother Qiang, and their eyes showed a hint of fierceness, indicating that they were not easy to deal with.

“I heard that you can provide a certain service here,” said Ji Cha as he handed over Zhang Xing’s information card.

Brother Qiang had someone check the card and confirmed that Ji Cha was an ordinary person, and also a skilled worker with money. Brother Qiang immediately smiled at him and said, “Come inside and let’s talk.”

Ji Cha was pulled into a world separated by an iron door, which divided the inside and outside.

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Thandar: Why did he go by himself omg it’s dangerous

Although bone meal fertilizer is used on the old farm, it is not as widely used as on the new farm, so the overall effect is not very obvious.

Upon hearing what Cheng Fang said, Ji Cha briefly looked at the planting data recorded on his side of the new area, “This is not completely certain yet. Let’s continue to observe.”

Since it is still in the early stages of growth, and mutated crops are not very stable, there may be some special situations. Whether the mutated crops have a good compatibility with bone meal fertilizer needs further investigation.

The workers in the old area farm and Ji Cha are already familiar with each other, and checking work is a very common thing. However, most of the farm workers in the new area are refugees from outside the base, and they do not have a strong sense of belonging to the base and still have a reverential attitude.

Before Ji Cha arrived this morning, someone had already informed these employees that the leaders were coming. So when Ji Cha arrived, the workers in the farm tightened their backs and just wanted to show their best side.

Ji Cha saw this and knew their intentions, after all, he had been in the same position before.

Ji Cha took a deep breath and turned to Cheng Fang beside him, “I’ll take a walk by myself, you don’t have to follow me. Go and do your own work.”

Cheng Fang nodded hesitantly and left. The other workers on the farm were nervous, so Ji Cha simply left the farm.

Many places in the new area are still under construction, and the daily food is still delivered from the old area. The canteen is also relatively simple.

The only busiest place, apart from the farm, is the entrance checkpoint of the new area. The arrival of winter has increasingly crushed the hope of survival for the small base, and many small settlements with originally hundreds or dozens of people have gradually come here. The first thing to do when entering the base is to undergo a physical examination, and after the examination, they have to be isolated for forty-eight hours before they can be allowed into the base.

The military officer in charge of clearance and Ji Cha are also familiar with each other. When the officer saw him coming from afar, he immediately put down what he was doing and greeted him, “Director Ji, are you coming with Captain Liang today?”

“Yes, are you busy here?” Ji Cha walked over, exchanged pleasantries with the officer, and then they walked to the checkpoint together.

At the moment, three men and one woman walked into the base. The woman was thin and weak, and her pregnant belly looked disproportionately large. The three men beside her looked similar and appeared to be brothers.

The base valued women highly. However, after the apocalypse, the number of female members joining the base was far lower than that of male members. The current male to female ratio had reached eight to one.

Ji Cha noticed that the woman’s belly looked like she could give birth at any moment and couldn’t help but worry. “How many months pregnant are you?” he asked.

The woman lowered her head and didn’t speak. One of the three men replied, “Not sure, maybe over seven months.”

“Her belly is so big at seven months?” Ji Cha was surprised.

“Can’t say for sure, could be twins or more, but it’s over seven months,” the man said.

If it were twins or more, they needed even more protection. Newborns were the hope of the base’s future.

Ji Cha turned to the officer and asked, “Lao Qian, did they pass the medical examination and quarantine?”

Lao Qian nodded. “Yes, they passed. They just finished their 48-hour isolation, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Why do you ask?”

“I’m thinking that the medical equipment in the new area hasn’t caught up yet, and the overall conditions are inferior to those in the old area. It’s better to take them to the old area first and come back here after the birth,” Ji Cha suggested.

“That works. Who is the father of the child?” Lao Qian asked the three men.

To their surprise, the three men said, “We don’t know, we’ve all slept with her.”

Although Ji Cha and Lao Qian felt repulsed by their attitude, they weren’t surprised. S city Base had various rules to prevent such absurdities, but outside the base, the law of the jungle ruled, and weak women were once again seen as assets that could be taken by force.

“In that case, none of you need to come with us,” Ji Cha turned to the woman. “You come with me.”

The three men became anxious when they realized Ji Cha was taking their woman away. “Hey, she’s our woman. How can you take her away?” they protested.

