Chapter 163: Consolation
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran took the medicine from Fan Zijin’s hand with a bitter expression. Raising his head, he gulped down all the medicine. Fan Zijin quickly stuffed a candy into his mouth.
Qi Haoran smacked his lips and felt better. Looking outside, he saw Little Bowen and Xiulan leaning against the door, looking at him. He looked around the courtyard but didn’t see Mu Yangling and her other cousin, so he asked, “Where’s Mu Yangling?”
“She went to chase the rabbits into the shed.” Fan Zijin waved nonchalantly and called Xiulan in to take out the medicine bowl. He asked Qi Haoran, “Why are you looking for her?”
“Nothing much. It’s just strange that I didn’t see her when I woke up.” The tips of Qi Haoran’s ears were a little red.
The two of them were so close that they could wear the same pair of pants. Looking at his shy expression dazedly, an idea suddenly appeared in his mind. He pointed at Qi Haoran and asked, “Were you not unconscious?”
Qi Haoran’s face exploded with redness as he argued, “Who said I wasn’t unconscious? I just could still hear movement. I kept wanting to open my eyes, but I just couldn’t. I was in a daze and felt like I was floating on the clouds.” Hence, although he was mostly unconscious, he heard many things and naturally knew that Mu Yangling had stripped him bare in order to save him.
Fan Zijin pulled a long face and looked at Qi Haoran seriously. “Since you have memories, there’s no need for me to say it again. You’ve caused a lot of trouble this time. Eldest Cousin has already decided not to let you return to the 5th Division until you recover from your injuries. There will also be a lot of punishment after this. You’d better be mentally prepared.”
Qi Haoran pursed his lips nonchalantly. “Fine, fine. I’m not afraid. Even if I were to do it all over again, I’d still kill him.” A sharp glint flashed across Qi Haoran’s eyes.
Fan Zijin sighed and did not say anything else. Instead, he turned around and left.
He had come here under the excuse of checking on the rabbits, so he naturally had to go to the shed area to take a look.
Mu Yangling carried all the rabbits to the shed. There were 100 rabbits in one shed, and now, two sheds were full. The third shed was also filled with 80 rabbits.
Xiuhong dragged the grass out and threw it in for them to eat. Seeing that their appetite was not bad, she smiled at Mu Yangling and said, “Cousin, I think the rabbits will be ready for sale soon.”
Mu Yangling took the time to take a look and said, “We can’t always feed them grass. We should also feed them some hay later.”
“Do we need to buy hay too?”
“Yeah, if it’s for sale. If not, we’ll dry it ourselves.” Mu Yangling turned around and looked at the green pasture. Nodding in satisfaction, she said, “At this rate, we should be able to release the rabbits in 20 days.”
“But what if the rabbits escape?” Xiuhong looked at the 60 acres of land. Considering it was such a big piece of land, if the rabbits dug a hole and hid, they wouldn’t know where to look.
“That’s true. Since we haven’t bought a net to stop them yet, it’s better not to release them for the time being. When we earn money and buy a net, we’ll fence them up and release them. At that time, they can dig holes if they want. Anyway, since it’s only 60 acres of land, I’m sure we’ll find them somehow.”
Xiuhong disagreed. “But if they keep digging holes and ruining the grass, what will they eat?”
“Don’t worry. When the time comes, I’ll definitely train them so that they won’t dare to destroy the grass.” The reason why Mu Yangling made this shed was to try her best to tame their wild nature. When they became more docile, she would release them. Even if there were some rabbits that were difficult to tame, she wasn’t afraid. It couldn’t be that all rabbits liked to dig holes and didn’t like to live in the shed, right?
Fan Zijin walked over and stuck his head out to look at the rabbits in the sheds. He asked, “How long will it take to put the first batch up for sale? Most of the rabbits in the mountains have been caught. Soon, the first batch of rabbit meat will be sent south.”
Fan Zijin had long sent someone to find the woman who had given them the diced rabbit meat. At this moment, she was arranged to help prepare it in the camp. The first batch of rabbit meat had already been made, and Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran both felt that it was delicious. He planned to sell this in the dry goods stores at a high price. As for the other older rabbit meat, he had it smoked dry and made into cured rabbit meat. When the time came, these would be sent south with the trade caravan.
Fan Zijin hoped that Mu Yangling’s first batch of rabbits would be able to make it in time for the first trip south.
Mu Yangling thought for a moment and said, “Since Chef Mountain is so big, you guys should continue hunting at other spots. Of course, you guys will feel that there are no more rabbits if you keep hunting rabbits in the same area. Go east, or go west a little. There must be a lot of rabbits in these two places.” Mu Yangling thought for a moment before continuing, “But remember not to kill them all. Leave some small ones in the mountains. Otherwise, there won’t be any rabbits in the mountains next year.”
Fan Zijin refused. “Haoran is in charge of hunting. I don’t have the power to order them around.”
Mu Yangling gritted her teeth and went back to look for Qi Haoran. As Qi Haoran carefully stirred the noodles, he said, “You really worry a lot. After worrying about people, you’re even worried about animals.” He said nonchalantly, “This is just a matter of words. I’ll simply tell them later.”
When Qi Haoran saw that he could no longer stir the noodles, he raised his chin and said, “Can’t you see that it’s inconvenient for me? Come and feed me quickly.”
Mu Yangling picked up the noodles and fed him. One moment, Qi Haoran despised it for being too much, and the next moment, he despised it for being too hot. Mu Yangling was so annoyed that she almost smashed the bowl in his face. It was only when she glared at him that he calmed down and ate the noodles obediently.
Qi Haoran stole a glance at her and said softly, “I’ve heard about the Hu family. Don’t worry, when I recover, I’ll help you teach them a lesson. Even if Hu Man becomes a section commander, I can still take him down.”
“Forget it. I’ve already promised him. Besides, this has nothing to do with Second Uncle Hu. He’s an honest person and is on good terms with my father. Don’t make things difficult for him.” Mu Yangling picked up a large chopstick-full of noodles for him and sighed. “Great-aunt said that Second Uncle Hu isn’t having a good time either. Because Old Hu and his wife are biased, Second Aunt Hu has suffered a lot at home. I think it’s not bad for him to be a section commander. At least he can be more unyielding at home.”
Mu Yangling looked at Qi Haoran seriously and said, “I know it’s wrong of me to promise them privately, but since I agreed at that time, it’s no different from you agreeing. Even if they don’t know that the wine was meant to save you, we can’t forget about it. Otherwise, if others find out in the future that I didn’t repay the favor as promised and instead took revenge on them, they will criticize you.”
A vicious expression flashed across Qi Haoran’s face. Snorting coldly, he said, “It’s just the most ordinary sorghum wine. You paid more than ten taels of silver for something that can usually be bought with a few hundred copper coins. How dare he covet the section commander position? Is that so worthless?”
Mu Yangling knocked his forehead and said, “Alright, that’s the thing that saved your life. Is your life worth this much?”
Qi Haoran snorted. “I’m priceless.”
“Yes, you’re priceless, so what’s there to be angry about? Hurry up and eat your noodles before sleeping. Your big brother should be coming to pick you up tomorrow afternoon. By the way, my father’s injuries aren’t light either. Give him more leave and let him rest at home.”
Qi Haoran agreed without thinking.
Qi Haoran waited for Mu Yangling to leave before his face darkened. He didn’t have a good temper like Mu Yangling. Even if Hu Man was pitiful, he had to torture him and the Hu family a little. Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel good.