After the gathering, Li Haochen spent his days aimlessly. Besides working in his spatial dimension, he didn't know what else to do. He wanted to go fishing but hadn't brought a fishing rod. He had bamboo poles, but they hadn't been used in so long that termites had eaten through them. He was too lazy to go up the mountain to find new bamboo and make one. Thus, two days passed.
On the eighth day of the lunar new year, the chopstick factory also resumed production. In the afternoon, Li Rendong and the others were loading goods for delivery. Shops had also started reopening one after another. Li Haochen was also packing his bags at home; it was time for him to return to Binhai.
Actually, there wasn't much to pack, just a few sets of clothes. However, he had many things to bring back, as the villagers were too hospitable.
Besides the dried goods given by the villagers, Li Haochen brought back quite a few sugarcane ends, both black and yellow, as well as bamboo sugarcane. Bamboo sugarcane was a good thing, excellent for making soup.
In addition to the sugarcane ends, he also brought some Chicken Herb seeds, local yellow-fleshed large papaya seeds, and Elephant Foot Yam. These could be sown and planted in early spring. They were all good things and didn't require much care after planting.
After packing the things he needed to bring, Li Haochen cleaned his home, locked the door, went to bid farewell to Li Shuren and Li Dehai, and then embarked on his journey back to Binhai.
The return journey was similar. Having experienced a truck ride once, he was much more accustomed to it this time.
By the evening of the next day, he finally returned to Binhai. The journey of over ten hours had given Li Haochen calluses on his backside.
By then, the warehouse was brightly lit. Ah Xian and the other three had been waiting at the warehouse for a long time. After exchanging New Year greetings, they began unloading the goods. The six of them unloaded the goods quickly, finishing in less than half an hour. Of course, the fact that the truck wasn't full also contributed to this.
After unloading, Li Rendong wanted to drive back, but Li Haochen stopped him. He had just driven for over ten hours; there was no way he was letting him continue.
Li Rendong agreed, saying he would rest for a night before returning. Li Haochen guessed that as soon as he left, Li Rendong would get into the truck and drive off. However, how could his little schemes escape Li Haochen's notice?
As a result, Li Haochen directly employed an open strategy, pulling them all to a food stall for a late-night snack. With their hospitality, Li Rendong had some alcohol. Heh heh, now Li Haochen was relieved. After drinking, it was best for him to stay the night before going back.
Due to drinking, Li Haochen dared not ride his electric bike. This was not Xinning, where checks were tight during the New Year. On their way to the snack stall earlier, he had already seen no less than three checkpoints.
Returning to the warehouse, he gathered all his belongings and hailed a taxi to go home.
During the New Year, everything went up in price, and taxis were no exception. They refused to use the meter, charging fifty yuan for just a few kilometers, with an attitude of "take it or leave it." If it weren't for the holiday, Li Haochen would have ignored him long ago. However, fifty yuan was fifty yuan, so be it.
Arriving at the villa entrance, the driver, seeing the magnificent villa ahead, had greedy thoughts of overcharging Li Haochen.
Unfortunately, he picked the wrong person. Li Haochen suddenly punched the back of the seat, making a loud noise. He glared fiercely at the driver, which scared the driver so much that he quickly opened the car door.
"Hmph!"
Li Haochen snorted, gathered his things, threw fifty yuan into the car, and went inside.
As soon as he entered the house, a gentle presence enveloped him. It was none other than Murong Yanran. They hadn't seen each other for a week and missed each other dearly. They were now like glue, inseparable.
"Son is back?"
Hearing Xie Baolian's call, the two reluctantly separated.
Walking in, Xie Baolian practically ran over, circled Li Haochen twice, and said with satisfaction, "Good, good, you've gained a little weight."
How could he not have gained weight! His meals were so rich three times a day, and every two days his paternal aunt would stew chicken soup for him. He had to drink it, whether he wanted to or not. While the first couple of times were quite enjoyable, drinking too much made him quite sick of it, to the point where he now flinched at the mention of chicken.
After a long journey of over ten hours, unloading goods upon arrival, and accompanying Li Rendong and the others for a late-night snack, Li Haochen was visibly exhausted, yawning continuously.
Seeing how tired he was, the two women didn't pester him further to ask about his time back home.
After a hot bath, his weariness dissipated, and drowsiness set in. He was genuinely sleepy, and as soon as he lay down on the bed, he fell into a deep sleep.
Waking up the next day, he received word from Li Rendong that he had driven back safely, which put his mind at ease.
There were many things to do today. After breakfast, Li Haochen opened the dried goods and local specialties he had brought back, packaging them into portions.
For Huang Haiyuan, Huang Haibo, Dai Changrun, and their families, and for Sister Huang from the neighborhood, of course, Gu Xiaonian and the others couldn't be forgotten.
Although not much, about two catties per family, the thought was what counted.
The afternoon was also busy. The conch shop was opening its doors to customers tomorrow, so he had to go into his spatial dimension to prepare the conchs. The progress of the coconut seedling cultivation also needed to be accelerated, along with the installation of the aquaculture nets, the farming of mussels, and Butterfly Bay, and so on.
Li Haochen spent the entire afternoon, finally preparing the amount of conch needed for a week.
After Gu Xiaonian transported the conchs back to the shop, Li Haochen went home to get a portion of the local specialties and then headed for the pier.