“I’m taking her to a safer place with better medical conditions for her to give birth. As for your relationship with her, we’ll talk about it after the birth. If she still wants to live with you at that time, we will naturally return her to you,” Ji Cha explained.

The woman had been keeping her head down all along. Upon hearing what Ji Cha said, she quickly lifted her head and asked in a hoarse voice, “Really?”

“What?” Ji Cha asked.

“After giving birth, can I choose for myself?” the woman asked.

When she raised her head, Ji Cha noticed that there were still many marks on her neck, and he didn’t know whether they were from being strangled or beaten.

“Really,” Ji Cha nodded.

The woman immediately walked towards Ji Cha with large strides, trembling and firmly saying, “Then I will go with you.”

The three men were held at gunpoint, and although their faces were full of anger, they dared not say anything and could only watch as the woman held her stomach and left with Ji Cha.

Along the way, Ji Cha learned from asking that the woman’s name was Xiao Hui, she was only nineteen years old, and she did not know the three men before the end of the world. The three men were brothers who met Xiao Hui and her boyfriend while hiding from zombies. They had evil intentions and killed Xiao Hui’s boyfriend, and then forced themselves onto her.

“This is not their child,” Xiao Hui told Ji Cha, “I was already pregnant before I met them.”

Afterwards, she did not struggle or escape, and instead tried to cooperate with the three brothers as much as possible because she knew their hearts and methods. She had to submit to them in order to keep the bloodline of her and her lover.

“If you are willing,” Xiao Hui grabbed the straw of salvation, “I can follow you in the future. As long as you don’t let me go back to those people, I can do anything.”

“No,” Ji Cha shook his head, “after you give birth to the child, you can start a new life with the child. You are still young, and there will be many possibilities and opportunities in the future.”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Xiao Hui looked into the distance, her tone hesitant, “Is that so?”

Actually, Ji Cha was not sure either. He handed Xiao Hui over to the guards who came with him and went to other areas.

There were not many buildings left in the new area, and one large building was originally an office for the district. It had ten floors, and now it had been cleared out and would be used as the offices for various departments. The office for the farm would also be set up here.

Ji Cha climbed ten floors to the rooftop terrace. There was a long bench on the terrace, and Ji Cha lay down on it. Looking up, there was a deep blue sky, with a gentle breeze blowing by, and a peaceful surrounding. Even if he closed his eyes and pretended it was before the end of the world, it wouldn’t matter. However, beyond the high walls, the terrifying mutant creatures still raged, and the ugliness of human nature was still evident.

Although, if he looked at it optimistically, he was living again, and although the end of the world had still arrived, this time he had family, loved ones, and a peaceful life. But Ji Cha couldn’t help but think about what was really happening outside of the base, beyond the apocalypse, which was what the vast majority of people had to face after the end of the world.

“What are you thinking about?” Liang Jincheng’s voice suddenly appeared, and his footsteps lightly fell on the ground.

Ji Cha suddenly opened his eyes, a little startled by him. “How did you know I was here?”

Liang Jincheng sat down next to Ji Cha and slowly leaned in towards him, then took a light sniff at his neck, as if marking his territory like an animal. “I can smell your scent, no matter how far away you are.”

Liang Jincheng’s body was too big to fit on the bench, so Ji Cha sat up and leaned against him instead.

“I’m wondering if all of this will end, and if we can still go back to the civilization we had before?” Ji Cha asked softly.

“That’s a big question, and it’s not something we can control or predict the answer to,” Liang Jincheng put his arm around Ji Cha’s shoulder, “but what I can assure you is that everything will develop towards a positive direction.”

Ji Cha remembered the decade before, as if it were a dream. Although S city Base had also developed very well at that time, the atmosphere was completely different from what it was now. The Liang Jincheng of that time was also different from the Liang Jincheng of now.

Thinking about how everything could start over again, how he could meet Liang Jincheng again and be with him, Ji Cha couldn’t help but marvel at the wonder of fate.

“Perhaps there is a timeline where we didn’t immediately get together,” Ji Cha said slowly.

But Liang Jincheng interrupted him immediately.

“No matter which timeline, we will always be together.”

