Da Niu was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up: “Brother Lie, are you talking about that bastard Li Wenbo? Oh, I’ve been itching to deal with him! I’ll go right now!”
“Go where?” Li Jiao happened to be bringing over the meal and asked upon hearing this.
“Just going to check if the path behind the house is easy to walk. Sister-in-law, be careful when you go out later—it’s cold now, and the ground freezes easily.” Da Niu was honest and earnest, showing no sign of anything amiss.
“Oh, I see. Alright, I’ll be careful,” Li Jiao paused. “Da Niu, take these three meat buns and this bowl of braised pork back to share with your mother. Don’t say I’m kicking you out—it’s mainly so you can eat them while they’re hot.”
With Li Jiao saying this, and Da Niu just about to go do his “mischief,” he grabbed the bucket and left without another word.
Watching Da Niu leave with the food, Li Jiao still felt a bit uneasy. “We haven’t paid Da Niu back his money yet. We still have about sixty yuan left. Let’s make another batch of that Purple Cloud Ointment. Once we have a hundred yuan, I’ll give the money to Da Niu.”
“Da Niu probably isn’t in a hurry. Let’s eat first.” Qin Lie didn’t plan to pay Da Niu back so soon. After all, that kid had too many strange ideas in his head, and he might end up feeling like he owed them something.
Inside the thatched hut, the kang was heated to a scorching warmth again.
Li Jiao spread the dried gromwell root and angelica she had bought early in the morning on the kang mat.
She picked up a small stone mortar, only about the size of a fist, and began pounding away with a steady rhythm.
The task looked easy and didn’t require much thought, but it was hard on the wrists.
After just a few pounds, Li Jiao’s pampered, fair, and delicate palms—as tender as scallion stalks—were rubbed red by the rough stone pestle.
Fine beads of sweat also appeared on her forehead.
“Ugh, how long is this going to take?” Li Jiao shook her sore wrist, her small face scrunching up, but her hands didn’t stop moving.
Qin Lie leaned halfway against the piled-up quilts, holding the Russian book in his hand, but he hadn’t read a single word.
His deep eyes were fixed intently on Li Jiao’s reddened palms, and all the inappropriate images that had flashed through his mind earlier were forcefully suppressed.
His brows furrowed tightly, and the restlessness in his heart was almost unbearable.
If his legs were fine, how could he let Jiao Jiao suffer like this?
“Stop doing that. Come here and rest.” Qin Lie suddenly spoke up, even wanting to snatch the mortar from her, but he didn’t dare move recklessly—otherwise, Jiao Jiao would scold him again.
Even though it sounded nice, Jiao Jiao’s heartache would bring little tears.
“No, I have to finish this sooner so we can exchange it for money sooner. And your medicine needs to be replenished too—you have to take it properly.” Li Jiao didn’t even look up, continuing her steady pounding.
Qin Lie pursed his lips, a flicker of heartache and determination passing through his eyes.
He tossed the book aside. “When Da Niu comes later, I’ll ask him to find something for me. I’ll make you a more convenient tool.”
Li Jiao looked at him with doubt and surprise: “What could be more convenient than this?”
Qin Lie didn’t answer. Instead, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently blowing on the reddened area.
Da Niu soon returned with the bowl, rushing in cheerfully: “Sister-in-law, Brother Lie, I’m here to return the bowl!”
“Perfect timing, go to the commune’s scrap station.” Qin Lie pondered for a moment, then added, “No, first go move that broken stone mill with the missing handle from the pile of junk in the back. Then head to the scrap station and find a few worn-out bicycle freewheels and chains, plus some bearings. The sooner, the better.”
Upon hearing this, Li Jiao quickly reached into her pocket for money. “We need to buy parts, right? That’ll require money…”
“No need!” Da Niu hurriedly waved his hands, his face flushing red as he instinctively covered his pocket.
Earlier, Brother Lie had given him money to accompany Sister-in-Law to buy agricultural film, but in the end, Sister-in-Law went to the Ghost Market with Brother Lie in the middle of the night and bought it herself. The money was still in his pocket.
Da Niu had intended to find an opportunity to return it to Brother Lie, but he hadn’t expected Sister-in-Law to be right there.
