How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 144 - 146: Luck_1

Neighbors lingered until mealtime before they gradually left.

After the meal was finished and the gathering dispersed, Li Shengcai and Dong Lamei went out to see them off.

"Qiaoqiao, pay more attention when you’re at work..."

Dong Lamei paused, and Li Qiao thought the other cared about her, thinking to herself that at last there was a kind word. But the next moment, she realized she had expected too much, "Do you know of any decent jobs that could be recommended for your sister?"

Li Qiao scoffed. If the breeding farm wasn’t decent, what counted as decent? She gave a noncommittal answer, "I’ll see."

Li Jinhua didn’t count on Li Qiao’s help in finding a decent job.

The current plan was to steal an admission notice.

Li Qiao’s admission notice had come nearly two weeks after returning to school following the competition.

The other universities must also be sending them out around the same time. Starting next week, she would wait at the post office to take them from the young intellectuals.

She had a good understanding of the backgrounds of the three female intellectuals in Feng Family Village, and using any one of their admission notices to enroll wouldn’t give her away.

....

Li Qiao and Qin Jin left the Li Family and headed straight towards Pig Waist Ridge.

Upon reaching their destination.

They locked their bike and climbed upwards, finding the pine nuts at the top of trees the same color as before.

Many small white mushrooms had sprung up on the ground, looking like rivets.

Li Qiao didn’t recognize them and dared not pick them.

"Qiaoqiao, quickly look, there’s something at the top of the tree that looks like a yellow weasel," Qin Jin said.

Li Qiao looked up, following Qin Jin’s direction, and on closer inspection, she laughed, "That’s a squirrel. Yellow weasels are yellow, skinny, and long; not cute like that."

The squirrel, startled by the sound of their voices, scampered away.

"Cute? I didn’t see it. You’re the cute one," Qin Jin said with a deep gaze, looking her up and down.

This dress by itself looked dull and ugly.

But it looked stunning on her.

He cleared his dry throat and said, "There’s no one here, and you’re wearing a skirt, which makes it very convenient to play a game with me."

"I won’t play with you," she crossed her arms defensively, took a few steps back to distance herself from him, and only relaxed when she was sure he wouldn’t do anything careless. She walked around and noticed many orange-red fruits dotting the green leaves nearby.

She moved closer to investigate.

"Wow! So many goji berries, we’ve struck it rich!" Li Qiao exclaimed excitedly, jumping up. This little hill was truly a treasure trove.

"What can goji berries be used for?"

"After drying, they can be used in soups and teas. Haven’t you been to restaurants? Don’t they add them to your chicken or softshell turtle soups?"

Qin Jin replied, "How many times have I been to restaurants? I never paid attention." Even when given chicken or softshell turtle soups, he was too busy wolfing down his food to notice the ingredients. Even if he did see them, he would drink everything down in one gulp.

As both of them came with the intention of picking pinecones, they had brought bags. Together, they picked the ripe goji berries.

Half a bagful.

Qin Jin weighed it and said, "That’s at least twenty pounds. Can it sell for the same price as pine nuts?"

Li Qiao shook her head, "I don’t know. Probably not as expensive as pine nuts, right?" Orange goji was common, while black goji was rare. But in those days, without artificial cultivation and limited wild picking, plus public trading wasn’t allowed, perhaps they could be more expensive than pine nuts. "Regardless of the price, we won’t sell them. We’ll clean them and give them away. Through whose hands did you get that chemical fertilizer? It’s the perfect chance to thank them."

Qin Jin chuckled lightly, she really was his good helper. He had indeed been worried about what to give as a return gift next time he met them.

It didn’t need to be very expensive.

But it had to be rare and show a certain level of appreciation.

"Agreed."

Both returned home with their bounty. As soon as Li Qiao entered, she called Old Mrs. Qin, "Grandma, come here for a moment."

