Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Xie Licheng had moved all the meat to the cold storage warehouse. There was some meat he didn't really feel like eating, like wolf meat, tiger meat, and the like, so he didn't haul it all out.

Actually, the meat in his portable world wasn't the same as meat in the real world outside; even if they ate it, it wouldn't hurt them.

But Xie Licheng was a time traveler, and some meats still grossed him out a little.

Anyway, they had plenty of meat around here, so he figured he might as well take the unwanted meat outside.

Whether he sold it to folks outside or gave it to refugees, it wouldn't go to waste.

With that in mind, Xie Licheng headed out for a bit.

He hadn't been out in a while, so he had no idea what was going on out there.

The moment he stepped out of his portable world, he found out that Lingzhou City had fallen again.

When they'd fled Lingzhou, the city had been under Song Qiyue's control.

Now Lingzhou was in the Marquis of Shubei's hands. It was pretty much following the novel's plot, just way ahead of schedule.

Xie Licheng kept heading south and ran into a group of refugees on the road. One family among them was pretty well-off, carrying food and a bunch of guards.

Xie Licheng wanted to pull out some meat to sell them, but before he could even make his pitch, a few refugees with hunger-crazed eyes zeroed in on him.

Xie Licheng killed one of them, and once they saw he was a tough nut to crack, the people who'd been eyeing him warily suddenly backed off.

Xie Licheng felt a bit helpless. The fact that he dared to pull out that much meat to sell proved he wasn't just some regular guy.

Why did these people have to mess with him, making him kill one or two before they'd quit?

Now his mood was ruined, and they hadn't gotten anything out of it either.

After that, Xie Licheng spent three days out there and came back just in time for the sweet potato harvest.

In those three days, he sold off some of the meat he didn't want, trading it for silver and some stuff for gē'ér (young men).

When he came back, he brought three people along.

Of the three, two were gē'ér and one was a woman.

They were mistress and servants—the woman was a young lady, and the other two were her household help.

They said they'd gotten separated from their family, which was why those refugees had set their sights on them.

Some people, driven mad by hunger, would definitely turn to cannibalism.

What they went for were mostly young women, gē'ér, or little kids.

It was said those people tasted better—whether that was true or not, who knows—but picking on the weak was definitely part of it.

After all, out of everyone, these were the easiest to bully.

Plus, they were usually young and good-looking, so besides being caught for food, they could be used to vent lust and frustration.

As for what frustration?

Naturally, it was their grudge against the imperial court.

Since they couldn't fight the court, they took their resentment out on those weaker than them.

Xie Licheng hated those kinds of people the most, so whenever he ran into them, he'd just kill them.

Xie Licheng was tall, handsome, and had incredible abilities.

At first, the young lady had a bit of a crush on him, but once they entered the portable world, she found out Xie Licheng already had a husband.

That young lady was proud and haughty, so of course she wouldn't go after a man who was already taken.

Once she learned about Xie Licheng's situation, she decisively dropped him and set her sights on someone else.

Of course, Xie Licheng had no clue about any of this.

He brought the people in and then didn't worry about them, immediately getting everyone to harvest sweet potatoes when he got back.

Regular sweet potatoes yield 3,000 to 5,000 jin per mu. The sweet potatoes Xie Licheng grew weren't your average ones, and with the help of quick-acting fertilizer, he got about 9,000 jin per mu.

At 9,000 jin per mu, ten mu would give him 90,000 jin.

Out of the 90,000 jin, Xie Licheng kept 40,000 jin of fresh ones in the cold storage warehouse.

Honestly, if the cold storage warehouse weren't already packed, and since he'd need to store more stuff later, he really would've liked to keep all 90,000 jin in there.

Sweet potatoes taste best fresh.

Of the remaining 50,000 jin, he gave 1,000 jin to the villagers who'd helped him farm, sent 5,000 jin to the military camp, 2,000 jin to the town orphanage, and 10,000 jin to his in-laws.

As for the rest, Xie Licheng planned to make some into dried sweet potato slices, some into sweet potato noodles, and sell the rest.

