Chapter 195: Chapter 195

Li Xianglu finished her watermelon, washed her hands, tied on an apron, and went to cook. For lunch, some cold noodles would be nice—it’s so hot that nobody has much of an appetite.

Beef cold noodle salad is the most delicious. Li Xianglu took out a piece of beef shank from the Storage Ring, cut it in half, boiled some water, and began to knead dough for the noodles.

Because Li Xianglu was mostly at home during the holidays, she only had Sister Xing come over once a week to help out with the cleaning, which was enough until school starts again and she would come regularly.

Li Xianglu blanched the beef in boiling water, then added star anise, Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, dark soy sauce, and other seasonings to stew it slowly.

In the meantime, she went outside to fill the washing machine with water and started doing laundry.

While washing, she heard the door and saw Qin Xi enter first, followed after a long while by a crew-cut Qin Zhen.

Li Xianglu chuckled and said, "Why do you even bother? Every year you come back and put on the same show. Is it really that amusing?"

Qin Zhen touched his bald head, sat down at the table, and bit fiercely into a slice of watermelon, grunting, "Hmph, I’ll keep growing it out once I’m back!"

Everyone admired Qin Zhen’s persistence; he had a haircut in winter and managed to grow it long by the end of the semester only to have it cut again and now wished to grow it out once more.

Li Xianglu washed and hung up the bed sheets, then saw Qin Xi tidying up a tricycle that he had scavenged a few weeks ago. It was old, but Qin Xi had replaced the worn-out wooden bottom with some good planks and added armrests on both sides.

Li Xianglu wiped her hands, checked on the beef—which was done—and left it soaking in the broth to marinate.

She then rolled out the dough for the noodles; she had to make extra since there were more people today. The cold noodles needed to be fine and thin, and most importantly, they had to be chilled with ice water after boiling to make them firm and refreshing.

Li Xianglu cooked the noodles, rinsed them twice with cold water, coated them with cooked oil, and set them aside.

The meat was flavored well by now. She took it out, sliced it, and put it aside. She then made a sauce with tomatoes, green onions, and some minced meat. Meanwhile, she peeled a cucumber, cut it into strips, and set it aside.

She took out four big bowls, scooped noodles into them—giving herself and Mr. Li a little less, and larger servings for Qin Xi and Qin Zhen.

She topped the noodles with cucumber strips and a few slices of beef, drizzled on sizzling chili oil and vinegar, then poured the sauce over before calling Qin Zhen to carry the bowls out.

Looking at the colorful noodles, Qin Zhen’s appetite surged. He grabbed a slice of beef and, after one taste, his eyes brightened and he frowned, complaining, "There’s too little meat!"

Li Xianglu replied irritatedly, "Alright, take it out first, I’ll make some more beef salad."

As soon as Qin Zhen heard this, he quickly carried out the noodles. Li Xianglu swiftly sliced a plateful of thin beef, mixed up a simple dressing of chili, vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl, and brought it out.

Mr. Li’s appetite usually waned with the summer heat, but the sight of the tangy and spicy cold noodle salad perked him up. He enjoyed several mouthfuls without pause, and Li Xianglu, happy to see him enjoying the meal, ate quite a bit herself.

Seeing the tricycle, Li Xianglu suddenly asked, "What are you planning to do with that tricycle?"

Qin Xi swallowed his noodles, took a sip of the broth, and finally said leisurely, "I’m thinking of going out with Qin Zhen tomorrow to pick up some scrap."

Li Xianglu’s eyes widened in shock, and Qin Zhen, who had taken a bite of noodles, choked on his brother’s words, trying not to cough and reluctant to spit out the noodles. He swallowed them with effort before coughing vehemently.

Qin Xi shook his head at his brother’s disgraceful display and explained to Li Xianglu, "It’s the holidays and we’re bored. I thought of wandering the streets collecting scraps to see if we can find anything interesting."

Upon hearing this, Li Xianglu’s eyes lit up. My goodness, why hadn’t she thought of that? They could find themselves some real bargains.

Li Xianglu hurriedly said, "I want to go too!"

Qin Xi nodded and replied, "Yeah, you go in the morning, but don’t go in the afternoon, it’s hot. You should stay home and sort out the stuff we’ve collected."

Li Xianglu agreed, while Qin Zhen, who had just caught his breath, said with a disdainful face, "Can I not go?"

Qin Xi shook his head with a stern face, "No!"

This guy was prone to causing trouble without even trying, and even if he didn’t cause any, trouble would find him. It was better to keep him in sight at all times.

Seeing Qin Zhen reluctant, Li Xianglu quickly said, "You dummy, when collecting junk, we can find good stuff that can be sold for money later on. With that money, we could get you a wife!"

Qin Zhen’s face turned red with embarrassment. He stood up with his bowl and walked away, muttering, "Who wants a wife? So much trouble!"

However, no matter how much Qin Zhen resisted, it was useless. Qin Xi had made up her mind, and he couldn’t fight it.

Without any rest, the three set out early the next day after breakfast.

Li Xianglu put on a large straw hat to protect against the sun, and pulled on a pair of homemade arm covers for extra protection.

Qin Zhen was cycling ahead, with Qin Xi and Li Xianglu leisurely sitting behind.

When they turned into the neighboring alley, Li Xianglu started shouting at the top of her lungs, "Collecting junk! Collecting junk!"

With a screech, the bike halted abruptly, and Qin Zhen looked back in panic, "Do we have to shout?"

Li Xianglu was startled and replied, "How else would people know?"

As they were talking, a door creaked open. They saw a large quadrangle courtyard, from which an old lady stepped out and looked them over.

Seizing the business opportunity, Li Xianglu jumped off the cart and said with a smile, "Grandma, we’re collecting junk. Do you have any scrap metal or old books? We also take old furniture."

The old lady, seeing a clean girl, was startled and then smiled, "Yes, there’s some old furniture in the house I’d like to sell. You can take a look if it’s suitable. Just you come in."

Li Xianglu gestured to Qin Xi and followed the lady.

The old lady’s clothes looked somewhat worn but had no patches and were washed clean, her hair combed neatly.

Li Xianglu looked around the courtyard and asked with a smile, "Grandma, this is quite a big courtyard, isn’t it? A quadrangle?"

The old lady, smiling at Li Xianglu’s comment, turned around and said, "You’re young but you know your stuff. Yes, it’s a quadrangle courtyard. It’s just that the back houses have collapsed a lot, making repairs troublesome."

With that, she led Li Xianglu to the eastern wing room of the last courtyard, pulled open the door, and let her look inside.

Li Xianglu, seeing some broken furniture as well as some pieces in good condition, had an idea and said, "Grandma, some of this furniture we will take, and some we will not. Would you like us to pick and take away what we want, or do you want to give it all to us?"

The old lady glanced at the furniture in both rooms; some were missing arms and legs, others were simply unusable and rotten, so she decisively nodded, "Take it all away, it’s no use keeping it anyway since the landlord has told me to vacate the place!"

Li Xianglu was delighted and asked, "Grandma, is this courtyard for sale?"