Da Niu was terrified of being found out, so he hadn’t mentioned it.
“Sister-in-Law, I have money in my pocket!” Before Li Jiao could react, Da Niu turned and ran. “Brother Lie, wait for me! I’m fast—I’ll be back in no time!”
Li Jiao stared blankly at Da Niu’s retreating figure. “That silly boy, we still owe him money. Isn’t it bad to keep spending his?”
“It’s fine. I’ll pay him back double in the future.”
Qin Lie took Li Jiao’s hand, gently rubbing the red marks on her palm with his thumb, his eyes dark and unreadable. “As long as it saves you some hardship, any amount of money is worth it.”
Li Jiao’s eyes instantly reddened. She grabbed Qin Lie’s wrist and remained silent for a long moment.
Da Niu worked with remarkable efficiency. In less than half an hour, he returned carrying a sack full of scrap metal.
Qin Lie sat on the edge of the kang, his leg in a cast stretched out flat. He motioned for Da Niu to place the broken little stone mill at the far end of the kang. Then, picking up pliers and wire, he began tinkering with the pile of greasy chains and freewheels.
Li Jiao watched, utterly confused. “Qin Lie, what are you doing with all this dirty stuff? Be careful not to cut yourself.”
“I saw how tired you were from pounding herbs.”
Qin Lie kept his head down, organizing the parts before starting to assemble them.
“Back when I worked in the mines, I repaired coal conveyor belts. I was just thinking—maybe I could use the same principle as a bicycle to make something that saves effort. But I’m not too sure about it, Jiao Jiao. Don’t laugh at me for being clumsy.”
As he spoke, he assembled the pieces into something Li Jiao could barely recognize.
Li Jiao couldn’t help but feel astonished. This was far from just “thinking.”
Da Niu watched intently, completely absorbed. He knew Brother Lie was capable, but he had never seen him like this. How did Brother Lie know how to do everything?
Twenty minutes later, a simple little machine was born.
“Give it a try. Let’s call it a hand-cranked grinder for now…?” Qin Lie searched his mind for a name.
Essentially, he had attached a crank to the stone mill, which originally required strenuous pounding, and connected it through a bicycle chain for transmission.
Skeptical but curious, Li Jiao walked over, grabbed a handful of comfrey, and tossed it into the mill’s opening. She reached out and gripped the crank.
With a gentle turn, a rumbling sound followed as the chain drove the stone mill into rapid rotation. With almost no effort, the once somewhat stiff medicinal herbs were instantly crushed into fine powder, cascading down along the edge of the mill.
“Oh my goodness!” Li Jiao exclaimed in delight, her eyes wide with amazement as she stared at the evenly ground powder.
This thing was incredibly useful—faster than hand-pounding by who knows how many times!
“Qin Lie, you’re absolutely amazing!” Li Jiao was so excited that she didn’t even care that Da Niu was still present. She rushed over, avoiding his legs, and threw her arms around his neck.
“To think you could create a machine just by tinkering with scraps while sitting on the kang! You’re practically Lu Ban reborn! Let me see—wow, is this what a genius’s brain looks like?”
Li Jiao cradled his head, turning it left and right, growing fonder with each glance.
Qin Lie leaned back slightly, his large hands gently supporting her waist, letting her examine him with unrestrained delight.
His eyes brimmed with amusement—his dear Jiao was so easy to please.
Da Niu silently turned his face away, his dark complexion flushing with embarrassment. Oh dear, why did he have to witness this? It made him want to find a wife too.
But alas, with no money and being labeled a “bad element,” Da Niu only allowed himself to entertain the thought for a fleeting moment. How could he possibly bring harm to an innocent young girl?
Meanwhile, behind the house under the window, Li Wenbo had changed his clothes and foolishly returned. Seeing Li Jiao gazing at Qin Lie with adoration, jealousy consumed his reason.
“That bad element actually knows how to make something like this? Are they planning to grind all those herbs into powder? Are they making medicine?”
Li Wenbo widened his eyes slightly, unable to suppress a sharp intake of breath. “They couldn’t possibly be planning to sell something, could they? Perfect, just perfect! Li Jiao, you’ve been completely corrupted by this bad element! Now you’re even engaging in speculation and profiteering!”