This is a fan translation. Correct me if you think some should be corrected.
Chapter 56 (1/2)
After Gu Changzhou finished speaking, he used the hands that once held guns and cannons to find a home and hatchet from the house and went to weed the fields.
Judging from Lu Qiming’s intentions, he had no intention of helping.
But this is their future home, not Gu Changzhou’s.
Jiang Miao Miao was too embarrassed to watch, so she pulled him into the small building to clean the place.
The structure of the small building is very simple.
The entrance on the first floor is the living room, the utility room for farm tools is on the left, and the bathroom is on the right.
A small bungalow is attached to the back, which is used as a kitchen.
There are two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a storage room on the second floor.
Because they had not been soaked by water, the furniture and appliances still maintained their original appearance but were covered with dust.
But the house wasn’t so lucky.
It was exposed to wind and rain all day long, and no one maintained it. A large area of tiles on the roof was ripped away. Rain and water leaked, causing the floors in one bedroom and corridor to become moldy and rotten. It was completely useless and looked very disgusting.
There were cracks in the wall, weeds got in through the cracks, and ivy-covered the entire wall.
In addition, wires, water pipes, and solar water heaters are also damaged to varying degrees and cannot be used directly, so they all need to be replaced.
Lu Qiming looked around, compared their previous small but clean home, and frowned:
“Can you accept this place?”
“Yes, why not? It’s so nice here.”
Jiang Miao Miao answered without thinking.
“Where’s the good?”
He couldn’t tell.
“As long as it’s my home, I think it’s good. A golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as your own doghouse. Isn’t that what you said? Well, don’t waste time and get to work quickly.”
With a smile, she handed him a broom, found a rag herself, and started cleaning.
This was a tricky task. Lu Qiming turned the broom around twice, not knowing where to start.
Catching a glimpse of the rotten patch of floor, he poked at it with a broom and decided that was all.
Clean out the rotten flooring and install new flooring when the opportunity arises.
A broom couldn’t do the job, so he found a shovel, an awl, and a hammer and squatted upstairs, tinkling.
Jiang Miao Miao was wiping the table on the first floor. After finally wiping the dining table clean, a burst of banging upstairs shook down a layer of dust, which was all in vain.
She wiped it again, but dust continued to fall upstairs. She couldn’t bear it anymore and ran up to ask what the other person was doing.
Lu Qiming heard her footsteps and glanced up.
“Here? Just in time. Let’s help pry it together.”
She looked at the pile of tools and was confused, “How to do it?”
Lu Qiming taught her, “Start from the skirting line first. Use a scraper to scrape off the glue, dye it red and pry up from the gap little by little. Once all the sides are loosened, you can take out the entire floor…”
He said it was simple, but the practice was anything but simple.
The floor was stuck very firmly, and it took a lot of effort to pry it up.
The tool is extremely sharp and can prick your hand if you are not careful.
She squatted in a corner, holding an awl in both hands, trying to get the piece of flooring out.
Accidentally, the awl came out of her hand and pricked her finger, causing bright red blood to spurt out.
Reflexively, she stuffed her fingers into her mouth.
Lu Qiming was doing his job very well, but suddenly, he noticed that there was no movement behind him, so he stopped and asked:
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No, no…”
She made a fist with her injured hand and hid the wound in her palm. She stood up and said, “You do it first, I’ll go to the toilet.”
Lu Qiming put down his tools and walked over to stand in front of her. He held her hand without any explanation, spread her fingers, and saw the marks on it.
“No?” He raised his eyebrows.
Jiang Miao Mmiao bit her lips and tried to hide her hands.
“It’s just a minor injury. I have a band-aid in my bag. Just put one on it and it’ll be fine.”
Lu Qiming thought for a moment, let her go, and said, “The wound is easy to get infected. Just put the band-aid on it and don’t come up. It doesn’t work either. Just take the dog and play downstairs.”
She disagrees.
“This is my home. How can I not clean up my own home? I won’t be able to live in it with peace of mind.”
“Well, when you are infected with tetanus and are lying on the hospital bed dying, and I go to take care of you, you will definitely feel at ease.”
