Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Huo Liangchuan went to haul the bodies.

He’d figured the villagers would be up early today.

But by 5:30 a.m., still no villagers had stepped outside.

He hauled the bodies from the housefront and yard into the woods up ahead. One, two… three bodies in all. He dragged them to the roadside beyond the village.

Next, Huo Liangchuan carried the wolf pelts up to the second-floor living room, waiting to rub them with wood ash when he had time.

He brought the wolf meat up to the third floor to dry.

At 8 sharp, Huo Liangchuan swung open the courtyard gate. Huo Huakang finally arrived with his son and Qin Lan to work.

Qi Mo finally woke up.

Chubby baby stirred as soon as his daddy moved. Kitty Snowball yawned—seemed like growing bigger really wore her out.

Qi Mo looked at the sleepy kitty Snowball and didn’t disturb the little one.

That huge cat last night, the one that looked like Snowball, was a total powerhouse. If he raised Snowball to grow big, would she have that kind of strength too?

Wait, no—that’s not it. Director Huang mentioned the Zhangs got their eyes scratched up right outside their yard.

So the Zhang family had come here but were caught by Director Huang.

But why would Director Huang show up? Had to be Huo Liangzhou—he must’ve sent him. Otherwise, why would Director Huang even come? It must’ve been something Huo Liangzhou did that made Director Huang pay attention.

Thinking about that guy made Qi Mo’s cheeks flush.

That bastard… that night… Before, he’d never felt a thing. Once he was drunk, another time Huo Liangzhou was drunk. But that one time, neither of them was drunk. That bastard was totally coming onto him.

Qi Mo shook his head, forcing those wild thoughts away.

Back when the older baby was barely two months old, Qi Mo sometimes had wandering thoughts too, but he could suppress them by drawing.

However, the house wasn’t fully set up yet, so he didn’t have time to draw.

Toting Chubby baby and the kitty downstairs, Qi Mo saw Huo Liangchuan looking his way.

“Xiao Mo, gotta handle something outside. Hold down the fort—stay in today,” Huo Liangchuan said.

Qi Mo nodded. “Okay.”

“Oh, and grab the dried chicken now too. And don’t forget to feed the chickens,” Qi Mo reminded.

Hearing this, Huo Liangchuan slapped his forehead. “Damn, almost forgot. I’ll handle it in a bit.”

Watching Huo Liangchuan leave, Qi Mo greeted Huo Huakang and the others, then set Chubby baby down on the play mat. Snowball still seemed half-asleep.

Qi Mo grabbed his toiletries and headed to the faucet near the water cellar in the yard to wash up.

No sign of the wolf pelts or meat in the yard—Huo Liangchuan must’ve stashed them already. For now, every family in the village still had supplies, but once the food ran low, all hell’d break loose.

Too much food invites envy, while too little raises suspicion.

After washing up, Qi Mo went to the kitchen to prepare food. Their breakfast consisted of a pot of millet porridge and a plate of stir-fried potatoes.

The kitty, Snowball, was still drowsy and hadn’t woken up.

Chubby baby was eating heartily—finishing a small bowl of millet porridge and plenty of soft, stir-fried shredded potatoes.

Half the plate was left for Huo Liangchuan—that idiot probably skipped breakfast after rushing out and might have only drunk some cold water.

Huo Liangchuan soon arrived at the village chief, Huo Liangtian’s house.

He told them that grain thieves had come to the village last night and nearly climbed into his home.

Luckily, those thieves had the misfortune of running into a mutant giant wolf that had come down from the mountains and were killed.

He’d dragged the bodies outside the village and needed the villagers’ help to haul them up the mountain for burial.

Huo Liangchuan worried that burying them too close to the village might attract beasts with keen noses to come down and attack the villagers.

The village chief agreed with Huo Liangchuan’s reasoning.

So he rounded up a few villagers, brought out a rickety cart, and hauled the bodies two kilometers away to be buried deep at the base of the mountain.

The chief inquired about last night’s mutant wolf.

Huo Liangchuan told him that Bureau Chief Huang had taken care of the mutant wolf.

But no one knew what other mutated creatures might be hiding in the mountains, so he advised the villagers against going deep into the mountains.

After burying the bodies, Huo Liangchuan returned home.

When he saw his brother-in-law return, Qi Mo said, “Liangchuan, eat breakfast first, then get some rest.”

“Alright, Xiao Mo, don’t go out. I’ll handle the chicken farm,” Huo Liangchuan replied.

After breakfast, Huo Liangchuan didn’t go to sleep. Instead, he rode a tricycle to the chicken farm to bring back all the dried chickens.

Qi Mo ushered Huo Liangchuan off to bed and then built a fire to smoke the chickens.

Huo Huakang and his team worked quickly—the heated kang bed was already built, the chimney was up, and the interior walls were waist-high. Now they needed stools to continue working.

The wall near the floor-to-ceiling window still hadn’t been constructed.

Huo Huakang turned to Qi Mo and asked, “Momo, what’s your plan for the inner wall door? Should we buy one?”

Qi Mo thought for a moment and said, “No need. We can just take the door from the tea room and install it here.”

“Uncle Huakang, how many more days until it’s finished?” Qi Mo asked.

Huo Huakang checked their progress and replied, “Barring setbacks, two or three days tops.”

Qi Mo was pleased to hear that.

Chubby baby babbled from his play mat, but Qi Mo was too busy to pay attention. He planned to start growing vegetables—at least to explain how he could grow fresh veggies for food.

He dug out all the plastic bottles in the house.

