Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Qi Mo opened the courtyard gate, and Huo Huakang said, "I'll bring over the firebricks and other stuff now."

"Sure, the door's unlatched. Just push it open when you're ready," Qi Mo replied.

Huo Huakang nodded.

Qi Mo returned to the living room, where Chubby had already crawled from the mat to play behind the sofa. Qi Mo glanced back, and Chubby giggled...

After teasing the baby for a bit, Qi Mo turned to the kitten Snowball, who was hiding behind the sofa with Chubby, and said, "Snowball, watch your brother. Daddy's gonna wash the peaches and make some canned peaches for you."

The kitten Snowball meowed in response.

The door closed, and Qi Mo went back to the outdoor sink. Soon, he began scrubbing the peaches with a kitchen scrubber.

After washing and rinsing them, he placed the peaches in a basket.

It was a 30-pound batch.

The peaches from the pig farm owner were huge—each about a quarter kilo.

There were around sixty peaches.

By the time Qi Mo had nearly finished washing the peaches, the creak of wheels came from outside the courtyard—Huo Huakang had arrived.

The door was pushed open, and Qi Mo saw not only Huo Huakang but also Xiaoyu.

The two were pushing a handcart that looked ancient.

"Qi Mo, where’s the baby?" Xiaoyu asked.

"He's inside playing," Qi Mo smiled. "Come have some peaches. I bought them from the pig farm owner yesterday—they’re really sweet and tasty."

"Xiaoyu, what’re you doing with so many?" she asked.

Instead of taking the two oversized peaches Qi Mo offered, she picked two slightly smaller ones and said, "These are too big. I just ate, and I don’t want to waste them."

With the first bite, juice exploded in her mouth, and Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up. "They really are delicious—so sweet and juicy!"

"How much per pound? Fruit’s cheaper than grains these days. If the price is good, I’d like to buy some too," she asked.

Potatoes had risen in price again this morning, and not only nearby villagers were digging them up—people from farther towns and even some city folks had come to hoard them, pushing the price up to fifteen yuan per pound.

Qi Mo put the large peach back. "They were five yuan per pound yesterday. I’m not sure about today. I plan to make some canned peaches and dried ones. With a little sugar, they can last for months."

"Nowadays, as long as they’re edible and don’t spoil, that’s all that matters," Qi Mo explained.

Hearing the price, Xiaoyu immediately said, "I’ll swing by later. First, let’s help my dad unload the firebricks."

"Sure, I’ll help. By the way, besides the water in the cellar, it’s best to store some in sealed bottles, like bottled water. They say if it’s not sealed tight, the water will evaporate quickly," Qi Mo reminded Xiaoyu.

Huo Xiaoyu’s face fell, and she nodded. "I’ll go buy some buckets for storage."

Nowadays, even bottled water was hard to find.

Xiaoyu’s family had two cisterns—one in the old house behind the village, which was still usable, and another in the new house, which holds over ten tons of water.

The three of them quickly dumped the bricks onto the open spot by the kitchen wall.

Qi Mo asked curiously, "These are all firebricks. Do we need so many?"

Huo Huakang nodded. "I'll lay two layers of firebricks for you, plus a high-temperature-resistant coating. Usually, there won't be any issues. Your house was built with good quality from the start."

Qi Mo nodded. "Alright, I don’t know much about this. Uncle Huakang, I trust you on this."

After unloading the bricks, Huo Xiaoyu turned to Qi Mo and said, "Momo, you’re not going out this afternoon, right? Can I borrow your trike?"

Qi Mo replied, "I’m heading out in the evening. Just have it back by 4:30."

Huo Xiaoyu checked the time—it was just past noon—so she had enough time.

"Okay, I’ll return it by 4:30. I’ll head out now to pick some peaches and make some canned peaches," Huo Xiaoyu said.

Qi Mo went to fetch the trike key to give to Huo Xiaoyu.

Just then, two people rushed into the yard. A yellow-haired teenager made a beeline for the living room...

Qi Mo cut him off and demanded, "Who are you? What’s the idea barging into my house?"

The moment he saw Huo Jianian, Qi Mo already guessed what was going on.

The yellow-haired teen immediately yelled, "I just lost a cat—it must be here since I came by the other day. Give it back now!"