Dried sweet potato slices were easy—just slice the sweet potatoes and sun-dry them.

Once dried, they lost their moisture and could be stored for a long time. Even in winter when food was scarce, they wouldn't have to worry about starving.

Sweet potato noodles were a bit more of a hassle, but they weren't really that hard to make.

Xie Licheng planned to build a processing workshop next to the farm. In the future, whenever he needed to process ingredients or other stuff, he could hire villagers to work there.

This way, Xie Licheng could save a ton of time on whatever he wanted to do, while also helping some villagers put food on the table.

When villagers came to work, Xie Licheng would pay them in silver or food. Just like when he'd hired villagers to farm before, this was good news for those without land.

Xiao Zhuang was loaded and a total foodie.

The moment he heard Xie Licheng had grown something new and tasty, he came running from the schoolhouse to buy sweet potatoes.

Xie Licheng's sweet potatoes weren't pricey, and since he wasn't trying to get rich off them, there was no need to charge an arm and a leg.

At 3 wen a jin, Xiao Zhuang generously bought twenty jin.

He sent ten jin to his grandpa and Xiao Rui, and ten jin to Chen Yaosan and Cui Niang.

After buying the sweet potatoes, Xiao Zhuang didn't forget to ask Xie Licheng how to cook them.

Xie Licheng reached over and patted his little belly, saying, "You can boil them, roast them, make porridge with them, or cook them into rice... There are lots of ways to eat them. You can figure it out on your own. But... like corn, eating too much can make you bloated, so old folks and kids shouldn't eat too much."

While Xie Licheng was talking to Xiao Zhuang, the other villagers were listening in.

Those with a bit of spare cash followed suit and bought two or three jin to give it a try.

Those who had no money in hand didn't have the nerve to ask Xie Licheng for any. Instead, they figured they'd just work harder in the future, so they could buy some for themselves and give them a try.

...

The next morning, Xie Licheng spent the whole morning putting up a workshop outside the farm. He hauled the leftover sweet potatoes over there and planned to hire villagers to make sweet potato chips and stuff.

But to his surprise, since the sweet potatoes tasted so good, folks kept coming by all afternoon to buy them, and Xie Licheng didn't have a spare moment to hire anyone.

Most of the buyers were from town or the county seat.

These families had a bit of silver to spare, and after getting a taste of how soft and chewy they were, they wanted to stock up or save some as seeds for planting.

One family went all out and bought 2,000 jin in one go. Xie Licheng spent a good chunk of time helping them bag everything up.

After all the buyers had cleared out, Gu Zhangyuan sent someone to fetch Xie Licheng back to the farm.

Xie Licheng had been running around nonstop lately, and Gu Zhangyuan, being his husband, hadn't gotten any time with him.

When Xie Licheng returned to the farm, dinner that night was sweet potato porridge again. They'd already had it three or four times since yesterday's harvest, and Xie Licheng was starting to get sick of it.

For Xie Licheng, sweet potatoes weren't exactly a novel ingredient, so he didn't really care for them.

Gu Zhangyuan scooped up the sweet potatoes with a small spoon, one bite at a time. He thought they were delicious—soft, chewy, and sweet.

He noticed Xie Licheng eating slowly and figured he didn't want it, so he had Xuan Cui bring out the snake soup and venison.

The snake soup and venison had been made earlier. Xie Licheng had been gone for a few days, so he was only getting to eat them now.

Seeing him happily digging into the sweet potatoes, Xie Licheng smiled and asked him, "Which tastes better, this or corn?"

Gu Zhangyuan mulled it over for a moment and said, "Both are tasty."

That was the honest truth—he really did think both were delicious.

Xie Licheng said, "Even if it's good, you can't eat too much of it."

It'll make you bloated, and too much will leave you with acid reflux.

Gu Zhangyuan nodded, but in the end, he still couldn't help overeating.

Xie Licheng finished his meal, and after they both washed up quickly, he took Gu Zhangyuan out for a stroll around the farm.

Stuffed and content, and with it being late at night, Gu Zhangyuan started to get lazy as they walked.

