Chapter 28 I Want to Be Knocked Too

Li Chen did not point out the problem directly. He only smiled and said, “When I have time, I’ll teach you.”

Of course he would teach him, but he still needed to test the loyalty of these young brothers.

He stood up and stretched lazily. “Monkey, help your sister-in-law tan that leopard hide. Shitou, Chenxu, come with me to build the deer enclosure.”

“Got it!”

Though their bodies were sore, not a single one complained. Instead, they rolled up their sleeves eagerly. Being able to do things for Brother Chen had already become an honor to them.

“Oh, right, Chenxu, have your little sister Chenyi come over to help cook as well.”

Li Chen remembered something and turned to Liu Chenxu.

Liu Chenxu froze, an indescribable emotion rising in his eyes. “Brother Chen, this… this isn’t very appropriate, is it?”

“Hey! You poor scholar, Brother Chen is giving your sister a chance to help. That’s looking up to you. And you’re not happy? Want a beating?” Zhao Dashi immediately flared up at Liu Chenxu.

Hou Xiaobai kicked Zhao Dashi hard and whispered, “You idiot. Brother Chen sees that Chenyi is pitiful and found an excuse to let her come eat.”

“Ah? I… I’m slow-witted. I didn’t think of that. Next time, remind me earlier.” Zhao Dashi scratched his head awkwardly and chuckled.

“There’s nothing inappropriate about it. Let her come.”

Li Chen smiled and headed down the mountain.

“I’ll go call your sister. You hurry and help Brother Chen with the work,” Hou Xiaobai said to Liu Chenxu with a grin.

The horse at the foot of the mountain had already been moved by Li Chen early in the morning to a safe place, so there was no worry of it being seen and causing unnecessary attention.

At the base of the mountain, they began dividing tasks.

Li Chen used a chopping blade to cut grass into fine pieces, mixing it into mud. The grass-mud mixture could then be directly used to build walls.

The strongest, Zhao Dashi, carried water from the nearby stream, while Liu Chenxu mixed the grass and mud with him.

They planned to use the rammed-earth method to build the walls, making them firm and durable.

Just as they were working vigorously, voices drifted from afar.

Turning to look, they saw Village Head Xu Jiang approaching with Zhou Dahai and a few others, likely on their way to the fields.

From a distance, Xu Jiang waved. “Chen’er, come here, come here. I’ve got something to tell you.”

Li Chen quickly set down his tools and walked over. “Uncle Xu.”

“I saw you boys down here earlier. I happened to go to the county city yesterday and took care of your hunter’s official certificate and badge. I was planning to bring them to you at noon. Since I ran into you, here you go. With these, you can hunt and buy weapons openly.”

Xu Jiang handed him the documents and badge.

“Uncle Xu, thank you so much!”

Li Chen was startled and quickly accepted them. He had overlooked this matter. With these two items, he would now have a legitimate reason to purchase weapons.

“What are you building?” Xu Jiang looked toward the worksite.

“A deer enclosure.”

“With just you four? You’ll be at it forever. Come on, brothers, let’s lend a hand.”

Xu Jiang waved his arm.

“Alright!”

The group responded cheerfully, setting down their farm tools and heading toward the mud pile.

“This… how can I trouble you?” Li Chen felt touched. Xu Jiang was truly a straightforward man.

“We’re all villagers. Helping each other is normal. Besides, you saved our lives and gave us wild boar meat. If we see work at your place and don’t help, are we even human? What do you say, everyone?”

Xu Jiang laughed.

“Of course! Village Head is right. Chen’er, you saved our lives and even shared boar meat. If we don’t help when you need it, what kind of people are we?” Zhou Dahai had already kicked off his shoes and stepped into the mud, mixing it while laughing.

“That meat was really delicious!”

“Hahaha…”

The men burst into laughter as they worked.

Soon, more villagers carrying farm tools passed by on their way to the fields. Since the path below the cliff led to Muer Village’s farmland, everyone had to pass through here.

Whoever saw them immediately set down their tools without hesitation and joined in.

More and more people gathered. In the end, nearly all the men in the village came after hearing the news, bringing various tools and voluntarily helping to build the deer enclosure.

Li Chen felt deeply moved.

These simple villagers were grateful and eager to repay him at every opportunity.

With many hands, the work progressed quickly. Dozens of people working together finished a massive deer enclosure before noon.

It was spacious enough to raise dozens of deer, not just a dozen.

In this remote mountain village, if nothing else, there was plenty of land.

“Uncle Xu, everyone stay for lunch. I’ve already asked Chenxu and the others to buy meat and wine, and Aunt Xu and Xiuer are helping with cooking.”

Li Chen smiled. It was his way of returning the favor.

The villagers initially refused again and again, but in the end they could not outargue Li Chen and happily followed him home.

In these times, being able to eat meat and drink wine was an unimaginable luxury.

All they had done was lend a hand, yet Chen’er was hosting a feast. He was truly generous and righteous.

Along the way, they praised Li Chen endlessly, deeply admiring his character.

In the courtyard, the women were busy preparing the feast, the atmosphere lively and joyful.

Liu Chenxu’s younger sister Liu Chenyi came to help. Though only twelve, she worked deftly. Killing chickens and stewing dishes, she handled everything skillfully. Not only diligent and capable, she was also sweet-tongued, calling Yu Qingwan “sister-in-law” again and again as if they were truly family.

