Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Huo Jingzhong’s wife, Zhang Mei, nodded after hearing her grandson's words: "Chen Xia was asking around about a lost cat. Why do you ask?"

"What was Chen Xia asking about that for?" Huo Jingzhong spoke up.

His family was broke—whatever money they scraped together, he blew on meat and booze.

So while others were out buying food, his family just sat around.

In the past, he could still earn a bit by helping transport goods with a small truck.

But now that cars were useless, he stayed at home, doing nothing except plotting against Qi Mo—the man who had taken the keys to the Huo family’s courtyard gate.

That 10 grand had been easy money.

All he had to do was keep the keys at home—he didn’t even have to lift a finger.

When the Huo family came, he just had to hand over the keys. But now, Qi Mo had ruined everything.

Nowadays, 10 grand didn’t go far anyway—potatoes were already 10 yuan a jin. That’d barely get them 1,000 jin, and they’d have to dig them up themselves. Huo Jingzhong couldn’t be bothered.

Potatoes were so expensive—he could grow them himself. The family had plenty of land, much of it lying unused.

Should’ve planted potatoes on that empty land sooner.

Huo Jianian turned to his grandfather and said, "I saw Qi Mo carrying a bucket of sand back from the clan leader’s place."

"Who cares if he’s hauling sand?" Huo Jingzhong retorted.

Huo Jianian glared at his booze-addled grandfather. "No use explaining to you. I’ll go check with Chen Xia first. If she doesn’t have a cat, it’s gotta be at Qi Mo’s. Qi Mo picked up a cat, and Chen Xia was probably helping him ask around."

"Chen Xia’s family doesn’t keep cats. If the cat was picked up by Qi Mo, then we’ll say it’s ours. If he won’t cough up the cash, we’ll snatch the cat back. Grandpa, everyone else is buying food, but our family has no money. What are we going to eat? When Mom, Dad, and Big Brother come back, how long will our little stock of food last?" Huo Jianian said angrily.

Other grandpas had the sense to plan ahead. His grandfather only cared about eating meat and drinking.

Some things aren’t worth keeping; some people aren’t worth having. His grandfather was the kind of person who should be cut loose.

Always dead weight.

Huo Jingzhong replied, "We still have several hundred jin of food at home—enough for months. Only fools would buy now. Look at the prices—potatoes are 10 yuan, rice is 20, fancy rice is 30 a jin. Even if you have money, you can’t get it. If we had more food, I’d sell it myself and make a fortune. These suckers are just asking to be scammed."

"They panic at the first whiff of trouble. If we really had nothing to eat, would the country let us starve? The government’ll bail us out. People help each other out in tough times—no need to worry so much." Huo Jingzhong spoke with an air of confidence.

"But you’re a clever one. Go find out quickly. If Qi Mo really took in that cat, we’ll hurry over and demand money," Huo Jingzhong said to his grandson.

Huo Jianian took off, praying his grandpa was right.

Qi Mo returned with a large bucket of sand, then dug up a patch of grass near the right wall of the flower bed outside the dining area.

He dug out about 30 centimeters of soil and filled it with the bucket of sand.

The sand pit was wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.

The top was about 40 by 40 centimeters—enough for a kitten the size of a palm.

If it wasn’t enough, he’d just fetch two more buckets.

These days, nothing came cheap—except sand.

A little past three, the sun was blazing. Qi Mo returned to the living room, called Snowball over, and took her to the sandbox. Pointing, he said, “Snowball, this is where you’ll do your business from now on.”

Qi Mo picked up Snowball and placed her inside.

Snowball immediately jumped out.

Her paws got covered in sand, and she quickly shook them off…

Watching the kitty leap out instantly, Qi Mo said with a sigh, “Snowball, Daddy knows, okay? No more lessons. There’s a pet door by the kitchen—you need to learn how to use it yourself, understand?”

Seeing Daddy pick her up again and plop her back in the sand, Snowball started digging like she got the idea.

