061 – White Spot
After filling their stomachs, they carried the boar down the mountain.
The little black wolf followed Qin Mian quietly.
Wu Di said in surprise: “It’s not going to follow sister down the mountain, right?”
Qin Mian was more than happy. At home, it was somewhat lonely with only him and Lei Tie. He had wanted to keep a pet for a long time. If the little black wolf was willing to follow them, it would be great.“If it wants to follow, let it follow.” Qin Mian pondered, “But Brother Zhang, fourth brother, and Wu Di, you all better not say that it’s actually a wolf, so as not to frighten the villagers.”
Zhang Dashuan and the other two complied with it.
Zhang Dashuan reminded: “But you need to restrain it, don’t catch the chicken and oust the duck.” The little black wolf was still young, he was not afraid that it would hurt people.
“Don’t worry.” Qin Mian guaranteed, and glanced at Lei Tie, “And about Qingli Pill, I hope you all don’t mention it either.” After living together for so long, he could see that Lei Tie did not want to mention the past.
Zhang Dashuan and the other two promised one after another.
Qin Mian did not want to dirty the yard, so he asked Lei Tie and Zhang Dashuan to put the boar at the river bank and deal with it there.
Wu Di initiatively said: “I’m going to invite Uncle Liao.” Uncle Liao was an expert at pig slaughtering. Whenever some villagers wanted to slaughter pigs, they would ask of him.“I’ll go home and get a basin for the meat.” Qin Mian said.
Lei Tie asked Lei Xiangli to guard the river and left with Qin Mian. He was going back to bring firewood.
The little black wolf closely followed the pace of the two men.
After entering the house, the little black wolf silently watched Qin Mian rubbing the dirt on the bottom of his feet on the foot mat, and imitated him. Qin Mian and Lei Tie were secretly surprised.
Without waiting for the two men to talk, the little black wolf stepped first into the house. After it unhurriedly rounded in each room, it came out and quietly squatted on the side of the settee.
Qin Mian found two basins and two bamboo baskets, while Lei Tie carried a bundle of firewood from the back of the house. The little black followed them out again.
Back at the river bank, Lei Tie had now built a simple stove and boiled water for later use.
When the villagers heard the news, they came one after another to watch the bustling scene.
Uncle Liao had not use his knife for several months, but his skill had not turned rusty. He skillfully handled the wild boar.
There were quite a few households kept smiling and wanted to buy the boar meat at the price of domestic pork. Qin Mian did not agree. Wild boar meat was more delicious than domestic pork. It costed 8 Wen per jin. If he was willing to sell at the price of domestic pork, even if these people took advantage of him, they might still call him stupid behind his back. Why bother. True friendship could not be cultivated by a few coppers; he might as well make it loud and clear.
In the end, Qin Mian only gave Lei Xiangli, Zhang Dashuan and Wu Di 10 jin each, and gave Uncle Liao 5 jin to thank him.
Uncle Liao smilingly took the meat back, but also said to Lei Tie that if he wanted to slaughter a pig in the future, he could go to him at any time.
Qin Mian and Lei Tie took the rest of the meat home to cure and hung to dry.
After all work was done, Qin Mian had time to ask about Qingli Pill.
“What you said about the Qingli Pill is true?”
Lei Tie nodded.
Qin Mian was startled and knocked over a teacup. The tea half dripped on the tea table and flowed to the ground. “That kind of thing is very valuable. Although I wanted to save the little black wolf, I could think of another way at that time.”
Seeing that the tea was going to flow to Qin Mian’s feet, but Qin Mian did not notice, Lei Tie shook his head slightly and moved his feet away. He picked up the rag under the tea table and wiped the liquid.
“Don’t think about it. A treasure is a treasure when it works; a waste when it is useless.”
Qin Mian was still very concerned, “The white-clothed doesn’t seem like an ordinary man. What do if he asks you again after using the Qingli Pill?”
Lei Tie said leisurely: “I’ve means. Don’t worry.”
Qin Mian did not know what to say for a moment. He looked at the man in a daze. After a long while, he said in a battle cry: “It’s true that I saved it, and it’s true that it saved me.”
“I believe.” Lei Tie looked at him while the corners of his lips lightly raised and his deep eyes unexpectedly carried two points of banter.
Qin Mian understood his meaning as soon as he turned it in his mind. He said he did not remember the past, but remembered the little black wolf, was it not inconsistent? There was a rush of heat from the roots of his ears. He did not know how to go through the motions, so he shouted “ah” in embarrassment, looked away, and said in a loud voice: “The little black wolf will probably live with us. What name should we give?”
“You decide.” Lei Tie picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for him again.
The little black wolf seemed to know that they were talking about it and looked at them with its head up.
Qin Mian looked at the white spot on its head and said with a smile: “Why not name it ‘White Spot’.”
“Proper.” Lei Tie commented concisely and comprehensively.
“Good. You’ll be called ‘White Spot’.” Qin Mian bent down and touched the head of the little black wolf.
The little black wolf did not move and let him touch it.
“By the way, it’s better to make a hole in the wall of the courtyard for it to get in and out.” Qin Mian said to Lei Tie, “I don’t think it’ll stay at home the whole day.”
Lei Tie stood up. “I’m going to do it.”
After Lei Tie went out, Qin Mian sighed slightly and fell back on the settee. Lei Tie knew that he had not lost his memory, but he (LT) did not ask. What did it mean? Lei Tie really did not mind him lying? However, now it seemed that not only he had secrets, but Lei Tie also had secrets. He had heard the white-clothed man said that the Qingli Pill was very precious, how could Lei Tie have it in possession? The decade he left must had been hard.