There were vegetable oil bottles, beer bottles, mineral water bottles, and soda bottles—all left in the storage room, waiting to be thrown out.

For the one-liter cola bottle, Qi Mo went outside to dig up a bucket of soil, then heat-sterilized it to kill any weed seeds.

The sterilized soil was packed into the cola bottle.

Then, Qi Mo poked holes the size of a fingertip in the bottle and inserted sprouted garlic cloves. Soon, he would have garlic sprouts to eat.

Though the water would evaporate quickly, wrapping the bottle in a plastic bag during watering would help the plants absorb moisture rapidly. Everything would grow quickly.

Taking out sprouted sweet potatoes, Qi Mo compared several bottles before cutting off the top half of a soda bottle.

He filled it halfway with soil, poured in a small amount of water, then stuffed the sprouted sweet potato inside. The tightly packed bottle reduced water evaporation, ensuring he’d soon have sweet potato vines to eat.

Beer bottles were filled with soil, and a single vegetable seed was planted in each.

Qi Mo prepared over a dozen beer bottles this way.

Once the plants grew, he could harvest the leaves to eat—enough to last a long time.

A vegetable oil container was planted with cucumber seeds.

Another vegetable oil container held cherry tomato seeds—for future cherry tomatoes.

Huo Liangya watched Qi Mo working in the living room and asked, “Will this actually grow?”

Qi Mo nodded. “It should. It conserves water, and if I water them daily, they’ll probably survive.”

Huo Liangya agreed. “Adults can endure hardships, but babies can’t. I’ll go home and have my wife try a better method. Let’s see if we can get anything to grow.”

“Can’t hurt to try. Even if they don’t survive, it’s just some wasted seeds. But if they do, it’s a win,” Qi Mo said with a smile.

Meanwhile, the chubby baby, standing on the edge of the crib and trying to climb out, suddenly opened his mouth and called, “Dada… Dad…”

After that first word, the little one seemed to flip a switch and kept repeating “Dad.”

Hearing this, Qi Mo immediately dropped what he was doing. He had been too busy earlier to respond to the baby’s occasional babbling, never expecting the chubby baby to actually say “Dad.”

Thrilled, Qi Mo rushed over. His hands were dirty, so he simply leaned down to kiss the baby’s cheek. “Look at you, Baby Yan! You’re amazing! Wait a second—let me wash my hands, then I’ll hold you right away.”

Watching Qi Mo happily wash his hands before covering the chubby baby in kisses, Huo Liangya chuckled.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with such “goofy dad phase” moments himself.

When his daughter first called him “Dad,” he had been just as giddy.

Qin Lan, observing Qi Mo holding the baby, couldn’t help feeling envious. When would he ever have such an adorable child of his own?

But remembering his current situation—crashing with others in harsh conditions—he quickly dismissed the thought.

Even if he got together with Huo Xiaoyu, unless the environment improved and he gained the ability to protect and provide for a child, he would never bring one into this world to suffer.

By noon, it was scorching—at least 45°C (113°F).

Qi Mo had already sent Huo Huakang and the others home to rest. Working in this heat could kill you—they’d get back to work in the evening when it cooled down.

For lunch, Qi Mo made mung bean soup, served with a plate of vermicelli noodles tossed with ground meat, chili, and vinegar—a solid meal.

The kitty Snowball finally woke up and ate the bland noodles.

Chubby baby Jingyan ate a little ground meat with noodles, which he didn’t seem to like much, so he didn’t eat a lot, but he drank plenty of mung bean soup.

At three in the afternoon, Huo Liangchuan woke up sweating.

After eating the noodles prepared by Xiao Mo and drinking the mung bean soup, Huo Liangchuan said, "Xiao Mo, Jiang Nuan probably isn’t a threat, but you still need to be careful. In a couple of days, I’ll return to Yuncheng. When my brother’s done, he’ll come to see you and the baby. Stay out of the mountains—it’s dangerous."

Upon hearing Huo Liangchuan’s words, Qi Mo confirmed that Huo Liangchuan was really sent by Huo Liangzhou.

"Things are dangerous out there. I won’t stop you from going back, but be careful. I’ll give you some compressed biscuits to take with you on the road," Qi Mo said.

Huo Liangchuan nodded.

Carrying too much on the road could easily turn into a one-way trip.

Having fewer belongings makes you less of a target.

Qi Mo quickly prepared a hydration vest for Huo Liangchuan to take along.

He also packed some *Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui* (a traditional Chinese medicine for heatstroke).

With the blistering heat outside, a thin layer of clothing wouldn’t be enough—without sun protection, the skin would surely get burned.

He’d need a jacket.

"Move at night and find a place to rest during the day," Qi Mo reminded.

In this weather, heatstroke could kill you.

Huo Liangchuan soon went to the woods outside the village to chop wood.

Though there was still some gas left at home, once it ran out, he needed to prepare enough firewood for Xiao Mo—being pregnant wasn’t suitable for chopping wood.

He wondered how his elder brother was doing now.

If possible, he’d rather stay in Jiangcheng and let his brother come instead.

But those matters were too complicated—without his elder brother, he couldn’t keep things under control. It was time to work hard and grow stronger.

In the past, his elder brother had protected him. Now, it was his turn to protect his elder brother, Xiao Mo, and Baby Yan, ensuring their family could stay happy together.

His elder brother was a big shot in business but hopeless at romance—he still hadn’t managed to win Xiao Mo over!

Baby Yan had already switched from calling "dada" to "daddy." If this dragged on much longer, he might not even recognize his own father.