She even pretended to pee a bit, covered it with sand, and jumped out.

Thrilled to see Snowball covering her mess, Qi Mo exclaimed, “Snowball, you’re so smart! Come on, let’s go home. It’s still too hot outside.”

With that, Qi Mo brought Snowball back in.

Baby Yan was already hiding behind the couch. Qi Mo picked him up and carried him to the bathroom to wash his hands, face, and feet.

This was to keep the little chubster from chewing on his dirty toes and getting sick.

Afterward, Qi Mo closed the door, put Baby Yan in the crib, and went to check on his farm. The chickens, ducks, and geese were running around everywhere—he needed to build coops for them soon and get some rabbits. They multiply like crazy and fatten up fast.

That way, there’d always be meat to eat.

Back out of the yard, Qi Mo checked the time—3:30.

Two and a half hours until six. Plenty of time to cut bamboo.

He bundled up the baby in long sleeves, pants, socks, and slapped on some bug repellent stickers. Snowball was tucked into the basket under the stroller before Qi Mo finally pushed it out of the village.

Huo Jianian quickly ran to Auntie Chen’s house, looking around sneakily.

Chen Xia saw him and asked, “You need something?”

“Nothing, well… actually, Auntie Chen, we ran out of salt at home. Could I borrow some?” Huo Jianian asked.

Chen Xia frowned. That Huo Jingzhong was such a mess—it was the poor kid who ended up stuck dealing with it.

Running out of salt and not buying more.

Making a child go begging door-to-door instead.

“I can spare some,” she said. “Wait here. But I don’t have much left myself. You should buy some in town tomorrow.”

As Chen Xia went inside, Huo Jianian followed.

Looking around, he didn’t see any sign of a cat.

“Auntie Chen, I heard you were asking about a lost cat. Where is it?” he asked.

“It wasn’t me,” Chen Xia replied. “Momo found one and asked me to look into it. Here’s your salt—don’t spill it.”

She handed him a disposable cup filled about a third full and reminded him.

Huo Jianian had what he needed. He took off with the salt right away.

Chen Xia, this child took something and didn’t even say thank you.

How could someone like Huo Jingzhong raise a good child? It’s just a pity that the two children who look decent. Chen Xia shook her head.

It’s none of her business.

Qi Mo pushed the small cart for over five hundred meters to the bamboo grove.

This was a small path, often used by farmers working in the fields.

But now that everyone in the village had gone to buy food supplies, there were few people around here.

Leading Zai Zai deeper into the bamboo grove and making sure no one was around, Qi Mo started chopping down bamboo, one, two, three. The axe in his hand was sharp, a product of Uncle Tie, reliable indeed.

He cut down thirty or forty bamboo poles in one go before pulling Zai Zai’s cart out.

The bamboo grove belonged to Huo Family Village, and all villagers were allowed to cut bamboo.

Qi Mo pushed the cart back home, and Chen Lei and others arrived at the village entrance.

Bicycles rode through the rural road.

Qi Mo turned his head, feeling that the person on the bicycle seemed familiar, but with just a glance, he couldn’t recall who it was.

"We’ll ambush outside the Huo family courtyard after dark, and catch them when they climb over the wall. First, we need to make a bamboo ladder," Chen Lei said.

Chen Lei planned to take out the people from Zhang Family Village in one go.

So they had to wait for those people to make their move; otherwise, grabbing them outside wouldn’t count as a crime, and it would be hard to detain them.

After returning home, Qi Mo immediately took Zai Zai and the little kitten into his pocket dimension.

The pasture grass seeds that had been soaking most of the morning were sown.

Then, he put on gloves and began pruning the bamboo branches, cleaned them, and split the bamboo.

The bamboo was quartered and sharpened.

Once everything was ready, he chose a spot near the pond and started building the chicken coop.

Five feet tall, five feet wide, and six feet long.

Bamboo strips spaced four inches apart.

He lashed five horizontal bars tightly with rope.

The roof was covered with shade cloth, with bamboo strips woven through the shredded pieces and tied to the topmost horizontal bar.