Old Mrs. Qin smiled and left her work, "You’ve got a full bag there, what have you got?"

Li Qiao had already emptied the goji berries from the bag into a winnowing basket to air out, "Look grandma, these are the goji berries I picked outside."

Old Mrs. Qin, pinching the goji berries, said in wonder, "How come you always manage to find things to bring back whenever you go out? But drying them like this won’t do; you need to steam them first for a while, then place them in a ventilated area to slowly air dry before moving them under the sun."

"Really?"

Old Mrs. Qin hummed, "It’s the same way we dry long beans."

Li Qiao took the advice, steaming the goji berries before shaking them out to dry in an airy spot under the eaves.

Those working outside, hearing she had brought home half a bag of goji berries, envied her fortune.

"The more capable a person is, the better their luck. I used to roam the hills every day and at most, I’d pick a couple of lantern fruits. I’ve seen plenty of wild chickens and rabbits, but they run too fast to catch any. As for pine nuts and goji berries, I’ve never come across them."

"No kidding! It’s just like the saying, ’Comparisons are odious.’"

"Qiaoqiao, who are you saving the goji berries for?"

Li Qiao: "They’re for our family’s consumption. Do you want some? I’ll give you a jar once they’re dried. You can use them in chicken soup, pork rib soup, or add a few when brewing tea; they’re nourishing."

"That’d be great."

"I’ll take some too."

"Sure," Li Qiao generously agreed.

The aunts asked again about Li Jinhua’s suitor, wondering how he compared to Feng Bing.

Li Qiao honestly said, "He’s much handsomer than Feng Dafa, looks quite good, and is polite." Despite being ten years older than her and Qin Jin, he still called her sister and brother-in-law.

Li Jinhua really is...! She didn’t know what to say; in front of others, she didn’t give the man any face.

Li Jianguo didn’t seem to mind at all.

If it had been any of Qin Jin’s brothers, they would have resorted to physical confrontations long ago.

Feng Kui was a prime example; she often saw him in the village chasing after his wife, shouting threats.

Li Jinhua should have been married to Feng Kui – he’d surely have her disciplined in no time.

"That sounds really good. What about his family background?"

Not very aware of the locals, including Li Jianguo’s name and age, which she only learned from conversations, Li Qiao hesitated: "His family background, ah... should be... not bad, right?" How could Dong Lamei agree to marry Li Jinhua off if it were too poor?

Worried the aunts would keep probing, she excused herself and left.

She sat in the shade closest to the gate and called out a few times.

The guard dog, hearing her voice, ran up wagging its tail and flopped down with its legs raised deftly.

Crouching, she stroked the dog’s belly, picking fleas and smoothing its fur.

.....

Du Xinxin and Liu Jing came by, asking Li Qiao to fix the radio.

"Fix the radio? I have no clue how to, where did you get it from?"

"From the junkyard. Han Ting spent five yuan on it. He and Zou Qing tried fixing it for half a day without success, so they thought you, with your good grades, might understand how."

Li Qiao laughed, "You think too highly of me."

"Just give it a try."

"Alright. But I can’t guarantee anything," Li Qiao answered after she pet the dog and washed her hands before following the two to the youth spot.

Han Ting and Zou Qing looked helpless as they stared at the scattered parts on the table.

Li Qiao glanced at them and saw an extremely old-fashioned radio: "You’ve disassembled it like this, can you put it back together?"

"Doesn’t seem like it anymore." Han Ting wiped off some sweat and flung off the thought, "Wasted five yuan."

"Would buying a new one cost several hundred?" Li Qiao had seen electronics counters in the city, where such items were rare, not just expensive, but also requiring ration coupons.

Ordinary people couldn’t buy them even if they had the money without those coupons.

This model was even older, so it must have been more expensive when bought.

Han Ting sighed, "Right, that’s why we thought spending five yuan was like catching pie from the sky, a great deal, but turns out you can’t get anything good for cheap."