He started acting all clingy with Xie Licheng, "Husband, I'm tired. My legs feel like jelly."

As he said it, he went all limp and melted into Xie Licheng's arms.

Xie Licheng held him with a helpless look, "You didn't lift a finger during those two days of work, and now your legs give out after just a few steps?"

With a body that frail and unable to handle even this much, how was he supposed to handle having a kid later?

At that thought, Xie Licheng couldn't help but worry a little.

Funny to think—back when he didn't have a wife, he was truly carefree and easygoing.

He was the type to be arrogant, cocky, and proud, never really worrying about the future at all.

Now that he had a gorgeous, delicate husband, he suddenly found himself feeling a little anxious.

Gu Zhangyuan kept up the clingy act—he loved doing this with Xie Licheng, watching him look all torn and helpless.

Gu Zhangyuan held out his arms for a hug, "I don't want to walk anymore. Carry me."

Xie Licheng let out a soft sigh and then scooped him up in his arms. He wondered if carrying Gu Zhangyuan around counted as exercise for Gu Zhangyuan.

He carried Gu Zhangyuan toward the pavilion by the pond. The weather wasn't as hot now, but there were still quite a few mosquitoes outside.

Xie Licheng held him with one arm and fanned away mosquitoes with the other.

Gu Zhangyuan asked curiously, "Why don't mosquitoes bite you?"

Xie Licheng said, "My skin is thick, they can't bite through."

That wasn't entirely a lie—his defense was so high, and mosquitoes had such little attack power, that they really couldn't harm him.

Gu Zhangyuan touched his neck where a mosquito had bitten him and, for some reason, suddenly felt a bit wronged.

Xie Licheng couldn't stand seeing him look wronged, so he suggested, "How about we go back instead?"

There were no mosquitoes in the house, as Xuan Cui and Yuan Qiao had smoked it with mugwort.

Gu Zhangyuan shook his head at that and pointed to the pavilion not far away. The moonlight was nice tonight, and he wanted to admire the moon with Xie Licheng there.

Xie Licheng had no choice but to carry him forward. Just as they entered the pavilion and before they could sit down, Gu Zhangyuan hugged Xie Licheng and quietly demanded, "You promised you'd wait until I got pregnant before going out."

But recently, both he and Xie Licheng had been busy, and the matter of making a baby had been put aside. Xie Licheng had also gone out while he was busy.

Xie Licheng found it a bit amusing, "But getting pregnant isn't something that happens just because you want it to. Still, I was in the wrong this time. How about this—next time, I'll take you out with me."

Xie Licheng sat down in the pavilion with him in his arms, reaching out one hand to gently support his waist.

Gu Zhangyuan rested his chin on his shoulder and poked Xie Licheng's Adam's apple with one finger.

He said, "That's not what I meant. I don't want to go out with you."

Xie Licheng's Adam's apple bobbed, and he wanted to grab his mischievous little hand. But before he could, he heard Gu Zhangyuan continue quietly, "What I mean is... I miss you. Don't be so busy all the time. You should spend more time with me, take care of me, cherish me..."

Xie Licheng finally understood. He turned his head and asked in a low voice, "You... do you want to share a bed with me?"

He had come back yesterday and had slept in the same room as Gu Zhangyuan last night. Gu Zhangyuan had said he missed him, and Xie Licheng figured it was only in that regard.

Gu Zhangyuan didn't say anything, and Xie Licheng knew he had guessed right.

He thought his husband was adorable sometimes—loving him so directly, and even when shy, never hiding it from him.

Xie Licheng asked, "Didn't you say you didn't like sharing a bed with me?"

Gu Zhangyuan's face grew hot, and he rolled his big eyes, saying, "I didn't say I didn't like it. It's just that compared to sharing a bed, I... I prefer kissing you more."

Xie Licheng chuckled softly, then lowered his voice and asked, "Then... how about a kiss right now?"

Gu Zhangyuan's face grew even hotter at that. He clutched Xie Licheng's clothes tightly and gave a very slight nod.