Chapter 76 Buying Piglets

  Ye Lu went in, shaking off the rain from his raincoat and said: "Zhen Er, I see you've built a pigpen but haven't bought any piglets yet. My dad and I were just at the neighboring village doing some work and saw a family selling piglets, so I came to ask if you want to buy some."

  Qī Zhēnér listened intently and nodded, saying: "Yes, yes, I was just thinking when to go to the market to buy some. Are their piglets growing well?"

  The piglet grows well, eats happily and is not sick yet.

  "Good-looking, definitely good-looking. My dad even said that pig is well-raised, it's just that we've raised two pigs at home, otherwise he'd also want to catch one to feed."

  Qizhen'er heard him say that and asked hastily: "Are there any piglets left now? How much do they sell for each?"

  "Their family's piglets have always been selling well, and they are famous in the village, so they sell for a high price. It costs two hundred cents," said Ye Luyuan, fearing that Zhen'er would think it was expensive, and added: "Their house was built by my father and his friends, he said if we buy piglets, we can get a discount of ten to twenty cents."

  It's still over 180 wen for a few dozen or so, but in the county town, you can get a piglet for around 150 wen.

  Qī Zhēn ér thought for a moment and still felt that this piglet was worth buying. Although it was expensive, as long as the piglet grew up to be good-looking, she wouldn't have lost out.

  She took out two hundred coins from the ceramic pot in her room and handed them to Ye Luyuan, Qizhen urged: "Brother Luyuan, I've entrusted you with buying a piglet, so be sure to pick the most handsome one for me!"

  Yè Lǜ Yuǎn held the money and said with a sneer, "Sister, don't you still trust your brother Yè Lǜ?" After putting away the money and wearing his raincoat, he was about to run out when Yè Bái Zhǐ grabbed him.

  Ye Luyu was anxious to talk to him about making a fortune, but they kept talking about buying piglets and she couldn't get a word in edgewise. Now that Ye Luyu was leaving, she didn't care anymore and directly pulled him back.

  Ye Luoyu looked at Ye Baiqi strangely and asked: "Baiqi sister, why did you pull me? Are you also going to buy piglets?"

  Ye Baiji's heart was anxious, but she didn't know what to say either. She could only desperately make eye contact with Qi Zhener.

  Zi Zhen'er was stunned for a moment, then remembered what they had discussed and said: "This matter is not urgent, first let Luoyan brother run an errand to help me buy the piglets back, the rest of the things will be discussed after he returns."

  Ye Baiji also listened, he would come back anyway, he was too impatient and awkwardly let go of his hand.

  Ye Luoyu saw them talking about something he didn't understand at all. Urged by Qi Zhen'er to hurry up and leave, he muttered a sentence: "Shen shen dao dao de." He put on his raincoat and went out the door.

  Ye Luyuan's figure disappeared, and Ye Baiji picked up a small basket of mushrooms and also returned home.

  Mrs. Mao was delighted to see that she had picked mushrooms. The last time Du Yun ate a dish of stewed chicken with fragrant mushrooms, he remembered the flavor. Today, it was raining and she had planned to go pick some, but this morning's incident had ruined her mood. She didn't even feel like going out, and unexpectedly, Bai Zhi still remembered.

  "Zi Yuantou has a mind, your sister-in-law has been shouting to eat mushrooms for a long time, I've been delaying and haven't prepared them for her. Tonight, let Auntie stir-fry some fresh mushrooms." said Mao Shi, carrying the basket.

  Ye Baiji was embarrassed by her praise, she really didn't notice that Eldest Sister wanted to eat this. This basket was still let down by Zhen'er and said to let the family members try it out. However, she hadn't forgotten about the main matter, "Eldest Aunt, don't bother making dinner for me tonight. I'm going to Zhen'er's place for dinner, they have mushrooms too. These are for you all to eat."