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Thandar: Thank you so much to the anonymous Kofi supporter. I will continue to work hard ^_^

Selling Cured Meats

After returning home, Yu Qingze returned the cart to the village chief’s house and went to Brother Chang’s house.

Upon hearing his purpose, Brother Chang immediately said, “Okay, I’ll come over.”

It was already mid-afternoon, and it was almost time to prepare dinner. Brother Chang’s mother said, “Then I’ll come too. I have to make some dim sum for tomorrow morning. Brother Chang, pack some Laba porridge and bring some for Brother Le to eat together.”

Brother Chang nodded.

After listening to it, Yu Qingze suddenly remembered that he forgot to bring Laba Porridge for Brother Le when he went to the town earlier. Although they had already eaten lunch, there was still plenty of porridge at home. So he said, “Wait a moment, I’ll go back and pack some too. You can try what I made and we can exchange and eat.”

The Laba Porridge here was slightly different from what he knew, but since Grandpa Chang and the others trusted his skills, they let him make it according to his method. As expected, the one he made was much more delicious than the local traditional one, and they all liked it very much.

“Boss Yu, did you make this? It must be delicious. Pack more, please,” Brother Chang shouted in the kitchen.

Yu Qingze smiled and agreed, then went back and packed a lot of porridge in food containers, enough for the three of them to eat. He asked Brother Chang and the others to take it to the shop.

Arranging someone to accompany Brother Le, Yu Qingze returned home with peace of mind, took a hoe, and went to find Grandpa Chang and the others. They were digging in the backyard, preparing to plant the Chinese cabbage seedlings today.

By the time Yu Qingze arrived, they had already dug two-thirds of that small plot of land. He went over, tapping and flattening the soil while saying to Grandpa Chang, “Grandpa, I didn’t go to get the prescription. I thought about it, and I think we should go see Dr. Li tomorrow. What do you think?”

Grandpa Chang nodded and said, “Alright. We should have Dr. Li take a look.”

“Then please come with me tomorrow so that Dr. Li can also take your pulse. It will help him make a better judgment,” Yu Qingze suggested.

Grandpa Chang hesitated and said, “Should I go too? I was planning to plant the scallions over there tomorrow.”

Yu Qingze persuaded him, saying, “If you don’t go, Dr. Li won’t know your symptoms, and it will be difficult to judge whether the prescription is effective or not.”

After thinking it over, Grandpa Chang said, “Okay, I’ll go.”

In the evening, after dinner, Chang Hao continued to work on his homework as usual. Yu Qingze was teaching Jiabao arithmetic. They had started learning multiplication, so Yu Qingze asked Jiabao to recite the multiplication table up to nine times nine before teaching him further.

Watching the young boy earnestly calculating on the abacus, Yu Qingze asked him, “Jiabao, have you paid off all your debts?”

Jiabao shook his head and said, “I still need five hundred and sixty wen to clear them.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll go with you, and we’ll repay all the money. Also,” Yu Qingze glanced at Chang Hao and then looked at Jiabao, asking, “Jiabao, do you want to go to school and study?”

During this period, he was too busy, and sometimes he would be called by the villagers at night to handle issues, so he didn’t have time for Jiabao. Now that things had finally eased up a bit, he saw Chang Hao working on homework and suddenly thought that if Jiabao went to study, he would definitely be a good student and might even achieve some academic success. If Jiabao wanted to go to school, he would send him.

Jiabao hesitated for a moment when he heard this and looked up at Yu Qingze. He asked, “Big brother, why are you asking me this?”

Chang Hao also looked up at Yu Qingze. If Jiabao could go to school with him, that would be great!

“You are so smart and have a good foundation. If you go to study, you will definitely be able to pass the imperial examinations and achieve success,” Yu Qingze replied.

Chang Hao nodded in agreement with these words.

Jiabao looked at the abacus in silence, not saying anything. After a while, he looked up, shook his head at Yu Qingze, and said, “Big brother, I don’t want to go to school. I want to learn bookkeeping from you, learn cooking, and learn to run a business and open a shop.”

Yu Qingze frowned, thinking that Jiabao was worried about the snack shop and money. He said, “You don’t have to worry about the snack shop. I can find someone else to take care of it. Money is not a problem either. With the money we are earning from the snack shop now, it’s no problem to send you to school. You just need to consider whether you want to go or not. If you want to go, I will send you to the school.”

