Chapter 55: Full Storage
Xia Lu Nong and the others dug up clay, mixed it, and hauled stones back. After three full days of hard work, they finally completed the bread kiln.
During this time, they specifically went up the mountain to build a small bamboo shed over the kiln, covering it with plastic sheets and straw. They also moved the chicken coop, relocating it from under their eaves to beside Yan Xi Nian’s house.
Stepping outside his house, Xia Lu Nong could see the large tree on the left, with the bread kiln next to it. In front of the kiln was a vegetable garden where strawberries, watermelons, and melons were growing, their leaves concealing still-unripe fruits beneath.
Looking at the small white flowers and green strawberries, Xia Lu Nong glanced around. Seeing that Kong Zhi was distracted in the distance, he quickly infused a small amount of his special ability into the plants. As soon as the energy flowed in, the small green strawberries under the leaves started to swell, growing slowly.
Kong Zhi seemed to sense something and looked over.
Feeling guilty, Xia Lu Nong quickly ducked down and hurried into the house with small, quick steps.
With the bread kiln finished, their production of tomato and chili cakes, as well as eggplant and chili cakes, increased threefold. By the afternoon, they had completed all the eggplant chili cakes.
The two of them weighed the finished cakes. After subtracting the weight of the baskets, they had 158 pounds of tomato chili cakes and 77 pounds of eggplant chili cakes.
Exhausted, Xia Lu Nong collapsed into a chair, his back aching. He inhaled the spicy aroma of the chili cakes and said, “We’re amazing!”
As he looked at the stack of chili cakes in the corner of the living room, a sense of pride welled up inside him.
Kong Zhi also looked and said, “I’ll go tell Captain Yan that the chili cakes are ready. We should deliver them as soon as possible.”
“Sounds good. The sooner we trade, the more rice we’ll get. It’ll also make it easier when we head to Yacheng Town the day after tomorrow for supplies,” Xia Lu Nong replied, waving lazily. “You handle it. I need to lie down. If I don’t sleep soon, I’m going to pass out.”
Seeing how tired Xia Lu Nong was, Kong Zhi instinctively reached out to massage his shoulder. It was a familiar gesture, as the two often gave each other a quick shoulder rub.
But today, when Kong Zhi placed his hand on Xia Lu Nong’s shoulder, Xia Lu Nong shuddered, turning his head sharply to look at him.
Kong Zhi raised his hand, “What’s wrong?”
Xia Lu Nong blinked in confusion.
The touch on his shoulder had felt strange—warm and tingly, almost like an electric shock.
They’d had physical contact before, so he wasn’t normally this sensitive. He couldn’t explain why it felt different today.
Rubbing his shoulder where Kong Zhi had touched him, Xia Lu Nong could still feel the lingering warmth from his hand. Quickly shaking his head, he said, “It’s nothing. I’m just really tired. That’s why it felt weird when you touched me. I’m heading to bed.”
Kong Zhi looked at his palm briefly before nodding. “Go ahead.”
Xia Lu Nong hurried back to his room, almost running. With a loud “bang,” he closed the door and locked it.
Kong Zhi stood outside his room for a while before heading out to find Yan Xi Nian.
Before leaving, he carefully locked the main door with the key.
Over at Yan Xi Nian’s side, they were nearing the completion of their work.
When Kong Zhi informed Yan Xi Nian that the chili cakes were ready, Yan Xi Nian said, “Perfect timing. We’re almost done here too. In a couple of days, everyone will head out. Why don’t you bring the chili cakes over now? The sooner we finish this, the better.”
Kong Zhi nodded and added, “But we don’t have enough bags to carry the chili cakes.”
Yan Xi Nian replied, “I’ll tell them to bring their own bags from home, and they can bring the rice here as well.”
Just then, Xia Huo Qu came back with a load of sand and stones, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “No need to make it so complicated. After work tonight, they can bring the rice to Xia Lu Nong’s house for the trade. Kong Zhi, you should go borrow some baskets or bags from Liao Cheng’s place. There’s no room for more rice at home.”
Hearing this, Yan Xi Nian immediately said, “Your Xia brother’s right. Let’s go with his plan.”
Kong Zhi agreed.
Xia Huo Qu, in a calm tone, added, “You’ve worked hard. After we finish today, take a break tomorrow. The day after, we’ll take you out for a stroll.”
Kong Zhi then headed to Liao Cheng’s house to borrow some baskets. To avoid missing him, he decided to take a detour past Liao Cheng’s field.
Sure enough, Liao Cheng was working in the field. When Kong Zhi arrived, he was standing in the rice paddy, pulling weeds with his pants rolled up.
Seeing Kong Zhi, Liao Cheng straightened up and cheerfully greeted him, “What brings you here?”
“I wanted to borrow some baskets from your place. I thought you might not be home, so I came by to check first,” Kong Zhi explained.
Liao Cheng gave him a thumbs-up. “Smart move.”
Standing on the ridge of the field, Kong Zhi noticed a strong fishy smell. He looked toward the field and asked, “How are the fish doing?”