  She went back home to fetch two sets of clean clothes, and Ye Baiji didn't tell Sun Shi what she was going to Zhen'er's house for, only saying that she was going to sleep at Zhen'er's place, so Sun Shi felt relieved.

  Ye Baiji entered the house, and Qi Zhen'er was washing mushrooms with pumpkin leaves. The surface of the mushrooms was covered with a layer of ash and impurities, but after scrubbing them with pumpkin leaves, they became very clean. Of course, the wild mushrooms from the mountain still needed to be boiled for at least two hours before eating.

  Ye Baiji put down her things and went to the kitchen to help out with the cooking.

  Hutou stood beside the ceramic basin where you were soaking strawberries in salt water, his eyes fixed on them without blinking, as if he was afraid that they would disappear if he didn't pay attention.

  Ye Baiji couldn't help but laugh at his appearance, and when Qi Zhener said it was okay to eat, he picked up the strawberries from the ceramic basin, took one and ran to Qi Zhener's side, fed her and said: "Sister, you eat too." Qi Zhener opened her mouth to eat, and Hu Zi smiled, then went to get another one for himself.

  Ye Baiji looked at the warmth and affection flowing between them, her eyes filled with envy. Pretending to be angry, she said: "Hu Zi, you only feed your sister, why don't you give some to Ye Baiji too?"

  The little tiger looked at Ye Bai Zhi and then at the strawberry, when they both thought he was reluctant to part with the strawberry, he unexpectedly said: "Sister Bai Zhi is bad, you snatched my family's basket."

  It's been a long time ago. It's hard for Hu Zi to remember, and Qi Zhen'er burst out laughing.

  Ye Baiji also had a bitter smile, she was just joking with him, okay?

  "Isn't Bai Zhi's stuff not being taken? Your basket is still at your own home?" Ye Bai Zhi coaxed: "You see you guys moving, Bai Zhi helped you move things, helped out."

  Hearing this, it seemed that Bai Zhi had helped them a lot. Thinking of his sister's words about knowing the favor and repaying it, he looked at the bright red strawberries in his hand and reluctantly handed them to Ye Bai Zhi, saying: "Sister Bai Zhi, eat."

  Ye Bai thought of Hu Zi laughing at her on the mountain for not understanding mushrooms, and in anger, she ate the strawberry in one bite. Seeing Hu Zi's painful expression, she suddenly felt that the strawberry was sweeter.

  Qī Zhēn'er slapped Yè Bái Jí and said: "How old are you, still bullying little kids. Hurry up and help me burn fire."

  Ye Baiji also felt a bit embarrassed when she heard this. She was so big, yet bullying a five-year-old child, really had nothing to be proud of. It would only be worth boasting about if she bullied Zhen'er.

  The vegetables I bought last time are still left, Qizhen picked out the small green onions, pulled out two scallions, and with a few quick cuts, the scallions were cut into uniform segments. She also picked out a few cloves of garlic, chopped them up with a knife, and crushed them into pieces. Then she grabbed a handful of dried red chili peppers and cut them into segments.

  Bai Zhi heated the pot, Qi Zhen poured oil into it. After the oil was hot, she first threw in chili peppers, garlic and scallions. When the chili peppers were fried, she poured the washed and drained mushrooms into the pot and stir-fried them for a while. This was Qi Zhen's favorite dish - Garlic Fried Mushrooms.

  Afraid that Ye Bai Zhi and Ye Lu Yuan don't like to eat garlic, she stir-fried some green vegetables with mushrooms, then used the leftover chicken to stir-fry a mushroom chicken dish. She also made a soup and a bowl of mixed leftovers. Altogether, it added up to three dishes and one soup.

  Ye Baiji smelled the fragrance and couldn't stop sniffing, even Hu Zi didn't eat strawberries anymore, and stuck to the stove.

  "Zhen'er, your craftsmanship is really good." Ye Baiji praised.

  That's it. Without even looking at who she was, Qi Zhen'er still had some pride in her heart. After all, she had been in Master Qi Si's small kitchen for over a year.

