Ancient Doomsday Traveler

Chapter 53 Dried Vegetables and Peaches

Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong were placed in a wooden house not far from the yamen. The house was empty and had nothing in it, but this did not matter to Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong.

The two of them quickly swept and cleaned, then laid out the bedding on the ground and moved all the other things in and put them in the corner.

The donkey and its cart were left at the entrance, where there were simple wooden hitching posts for tethering horses. It seemed that this place was specially reserved for travelers from out of town.

Otherwise, as Li Laoshi said, the village already has horse sheds and cow sheds, so why bother with these hitching posts?

When Li Laoshi brought Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong here, he suggested that they could take the donkey to the stable or the cowshed, but Lin Xiu refused.

They didn't even tie the donkey to the hitching post.

"If you don't keep it on a leash, what will you do if it runs off?"

Li Laoshi couldn't help but worry about Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong.

Lin Xiu patted Brother Donkey and said, "Brother Donkey, five." Simple and straightforward.

Normally, this would be something like, "Brother Donkey, show him what you've got!"—he'd want to show off along with Brother Donkey. But now, constrained by his persona, he can't do that.

Fortunately, he and Brother Donkey were of one mind and worked together perfectly. With just one call, Brother Donkey knew what he meant and immediately tossed his head, giving Li Laoshi a "humph" count of one, two, three, four, five.

Li Laoshi stared in disbelief, exclaiming, "This is actually a donkey?!"

"Pfft!"

Brother Donkey snorted at Li Laoshi with dissatisfaction. He still thought "mule" was a compliment and felt that Li Laoshi was looking down on him.

Li Laoshi, however, didn't care at all and, imitating Lin Xiu, said, "Brother Donkey, you're silly."

Brother Donkey flicked its mane and glanced at Li Laoshi, its eyes seemingly showing some impatience, but in the end it still reluctantly cooperated, making two "uh-huh" sounds.

Only Lin Xiu could see it clearly: Brother Donkey wasn't just reluctantly cooperating; he was showing off!

It's been packed away!

Li Laoshi was thrilled to receive a response and said, "Brother Donkey, one."

"Mmm~"

"Brother Donkey, four."

"Mmm~ Mmm~ Mmm~ Mmm~"

"Brother Donkey, thirty-one."

"..."

Brother Donkey tossed his head and looked at Li Laoshi as if he were a fool.

In short, Li Laoshi was relieved and allowed Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong to let the donkey roam freely at the door.

After Li Laoshi left, Lin Xiu and Yao Rongrong tidied up the room and laid out the bedding. Then, Yao Rongrong went to the door and listened through the crack in the door.

After confirming that she couldn't hear any more noise, Yao Rongrong turned around and said to Lin Xiu with a coquettish smile, "Sir, when did you become so dull and shy?"

Lin Xiu also laughed and said, "We're evenly matched, we're in the same boat."

"snort!"

Yao Rongrong gave a soft snort and said, "But sir, have you considered what you'll do if you want to stay in Lijiaji permanently with this kind of behavior? Are you going to pretend for the rest of your life?"

Lin Xiu laughed again: "Alright, so you were waiting for me here."

Yao Rongrong rolled her eyes: "You're the one who wanted to learn from me, it's not like I told you to do it."

Lin Xiu said, "It's alright. I'll find a reason to gradually get to know the villagers here before reverting to my true nature. There are people in this world who are taciturn when facing strangers but cheerful and talkative when they meet acquaintances."

Although I haven't had much contact with them this time, I can sense that the villagers are all quite nice, and that Magistrate Xu isn't a bad person either. They shouldn't hold it against me.

"Yes...they're all good..."

Yao Rongrong's smile faded, but she quickly composed herself and said, "Even if it's not good, I'm not afraid. I'll stay here for a few more days and see what the people here are like. If they're not so great, with me here, you don't need to be afraid, sir."

"But sir, since you've exchanged your novels for profits, you'll have to share some with me. I can't help you for nothing."

Lin Xiu knew that this woman actually wanted to help him, but she was just so proud and stubborn that even if she wanted to help, she would refuse to admit it.

"Of course, of course."

Lin Xiu readily agreed, thinking to himself that he wondered if there were any useful supplies in the village. If so, he could exchange his storybooks for some and help Yao Rongrong more.

He took out the peaches he had just exchanged, washed them with water from his bag, and handed them to Yao Rongrong, saying, "Here, eat some peaches. We haven't eaten any fruit on this trip, and we've only eaten wild vegetables, so we're lacking vitamins. We need to replenish them properly now."

Yao Rongrong took the peach and asked, "What are vitamins?"

Lin Xiu replied, "It's what sustains our lives. Fruits and vegetables contain it. If we don't eat it for a long time, we'll get sick, and we might even lose our lives."

As he spoke, a sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately realized what Yao Rongrong needed—

Dehydrated vegetables!

Yes, it's dehydrated vegetables!

This stuff already exists today. Back in Mengzhou City, Lin Xiu saw that almost every household in the city had dehydrated water chestnuts, wood ear mushrooms, celery, cabbage, and the like, which were dried in the shade or baked over a fire, to prepare for the winter.

However, these things are no longer called dehydrated vegetables, but dried vegetables.

Even in the Yuanyang Building, there were dried vegetables stored by the proprietress.

However, dried vegetables and grains are matters of life and death for every household. When the survivors fled, they took almost all the dried vegetables they could carry with them.

Lin Xiu later returned and found some dried vegetables, which he ate until Yao Rongrong was about to arrive before they were all used up.

If they could get some dried vegetables in return, it would be a great help to Yao Rongrong.

However, when we were exchanging things outside, no one took out any dried vegetables. I suppose these things are very precious to the people here, and they are reluctant to take them out to exchange.

To get the dried vegetables for Ms. Yao, it seems we'll have to pay a price.

Don't rush, let's wait and see...

Lin Xiu thought to himself.

Yao Rongrong said, "The teacher truly lives up to his title; he even knows these things. He's amazing!"

As she spoke, she took a bite of the peach, her eyes widening instantly. She exclaimed repeatedly, "Mmm! Delicious! I haven't had such a juicy peach in ages!"

Lin Xiu also took a bite of the peach. He found that the skin was thin and the juice was plentiful. The flesh was soft and smooth like solidified cream. Everything melted in his mouth, and the juice gushed out, making him feel as if he had just received rain after a long drought. He felt happy in both body and mind.

"It really tastes good."

He nodded and agreed, then stopped talking and quietly ate the peach with Yao Rongrong, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

After they finished eating, they both wiped their hands. Suddenly, they heard footsteps outside, so they quickly quieted down.

The footsteps drew near, and someone knocked on the door, saying, "Are you two at home? Magistrate Xu requests your presence."