“…You crow’s mouth.”
Lu Qiming smiled and rubbed her hair.
“Didn’t you like to be lazy in the past? Now you are not happy to be lazy. Go ahead and have fun, I can handle this work alone.”
Seeing how determined he was, she had no choice but to nod.
“Then be careful and don’t hurt your hand.”
“You think everyone is like you.”
Lu Qiming laughed and went back to continue his work.
Jiang Miao Miao went downstairs, found a band-aid, and put it on herself. She walked around the house with her dog, always feeling too bored.
Gu Changzhou was cleaning the grass in the rice fields, and Lu Qiming was tearing down the floors. Was she doing nothing?
Jiang Miao Miao caught a glimpse of the pond not far away, and there were still fish in it. But because it had not been cleaned for a long time, aquatic plants grew so overwhelming that even the water surface could not be seen clearly.
She found something to do, ran home and found a rake, went to the pond, and used the rake to pull up the water plants.
This thing looks easy, but it is actually quite physically demanding.
The aquatic plants are all connected to their roots, and several are at one hook. They are extremely heavy and cannot be pulled up without some effort.
At this moment, Jiang Miao Miao was pleased that she had gained some weight and had gained some muscle in the rescue team.
Otherwise, given her pre-apocalyptic physique, which made it so difficult to catch a chicken, she would probably be pulled upside down by a waterweed.
Jiang Meimu was jumping around next to her and occasionally came to help her, chewing on a nail rake and helping her pull it together.
She didn’t know how long it took, but most of the water plants were cleared away. Suddenly, someone behind her chuckled:
“Senior, are you free for lunch now?”
She turned around in surprise and saw Lu Qiming.
“Did you make lunch?”
“Yes, I originally wanted to ask someone what they wanted to eat, but she was naughty and refused to let herself rest. She insisted on coming over to swing her nine-toothed rake.”
Jiang Miao Miao smiled, wiped her sweat, and raised her finger to the pond.
“There are a lot of fish here. I saw more than a dozen of them. The biggest ones are almost as big as Meimu.”
Lu Qiming looked at the water and nodded.
“When you have time in the future, take them out and make dried salted fish. Let’s eat first.”
The farmer’s body was exhausted, and she had been hungry for a long time. After hearing this, she put down the rake and walked home.
Halfway through, she thought of someone and looked up, only to see Gu Changzhou still standing in the field hoeing weeds.
The sun was scorching in the sky, and the sun hurt people’s faces.
Jiang Miao Miao stopped and patted Lu Qiming’s arm.
“Did you cook his food?”
“No.”
“…Then let me make some more. What’s left of the ingredients we brought?”
Lu Qiming said: “He is over fifty years old. He will naturally look for something to eat when he is hungry. Do you need to worry about him?”
“That said, even if we work long-term, we still have to take care of the food, right? What’s more, he doesn’t want wages, so he’s working in vain.”
As Jiang Miao Miao was about to cook, Lu Qiming grabbed her.
“Don’t waste any time, he’ll have something to eat.”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t cook for him?”
“Can’t you save two bites for one person? Besides, your dog should have lost weight long ago, so just give him it food.”
He would rather be hungry than let her cook for Gu Changzhou.
He didn’t even eat enough, so why should he?
Jiang Miao Miao was dubious. She returned to the small building and saw the food on the table with her own eyes. After ensuring the portion was enough for everyone, she walked to the back door and prepared to call Gu Changzhou to eat.
The question is…what should I call him?
Mr. Gu?
No, I’m too alienated.
Lao Gu? They’re not that familiar.
Gu Changzhou hoped she would call her daddy, but she wouldn’t do it even if she was killed.
After struggling for a long time, she held on to the door frame and shouted:
“Hey! It’s time to eat! Take a rest!”
Gu Changzhou stopped, looked at her from afar, and waved his hand to indicate he understood.
A few minutes later, he came outside the small building, took off his muddy shoes, washed his feet with well water, and walked barefoot into the living room that had been cleaned by Lu Qiming.
Jiang Miao Mmiao had already served the rice and greeted:
“Sit down and eat.”
