My Exclusive Dream World Adventures-Chapter 130 - try chasing it

Chapter 130: 130 try chasing it

Chen Chao’s house was right next to Chen Xu’s grandmother’s, and they were the same age. They often played together during childhood and got along pretty well. In high school, they were in class next door to each other.

“When did you get a girlfriend?” Chen Chao asked, making faces.

Chen Xu glanced at Yang Jinxia in his arms, saw that she had no intention of letting go, smiled, and said, “Just now.”

“Nice.”

Chen Chao thought his girlfriend was shy, gave him a thumbs up, and said, “Alright then, I won’t bother you anymore. I’ll come find you later.”

“Okay, see you later.” Chen Xu waved his hand.

After the car had left, Yang Jinxia finally asked lazily, “Your friend?”

“Mhm.” Chen Xu heard the sound of another car approaching and said, “Another car is coming.”

“I don’t care,” she said without opening her eyes. “I just want you to hold me like this forever.”

Chen Xu continued to hold her, merely adjusting their position slightly so he could see the road.

When that car passed by, it slowed down, its window rolled down, and it was indeed Chen Chao’s older brother, “Chen Xu?”

“Hi.” Chen Xu gave an awkward yet polite smile.

“You’re busy,” Chen Chao’s brother said as he waved his hand and rolled up the window, quickly driving away.

A few minutes later, another car came by; this time, it was Chen Chao’s cousin. He also stopped to say hello.

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Fortunately, no more acquaintances passed by after that. The two of them held each other for over half an hour.

Chen Xu said, “Let’s go back.”

“Mhm.” Yang Jinxia finally let go of him, hooked her arm through his, and they walked back the way they had come.

“Those few just now, are they all your friends?” she asked after a while.

“They are my cousins, and their house is right next to my grandmother’s. We often played together as kids. The first one we met just now was Chen Chao; we went to the same high school and were in adjacent classes. After going to university, we moved apart and didn’t really keep in touch, except for an annual reunion during the New Year.”

As they talked, they returned to Chen Xu’s grandmother’s house. In front of the neighboring house were parked the three cars they had encountered earlier. The door was open, and people inside were cleaning.

Chen Chao’s grandparents were no longer around, and their parents had moved away, leaving the house unoccupied most of the time. Whenever they returned, they had to do a thorough cleaning.

Chen Xu told Yang Jinxia to go inside and take a nap, while he took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and went to help with the cleaning.

Aunt Li and Chen Chao’s family were very close. When Chen Xu was in elementary school and his grandmother’s house still grew rice, Chen Chao’s family always helped with planting and harvesting.

The three brothers, all with families of their own, and Chen Xu—all four men—took over two hours to clean the house. As for the three women, they watched the children and packed the bags.

“Let’s go to the brick kiln.”

After finishing the work, Chen Chao called out to Chen Xu, picked up a box, and walked outside.

Chen Xu was not at all surprised; this was a mandatory activity every year when they returned to their hometown, along with fishing.

Chen Chao’s two brothers also each carried a box. They first went next door, where the women had already packed their bags and taken the children over to Chen Xu’s grandmother’s to have tea.

As Chen Xu entered, he saw Yang Jinxia sitting next to his grandmother, chatting and laughing with them.

She had changed into a pair of light purple overalls, understated in style but striking to the eye.

“Is this your girlfriend?” Chen Chao entered and was taken aback upon seeing Yang Jinxia. Earlier, she had been lying in Chen Xu’s arms, and he had not seen her face.

“Hello,” Yang Jinxia walked over, naturally linking arms with Chen Xu.

Chen Chao’s gaze towards Chen Xu changed as he said, “Well well, you sure kept that quiet. Aunt Li called me just a couple of months ago, asking if I knew any suitable girls, hoping to introduce you to a girlfriend. I didn’t expect you to move this fast.”

Aunt Li he mentioned was indeed Chen Xu’s mother.

Chen Xu explained, “My mom didn’t know before.”

Chen Chao’s wife urged, “Alright, hurry up if you’re going, it’s going to be dark soon.”