  The dishes were just right, and Ye Luyuan walked in, "I said why it smelled so good, it turned out to be Zhen'er sister's craftsmanship."

  Qī Zhēn ér saw the little piglet in his basket and happily ran over to take a look.

  The little piglet looked healthy, with good fur color. Its eyes were bright and its spirit was good. Qi Zhen'er didn't know how to check if the little pig was healthy or not, but she remembered that in the past when Liu Shi bought a piglet back home, they would feed it and see if it ate happily or not. There happened to be some leftover rice porridge at home, so Qi Zhen'er poured some into the feeding trough and put the little piglet into the pen. She stared at it as it sniffed around the trough, then looked up and saw Qi Zhen'er and the others watching it intently. The little piglet turned its head and wandered around, but refused to eat.

  Ye Luoyuan was a bit anxious, this was the little piglet he had chosen, and he wasn't confident about it either. He was afraid that he had picked a bad one. Seeing that the piglet wouldn't eat, he anxiously urged: "Eat, eat."

  Qī Zhēnér was also anxious, but she remained calm and took a look at the piglet's appearance, which didn't seem to be sick. She categorized it as not adapting well. Seeing Yè Lù Yuǎn's anxiety, she smiled and said: "Forget it, let it eat on its own here. With so many people staring at it, it might not adapt well either. Let's go eat first, maybe after we finish eating, it will have eaten too."

  Ye Luoyan thought so too, and Ye Baiji quickly went to set the table and serve the dishes. She knew that they were about to get to the point.

  While eating, Qizhen'er mentioned the business of selling strawberries. Yeluyuan was also moved, but he had never seen a strawberry before and didn't know if it would sell well or not.

  "Is this little thing a strawberry?" Ye Luyuan stared at the bright red strawberry in his hand, looking left and right but couldn't see what made it so precious as Qizhen had said.

  If Qizhen hadn't eaten it before, she might have suspected the same thing. Because strawberries are said to be brought from abroad, only two cars were offered, and the ripening time was also a month earlier than now. She could eat it because Mr. Qi's old master had just received the imperial reward at that time, and was rewarded with a basket of strawberries. Mr. Qi thought this thing was precious and represented a kind of honor, so he sent it to the Qi Mansion for his wife to taste. The fourth young master of Qi also got some from his wife, and when she was working in the study, the fourth young master gave some to the maid who served in the study, and she remembered very clearly that it was this flavor, absolutely no mistake.

  He took a bite and Ye Luoyan said: "It's just sweet, can it really make a lot of money?" His face was full of doubt.

  If he had agreed to it in one breath, without any questions, Qizhen would have been disappointed. After hearing his many questions, she felt that Yelufar was not as simple as he seemed at first glance.

  "I don't know if I can make money." As soon as this was said, Ye Baiji and Ye Luyuan both showed a look of surprise. Ye Baiji grabbed her hand, with anxious eyes, as if to say "Didn't you say you could make a lot of money? How come you don't know now?"

  "Sister, sister, the piglet has eaten all the pig food in the trough." Hu Zi happily shouted and ran into the door, but as soon as he saw the strange atmosphere in the house, he immediately shut his mouth and ran to sit down beside Qi Zhen'er.

  Qizhen'er's expression changed upon hearing the news, and she said: "However, we can pick some to go to the county town to ask around. I remember that it seems like you can find a middleman for any kind of business."

  Ye Luoyan and others also thought this idea was more reliable after listening, and Ye Baiju calmed down.

  "En, then we'll go to the city tomorrow and take a look." Ye Luyuan said, "Actually, I also think this thing tastes better than ordinary fruit." As if to boost his own confidence, he picked up another one to eat.

  They agreed that tomorrow they would get Yelu Yan to get up early, and this matter had to be kept secret. He went to take another look at the piglet that was lying on the straw, resting after eating its fill, and returned home with a full heart.