How I Tamed My Wolfish Husband Back in 80s-Chapter 126: Husband’s Luck_1

The next morning.

The young couple packed their luggage and set out.

Li Qiao thought it would be a romantic trip, but as soon as they got onto the road, they were chased by a pack of dogs. Qin Jin pedaled his bicycle furiously, and Li Qiao turned into a screaming chicken, her voice hoarse from shouting.

Qin Jin outpaced the dogs, laughing so hard he could hardly breathe, "I wasn’t scared to death by the dogs but almost by you."

Li Qiao angrily pounded on his back, "My legs are shaking and you’re still laughing!"

"Alright, alright, I’ll stop laughing." About an hour later, Qin Jin carried her on the bicycle to the foot of a hill and parked, "If we climb to the top, we can see the county town."

"Really?" Li Qiao was half-doubtful.

Qin Jin chained the bicycle to a tree and climbed up to place their luggage higher up before joining Li Qiao in climbing the hill.

At first, the heat was intense, but then coolness gradually enveloped them.

A breeze blew, leaving behind a trace of fresh grassy scent.

After spending more than an hour reaching the hilltop, they looked down to see the land clothed in green, with wisps of cooking smoke rising from a distant village.

In the distance, they could see the continuous hills and the orderly houses of the county town.

Li Qiao exclaimed, "It’s so beautiful here, how did you find it?"

"I just have a knack for discovery," Qin Jin boasted with a whistle.

Li Qiao tried to whistle too, but Qin Jin quickly pursed his lips, remembering just in time that she picked up bad habits very quickly.

Li Qiao found a spot with a good view to sit down, took out a notebook, and began to draw with a pencil.

Qin Jin sat beside her, sketching the outlines in a few strokes - the rolling hills, the fertile land, everything captured on paper. "Did you come out here just to draw?"

"No, I wanted to record the places I’ve visited with you."

Qin Jin’s lips curved in a slight smile, "Thirsty?"

"Not thirsty."

Li Qiao finished a quick drawing, turned her head, and didn’t see Qin Jin. She looked around and found him sitting on a bent tree branch, capturing the image with her pencil.

Midway through, Qin Jin stood up to gaze into the distance, and she turned the page to continue drawing.

"Are you drawing me?" Qin Jin looked back at Li Qiao and asked.

Li Qiao twisted her body away, "You can’t look at it now."

"Fine, I won’t look." Qin Jin idly threw stones at birds.

Li Qiao fixed her drawing and lifted it up to him.

Qin Jin: "Two words, unbelievably pretty!"

Li Qiao: "...." Can’t count!

Li Qiao closed the notebook and walked around, spotting a layer of pine cones scattered on the ground, and with the treetops full, she exclaimed, "Wow! Why isn’t anyone picking up these pine cones?"

"You recognize them?"

Li Qiao responded, "Yes! The book says that the seed inside is like sunflower seeds and can be eaten." Her eyes sparkled as she said, "In another month or two, they should ripen. We can knock them down, remove the shells, and sell them as roasted snacks. It’s all profit." Is it because it’s too desolate here that no one comes? But there is a path. Or perhaps trade is not allowed?

Taking them home to eat wouldn’t amount to much, and the way back is hard too.

Qin Jin had been here several times and had seen these things more than once, but he didn’t recognize them nor had he ever tasted them.

Li Qiao squatted down to break pine cones. Protected by the outer shell, the seeds inside were still good to eat.

She directed Qin Jin to bring a bag, planning to fill a sack to bring home and later bring more people to collect them.

"Going home already? There are a few other beautiful places I haven’t shown you yet." Qin Jin was reluctant to return home. He had planned to spend the night outside with her, taking advantage of the solitude to do as they pleased.

Li Qiao: "Making money is more important."

Qin Jin: "...."

And so, they returned home with a bag full of pine cones.

Old Mrs. Qin was puzzled, "Weren’t you supposed to be gone for several days? What’s in this bag?"

"Pine cones," Li Qiao said.

Old Mrs. Qin: "Where did they come from? I’ve been living here for more than ten years and have never seen any pine cones. There are hardly any pine trees nearby."

Qin Jin: "Grandma, you recognize them, too?"