The rectangular coop looked great—if only it had a door!

He checked the time; it was already past six.

Qi Mo hurriedly exited the space.

Sure enough, two carts were parked outside the door—the pig farm owner had arrived and knocked.

Opening the door, he saw five male piglets weighing about ten pounds each and five female piglets around five pounds each, all lively and energetic.

Peach unboxed and inspected them, and the nectarines also looked fine.

"Sure you can eat all these peaches? Without a fridge, they won’t last long and’ll rot," the pig farm owner reminded Qi Mo.

Qi Mo smiled and explained, "No worries. I’ll smoke the meat, can the peaches, or dry them. Leave the pig cages here with me—you can pick them up the day after tomorrow."

"That’s quite a project. Alright, no problem—I’ll come get the cages the day after tomorrow," the pig farm owner agreed.

Qi Mo took out the money to settle the bill and chuckled, "Gotta keep busy—might as well stock up. Never know when it might come in handy."

"True. Folks are jumpy these days—even potatoes are ten bucks now," the pig farm owner sighed as he took the cash.

Once he’d seen the man out and shut the gate, Qi Mo looked at the lively piglets and picked three particularly energetic little sows to take into the space.

Next were two calm-looking little boars, also taken into the space.

The rest? Roast suckling pig.

For now, they stayed under the carport—tomorrow, they’d be slaughtered.

As evening set in, Huo Jianian arrived at Huang Village to meet his good friend Huang Wenbin, planning to squeeze some cash out of Qi Mo to buy supplies and stash them away.

Meanwhile, Chen Lei used the cover of night to visit Elder Clan Leader Huo Donglu’s home.

He handed over a letter, asking the elder to look after Qi Mo and Baby Yan.

The old man was thrilled by the 100 grand in cash. Hardly anyone had cash these days.

"Don’t sweat it. While I’m around, no villager’s laying a finger on Qi Mo or his kid," Huo Donglu assured.

Chen Lei smiled. "Boss Huo trusts you—that’s why he put this in your hands."

"Boss Huo hasn’t had time to come back lately, but once things settle down there, he’ll return in person to thank you. I’ll take my leave now—please take care of yourself, sir." With that, Chen Lei left the elder’s house.

Then Chen Lei went to see Village Chief Huo Liangtian.

Another 100,000 yuan exchanged hands, along with a request to watch over Qi Mo and Baby Yan.

The chief accepted the money and said, "Normally, I wouldn’t accept this much, but with everyone bartering and cash so scarce, I’ll make an exception. Tell Liangzhou—as long as I’m around, his wife and kid won’t get messed with."

"Good. Then I’ll be off. Once Boss Huo gets things sorted there, he’ll come back himself." Chen Lei left the village chief’s house.

With the two most powerful men in the village keeping an eye out, the young master would be safe as long as he didn’t wander too far.

Young Master Qi looked soft, like an easy target—just walking at night almost got him jumped.

If Zhang Cheng and the others had been there, they’d have roared in fury: *You blind?! We’re the ones who got killed! Us!*

He was a wolf in sheep’s skin—one wrong move, and you’re dead.

But these folks all played dumb, convinced their Young Master Qi was some soft, pushover sweetheart who’d get roughed up and come home bawling if he stepped outside.

In the fading light, Qi Mo and Baby Yan wolfed down a bowl of rice, a bowl of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, a plate of steamed sea fish, and a dish of boiled cabbage.

Snowball the kitty got a bit of fish and some rice porridge.

The lantern went into the space, plunging the house into darkness.

Qi Mo moved around restlessly in the space, eventually discovering a batch of wooden crates he had accidentally gathered at some point.

The crates were quite large, square-shaped, measuring one meter by 1.2 meters, and one meter in height.

They also had lids, likely discarded from a warehouse and left unused.

Qi Mo quickly took them out and stuffed the scampering piglets inside one by one.

Then, he put the lids on and threw in some cabbage and sweet potatoes for them to eat.