“They’re growing well. Let me show you,” Liao Cheng said, casually grabbing a fish and showing it to Kong Zhi. “Here, look at this. They’ve been eating insects and seeds all day, getting nice and fat. The first round of mutations has started, so hopefully, they won’t mutate too much.”
Kong Zhi looked at the fish in Liao Cheng’s palm. It was about two fingers wide, with a white belly and a black back. Apart from having an extra tail, it seemed normal—almost cute, even.
After showing it, Liao Cheng tossed the fish back into the water, watching as it swam away with a flick of its tail. He then asked, “How are your fields coming along?”
“The base has already harvested the sweet potatoes. Once I return from my trip, I’ll plow the fields,” Kong Zhi replied.
“That’ll take a while. What about the seedlings? Are you planning to grow them yourself, or will you buy from Old Liu?” Liao Cheng asked, fishing for his keys while swatting away a bug sucking blood from his leg.
“I’ll buy them from Old Liu. I don’t know how to raise seedlings.”
“Figures. You don’t look like you’ve done much farming. When you buy the seedlings, grab some fish fry as well. Make sure Old Liu gives you a discount while you’re at it,” Liao Cheng said with a grin.
Kong Zhi nodded in agreement.
Liao Cheng smiled, walked a few steps forward, and handed him the key. “Here’s my house key. The baskets are piled up in my room, you can just go in and grab them. I’ll stop by your place later to pick up the key.”
Kong Zhi nodded and said goodbye.
Liao Cheng slapped his legs twice and continued pulling weeds.
The sun hadn’t set yet. Its rays beat down on his lean back, causing him to sweat. His shirt was already soaked and clung to his skin.
By the time Kong Zhi returned with the empty baskets, there were already people waiting at the door to exchange for chili cakes.
One man said, “I knocked on the door earlier but didn’t hear anyone, so I thought you had gone out. Then I heard some sounds inside, so I wasn’t sure if anyone was home.”
“Xia Nong is inside,” Kong Zhi replied. “He probably didn’t hear you. How many chili cakes are you exchanging for?”
“Five pounds. I pre-ordered with Vice Captain Xia earlier,” the man said as he handed over a cloth bag. “This is thirty pounds of rice. Go ahead and weigh it.”
Kong Zhi weighed the bag in front of him, confirmed it was accurate, and poured the rice into the basket. Then he measured out five pounds of tomato chili cakes for the man and threw in an extra half-pound of eggplant chili cakes as a bonus.
The man was pleasantly surprised by the gift. His face lit up. “Wow, two flavors! I’ll take them home to try. If they taste good, I’ll be back for more.”
Kong Zhi nodded. “We’re only making one batch for now, so if you want more, come early.”
“Haha, will do! Thanks!”
Kong Zhi sent the man off and knocked on Xia Nong’s bedroom door.
The door remained closed, and after a while, there was no response, though the sound of steady snoring could be heard faintly through the door.
Kong Zhi guessed he was sound asleep, so he didn’t disturb him further. Instead, he went to the backyard, harvested some chives, and picked a cucumber to make a simple dinner.
While he was cooking, more people came by to exchange for chili cakes. Each time, Kong Zhi paused his work to help them.
He juggled cooking and handling exchanges, busy from start to finish.
It wasn’t until Xia Huo Qu and the others returned that things finally eased up.
Xia Huo Qu noticed his younger brother’s bedroom door was still shut. “Xiao Nong is still asleep? Is he not feeling well?”
“Just really tired,” Kong Zhi replied without looking up. “I’ll wake him for dinner.”
Xia Huo Qu, concerned for his brother, didn’t push the issue. He washed his hands and took over the task of exchanging chili cakes.
By now, the workers from the hydropower station had finished their shifts and were arriving with bags of rice to exchange.
Once the pre-ordered chili cakes were gone, word spread to the gathering team, and they too came with rice to exchange.
They were the most generous, trading five to eight pounds at a time.
Even the scientists from the White Building heard the news and came in groups with rice, each trading three to five pounds.
Soon, word spread around the base, and others came to join in. They were more conservative, trading half a pound to one pound, mostly to give their elders or children a treat—after all, the smell of chili cakes had been filling the air around Xia Nong’s house for days, and many had been craving them.
Before long, all the baskets at Xia Nong’s house, including the borrowed ones, were filled with rice.
By nightfall, every last bit of the 158 pounds of tomato chili cakes and 77 pounds of eggplant chili cakes had been exchanged. Not a single pound remained.
In total, they received 1,086 pounds of white rice. The baskets were overflowing, and they even had to use cloth bags to store the excess rice.
A large pile of rice sacks stacked up in the corner of the living room, creating the illusion of a granary overflowing with harvest. Some of the rice bags were piled so high they nearly touched the ceiling.
The whole house was filled with the sweet scent of rice.
Xia Huo Qu and Yan Xi Nian exchanged glances.
Yan Xi Nian chuckled and said, “Who would’ve thought Xiao Nong would turn out to be the one bringing in the most grain? Now we don’t have to worry. That kid could go anywhere and never starve.”
Xia Huo Qu’s eyes twinkled with a hint of pride.
He turned to look at Xia Nong’s closed bedroom door. “I’ll go wake him for dinner.”
Happy New Year! Thanks for the chapter!