Chapter 192: The Tree That Purifies Water
This topic was really hard to deal with.
After their long conversation, they quickly switched topics, and Huai Yu watched as Zhou Qian pulled up a bucket of water from the well. Then, he dipped all the pots and pans into the water, soaking them all at once.
And then… it was done.
She hesitated for a moment: “Aren’t you going to wash them?”
Zhou Qian paused: “We’ll wash them when we eat dinner later.”
He cracked his knuckles, looking very enthusiastic about getting to work: “Let’s go, I’ll help you with your chores first.”
Huai Yu sized him up and found that Zhou Qian was a bit different from what she had imagined: “Do you not like washing dishes, or do you just not know how?”
Zhou Qian didn’t even look up: “How could I not know how? The internal affairs in the defense army have high standards.”
“Oh,” Huai Yu understood: “You just don’t like washing dishes.”
She could totally relate to that: “I don’t like it either.”
“But you should wash them. This iron pot isn’t seasoned well, and soaking it in water will make it rust. If you clean it now while there’s still some heat left in the stove, the moisture will dry faster.”
“Later, you can go buy some pig skin to season it.”
“Once it’s seasoned, the pot will be good, and the food will taste better!”
When it came to combat abilities, Zhou Qian could easily surpass Huai Yu by a mile.
But when it came to cooking—
He obediently turned around and stood in front of the stove, looking at the mess of pots and pans. He reached for one but then quickly pulled his hand back: “Should I go get some laundry powder or something from your place to clean them?”
Laundry powder?
Huai Yu was exasperated and pointed at the stove: “There’s ash right here. Use that!”
But could the defense army not know this?
Huai Yu gave him a suspicious look, then went behind the house to grab some grass and made a simple bundle for him: “Wash them, you really need to take care of that pot.”
Then she cautiously looked at Zhou Qian: “Don’t expect me to help. I really hate washing dishes, and you’ve got burnt rice stuck to the bottom—start by washing the other pot. Once you finish, the burnt bits in this one will have softened, and you can clean it next.”
It turned out that Zhou Qian just didn’t like washing dishes, not that he didn’t know how.
He took the simple bundle of grass from Huai Yu, and with practiced ease, scooped up a bowl of ash, using the grass bundle to scrub the pots and pans.
Though, his movements were a little awkward.
Huai Yu watched, curious: “Didn’t you have to do these kinds of things in the defense army?”
Zhou Qian proudly puffed his chest: “I’m the most skilled in combat in our team.”
“Every month, we just place a bet. If they lose, they do the chores.”
“If I lose, I buy them things with my contribution points. If they lose, they do the chores.”
It was a back-and-forth deal, and they enjoyed it.
Huai Yu found it hard to comment on this, but now that Zhou Qian was living alone, she could only sigh and express regret: “That’s tough. In the future, no one will bet with you, and you’ll have to wash the dishes three times a day.”
If you have late-night snacks, it would be four times!
Zhou Qian: …I was careless.
…
Finally done with the annoying chores, Huai Yu pulled out two large baskets from Zhou Qian’s house and began pushing the bike, walking slowly back to her own house.
She was also making plans with calm precision:
“Once you’re done, help me move the jars and chop some firewood. I’ll go to the vegetable garden and pick more veggies for you… Zhou Qian, your appetite is huge!”
He ate two bowls of rice at lunch—those two bowls, steamed, would last Huai Yu two days!
He also demolished a large bowl of bullfrog, wild chicken, and stewed mixed vegetables.
Thinking of this, Huai Yu suddenly felt grateful: “Good thing I have abilities, or how many vegetables would I need to grow to feed you?”
She also instructed him: “After you’re done, go ask Kuang Biao for some bamboo and build me some drying racks. I’ll dry more long beans, so when the weather gets cold, you won’t run out of food.”
“By the way, can you make bamboo mats? The kind for drying vegetables?”
With just a few words, she had organized an entire afternoon’s worth of tasks, while Zhou Qian looked at her with a bit of doubt:
“If I wasn’t your neighbor, who were you planning to have do these things?”
Who else to do them?
Speaking of this, Huai Yu became a bit sad: “I wanted to hire someone to plow the fields when I was planting vegetables, but people said as long as it’s not in the Rose Corridor, they wouldn’t help. No one would come.”
“I’ve done everything myself, by hand.”
She looked up at Zhou Qian, tall and full of security, and pitifully said, “Zhou Qian, if you didn’t come, I’d have to do all of this by myself. It’s so exhausting!”
Zhou Qian: “…Although you’re sounding so pitiful, I’m afraid I don’t know how to make bamboo mats.”
He thought for a moment, then added: “I didn’t learn everything in the defense army.”
Huai Yu gasped: “Oh, so you can’t do it!”
“But Lin Xuefeng can! He even made me a grass curtain door, and it was really neatly done!”
At this point, she glanced at him again—well, that grass curtain had already been split into two pieces.
Zhou Qian felt mixed emotions.
On one hand, he felt guilty, but on the other hand, he couldn’t help but think:
How does General Lin know how to do everything? Even when coaxing young girls, he’s got so many tricks! Where did this battle hero learn how to make grass curtains?
…
Their homes were in District 37 and District 39, not far apart. But the vast wilderness with its undulating terrain and occasional hills took them about ten minutes to get there on the bike.
This time, Zhou Qian was less cautious about the Rose Corridor, but as he looked at the giant snake-like long beans peeking from the garden and then at the lush green bamboo forest behind the house…
For some reason, he felt like danger lurked everywhere!
Huai Yu parked the bike and pointed out where to place the jars:
“This jar is already clean, move it next to the sink—also, we need to make a lid out of bamboo. Zhou Qian, can you do that?”
Zhou Qian thought of saying no, but as the words were about to leave his mouth, he racked his brain, recalling bamboo lids, and finally answered reluctantly: “I’ll try.”
“This large jar—do you see that big barnyard grass tree by the pond? Its leaves keep dripping water. Just pick one of the leaves and place the jar there.”
“Barnyard grass tree?”
Zhou Qian stared at the unfamiliar plant name, then followed Huai Yu to the pond. He was stunned by the two strange trees at the edges of the pond, one larger, one smaller:
“Where did these mutated plants come from?”
“No, no!” Huai Yu hurriedly explained, “I bought barnyard grass seeds, but when I planted them, the two abilities mixed too much, and now the mutation is a bit weird…”
“But even though they’re mischievous and naughty, they’re still good trees.”
“The smaller one still doesn’t have much use, but the one that purifies water is much more obedient.”
“Oh.” Zhou Qian numbly replied, “So this barnyard grass tree has mutated to purify water, right?”