Huo Jianian also spoke up. "Aunt Chen mentioned someone found a cat, and she said it was you. I brought my friend here to take the cat back."

"Take it back? Whether the cat is even yours is still unclear. You rush into my house without even figuring things out—what are you trying to do, scam me out of a cat?" Qi Mo called them out bluntly.

He pushed the yellow-haired teen back and rattled off a bunch of questions: "What kind of cat did you lose? A big one, a small one, or a young one? Is it a British Shorthair, Blue Cat, Golden Tabby, Silver Tabby, or a chonky orange tabby? Long-haired or short-haired? What color is its fur? What about its ears and tail? Long tail, short tail? Round ears, pointed ears... etc."

Qi Mo dumped all these questions on the kid.

The teen, Huang Wenbin, was instantly totally lost. It was just a cat—who knew there were so many details? He had no idea.

Huang Wenbin glanced at Huo Jianian. *Do you even know what the cat looks like?*

*You didn’t even investigate properly, yet you dare come here to extort money?*

*You must be out of your mind.*

Huang Wenbin gritted his teeth and answered Qi Mo, "It’s a chonky orange tabby. I lost a young chubby orange tabby."

Chonky orange tabbies all look similar—yellow and round. In the village, besides orange tabbies, there are also calico cats, but not many. The chubby orange ones are more popular.

Qi Mo turned to Huo Jianian. "You brought this friend here, didn’t you? Which village are you from?"

The group stared at the flustered kid—it was obvious what was happening.

Only Huo Jianian remained unfazed; his face was all stone—no shame at all.

Huo Xiaoyu said to Qi Mo, "Bet he’s from Huang Village. What’s your name again—Wen something?"

"Answer properly. Do you even own a cat? I can just go to Huang Village and ask around. You’re not a kid anymore—trying to scam people without considering whether you’d get caught?" Huo Xiaoyu snapped.

Huang Wenbin shot Huo Jianian a glare. "This is on you. You handle it yourself. I’m leaving."

Huo Jianian shot Qi Mo a dirty look. "That’s our missing cat—a white one named Snowball."

Hearing this, Qi Mo said with a cold laugh, “I named it Snowball, so you know it’s white. You must have been eavesdropping a lot yesterday—whether it’s a big or small cat, roughly how big, what color are its eyes? Go ahead, call her—see if Snowball even acknowledges you. Whether your family keeps cats or not, the whole village knows.”

“You,” Huo Jianian immediately shouted, “Snowball, Snowball, come out quickly, come to your owner…”

Unfortunately, no matter how loudly Huo Jianian called, there wasn’t a single meow in response.

Huo Huakang’s brow furrowed. “Hurry up and leave. At such a young age, you’re not learning anything good—just shady, underhanded stuff. How old are you? Don’t follow your grandfather’s bad example. Your father’s already locked up—do you want to end up the same? The Huo family has helped your family a lot. They don’t owe you anything. You should learn to be grateful.”

Huo Jianian stomped his foot. “He’s from another village—why are you helping him instead of me?”

Huo Huakang was furious. “I stand by what’s right, not just blood ties. Besides, Momo is from Huo Village—who said he’s an outsider? Qi Mo’s son, Baby Yan, has the surname Huo. Qi Mo’s husband’s family is Huo. She’s a Huo family member, listed in the clan records, understand? Scram, now. If you keep causing trouble, I’ll drag you to the ancestral hall and lock you up.”

Hearing this, Huo Jianian flinched slightly in fear, then turned and ran off angrily.

Qi Mo shook his head. “That kid’s probably only fifteen or sixteen. He looks decent, but unfortunately, he’s rotten to the core.”

Huo Huakang sighed. “He was clever and smart as a child, but his family failed him. Every village has one or two troublemakers—they don’t do anything outright evil, just cheap, grimy little tricks.”

Qi Mo chuckled. “It’s fine, just a punk kid. As long as he doesn’t mess with me, it’s whatever. You all go ahead with your work—don’t let me hold you up.”

After seeing Huo Xiaoyu off, Qi Mo made quick work of washing the basket of yellow peaches.

He carried them into the kitchen.

