Chapter 80: Money-Scattering Boy
The group returned to the side of the street again. Zhuang Mingxu had already settled the price with the charcoal seller. Because there was no electricity to cook food, charcoal was not cheap, and Zhuang Mingxu spent three bottles of water to buy all of it. The others must have also looked around, as each of them held some small trinkets in their hands.
“This is Zhuang Mingxu, just call him brother,” Lu Weiyi said, pointing to Zhuang Mingxu.
“Brother Mingxu,” Lu Xi said.
“Xiao Xi has grown so big. When he was little, he was fair and tender, like a little ball of flesh when you held him,” Seeing Lu Weiyi’s relaxed expression, Zhuang Mingxu knew that Lu Xi hadn’t suffered any humiliation. “Follow us back to Qingyuan to live first. Once things are more stable, I’ll have someone send a message to your father.”
“Okay, thank you, Brother Mingxu.”
“This is Zhuang Ai Yi, my son,” Lu Weiyi finally knew he had a son for once. “Ai Yi, call him Uncle.”
“Hello, Uncle, my name is Ai Yi, I’m three years old,” Zhuang Ai Yi tilted his head, his milky voice charming.
“Brother, his eyes are exactly like yours,” Lu Xi wanted to go forward and hug him, but remembering that he hadn’t showered for several days, he didn’t reach out. Who knew that Zhuang Ai Yi would come over and grab his hand himself, saying, “I’ll hold onto Uncle, there are many people, we can’t get lost.”
“Okay, then Ai Yi hold onto Uncle tight,” Lu Xi couldn’t help but speak in a tone used to coax children.
Lu Weiyi then introduced the others to Lu Xi. He looked at the sky and decided to go back, otherwise, Xi Shi and the others would probably have nothing left to browse if they came out later.
“Then, do you still want the jade and the beads?” Seeing the group’s harvest, Little Liu sighed inwardly and quickly asked, after all, judging by their wealth, the commission wouldn’t be small.
“I just exchanged for these few pieces,” Xu Sa said, taking out seven or eight jade jewelry pieces and a zombie core from his backpack. One set among them was clearly not ordinary. “This set looks pretty good. An elegant old lady took it out and exchanged it for three packs of instant noodles.”
Lu Weiyi nodded, deciding to go back and see if there was any possibility of space. He said to Little Liu, “I want as much as you can get, but the price definitely won’t be high. You know this stuff can’t be eaten, it’s just a hobby, and we’re probably leaving the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay, okay, okay, then I’ll have them delivered to you directly when I get them,” Little Liu thought to himself that he might as well keep them himself, and the price difference would definitely earn him a good sum.
“Vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat, and other food, I want them all, exchanged for water. Send me as much as you can get,” Lu Weiyi said immediately, hearing about the door-to-door delivery, which would save him trouble.
“…Okay,” Little Liu swallowed hard and agreed, not forgetting to confirm again, “Are you sure you can eat all of it? To be honest, water is the most valuable thing now. I can get the others, but I’m just afraid you…”
“Don’t worry, I brought back a mineral water distributor, all in barrels,” Lu Weiyi said, then remembered that he didn’t seem to have many barrels. “But the barrels are included.”
“Alright, don’t worry, I’ll definitely get it done neatly for you,” Little Liu said with a smile, and quickly went to prepare the things.
As soon as this news came out, Li Zhuang could imagine that the fact that they had a space couldn’t be hidden anymore. After all, they had driven in with three cars, and the things inside weren’t much. Originally wanting to keep a low profile, he glanced at the oblivious Lu Weiyi and sighed silently…
Even though they hadn’t brought many things, everyone’s hands were full on the way back. Lu Weiyi pushed Zhuang Mingxu, who had a box of eggs on his lap. Gu Qingyue was also carrying two boxes, Gu Qingji was carrying more than a dozen live chickens in both hands, which kept flapping their wings.
Xu Sa was carrying a half-dead duck, Liu Rui was holding a few rabbits, Antonio’s hands were full of vegetables, and Dean was no exception. Even more exaggerated was Li Zhuang, who was directly carrying a pig on his shoulders, still alive, just looking a bit weak. Only Lu Xi and Zhuang Ai Yi each held a small bag of fruits.
