Chapter 36 p1
In the end, this skewer was rinsed in water by Ji Yang and then stripped off for Xixi to eat.
Then, Xie Muzhi served up the second one.
This time, he didn’t test the waters again, but handed the skewer over from a distance. Ji Yang took the skewer, and her heart seemed to clench.
The skewer in her mouth was as delicious as expected, with a moderate saltiness and a hint of a numbing and spicy taste.
But Ji Yang’s mind was filled with the scene from just now, and her tongue seemed to have lost its sense of taste.
She just hadn’t reacted in time.
And she was stunned by that momentary eye contact.
Thinking of this, Ji Yang’s action of eating the meat skewer paused. The next second, she bit down hard and bit the skewer. Hmm… it seems she doesn’t reject being a little more intimate…
Just as she didn’t reject Xie Muzhi’s initiative to get close.
Otherwise, she would have directly refused when he had said he would send the jade over.
She inadvertently turned her head to look. Xie Muzhi was turning the rabbit over. On the grill next to it, a new batch of barbecue had already been placed. The eggplant had been roasted until it was soft, and it was peeled open in the middle. At some point, a layer of minced garlic had already been sprinkled on it.
In the time she had looked, Xie Muzhi had already dealt with the rabbit and had even cut off a piece of golden-brown roasted meat and placed it on the plate in front of her. At this time, there was already a handful of skewers on it.
“Have a taste first. It’s still a little undercooked, but it’s edible,” Xie Muzhi said in a calm tone.
Compared to his obvious low spirits just now, he seemed very normal now, as if he had not been affected.
But…
Ji Yang’s eyes narrowed slightly. The corners of his lips, which had been curled up since he had entered the house, were now in a downward state. His eyes were focused on the skewers. She silently picked up a piece of rabbit meat and threw it into her mouth. The skin was a little crispy, and the meat inside was still tender.
It was just that she was absent-minded, so she hadn’t removed a piece of Sichuan peppercorn from it. She chewed and chewed, and the Sichuan peppercorn burst in her mouth. In an instant, she felt that the piece of meat that had come into contact with the Sichuan peppercorn was directly numb.
But the meat still couldn’t be wasted.
She bravely swallowed that piece of meat and quickly went to find a drink.
Just as she was about to reach out, Xie Muzhi had already handed her her cup, his brows slightly furrowed. “Did you eat something too spicy?”
Ji Yang shook her head, swallowed the cold sparkling water, and suppressed the numbing feeling. She explained, “I accidentally ate a piece of Sichuan peppercorn.”
Xie Muzhi looked at the rabbit in realization. The rabbit had been marinated first. Otherwise, it would be difficult for it to be flavorful in a short period of time, so there was Sichuan peppercorn. When he was roasting it, he had also roasted it directly. When the Sichuan peppercorn was roasted and burst, the numbing and spicy taste would also adhere to the meat. When it was about time, he would just sweep it off, and it wouldn’t affect the taste.
But perhaps he had been a little distracted just now and hadn’t noticed that there was still one attached.
He turned the rabbit over and over, scraped off all the Sichuan peppercorn that was stubbornly clinging to it, and only then did he continue to roast it. His peripheral vision was still paying attention to the person beside him.
Seeing that she had returned to normal and was eating happily, and was even in the mood to tease Xixi, he was finally relieved.
It seemed his barbecue skills had not deteriorated.
The delicious barbecue made both of them very happy. For the latter half, they just ate the barbecue honestly. Ji Yang had some ideas in her heart, but she had missed a suitable opportunity and couldn’t express them for the time being. So, after eating the barbecue, Xie Muzhi took his leave.
Ji Yang went to see him off. On the contrary, it was Xixi. Looking at Xie Muzhi, who had packed up and was about to go out, it showed a hint of confusion, but it soon saw him holding a bag and seemed to have a sudden realization.
The owner always brings a bag when she goes hunting.
Understood.
The second in command is going hunting.
Xixi: “Woof woof woof!”
Xie Muzhi always felt that he had seen encouragement in this dog’s eyes. He felt that he had seen it wrong, and then he looked at Ji Yang to wash his eyes. At this sight, he almost couldn’t bear to look away.
Ji Yang was a little annoyed by his staring and was just about to urge him to leave quickly.
Suddenly, she remembered something. “By the way, you wait!”
Xie Muzhi’s eyes moved slightly, revealing a hint of anticipation.
Ji Yang hurried to the storage room, brought out the two bags of medicinal herbs she had prepared, one of each kind, and then went back again, putting the eggs in the basket into a plastic bag. She hadn’t bought many of these bamboo baskets, so she would just use a plastic bag.
She placed them all at Xie Muzhi’s feet and then explained, “I made the eggs before. There are still quite a few. It’s a waste if I can’t finish them. You can take them back to eat. These two bags are medicinal herbs, processed. Take a look and see how much they’re worth.”
She had never sold medicinal herbs before, so she really didn’t know.
In her opinion, small things could be given to each other, but that whole burlap sack of jade was definitely not something that could be gotten casually. Only he himself knew how much Xie Muzhi had paid. So, even if he didn’t mention it, she still had to give it.
Xie Muzhi had probably guessed it when he had seen these things. The extra bag was from his own personal supplies, so he hadn’t wanted it. When Ji Yang had taken it out, he had been a little disappointed, but he also knew that the two of them had not reached that point.