He did not know why but when he thought of Lei Tie having something to hide from him, he felt very uncomfortable.
There was pounding sound in the courtyard. Qin Mian shouted out: “Don’t knock down the whole wall.”
“It won’t.” Lei Tie’s voice was smooth and steady.
Qin Mian turned over to stand and walked out, White Spot slowly followed after him. Although it was still young, its posture had the arrogance characteristic of a wolf.
A few bricks at the side of the courtyard gate and closed to the ground had been shattered by Lei Tie, revealing a hole larger than a plate. Lei Tie used a hammer to break some of the protruding sharp edges and corners to prevent White Spot from getting scratched.
Qin Mian squatted beside him, pointed to the hole and said to White Spot: “White Spot, you’ll come in and out from here when there is no one at home, understand?”
White Spot looked at him, lowered its body and crawled out of the hole in the wall with its belly against the ground. In a moment, it drilled in from the outside.
Qin Mian said in pleasant surprise: “I knew you’re smart.”
White Spot, as if it was not satisfied with his praise, shook its ears and sat quietly at his feet.
“Eldest brother, eldest sister-in-law.”
Lei Chuntao walked into the gate with a smile on her pretty face and with her was Wei Shi.
“You are both at home.” Wei Shi said with a smile.
Qin Mian politely said: “Little mother is here.” After Wei Shi entered the household, she approached him several times, all of which were bypassed by him. He had no intention of getting close to Du Shi and neither did he have intention of approaching Wei Shi. He did not want Du Shi’s attention to return to him and Lei Tie because of Wei Shi’s action. How good it would be to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight[1]?
With a bowl in her hands, Wei Shi spoke briskly, “I’m here to thank you two for the boar meat. This is the fried dumplings made this early morning. Your little sister said it’s very delicious, so we sent some to you.” In name, she was Qin Mian and Lei Tie’s little mother, but after all, between the sexes there should be a prudent reserve. It was easy to cause gossip if she came alone, so she asked Lei Chuntao to join her.
Qin Mian held the bowl. “When we hunted the wild boar today, fourth brother also made great efforts, so we distributed some meat to him. Little mother don’t need to be so polite.”
Wei Shi’s smile stiffened. She could not help but reevaluate Qin Mian. The youth was not very old, but she did not expect he would be very difficult to deal with.
Qin Mian went into the house and poured the fried dumplings into his own bowl. He returned the bowl to Wei Shi. He said meaningfully: “Much thanks to little mother for remembering me and Lei Tie. In fact, Lei Tie and I are not small anymore. We can take good care of ourselves. As long as you take good care of father and mother, we’ll be at ease.”
Wei Shi took the bowl and gave a wee smile. She was speechless for a moment.
Lei Chuntao saw White Spot and happily walked over, “Yah, eldest sister-in-law, is it the little black dog you found? It’s lovely.”
“It’s called White Spot.” Qin Mian reminded, “Be careful. It doesn’t know you now. I’m afraid it’ll be very fierce.”
Facing White Spot’s deep and serene eyes, Lei Chuntao felt a little scared and did not dare to approach.
Wei Shi noticed three [Sichuan] pepper trees in the courtyard and asked curiously: “What kind of flowers are these?” She subconsciously thought it was a flower.
The [Sichuan] peppers on the trees had already been picked by Qin Mian and planted in spring.
“It’s planted for fun.” Qin Mian pretended to be ignorant.
Wei Shi did not ask any more questions. She invited him: “In the evening, I’m going to cook some dishes with the wild boar meat. There are dry pot wild boar meat and braised wild boar meat in soy sauce. You two can also come to eat. You men can have a good drink.”
Qin Mian graciously declined: “Many thanks, little mother. However, we’re a little tired today, so we won’t go.”
Helpless, Wei Shi had to say: “Alright, let’s get together when there’s a chance later. Chuntao, it’s time to go back.”
After seeing them go far away, Qin Mian said to Lei Tie: “I can do dry pot wild boar meat and braised wild boar meat in soy sauce.”
Lei Tie looked up at him and then lowered his head, “Eat these two dishes in the evening?”
“Braised pork is too greasy to eat for dinner.” Qin Mian said, “In the evening, I’ll make dry pot wild boar meat, steamed pork with flour, and then stir-fried green vegetable. I’m going to the vegetable garden. White Spot, go.”
Lei Tie watched him walk far with the basket while yelling at White Spot and only then did he took back his gaze.
The vegetables in the garden had grown, mostly because they had been watered with spiritual spring water. The vegetables were free of insects and grown very well.
Qin Mian picked out a basket of green spinach and looked around. Seeing no one around, he secretly poured a small amount of spiritual spring water into the field.
Back home, the same old rules applied. Lei Tie trimmed and washed the vegetables.
Because there was White Spot, Qin Mian deliberately made a bit more dry pot wild boar and steamed pork with rice flour. He put a bowl on the ground for White Spot, and then served the dishes onto the table.
“Drink a few cups?” Qin Mian asked.
Lei Tie was surprised, but immediately said, “I’ll get the wine.”
They sat down next to each other as Lei Tie poured two cups of wine.
Qin Mian took a mouthful from the cup. It tasted so pungent that he stuck out his tongue. His brain also blanked for two seconds. My God, this wine is much stronger than those modern ones.
Note:
[1] (idiom) watch in safety whilst others fight then reap the rewards when both sides are exhausted