Tomorrow, he would need to buy feed—there were so many things to do.

After settling the pigs,

he also arranged the ducks by the water. The cage was a bit small, but it was enough for three ducks.

The geese were a bit cramped too, but he’d figure it out later.

The chickens were no problem.

Six native chickens were kept in a large cage Qi Mo had just made, while three silkie chickens and barred Plymouth Rock chickens were placed in wooden crates.

Just tossing in some cabbage leaves would suffice.

Qi Mo thought about it—when he got the chance, he’d need to go cut bamboo.

Oh, there were still five pigs in the yard waiting for his attention. There wasn’t a moment to spare.

He wondered when the pasture grass would grow enough to provide enough feed. He thought to himself.

In the pond, schools of tiny fish swam about, seeming healthy. Snails by the water’s edge helped clean up fish waste and keep the water clean, while small shrimp scurried along the pond’s edge. He’d need to add some rocks and branches for them to hide under.

Leaving the space, Qi Mo took the kid and kitty Snowball to the third floor for a bath—the most important task of the day, hands down.

The weather was sweltering now, and even the slightest movement made him sweat. Without air conditioning or fans, he only had 6,000 ice packs and chunks of ice in his space—once they were gone, they were gone for good.

Besides, the heat wasn’t at its worst yet. His body needed to adapt, or else when the extreme heat arrived, he might suffer from heatstroke or dehydration.

He scooped a ladle of water from the large bucket and poured it over the child’s bare head, scrubbing with baby shampoo. A few more ladles later, the kid was fresh, clean, and sweet-smelling.

Qi Mo washed himself the same way.

He had to dry himself off, but for kitty Snowball, a ladle of water, a good scrub, and another ladle to rinse sufficed.

“Shake the water off farther away,” Qi Mo quickly said.

Snowball immediately darted up to the third-floor roof and shook herself off—

Her fur instantly fluffed up, not a drop of water left. She was once again a fluffy, adorable kitty, not a soaked, bedraggled creature.

Qi Mo looked up. “So, Snowball, you can actually jump that high? Now I believe you didn’t sneak in through the gate—you must have jumped over the wall.”

Outside the courtyard,

Chen Lei lowered his voice upon hearing Young Master Qi Mo’s words. “Our young master has a kitty now.”

“Must be. I even heard the kitten’s meows and our little young master’s characteristic babbling,” one of the guards whispered in response.

Chen Lei nodded. “Are the Zhang Village folks here yet?”

"I heard they're making their move tonight. They should be arriving soon," whispered the informant, Xiao Wang.

Snowball circled along the roof tiles. The hushed voices from below were barely audible, but her keen hearing caught them clearly.

After a quick glance, she determined there was no threat to Daddy—no need to worry.

Hmm, troublemakers are coming to bother Daddy tonight. Looks like she couldn't sleep too deeply after all—she'd have to stay on guard.

Why hadn't Brother arrived yet? Such a slacker at a critical moment.

The baby couldn't even talk to Daddy anymore. What was going on?

Snowball looked up at the sky. So many stars, and the moon was so bright. She was still too small, her mind too young to understand everything.

"Meow, meow, meow..." Snowball called out for Brother. Why aren't you here yet? The baby can't take it anymore.

There are bad guys coming to hurt Daddy—hurry up and come...

Watching the little cat meow at the moon from the rooftop, Qi Mo smiled as he reached out. "Snowball, come down. Let's go to sleep."

With a soft meow, the kitten leapt from the roof and landed safely in Daddy's arms.

Snuggling close, the pampered kitten felt incredibly happy.

Catching Snowball, Qi Mo carried the chubby kitten toward the bedroom upstairs.

After putting the baby to sleep and tucking the kitten into his arms, Qi Mo entered his workshop and began taking apart wooden crates.

He wanted to build duck and goose sheds by the water, then construct a pigpen.

First, he dropped bamboo trimmings into the water—giving the small fish and shrimp a place to hide.