But when he saw the eggs and heard this, his mood became cheerful again.
His gaze towards Ji Yang was even softer.
But when he squatted down to look at the medicinal herbs, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.
These medicinal herbs were exactly the two kinds that the higher-ups had said they wanted to buy in large quantities.
In the surrounding several cities, he had been sending people to buy these. With a large number of people pouring into the base, the quantity received was also quite large. The survivors who might have been medicinal herb merchants or large-scale medicinal herb growers in the past had moved with their families, and many things would have been dealt with.
However, no matter how much was handed over, the higher-ups always said it was not enough.
The amount of medicinal herbs needed for various epidemics was too large. At least according to the current number of survivors, there was still a lot missing.
Therefore, even if Xie Muzhi tried his best to hide it, many people who should have guessed had already guessed. There were not a few who were secretly hoarding medicinal herbs. As the moving tide came to an end, the price of these things also became higher and higher.
He hadn’t expected that what Ji Yang had casually taken out was exactly what he needed.
Xie Muzhi didn’t think too much about it, but he sighed in his heart. It seemed that there was a huge network behind Ji Yang. Perhaps future transactions could start from this aspect.
“This one bag is enough,” Xie Muzhi picked up both bags. “But since you’ve already taken them out, I’ll take them all. I’ll send another batch of jade next time I come.”
Ji Yang was surprised. “Are the prices of medicinal herbs that high?”
Xie Muzhi nodded. He didn’t intend to let the other party suffer a loss because they were familiar. He was very frank and told the truth. “We happen to be buying these. Some people have noticed and have also started to buy them secretly, wanting to wait for a good price. It’s impossible to stop them, so the price has naturally gone up. The quality of your medicinal herbs is very good, so the price is naturally even higher.”
Ji Yang immediately thought of the shortage of specific cures in her previous life. She was extremely grateful that she had been diagnosed with only one virus. She had used up all the points she had saved at that time to exchange for a single dose of medicine.
She had planted so many medicinal herbs precisely because she didn’t want the situation in her previous life to happen again.
Too many people had died for these medicines.
The thoughts flashed through her mind, and Ji Yang smiled. “Then let’s trade with medicinal herbs in the future.”
Xie Muzhi: “Okay.”
This time, he really opened the door and left. Xie Muzhi finally asked, “Then what do you want to eat next time?”
Ji Yang subconsciously thought and then said, “Seafood?”
She had been eating land animals for the past few days, so she could consider eating something from the sea.
Xie Muzhi smiled. To be able to agree meant there would be a next time. He nodded. “Okay.”
—
After he had left, Ji Yang couldn’t wait to throw the three bags of jade into her space.
A total of two hundred and fifty square meters were added. So far, the entire pond area had reached 7150 square meters. It was still a long way from the maximum level, and she didn’t even know if there would be a new space after the pond reached its maximum level.
Time passed quickly.
Due to the distance between the base and Jiafu Community, the two of them had not contacted each other for the next few days, and they were both very busy.
New Year’s Day and her birthday had passed without her noticing when the base was announced. Even though she had a phone and a computer, those things were usually placed in her static space, and time had long since been chaotic. So, when she came to her senses and realized that everything had passed, she didn’t take it to heart.
It was a little bit of a pity, so she took Xixi and the two of them made up for the New Year’s Eve. They used the New Year’s Eve concert she had downloaded before and had fun for half the night.
The next day, she found an electronic thermometer in her space. Besides recording the temperature, it could also record the time and humidity. The battery was also a button battery, which was very durable.
Therefore, she did not miss the Spring Festival.
Two days in advance, she began to think about how to spend the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival Gala was a must-see. The rest was eating and drinking.
To be honest, she had already tasted all the cooked food in her space once. It was delicious, but there was no novelty, so there was no sense of anticipation. Therefore, she couldn’t decide on the Spring Festival menu for a while.
It wasn’t until the day before the Spring Festival that Xie Muzhi contacted her. “Ji Yang, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
Ji Yang tilted her head. Thinking of the distance between the base and Jiafu Community, Xie Muzhi might be chatting with her in the cold wind outside right now. She couldn’t help but show a smile and cooperated, “The bad news.”
This way, the good news could wash away the sadness of the bad news.
But on the other end of the walkie-talkie, Xie Muzhi coughed lightly. “Good news. The good news is that I got a batch of seafood. They are all high-end goods from before the disaster, and they are still alive.”
Ji Yang: ?
She laughed in anger. “So what’s the bad news?”
Xie Muzhi opened his mouth, a hint of grievance in his voice. “I was just assigned a mission and have to leave immediately. Should I have Luo Laosan send the seafood to you?”
Ji Yang’s heart seemed to have been hit, and it was a little sour and astringent. She pursed her lips. “I can’t cook. It’s useless to give it to me. I can only freeze it.”
It’s not like she doesn’t have frozen seafood.
There was no sound from the other end of the walkie-talkie for a while. After a while, the noise reappeared. Xie Muzhi: “I know. You wait.”
Time seemed to be very tight. After he finished speaking, he didn’t even have time to say goodbye. The walkie-talkie crackled, and then there was no sound.
Ji Yang stared at the walkie-talkie for a few seconds. Wait? What does that mean?
*