They walked back in a grand manner, attracting attention all the way. Who knew that even more people were waiting outside the villa.
Lin Yimu and Ning Yuan stood guarding the door. Seeing them return, they visibly breathed a sigh of relief. “They all said they were here to deliver things. Did you guys buy all this?” He pointed to the piles of bedding and cotton clothes outside, looking speechless.
“I bought them,” Lu Weiyi actively raised his hand.
“These…” Lin Yimu wanted to say something but was pulled into the yard by Li Zhuang. Gu Qingyue shrugged and handed the two boxes of eggs to Ning Yuan. “I’ll help check the goods first, you guys come help later.”
“Okay,” Gu Qingji replied, and the others entered the villa together.
“Why did you guys buy so many things? These vegetables are all grown in the village, and meat must be very expensive. How much grain did you spend?” Lu Weiyi heard Xiong Jie asking as soon as he entered the door.
“Don’t even think about it. With our meager supplies, how could we afford all this?” Li Zhuang, carrying the almost two-hundred-pound pig for more than half an hour, directly gave it to Xiong Jie.
“Besides us, who else could possibly have these supplies?” Li Zhuang said to Xiong Jie, looking at Lu Weiyi who had just come in.
“Brother Xiong, do you know how to butcher a pig?” Lu Weiyi asked, ignoring Xiong Jie’s complicated expression.
“Yes.”
“Butcher the pig today.”
“We have meat to eat! Little Lu, I saw you bought a barbecue grill and vegetables. How about we have barbecue tonight?” As soon as Lu Weiyi finished speaking, Xu Sa chimed in, looking fawning. “Little Lu, can you spare some bones for us? Let Brother Xi help us make some bone broth. We don’t want the chickens and rabbits.”
“Do it if you don’t mind the trouble,” Lu Weiyi said, taking out four buckets of water from his space and handing them to Xi Shi. “Brother Xi, please boil some hot water for me first. This is my younger brother Lu Xi, let him wash up.”
Knowing the current price of water, the moment those four buckets came out, everyone looked at Lu Weiyi like he was definitely a tycoon.
“Xiao Xi, this is Brother Xi, Brother Xiong, Brother Mu, and Brother Ning Yuan. That’s my room. Boil some water and go wash up. I’m going out to check the goods. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay, Brother, go ahead and get busy,” Lu Xi had carried so many things back and heard them say all along that they were Lu Weiyi’s, so he had a bit of an idea about the amount of supplies and wasn’t so uneasy anymore.
Lu Weiyi carried out two more cases of mineral water, rushing out in a flurry.
“Hey, wait, what are you going to do with these chickens and rabbits?” Xiong Jie asked Lu Weiyi.
“Kill them, kill them all!” Lu Weiyi shouted.
It was rare to see Lu Weiyi so lively. Zhuang Mingxu found it quite novel. He turned his head and saw Lu Xi standing a bit awkwardly, so he directed Zhuang Ai Yi, “Ai Yi, go get Uncle a bottle of water, and while you’re at it, go ask Grandpa Xi in the kitchen if there’s any porridge left.”
“Okay!” Zhuang Ai Yi answered crisply, trotting towards the kitchen.
“Brother Mingxu, I’m not hungry…” Lu Xi was a bit embarrassed to eat right after arriving.
“You don’t need to be so reserved. Your brother has never taken care of anyone before and wouldn’t think of what you need, so you have to tell him yourself what you want. He only has you as a younger brother, and in this chaotic world, he will definitely take good care of you,” Zhuang Mingxu said.
Lu Xi had heard about the relationship between Zhuang Mingxu and Lu Weiyi in the Capital before, and he had also heard Lu Weiyi mention it briefly on the way back. Seeing this person sitting in a wheelchair now, yet calm and reliable, his heart felt even more at ease.
“Okay, thank you, Brother Mingxu,” Lu Xi said.
“Grandpa Xi has already heated up the porridge and said it will be ready soon,” Zhuang Ai Yi trotted back and said to Zhuang Mingxu, handing a bottle of water to Lu Xi. At the same time, he also gave Lu Xi a bottle of yogurt that Lu Weiyi had told him to keep for himself, saying, “Little Papa gave this to Ai Yi, Ai Yi gives it to Uncle.”
