Chapter 45: Premonition

Li Qi, accompanied by Shen Shuibi and the old horse, entered the village.

There was nothing peculiar about it; it was just an ordinary village, with only one ox in the entire village, but… Li Qi felt that it probably wasn't an ordinary ox.

Then again, it seemed there were no ordinary oxen in this world.

Just as most horses were Spirit Steeds, oxen also had their unique qualities.

Li Qi knew that his Ox Strength Technique granted him “the strength of an ox”.

That is to say, an ox, under normal circumstances, possessed six thousand catties of immense strength.

Are you kidding? What kind of concept is six thousand catties?

As a researcher, Li Qi knew that in his world, one horsepower equaled 75kg, which is one hundred and fifty catties, meaning a horse could drag one hundred and fifty catties at a speed of one meter per second.

In other words, this ox had 40 horsepower, and a 40-horsepower tractor could be equipped with a carriage, easily pulling fifteen tons of goods.

During World War II, the Soviet T-37 tank also only had 40 horsepower.

This ox was truly a small tank.

Upon entering the village, Li Qi put down his back basket and exchanged goods with the villagers who gathered around.

The old horse stayed by Shen Shuibi’s side, and Shen Shuibi seemed to be a bit shy, so she leaned against the old horse, trying to hide herself in a corner.

How strange… Why wasn’t she shy when she first saw him?

Oh, it seemed she was scared then; she seemed to have been terrified by him at that time, but when they met again, he had managed to fool her with his words the first time, and after that, she seemed to get used to him and wasn’t afraid anymore.

Then his luck was pretty good; he didn’t run into this rabbit when she was shy.

The old horse stayed with her, and although he was very weak and old, as a Dragon Steed, it was unlikely that ordinary people who had only Cultivated cultivation methods would be able to approach him.

And Li Qi went to the side to exchange goods.

The villagers had mountain goods and grain, but they lacked money; usually, Merchants would come to the village to exchange for mountain goods, then take the mountain goods to shops in the city to exchange for money, and then use the money to buy goods to bring into the mountains.

Li Qi had originally planned to do the same, but it wasn't suitable now.

“Folks, I’m not exchanging for mountain goods; do we have any beans? I want to exchange for some beans and dried meat,” Li Qi said to the villagers who came over.

There were about ten villagers around, all carrying mountain goods like wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, wild chili peppers, and wild chestnuts.

“Beans? Don’t you all usually want mountain goods? What do you want beans for?” a farm woman asked in confusion.

“We’re not going to exchange for money; we want to gather some food for the journey!” Li Qi shouted to the people around him.

“Oh, no wonder you brought a horse and a young wife; so you’re not a proper Merchant. Alright then, I’ll go get you some beans.” A farm woman put away her family’s mountain goods and went back to get the beans.

“My family slaughtered a pig this year, and we have some cured meat, but how do we exchange it? Don’t trick me, now.” A farm woman asked suspiciously, carefully looking at Li Qi.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you suffer a loss! We’ll calculate by money! This is how much mine is worth, and this is how much yours is worth; we’ll exchange once the amounts match!” Li Qi called out.

“Then why are you exchanging for beans?” another villager asked.

“The horse is sick and needs something good to eat,” Li Qi explained.

“My goodness, the horse eats better than people! So precious!” another villager exclaimed, because he saw that Li Qi’s back basket was full of rice cakes.

It was clear that he himself ate rice cakes, yet he fed the horse beans.

Beans were not cheap; they were much more expensive than rice!

“No choice, the horse runs fast after eating, but I only fart after eating!” Li Qi said a witty remark.

The surrounding villagers burst into laughter, and after a round of conversation, they seemed to have become familiar with Li Qi.

In this way, while chatting with the villagers, he exchanged goods, trading away excess salt, farm tools, cloth, spatulas, and some medicines for headaches and fevers.

He exchanged for several bags of dried beans, about fifty to sixty catties, and some yams and sweet potatoes, which were used to make up the quantity when beans weren’t enough.

There were also some mountain goods.

One farm woman’s family had someone sick and was in a hurry to exchange for medicine, but they had no beans and couldn’t afford meat, so she pleaded with Li Qi to exchange for mountain goods. Li Qi’s heart softened, and he exchanged for a basket of shiitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms.

That person also knew how to be grateful, so she gave Li Qi a lot extra, and Li Qi should have made a profit, even though he couldn’t use it temporarily.

However… he could eat them on the road, right? He would just consider it improving his taste and being good to himself.

He himself couldn’t distinguish mountain goods, so he usually didn’t dare to pick them randomly, lest he accidentally eat something poisonous and no one would be responsible.

Who knew if that thing just looked like a shiitake mushroom?

It was better to be honest and not be greedy for small advantages that lead to big losses.

There was also some dried meat; these were the main items. These few pieces of dried meat cost Li Qi two hoes and a small bottle of coarse salt.

Meat was indeed expensive.

After exchanging goods, the contents of Li Qi’s back basket had also been replaced.

And he wasn't idle; instead, he was helping the villagers pull stones.

Li Qi saw it when he was putting away his back basket, preparing to leave.

It seemed to be a stone in the field that was hindering the clearing of land, but this stone was simply too heavy, too large, and firmly stuck in the ground, so much so that even the ox couldn’t drag it.

A group of villagers pulled it with hemp ropes, pulling while prying from behind with wooden poles, but the stone remained completely unmoving.

Seeing this, Li Qi simply went up and took charge.

“You’re not pulling heavy objects like this.” He walked up: “Come here, put it on your shoulder, learn my posture; that’s how you apply force effectively!”

Li Qi was an experienced Lifter; he could even pull large boats, so what was a stone?

With his and the ox’s help, plus some Boat Towmen’ chants to rally the farmers to exert force together, they managed to pull the stone out of the ground.

This kind of stone was a good thing; once pulled out, not only did it create more land, but it could also be broken down to make stone mills or other useful items.

Li Qi said goodbye, and along the way, he also lent a hand whenever he could.

By the time he returned, it was already noon, the time when the sun was gradually starting to set.

His easygoing nature when exchanging goods, coupled with helping the villagers, made him blend in with everyone despite only being there for half a day; some people had already started calling him “Little Brother”.

As for the other side…

Shen Shuibi, holding the old horse, was huddled against the wall.

She looked like someone with social anxiety.

Perhaps this was what a rabbit was like.

They stayed there until Li Qi finished his afternoon work and returned with his back basket.

“What’s going on, what’s going on! Why are you huddled up like this?” Li Qi said to the two of them, carrying the large back basket.

“You’re finally back!” The always nervous Shen Shuibi quickly rushed out and grabbed Li Qi’s sleeve: “Are the things exchanged? Then let’s go!”

“Yes, the things are exchanged, but why are you in such a hurry to leave?” Li Qi was very curious.

Social anxiety shouldn’t be this bad, right?

“I have a premonition that something bad is going to happen!” Shen Shuibi said in a flustered voice.