After washing his hands, Qi Mo called out, “Baby Yan, Snowball, come out! Let Daddy see if you’ve turned into grubby little furballs.”

The chubby Baby Yan wedged himself under the stairs, clutching the plump little Snowball, both of them hiding motionless.

Qi Mo searched around and soon spotted the little one’s bottom.

*You think I can’t see you just because you can’t see me? Silly kid—think you’re invisible?*

Back in the kitchen, Qi Mo swiftly peeled the yellow peaches, tossing them one by one into a large stainless steel pot.

A noise came from outside—Huo Huakang was pushing the heatproof wagon back again.

Without a vehicle, everything was inconvenient now.

If they ran out of water next, even raising livestock would be difficult.

Qi Mo called out to Huo Huakang, who had just unloaded the bricks, “Uncle Huakang, have a drink of water before heading back. Don’t get heatstroke—it’s baking out here.”

Huo Huakang nodded and knocked back a cup of cool water.

Qi Mo soon finished peeling the basket of yellow peaches, then sliced the fruit.

Once everything was cut, he added plenty of water, honey, and rock sugar, turning the heat up high to boil…

Then he took out the box of glass jars and began washing them.

After scrubbing them clean, he rinsed the jars with boiling water and set them out on the counter.

The lids were placed aside.

The yellow peaches were now boiling, the smell of sweet peaches everywhere. Qi Mo took a deep breath. *In the post-apocalyptic world of my past life, being able to eat even a bite of yellow peach preserves would’ve been a luxury—something worth bragging about.*

After simmering on low heat for ten minutes, Qi Mo turned off the stove and began filling the jars.

These were half-pound jars, each holding half a yellow peach, four or so slices of fruit, topped off with syrup.

Once everything is sealed, put the lids on and place them in the steamer for sterilizing—this is the most crucial step in canning.

It's also one of the steps that allows for long-term storage.

Qi Mo keeps things strictly separated: supplies in the space stay there, and those in the basement stay in the basement. If people found out his home had no supplies, it would be problematic.

Stocking up means he can eat normally without looking suspicious.

With a yawn, Qi Mo shuts the kitchen door and goes to catch Chubby Baby as he tries climbing the stairs. He washes the baby’s hands, feet, and face before settling him down for a nap.

It’s already 3:30 in the afternoon.

Things in the village are still under control, with no major chaos. Everyone is busy stockpiling food.

The city, however, has already fallen into disorder. The high-rises have lost running water, and fresh veggies at home are nearly gone—except for those that store well. Without refrigeration, leafy greens rotted long ago.

Meat? Even harder to get. After the second power outage, buying meat became nearly impossible, though some were able to grab a little earlier.

Bottled water supplies are running dry, so folks now have to come downstairs to fetch water from government-run stations.

And even then, it’s rationed—one bucket per person.

Some households never stored food, relying entirely on takeout. If they’re lucky, they might have a few bucks cash, since most payments used to be via mobile. Now, they have no money at all.

No money and no way to withdraw cash means no food. When the hunger gets too much,

crime starts up—robberies, food theft…

The city’s already in chaos. Countless young people from rural areas are trying to save themselves. With no electricity, no money, no water, no food, they have no choice but to return to their hometowns.

As long as there’s soil, they can scrape by—at least they won’t starve.

Even if the land yields nothing, as rural folks, they’ll always have their parents or grandparents back home, who probably have at least some grain stored away…

By 4 PM, Qi Mo’s up, feeling refreshed.

First, he heads to the space to feed the piglets and toss feed to the ducks and geese.

He throws in some cabbage for good measure.

Then, he starts digging holes along the pond to plant the fruit saplings he bought from the bird market.

At 4:40, Huo Xiaoyu calls from outside, “Momo!”

Qi Mo opens the living room door to find Huo Xiaoyu carrying nectarines. “Sorry it’s late. These are nectarines—I tried one, they’re really sweet. Have some.”

“I’ll take the stuff back first and bring the tricycle soon,” she says.

Qi Mo nods, his gaze passing through the gate to see Huo Xiaoyu has brought back a whole cartload of yellow peaches.

Inside, Chubby Baby, missing his dad, drowsily sits up and rubs his eyes.