At that moment, Grandma said, “You all should come over for dinner tonight, Xiao Xu brought a goose today, and it’s too much for just a few of us.”

Chen Chao and the others didn’t decline and readily agreed, “It looks like we will trouble Aunt again.”

…

Chen Xu and his group found a piece of overturned farmland, which had just been planted with sweet potatoes this year. When they dug it up, it brought out many clumps of soil, making it the perfect place to build a kiln.

Each of the four men chose a spot and started piling up soil.

Chen Xu first went to find soil clumps of the right size, and Yang Jinxia also came over to help. Once they had enough, they dug a pit about ten centimeters deep and used three large soil clumps to create a fire door.

Next, using smaller soil clumps, they circled around the pit and layered them on top of each other. They continued narrowing the structure upward, and after about ten layers, they capped it off, forming a conical clay kiln.

By the time Chen Xu finished, the others had only built half of theirs. His hands were not only agile now but his control was extraordinary; building a kiln was a trivial task for him.

“Alright, let’s go pick up some dry grass and dead leaves,” Chen Xu said, wiping his mud-covered hands and leading Yang Jinxia to gather firewood.

“The fiercer the fire in the kiln, the better.”

As they walked, he told her, “Don’t pick too large branches, they burn too slowly. We need the thin ones. These leaves won’t do either, they’ve still got moisture in them. The best ones to burn are the dry ferns, they blaze up really well. Oh, dry straw is also good.”

“But when I was a kid, we couldn’t afford to use gas. These two things were what the adults used for cooking, and if we’d used them for the kiln, we’d have been beaten to death.”

During their conversation, they arrived at a bamboo grove.

Chen Xu said, “We usually use dry bamboo leaves and branches, the thinner the better. And these bamboo husks, they burn really well. Don’t bother, let me do it, or you’ll get your clothes dirty.”

“I’ll pick up less then.” Yang Jinxia didn’t mind the dirt and picked up a few pieces of dry bamboo from the ground.

After a few trips back and forth, Chen Xu felt they had enough and started the fire.

At this time, Chen Chao and the others had just finished building their kiln and also went to gather fire materials.

Chen Xu occasionally stuffed some dry bamboo and leaves into the kiln, holding a stick and stirring inside to make the fire burn even livelier.

The clay chunks of the kiln body first turned black, and then, they became hotter and redder.

“It should be about right now,” said Chen Chao, who had also started his fire and came over to look.

Chen Xu also thought it was enough and stuffed the last handful of leaves inside, asking, “What about the food?”

“It’s here,” Chen Chao’s wife came over with a box, opened it, and took out a chicken wrapped in aluminum foil, saying, “This has been marinating since last night, definitely flavorful enough.”

Chen Xu recalled last year when they started preparing only after returning to his hometown, it was rushed, and the marination was insufficient, not very flavorful. Hardly anyone had much of it.

It seemed they had learned from last year.

At this point, the fire in the kiln had died down. He used a stick to scrape out all the ashes left from the burning, then took a large prepared mud block and sealed the door.

Then, he knocked down the mud blocks on top of the kiln, opened a big enough hole, placed the foil-wrapped chicken inside, and threw in a few sweet potatoes on the sides. Picking up a large rock, he smashed the clay kiln, turning all the mud blocks into soil.

After flattening it. He dug up some soil from the side and covered the top.

Next, it was just a matter of waiting.

Chen Xu and Yang Jinxia first went to rest by the field edge. The women weren’t sitting idle either; they moved a table and several low stools over, so they could sit and rest.

Before long, Chen Chao and the rest also finished and came over to sit down, and everyone chatted together.

After sitting for a short while, the four women went back together, saying they were going to the restroom.

“How did you manage to get such a beautiful girl?” As soon as they left, Chen Chao couldn’t help but ask curiously.

You might not believe it, but she pursued me.

Chen Xu thought to himself, but speaking such words felt like inciting jealousy. Better to keep it low-key, he replied, “I just tried pursuing her, and to my surprise, she actually agreed.”

“Just trying your luck, and it worked?”

Chen Chao felt he really deserved a beating.