He sat down a little cautiously and picked up his chopsticks. Before he could eat, a cool word came from beside him.
“You eat less, we have to rely on this food to survive until next month.”
Gu Changzhou: “…”
Jiang Miao Miao laughed dryly, “Don’t listen to him. Eat whatever you want. How can you work if you don’t eat enough?”
Lu Qiming sneered, “That’s right. You’d better eat more. After all, these dozens of acres of land and hundreds of fruit trees on the mountain are waiting for you to take care of.”
Gu Changzhou has been tanned these days, and after hearing what he said, his face turned even darker than coal.
Jiang Miao Miao was worried the two would fight, so she hurriedly urged them.
“Let’s eat, the soup is getting cold.”
Lu Qiming is really good at work. In such a short time, he finished the floor, cleaned the house, and made two dishes and one soup.
A plate of fried pork with potato slices, a plate of eggplant with garlic paste, and a bowl of seaweed and egg drop soup.
Jiang Miao Miao drank some soup and was about to praise him when Gu Changzhou suddenly said:
“The soil in those fields is very fertile. It’s a pity to use it to grow rice. Have you figured out what to plant?”
She had no idea about this and shook her head.
“What is suitable to plant?”
He thought for a while, “How about peanuts? It’s the right time to sow seeds now, and you can usually harvest them in more than three months. The picked peanuts can be eaten or pressed for oil, and they have many uses. Staple foods like rice and wheat, the government has already sent people to the south to open up fields and prepare to build an American-style large farm model, where a few people manage thousands of acres of land, but the demand is not that great.”
When Jiang Miao Miao heard what he said, she became interested and even forgot to eat.
“But how do I plant peanuts? I don’t know where to get the seeds.”
Gu Changzhou said: “If you decide to plant peanuts, I know a little bit and can help. I also have access to seeds.”
“Really?” Jiang Miao Miao’s eyes sparkled, and she said excitedly, “Thank you so much.”
“Ahem!”
Lu Qiming interrupted the conversation between the two and mocked: “You are a soldier, but you know how to grow peanuts? Are you kidding me?”
Gu Changzhou was very calm.
“Before I joined the army, I grew up in a rural area. My ancestors were farmers. I know how to grow not only peanuts, but also sweet potatoes, corn, and watermelons.”
Jiang Miao Miao actually didn’t have much confidence in the two of them starting a farm.
After all, they all grew up in the city. They had only heard about farming but had never done it. They couldn’t find a training class to learn, so it was quite difficult to cross the river by feeling the stones.
When she heard about Gu Changzhou’s experience, she immediately had an idea and bumped Lu Qiming with her elbow.
“We are just short of someone with experience. Why don’t we let him be a partner?”
The latter immediately objected: “No!”
“But we don’t know how to farm.”
“If you don’t understand, you can learn. Partner with him and be careful not to lose your pants if you are deceived.”
Thinking of that humiliating experience back then, he couldn’t hold back his anger, and he didn’t even want to give Gu Changzhou any trust.
Jiang Miao Miao knew he was minding this, so she couldn’t persuade him. She picked up the bowl and ate, pretending that nothing happened.
Gu Changzhou’s chopsticks reached towards the plate, ready to pick up some potato slices.
Someone suddenly reached out his hand and snatched away his bowl and chopsticks.
Lu Qiming issued an eviction order.
“Are you full? When you are full, leave quickly. Don’t stay in the way.”
Gu Changzhou: “…I still have to work in the afternoon.”
He said so himself, and those fields and orchards were his.
Lu Qiming seemed to have completely forgotten what he had said before.
“What kind of work are you doing? We don’t need you to do the work. It’s not like we don’t have the skills.”
He looked at Jiang Miao Miao, then stood up and said:
“Okay, I’ll go back first, call me if you need anything.”
Gu Changzhou walked out of the small building, sat on the well cover, put on his shoes, and drove away from the farm.
Jiang Miao Miao turned around, looking confused.
1 thought on “Salted Fish Transmigrated Into An Apocalyptic Book: Chapter 56 (1/2)”