“Thank you, Ai Yi,” Lu Xi took it and was pulled by Zhuang Ai Yi to sit on the sofa. The two went off to play. After a while, Xi Shi brought out a small bowl of porridge and placed it on the coffee table. “Xiao Xi, have some porridge first, we’ll eat dinner together later.”
Over there, Lu Xi thanked him, while Xiong Jie and Li Zhuang were restraining a pig. Unable to find Lu Weiyi to ask, they could only ask Zhuang Mingxu, “Are we butchering all of this now?”
“Why don’t you and Brother Xi go browse the market first? Otherwise, it might be too late to look around,” Zhuang Mingxu said, looking at the sky.
“You guys should go tomorrow. Most of the stuff in the market today is over there. There’s not much to see if you go now,” Li Zhuang pointed his chin outside.
“I thought they got it wrong at first,” Xiong Jie said, still feeling lingering fear about those things. “Those are all winter items. What did you buy them for?”
“They’ll always come in handy if we store them,” Li Zhuang mimicked Lu Weiyi’s voice.
Xiong Jie was speechless. “Let’s butcher the pig.” He discussed with Li Zhuang that they didn’t need to scald the pig hair, just scrape the skin to save water. As Xiong Jie walked out, he finally couldn’t help but turn back and say to Zhuang Mingxu, “I think Weiyi doesn’t seem very worldly. Why don’t you advise him? We can slowly find these things ourselves later. Water can’t be wasted like this. Who knows if there will be no water in the future.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to him. Thank you,” Zhuang Mingxu said.
They hadn’t even used up two cases of water, yet they had exchanged for all the things they brought back. Clothes, shoes, and bedding were piled up messily in the entire living room. Only then did Lu Weiyi remember that his space seemed to be full. And over there, Xi Shi was calling Lu Weiyi, asking him where to put the butchered pig and the chickens and rabbits.
“Coming!” Lu Weiyi entered the kitchen, reached out, and put all the meat into his space, leaving some of the internal organs out. Xi Shi thought he was worried about them being unclean and quickly said, “I’ve washed all of these clean.”
Having experienced the apocalypse, Lu Weiyi had none of the precious, picky eating habits of a young master from a wealthy family.
“Mmm, let’s just eat them directly,” Lu Weiyi said.
“Then we won’t stand on ceremony,” Xiong Jie, who had butchered the pig and washed the offal, said, “Xi Shi, how about some stir-fried pork intestines with chili, and a chicken giblet soup?”
“Xu Sa said we’re having barbecue tonight. I’ve already prepared everything. We’ll make that tomorrow,” Xi Shi replied with a smile.
Lu Weiyi came out of the kitchen and first stored the large pile of vegetables and fruits in the corner into his space before going to collect the other things. But as soon as he finished storing the cotton quilts and clothes, he couldn’t fit anything else in.
“Can’t fit anymore, right?” Xu Sa, who had been staring at him, laughed while biting into a tomato, skillfully skewering barbecue. His laughter was gloating.
“You couldn’t even fit that can of gasoline a few days ago, and you dare to buy so much in less than two days?” He laughed at the others. “I heard someone on the road saying that a ‘money-scattering boy’ had arrived at the trading market, buying everything he saw. I even wondered which idiot’s kid it was. But then I saw them and realized it was our own… hahaha…”
Lu Weiyi turned his head and glanced at Xu Sa, saying lightly, “Xu Ergou, you’re not getting dinner tonight.”
“…” Xu Sa abruptly sucked in a breath, then turned back with a fawning expression. “However, our Little Lu has always been prudent, farsighted, prepared for any eventuality, and cautious. He is truly a role model for short-sighted people like us. We must learn from Comrade Lu Weiyi’s long-term vision…”
Xu Sa smoothly recited a five-hundred-word essay praising Lu Weiyi, and finally asked quietly, “Your Majesty, may your humble servant have dinner?”
“Barely,” Lu Weiyi said with a smug look, his eyes narrowed into slits.
Thank you for the new chapter