Once awake, he waddles around, cooing as he reaches for Snowball the kitten—way better to gnaw on than teethers.

Qi Mo returns indoors, swaps out the diaper, cleans him up, applies some cream, and sticks a bottle in his mouth.

After eating a small bowl of eight-treasure porridge himself, noises come from the yard outside.

Huo Huakang pushes the tricycle over and says, “Momo, I’m off to dig potatoes now. I’ll come back tomorrow at noon.”

Qi Mo nodded. "Alright, I need to go to Chen Village to buy something."

At five o'clock, Qi Mo locked the courtyard gate and set off for Huang Village. There were many ponds there, filled with water hyacinth and algae—excellent feed for ducks and geese.

There were also Pekin ducks in the village; these ducks grew fat quickly and reached market weight fast. Qi Mo wanted to buy a few to raise, planning to roast them later.

The space was a bit limited, but if he stockpiled more water hyacinth and had enough feed, he could manage raising several birds.

The tricycle soon arrived at Huang Village, but there were already very few people buying fish.

The temperature was too high, the fish were overcrowded in the pond, and the oxygenation equipment had broken down—nearly all the fish had died.

Qi Mo continued walking further down the road, where there were more wild ponds.

Before long, his eyes lit up—he spotted a lotus field.

"Hey, hey you kid! Is this your family's lotus field?" Qi Mo shouted toward a teenager standing by the ridge.

The boy, holding a bucket, walked over and asked, "What's up?"

"Whose field is this? I want to dig up some lotus roots," Qi Mo said.

Looking at the approaching teen, Qi Mo smiled. "Aren't you that kid who was with Heo Jiyan the other day?"

The boy had a bright purple tuft of hair styled dramatically, making him instantly memorable.

Huang Wenjia blushed upon hearing this: "Well...I'm not really close to Heo Jiyan."

"This is our family's lotus field. If you want lotus roots, I can help you dig, but you have to pay," Huang Wenjia said.

Qi Mo nodded. "Fine, help me dig twenty pounds. I'll give you two hundred yuan—that's ten yuan per pound."

Without hesitation, Huang Wenjia stepped into the lotus field and began digging.

Qi Mo got off the vehicle and noticed the bucket full of eels, loaches, small fish, shrimp, snails, a few crawfish, and even some hairy crabs the size of ping-pong balls.

All great stuff. Qi Mo picked up Pangzaizai from the cart. "By the way, what's your name? Are you selling what's in your bucket? I'll buy it all for five hundred."

Huang Wenjia threw a lotus root onto the ridge. "Sure, it's not much. My name is Huang Wenjia."

"Oh right, I heard Heo Jiyan looking for Huang Wenbin this morning. He said you found a cat, and they planned to come here and extort money from you," Huang Wenjia casually mentioned.

Qi Mo smiled. "I chased them away."

"Heo Jiyan has a bad temper. I don't hang out with him anymore," Huang Wenjia said while digging up another lotus root.

After returning home, Heo Jiyan angrily complained to Heo Jingzhong.

Heo Jingzhong became furious after listening.

He knew how to build heated brick beds too—why hadn't they called him? Back when Heo Liangzhou built his house, he had even been asked to transport sand.

This Qi Mo, who married into the village from elsewhere, clearly didn’t understand local customs.

It was just a cat—couldn't he just hand over a thousand yuan and be done with it? But instead, he publicly embarrassed his grandson, causing Heo Jiyan to be scolded by Heo Huakang.

Qi Mo had truly gone too far.

No, Heo Jingzhong couldn't swallow this humiliation.

"You keep an eye on Qi Mo's house. I heard they bought several piglets. As soon as Qi Mo leaves, we’ll take the pigs back and slaughter them for meat. We haven't had any meat at home for days," Heo Jingzhong said.

Heo Jiyan nodded and immediately went to stake out the house.

Once Qi Mo left on his tricycle, Heo Jiyan rushed back to report.

Carrying the little one, Qi Mo arrived at the edge of a wild pond and scooped up a handful of water hyacinth and algae. Large-scale harvesting would wait until nightfall—he could only sneak a bit now. He planned to create two small ponds inside his space—one for growing lotus roots and algae, and another for raising water hyacinth and crawfish.