Premonition

Li Qi, Shen Shuibi, and Old Ma walked into the village.

There was nothing particularly special about it; it was a typical village. The entire village only had one ox, but... Li Qi suspected it wasn't an ordinary ox.

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

Just as most horses were spirit horses, oxen had their own unique qualities.

Li Qi knew his Ox-Strength Technique granted him "the strength of one ox."

In other words, an ox typically possessed immense strength of six thousand jin.

Seriously, what did six thousand jin even mean?

As a researcher, Li Qi knew that in his own world, one horsepower was equal to 75 kg, or one hundred and fifty jin. This meant a horse could drag 150 jin at a speed of one meter per second.

Therefore, this ox had 40 horsepower. A 40-horsepower tractor could be fitted with a trailer and easily pull fifteen tons of cargo.

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

This ox was, in effect, a small tank.

Upon entering the village, Li Qi set down his carrying basket and began trading with the villagers who had gathered around.

Old Ma stayed by Shen Shuibi's side. Shen Shuibi seemed a bit shy and leaned against Old Ma, trying to hide herself in a corner.

Strange... why wasn't she shy when she first met me?

Oh, right, she was scared stiff then. But the next time we met, I managed to talk my way through the first hurdle. After that, she seemed to get used to me and wasn't afraid anymore.

So, I guess I got lucky and didn't run into her when she was feeling shy.

Old Ma stayed with her. Although he was weak and old, as a Dragon Steed, ordinary people who hadn't cultivated techniques couldn't easily approach him.

Meanwhile, Li Qi went off to the side to trade.

The villagers had plenty of mountain goods and grain, but they lacked money. Typically, traveling merchants would come to the village, trade for mountain goods, take them to city shops to exchange for money, then use that money to buy goods and bring them back into the mountains.

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

"Folks, I'm not here for mountain goods. Do you have any beans? I'd like to trade for some beans and dried meat," Li Qi said to the approaching villagers.

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

"Beans? Don't you people usually want mountain goods? What do you need beans for?" a farmer's wife asked, confused.

"We're not trading for money; we want to gather some provisions for our journey!" Li Qi called out to the people around him.

"Oh, no wonder you brought a horse and a young wife. So you're not a regular merchant. Alright, I'll go get you some beans." A farmer's wife tidied up her mountain goods and went back to get beans.

"We slaughtered a pig this year and have some cured meat. But how will we trade? Don't try to cheat me," another farmer's wife asked suspiciously, watching Li Qi carefully.

"Don't worry, I won't let you lose out! We'll calculate based on money! I have this much money, you have that much money. We'll count the money and then trade!" Li Qi shouted.

"Then why are you trading for beans?" another villager asked.

"The horse is sick and needs to eat well," Li Qi explained.

"My goodness, the horse eats better than people! How extravagant!" another villager exclaimed in surprise, seeing that Li Qi's carrying basket was full of rice cakes.

It was clear that he himself ate rice cakes, yet he was feeding beans to his horse.

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

"Can't be helped. If the horse eats them, it can run faster. If I eat them, I'll just fart!" Li Qi quipped.

The surrounding villagers burst into laughter. After a round of conversation, they seemed to have become quite friendly with Li Qi.

Thus, he chatted with the villagers while exchanging goods, trading away surplus salt, farming tools, cloth, spatulas, and some medicine for headaches and fevers.

He traded for several bags of dried beans, about fifty to sixty jin, as well as some yams and sweet potatoes. These were to make up for the lack of beans.

There were also some mountain goods.

A farmer's wife had a sick family member and was desperate for medicine, but she didn't have beans and couldn't get meat. She pleaded with Li Qi to trade for her mountain goods, so Li Qi's heart softened, and he traded for a bag of shiitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms.

The person was grateful and gave Li Qi much more, so Li Qi considered it a profit, even if he couldn't use them immediately.

But... I can eat them on the road, right? It's like improving my own diet, being good to myself.

He couldn't identify mountain goods himself, so he usually didn't dare to pick them randomly. What if he ate something poisonous and no one was responsible?

Who knew if that thing just looked like a mushroom?

It's better to be honest and not take small advantages that lead to big losses.

There was also some dried meat. This was the main part of the trade; these few pieces of dried meat were exchanged for two of Li Qi's hoes and a small bottle of coarse salt.

Indeed, meat was expensive.

After finishing the trades, the contents of Li Qi's carrying basket had been completely replaced.

He didn't rest, however, and started helping the villagers move stones.

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

It seemed to be stones from the fields that were hindering the clearing of land. But these stones were incredibly heavy and large, firmly embedded in the ground. Even the ox couldn't budge them.

A group of villagers were pulling with hemp ropes, prying with wooden poles from behind, but the stones wouldn't move an inch.

Seeing this, Li Qi simply went up to direct.

"You don't pull heavy objects like this," he said, walking up. "Come here, put it on your shoulders, learn my stance. This way you can exert force properly!"

Li Qi was an experienced boat tracker; he could pull large vessels, so what was a mere stone to him?

With his and the ox's help, along with the chanting of the trackers to rally the farmers to pull together, they managed to drag the stone out of the ground.

This kind of stone was a good thing. Not only did it free up more land once removed, but it could also be broken down to make millstones or other items, making it very useful material.

Li Qi said his goodbyes and lent a hand wherever he could along the way.

By the time he returned, it was already noon, the sun gradually beginning its descent.

Thanks to his easygoing nature when exchanging goods and his help with the villagers' tasks, even though he'd only been there half a day, he had blended in with everyone else. Some people had already started calling him "little brother."

As for the other side...

Shen Shuibi, holding Old Ma's reins, was huddled by the wall.

She looked like someone with social anxiety.

Perhaps this was just her nature, like a rabbit.

They waited there until Li Qi finished his work in the afternoon and returned with his carrying basket.

"What are you two doing, huddled up like that?" Li Qi asked, carrying the large basket towards them.

"You're finally back!" Shen Shuibi, who had been nervously waiting, rushed out and grabbed Li Qi's sleeve. "Did you finish exchanging the goods? Then let's go!"

"En, I finished exchanging the goods, but why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Li Qi asked, puzzled.

It couldn't be social anxiety to this extent, could it?

"I have a premonition that something bad is about to happen!" Shen Shuibi said, flustered.