Jiabao continued shaking his head, a trace of inexplicable sadness on his face as he said, “Knowing how to read is enough. There’s no need for me to go to school. I don’t want to pursue academic success. The court is too complicated, and I’m not suitable nor do I want to walk that path. I just want to live a simple life. My mother also told me not to pursue an official career.”

Yu Qingze slightly opened his mouth, somewhat surprised by the words the young boy uttered. It made him reconsider Jiabao’s background.

Jiabao was only thirteen years old. According to what Old Huang said before, he came to Tongshan City with his mother when he was five and had been living at the bottom of society in Tongshan City for seven or eight years, working hard every day to make a living.

His mother could read and had taught him how to read and do arithmetic. It could be seen that their family background used to be good, but it was unclear why they ended up in their current situation.

Yu Qingze had always assumed that Jiabao might have come from a declining wealthy family and ended up in Tongshan City with his mother. But now, considering his words, it might not be the case.

“…Is it related to your father?” Yu Qingze asked tentatively.

Jiabao looked up at Yu Qingze in shock, then quickly lowered his head, tightly clenching his fists, his knuckles turning white.

Seeing the young boy’s reaction, Yu Qingze couldn’t bear it and patted his shoulder, saying, “It’s okay. If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask anymore. Don’t worry.” Anyway, from his reaction, it was clear that it was related to his father, but the specifics were unknown.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Jiabao kept his head lowered, his thoughts unknown. After a while, he raised his head again and continued to work on the problems.

After some time, with red eyes, Jiabao looked up and said to Yu Qingze, “I’m sorry, big brother. I didn’t mean to hide it from you. It’s just… “

Yu Qingze patted his head and said, “It’s okay. If there are things you can’t talk about, then don’t. When the time comes and you want to talk about it, you can tell me.”

“Big brother…” Jiabao’s eyes welled up with tears and then he couldn’t hold back anymore.

“It’s alright, don’t cry. You’ll make Xiao Hao laugh at us,” Yu Qingze patted his head and said.

“Yeah, I won’t cry…” Jiabao wiped away his tears and looked at Chang Hao with great embarrassment.

Chang Hao had been stunned when he saw Jiabao crying earlier, but now as Jiabao looked at him, he smiled and said, “It’s okay. I used to cry a lot too. Grandpa said that crying is like washing your eyes, but don’t cry for too long, it’s not good for your eyes.”

Jiabao nodded with flushed cheeks and lowered his head, feeling embarrassed, and continued to work on the problems. Yu Qingze didn’t bring up the topic of sending him to school again.

The next day, Yu Qingze took Grandpa Chang to see Dr. Li for a consultation, and then showed him the prescription that Dr. He had given them yesterday.

Dr. Li studied the prescription for a while and then had a pleasantly surprised expression on his face. He exclaimed, “This prescription is marvelous! Who prescribed this? It’s amazing, I never thought of combining the ingredients like this!”

Yu Qingze and Grandpa Chang exchanged glances. Yu Qingze asked, “Dr. Li, can this prescription be used?”

Dr. Li nodded and said, “Yes, it can be used. This prescription is very good. I can say that it’s the best prescription I’ve seen so far for treating this illness.”

Yu Qingze said, “Then let’s follow this prescription and prepare ten doses of medicine.”

Dr. Li handed the prescription to his assistant to prepare the medicine and then asked, “Which doctor prescribed this prescription? I’d really like to meet him and discuss it.”

Yu Qingze replied, “It was a doctor we happened to meet yesterday. His surname is He, and he lives at the Fulai Inn. I’m not sure if he’s still there today.”

“Alright, I’ll try my luck and pay him a visit,” Dr. Li said happily. He enjoyed discussing medical techniques with others.

After getting the medicine, Yu Qingze and the others returned to their shop.

During lunchtime, they were surprised to see a man in his thirties pushing Dr. He into the shop.

Dr. He seemed equally surprised when he saw them and said, “My son told me that the food here is delicious, so I wanted to try them. Turns out, it’s your shop?”

Yu Qingze smiled and said, “Yes, Dr. He. Take a look and let us know what you’d like to eat. It’s on me.”

Dr. He chuckled and replied, “I can’t always eat for free from you. I still haven’t paid for the meal yesterday.”

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