Yu Qingwan was delighted and secretly slipped her a piece of osmanthus candy. Li Chen had bought it in the city days ago. She had not dared to eat it all at once, saving one piece every few days.

Sharing good things left lingering fragrance on the hands.

Liu Jincui brought Xu Xiuer to help. Wang Caifeng from Zhou Dahai’s family arrived with Zhou Jiao, moving tables and benches energetically, not even letting Yu Qingwan lift a finger.

Yu Qingwan stood there holding a golden tabby cat, unsure what to do.

At that moment, a group of women who had been gathering wild vegetables passed by. Seeing the bustle, they set down their baskets and joined in. Ma Lian came with her young son and brought a pile of sweet-sour wild fruits, moving Yu Qingwan deeply.

However, something seemed strange. Yu Qingwan’s way of walking looked just like it had a few days ago… somewhat unusual.

“Hey? Wan’er, why are there several marks on your neck? How did that happen?” Ma Lian asked knowingly as she handed her a washed sour fruit.

“I… ah, I accidentally knocked it against the corner of the table…” Yu Qingwan blushed instantly and pulled up her collar to cover her neck.

“Really? Oh dear, that must have hurt. And it seems you knocked into it for several nights in a row. We hear you cry out in pain every night. Poor little Wan’er,” Ma Lian said solemnly, barely suppressing laughter.

“Haha…” The surrounding women burst into laughter.

They were all married women. Who didn’t understand what went on between husband and wife?

Still, Chen’er seemed especially vigorous. Hunting in the daytime, “hunting” his wife at night, yet still full of vitality. Strong as a bull.

Yu Qingwan was so embarrassed she dared not lift her head. “Sister Lian, it really was the table corner. It just happened to hit the same place several days in a row…”

“Oh my, Wan’er, that table corner of yours is terrible. How about tonight I sleep at your house and let it knock into me instead? Sister Lian is strong. No matter how hard it knocks, I won’t cry out,” Ma Lian teased.

“Ma Lian, do you want to be knocked or do you want to be…? You’re itching so badly you’re hugging the itch and crying. Itching to death, are you?”

“That’s right. Your scheming is so obvious it’s flying into my face. If you want to take advantage, just say so.”

The women laughed boldly.

“What are you all laughing about? Who wouldn’t want such a man? Wan’er, guard your husband well. Otherwise one day when he’s relieving himself, some little vixen might block his path and steal him from you…”

Ma Lian said with mock seriousness.

“The one you should guard against most is yourself. Either go cook or come help. Stop teasing Wan’er with your nonsense.”

Liu Jincui walked over laughing and scolded lightly, pulling the red-faced, flustered Yu Qingwan behind her.

“Wan’er, don’t take them seriously. They’re just joking.”

“They won’t, they won’t. They’re all very kind!” Yu Qingwan waved her hands quickly.

…

When the work was done, the feast began.

Li Chen spared no expense. He stewed two Pine Grouse, cooked a pot of fish bought from the market, and prepared two stir-fried vegetable dishes.

The vegetables were cooked with generous amounts of meat.

He even bought two large jars of wine.

The meal brought tears to the villagers’ eyes.

It had been two years since they last ate meat and drank wine like this.

During the meal, however, Wang Caifeng quietly left with Zhou Jiao. They had come to help, not to freeload.

But halfway up the mountain, they were stopped by Yu Qingwan, who hurried after them.

“Auntie, Jiao’er, why are you leaving? Come back and eat!”

“We won’t eat, we won’t eat. We’ve cooked at home,” Wang Caifeng said quickly.

Zhou Jiao swallowed hard and kept shaking her head. “Not eating.”

“You’ve worked all morning. How can you not eat? Come back. My husband specifically told me to call you. Come on!”

Yu Qingwan pulled them back with a smile.

“Wan’er, you and your husband are good people. Auntie and Jiao’er truly wronged you before.”

Wang Caifeng’s eyes reddened with emotion.

Even during New Year, they could not enjoy such a feast. Li Chen and Yu Qingwan were truly good people.

At the banquet, Li Chen happened to sit beside Zhao Dashi’s father, Zhao the Blacksmith.

“Uncle Zhao, thank you for that blade you gave me. It’s a fine one.”

“Haha, as long as you like it.”

Zhao the Blacksmith glowed with pride.

“You used to work in the army’s smithy. How did they smelt and forge iron there?”

Li Chen asked casually.

“Forging is like now. Heat the iron red-hot and hammer it. Hammer it several times and shape it. As for smelting, that’s done at specialized smelting workshops near the mines. They crush the iron ore and load it into a blast furnace, then burn it with charcoal. The molten iron flows out naturally, but it takes a very long time and uses enormous amounts of charcoal. People like us can’t afford it…”

“With charcoal?” Li Chen was startled. So coal was not yet in use?

“What else is there besides charcoal?” Zhao the Blacksmith nodded.

“I see.”

Li Chen nodded slowly, already understanding.

Just as he suspected, smelting technology in this era was rudimentary. Coal was not even used. That likely meant improved blast furnaces had not yet appeared.

At that moment, he sensed someone staring at him.

Turning his head, he saw Xu Xiuer standing in the distance with a water ladle, gazing at him blankly.

When she realized he was looking at her, her beautiful face flushed red. She lowered her head quickly and poured water into the pot. But the pot was already full, and the water overflowed…