Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

When Xue Bingbing and Le Qi heard Le Yao's words, they both looked at Liu Xiangyang and found him grabbing Le Yao's foot like a lecherous man.

Leqi felt as if her feet were being grabbed, and her face immediately turned red.

Xue Bingbing is usually very bold when she is alone with Liu Xiangyang. She is willing to cooperate with whatever Liu Xiangyang thinks or knows. But now that they are together, she is still shy and quickly turns over to let Le Yao get up.

Xue Bingbing: "Why do you reek of alcohol? Are you hungry? Want to eat something else?"

"I'm not hungry. I ate in Lei Family Village. I was supposed to come back this afternoon, but Village Chief Lei was so hospitable that he insisted on inviting me for drinks, and I couldn't refuse."

Xue Bingbing got up and prepared to put on her shoes and get off the kang (heated brick bed): "Then I'll go boil some water for you, so you can take a bath and get rid of the smell of alcohol."

Liu Xiangyang stopped Xue Bingbing, who was trying to get off the kang (heated brick bed), saying, "I'll go by myself. You guys continue playing."

Le Yao then brushed the newspaper strips off her face and said, "Bingbing, you can't run away, I'm going to stick them back on."

When Xue Bingbing heard that Le Yao wanted to get revenge, she went over and tickled Le Yao's skin again, and the three of them started fighting again.

Liu Xiangyang pushed open the door, put down the heavy bucket of water he was carrying, and skillfully poured the water into the large iron pot on the stove. He then turned around and went to the yard to fetch a bundle of firewood, carefully stuffing it into the stove. The moment the match was struck, the orange-red flames leaped merrily, and soon the crackling sound of the firewood filled the air.

While the water was boiling, Liu Xiangyang sat down on a small stool in front of the stove and began to organize his space. His consciousness sank into it, carefully taking stock of the supplies.

The 1,500 yuan I got from the black market is now down to about 1,000 yuan; I need to find a chance to replenish my cash.

Looking at his meat reserves, the two pigs he had prepared for himself were almost gone—he had initially thought they would be more than enough for one person, but now with three mouths to feed, the consumption rate was far exceeding his expectations. Fortunately, he still had a bear paw and some bear meat left, which he planned to bring to his parents and sister to enjoy when he went home for the Chinese New Year next year.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile. His gaze swept over the glittering gold in the corner, and he suddenly remembered that he hadn't prepared rings for Leqi and Leyao yet.

He immediately focused his mind and used his spatial abilities to decompose the gold into a flowing golden liquid. This liquid gold flowed slowly in his palm like mercury, shimmering with a captivating metallic luster. It was neither as hard as a solid nor as light as an ordinary liquid; it was truly wondrous.

He carefully manipulated the golden fluids, shaping them by feel into two exquisite rings. On the inside of the rings, he meticulously engraved the words "Xiang Qi" and "Xiang Yao." Every stroke was made with exceptional focus, as if he wanted to engrave the preciousness in his heart into them as well.

The bubbling sound of steam rising from the stove pulled him from his concentration. He got up, picked up the bucket, and poured warm water into the bathtub. He added a piece of firewood to the bottom to keep it warm before taking off his clothes and slowly immersing himself in the water. The warm water enveloped his body, dispelling the day's fatigue. He leaned back against the edge of the tub, thinking that after the banquet at the office was over, he would go hunting in the mountains.

We need to hurry up and stock up on more meat, otherwise there will really be a famine. Warm steam rose up and condensed into fine water droplets on his strong chest.

Soaking in the comforting hot water, he gently exhaled.

The bathroom door was gently pushed open a crack, and the steam immediately found its outlet, drifting outside.

Xue Bingbing squeezed in, and looked at Liu Xiangyang, who was resting with his eyes closed in the bath, with a smile on her lips.

"Aren't you lonely taking a bath alone?" Her voice was playful, like the gentle tapping of a spring stream in the quiet air.

Liu Xiangyang opened his eyes at the sound and, through the misty steam, saw Xue Bingbing smiling. Before he could answer, Xue Bingbing had already closed the door behind her. She rolled up her sleeves, revealing half of her fair forearm: "Let me rub your back for you."

Liu Xiangyang's hands, carrying the warm water, traced up and down her smooth back. Xue Bingbing gently leaned against the edge of the bathtub, letting out a satisfied sigh. He tenderly massaged a spot on her lower back, where the marks he had left during their recent intimacy still lingered. The water rippled gently with his movements, and the two unspokenly enjoyed the afterglow.

"I'm going to borrow Old Wang's cart, otherwise I don't know how I'll get all that vegetables back. You guys wait for me at the village entrance."

When Liu Xiangyang led the carriage to the village entrance, three beautiful women with bright eyes were looking at him.

Liu Xiangyang smiled at them and said, "Please get in the car, you three beauties."

The four arrived in the county and went to the state-run vegetable store. They found that some people were already buying and stocking up on vegetables. They quickly drove their horse-drawn carriage forward and inquired about the prices. The prices were similar to what Leqi had asked about: two or three cents per pound.

The winter in Northeast China is long. In places like Dongsheng Village, winter lasts for more than five months each year. Winter begins in mid-October and doesn't thaw until March of the following year. Therefore, the quantity of vegetables needed for winter is relatively large.

Xue Bingbing, Le Qi, and Le Yao are all from the South, and Liu Xiangyang is also a Southerner at heart. He had never heard of winter vegetables before and only learned about them by chatting with older women.

The winter vegetables here include Chinese cabbage, potatoes, radishes, mustard tubers, carrots, scallions, and garlic.

After some discussion, the group decided on the following: 200 jin of Chinese cabbage per person, with 100 jin for pickling; 70 jin of potatoes per person, provided by the village; 150 jin of radishes per person, with 50-60 jin for pickling; 40 jin of scallions per person; 30 jin of mustard greens per person; 10 jin of garlic per person; and 10 jin of frozen tofu per person. The total weight of winter vegetables for each person would be slightly over 500 jin. (Our friends from Northeast China knew that there would be a 10-15% loss if stored in a cellar for a long time, so we overestimated the amount.)

The four of them bought more than 2,000 kilograms of vegetables for the winter, for a total price of less than 70 yuan.

Liu Xiangyang then took them to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought a set of checkers. During the winter, everyone needs something to do, and checkers is perfect as it can accommodate five people at the same time.

"Let's pick out some more fabric. That way you'll have something to do during the winter, and you'll have new clothes to wear for the New Year," Liu Xiangyang said, pointing to the piles of fabric.

"Then I'll take this one," Xue Bingbing said, choosing a white floral print fabric.

"I want this fabric." Leqi and Leyao, being twins, had the same taste in men and fabrics. They pointed to a beige fabric with small flowers.

Leqi then pointed to a piece of polyester fabric and said, "Liu Xiangyang, you should buy one too, and we'll make one for you together."

Liu Xiangyang bought more than 10 bottles of wine, so that when the temperature drops, he can have a sip to warm himself up when he goes hunting in the mountains.

On their way home in the afternoon, the temperature dropped to just a few degrees. None of the four of them were wearing many clothes. Liu Xiangyang was fine, as he was in good spirits, but the three southerners were so cold that their teeth were chattering.

Liu Xiangyang had initially considered taking off his coat and giving it to someone else, but then thought better of it and decided against it.

"Wrap yourself up with some cloth first, it'll make you feel more comfortable." Liu Xiangyang picked up some cloth and wrapped it around them.

Sigh, having more women isn't all a good thing. I'll have to become a master of balancing things from now on.