"Back when your grandfather was still alive, he would buy this for me to eat,"

Li Qiao explained where it came from.

"Jin doesn’t know the good stuff," Old Mrs. Qin said disdainfully.

Qin Jin: "..."

Li Qiao used a hammer to crack open the pine nuts’ shells, and the aunts curiously gathered around to watch, even Yu Feng and Peng Chunhua from next door came over to join in the excitement.

When Yu Feng learned that the pine cones were found by Li Qiao, her heart warmed. Li Qiao probably had the fortune of bringing prosperity to her husband; ever since she had entered the Qin family’s house, Qin Jin’s luck seemed to have soared. If it wasn’t getting quotas from the supply and marketing cooperative, it was the chemical fertilizer plant’s quotas— making a fortune either way.

In the past, the Qin family would go without meat for ten days to half a month. Now, they have meat every three to five days.

Chicken, duck, fish, and eggs took turns gracing their table.

Old Mrs. Qin used to be dry and skinny but now had grown plumper all around, her skin also whitened, making her look much younger than her peers.

Qin Jin had gained some solid muscle.

Also, Old Mrs. Qin’s patched-up clothes had all been replaced with dacron, even sporting a pair of leather shoes for outings.

It was the same for Qin Jin, having changed her attire multiple times already.

Li Qiao’s two sisters, too.

They visited relatives earlier in the year, looking rough with dirt on their faces, but later on, each one appeared slick and smooth.

It was as if the men in their family had suddenly struck it rich.

Being from the same family, Li Jinhua should be doing well too, right?

She’ll have to urge the Li Family later to set the wedding date sooner rather than later.

"Qiaoqiao, these things have such hard shells, how do you eat them?" Yu Cuiying grabbed a pine nut and tried to bite into it.

Li Qiao: "Raw ones are hard to peel. They are easier to peel once they are roasted and cracked."

"Where did you get these? We’ll go and get some too."

Li Qiao thought for a moment: "I shouldn’t say; it’s quite hard to find with all the twists and turns, but if you want to eat, take some back with you."

Yu Cuiying felt too embarrassed to just take them.

Yu Feng noticed that Qin Jin had slipped away quietly, and she guessed that Qin Jin was going to ask someone to go back and get these things; maybe he even knew where to trade them in. She decided to go home and tell Feng Hu about it.

Feng Hu got on his bicycle, ready to get his share of the profit.

.....

After Li Qiao finished cleaning the pine nuts and washed them twice, he waited for them to dry, then poured sand into the pot to stir-fry them. Once the aroma emerged, he used a sieve to remove the sand and brought them outside for Old Mrs. Qin and the aunts to taste.

"Actually tastes pretty good," Old Mrs. Qin said

The aunts agreed:

"Delicious, there’s more meat than in sunflower seeds."

"Qiaoqiao is really capable, Jin is lucky."

"No wonder your grandmother dotes on you. If I were your mother-in-law, I would pamper you too."

Old Mrs. Qin laughed and said, "Getting along as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is about sharing your heart. What you give is what you get back." Her mother-in-law had been good to her, never putting on airs or lecturing her; she had always remembered this, even though at first, her granddaughter-in-law didn’t look up to her grandson. She intended to treat her well nonetheless.

She thought that even a stone, given enough time, could be warmed.

And now, it appeared she was right.

If she had started lashing out at the girl from the beginning, realizing the mistake only later, regret wouldn’t have made up for it.

Li Qiao strongly agreed. Mother-in-laws and daughters-in-law should be on equal footing, not just senior and junior.

Like Yu Feng, who always carried herself with a mother-in-law’s air, ordering her daughter-in-law around—if it had been her, she would have left long ago.

That’s why she thought He Xiaohong’s remarrying was the right decision.

Feng Bing wasn’t a good man; a man who could hit his wife once could do it twice, and his later attempts to get He Xiaohong back home were just because he was swamped with work—it was just using her as a free maid, wasn’t it?

His character was terrible, he got fooled by lust and ended up shamelessly blaming Qin Jin—wait and see! In a few days, they’ll be served with a lawsuit.

It just made her feel sorry for the two children, having such a father could mean they might not be able to become civil servants in the future.

....