Chapter 6: Borrowing Grain

After arriving home, faced with the eager gazes of the little brats, Lu Qing didn't dawdle and immediately began distributing the fish.

He plucked two banana leaves from behind the small courtyard and cut them into several pieces.

He gave each of the little brats a handful of fish—not much, probably less than half a jin per person.

Although there wasn't much fish, the little brats were incredibly excited.

After getting their fish, they each ran home in high spirits, as if they had obtained some kind of treasure.

Seeing that Lu Qing had finished distributing the fish, some villagers approached him.

"Lu Qing, how did you catch these fish? How were you able to catch so many all at once?"

"Just luck," Lu Qing laughed. "Maybe it's because the bait I used is quite appealing to the fish."

"Then what kind of bait did you use?"

"Just those common earthworms from the fields."

Lu Qing didn't hide anything and told them the truth.

In any case, even if he didn't say it, the people in the village would know before long.

After all, when he was fishing, there was a whole group of little brats watching behind him.

Since that was the case, it was better to be generous and speak up, so as to avoid others calling him stingy.

"Earthworms? This thing can actually be used to catch fish?" The villager was surprised.

"Of course it can, and the fish quite like it."

Lu Qing wasn't surprised that the villagers didn't know earthworms could be used for fishing.

From the original owner's memories, he roughly deduced that the world he was currently in was similar to ancient China.

In this old and feudal era, transportation was inconvenient and information was blocked.

People held a cautious and conservative attitude toward new things and would not try them easily.

It was very likely that common knowledge in one place became a rarity in another.

Since no one in the village was skilled at fishing, it was normal that everyone didn't know fish liked to eat earthworms.

"I didn't expect fish to like eating earthworms. No wonder everyone didn't have much of a harvest when fishing before; it turns out the bait was wrong," a villager sighed.

"Lu Qing, this method was told to you by your father, right?"

Lu Qing hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I heard my father mention it once before, and I just happened to remember it. Today, Xiao Yan kept crying that she was hungry, and there was no food at home, so I remembered this method and decided to give it a try. I didn't expect to actually catch fish."

The villager paused upon hearing this and looked at Xiao Yan.

The little one was squatting by the bucket looking at the fish. Feeling the villager's gaze, she looked up and immediately gave him a big, bright smile.

The villager's heart suddenly ached. He looked at the thin and weak Lu Qing, and a sense of pity welled up in him.

"Then what will you do next? You can't just eat fish; how can your stomachs handle that?"

"I was just about to discuss that with you uncles," Lu Qing said earnestly. "You uncles know the current situation in my home; it's fair to say we don't have a single grain of rice left. So, I would like to borrow some grain, oil, and salt from you. Once I find some work in a few days, I will definitely pay it back double."

"What are you saying? Are we the kind of people who would take advantage of someone's misfortune? We are all from the same village; helping each other is only right. It's just a bit of grain—I, Uncle Shan, will bring it to you in a moment!"

Moved by the situation, the villager spoke loudly.

Since he had already said that, the other villagers naturally couldn't just stand by without showing some gesture.

"That's right, it's just a little grain; I'll go get some for you right now!"

"My family bought too much salt at the market earlier this month; I can spare some for you."

"It's just oil; my family still has quite a bit left. I'll go dig some out for you in a moment!"

The villagers all patted their chests, looking generous.

Lu Qing was overjoyed. "Then thank you, uncles!"

"Wait a moment, Lu Qing, I'm going home to get you some grain."

Uncle Shan was the first to head out, and the other villagers also headed toward their homes one after another.

Not long after, they all arrived back at Lu Qing's courtyard.

"Here, you and Xiao Yan eat this half-bag of rice first. If you finish it, just ask Uncle Shan for more!"

"Lu Qing, this half-jar of lard should be enough for you to eat for a while, right?"

"Here is a small bamboo tube of salt; use this for now."

"I have a few flatbreads your aunt baked this morning. They can be stored for quite a while, and eating just one will keep the hunger away for a long time. Is this enough?"

Looking at the things the villagers brought, Lu Qing felt inexplicably grateful.

He bowed repeatedly and said, "It's enough, it's enough! Thank you, uncles!"

After saying that, he scooped out several large handfuls of small fish from the bucket and divided them into several portions.

With that, more than half of the fish in the wooden bucket were gone in an instant.

"Take these fish back and have a taste, uncles."

Uncle Shan and the others waved their hands repeatedly. "How can we do that? You just worked hard to catch these fish; keep them for you and Xiao Yan to eat."

"Xiao Yan and I can't eat this much. The weather is hot now, and fish don't keep for long. We don't raise chickens or ducks at home, so if the fish are left, they'll easily go bad. Just consider it as helping me out, uncles, so it doesn't go to waste."

Lu Qing insisted and stuffed the leaf-wrapped packages of fish into the hands of the villagers.

"Well... alright then, we won't stand on ceremony."

The villagers had just taken out a fair amount of their own surplus grain and had felt a bit of a pinch, but after receiving the fish, they felt much better.

After seeing the uncles off, Lu Qing let out a sigh of relief.

He felt a bit fortunate.

Fortunately, the people in the village were quite simple and honest; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to rashly ask to borrow grain.

Now, with this bit of food, he and Xiao Yan wouldn't have to worry too much about eating for the next ten days or half a month.

With this buffer time, he could properly explore ways to survive in this world.

"Brother, this bread smells so good!"

Just as Lu Qing was deep in thought, he suddenly heard Xiao Yan's voice.

Looking down, he saw the little one squatting on the ground, drooling as she looked at the flatbread one of the villagers had brought.

He walked over, tore off a small piece of bread, and placed it in Xiao Yan's hand.

"Be a good girl, Xiao Yan, eat this piece of bread first. Brother is going to cook now."

"Mm, Xiao Yan knows!"

Xiao Yan nodded obediently, took the piece of bread, and happily began to nibble on it.

After settling the little one, Lu Qing began to get busy in the kitchen.

First, he washed the rice and steamed it, then he took over half a jin of small fish, gutted them, and cleaned them.

When the fish were cleaned and he was ready to fry them, Lu Qing discovered a problem.

There was no pot in the kitchen for cooking.

Lu Qing recalled for a moment and then remembered.

Originally, there was an iron pot at home, but it had been sold by the original owner to buy grain some time ago.

So now, there was only an earthenware pot for steaming rice, and no pot for cooking.

Sighing, Lu Qing had to settle for the next best thing. He found a relatively flat, thin stone slab outside the courtyard, cleaned it, and placed it over the fire to slowly heat up.

Once the stone slab was piping hot, Lu Qing carefully dug out a small spoonful of solidified lard from the jar a villager had brought.

When the lard touched the stone slab, it sizzled, the fat melted rapidly, and a fragrant aroma of oil immediately wafted up.