Li Xinyue did not say things too directly. She believed Xie Tianhai could understand her meaning.
"Alright, I'll do as you say and come over tonight," Xie Tianhai replied in a low voice.
Li Xinyue looked at the carp she was processing and said, "Uncle Xie, I plan to roast and eat these fish later. I'll have sister-in-law send one to Lin'er to nourish her body."
Xie Tianhai had just seen Li Xinyue catching fish and had already instructed his two sons to follow her example and go down to the river to catch a couple of fish to nourish their grandson.
Who knew the two sons were useless beyond belief? After making a fuss for half a day, they caught nothing.
Since Li Xinyue said she would send a fish to Xie Lin, it was like bringing fuel to Xie Tianhai in snowy weather.
He lowered his status to thank Li Xinyue profusely.
At the same time, Xie Tianhai had already decided that he would let the matter go, regardless of whether the Xie family's exile was related to Qin Yichen.
Anyway, the Xie family had already been exiled. Their family was still in-laws with the Qin family. And now they had received such a great favour from Li Xinyue, so continuing to resent and blame would be futile.
It would be better for the two families to get along well. To safely arrive in the northwest, even if they could only live on thin rice gruel in the future, it was good as long as they were alive.
The Qin family women were usually waited on by servants at home and were unfamiliar with handling fish.
However, they had already recognised the reality. If they wanted to avoid starvation in the future, the best way was to work with their hands to produce food and clothing.
So everyone gathered around Li Xinyue to learn from her and help process the carp.
Although their movements were less skilled than those of Li Xinyue, it was still good to have help.
Soon, everyone worked together to process the fish cleanly.
Li Xinyue found some evenly thick tree branches to string all the carp, then gathered some large rocks to build a makeshift barbecue grill.
"Sisters-in-law, please go gather some firewood."
Although she felt terrible for the Qin family women, she didn't want them to continue being useless rice worms who never lifted a finger. After all, the road ahead was still long, and they needed to gain more survival skills.
The women went to gather firewood while Li Xinyue went to borrow matches from the officers.
The officers knew they would get a share of the grilled fish the Qin family was making, so they not only did not make things difficult for her but also took the initiative to give Li Xinyue some salt.
Li Xinyue had initially planned to ask for some salt, too, and was even prepared to spend some silver to buy it from the officers.
Unexpectedly, the officers were accommodating and took the initiative to give it to her.
In ancient times, salt was unrefined, with large, somewhat black grains.
But that was no problem. As long as she had this salt for cover, she could find an opportunity to take out refined salt from her space.
One should know the small kitchen in her medical room still had quite a complete assortment of seasonings.
It was a pity she still hadn't found an excuse to take these things out.
But adding some inconspicuous seasonings was harmless.
Li Xinyue returned to the built barbecue grill and quickly started a fire, then neatly arranged the strung carp over it.
Soon, sizzling sounds emerged, and fragrance spread around.
Smelling this scent, people around continuously swallowed saliva.
The smell of grilled fish was delicious, but Li Xinyue wanted more.
She unconsciously muttered softly,
"It would be perfect if I could brush on some oil."
Unexpectedly, her words fell into Zhang Qing's ears as he passed.
Smelling the fragrance of grilled fish, Zhang Qing had long been drooling with gluttony.
Moreover, hearing Li Xinyue's meaning, the flavour would be even better if she could brush on some oil over the grilled fish.
"Miss He, did you say the grilled fish needs to be brushed with oil?"
Li Xinyue looked up and casually replied, "Yes, the taste would be much better than now if I did that."
"Wait for me." Zhang Qing threw down a sentence and hurriedly left.
Soon, he came back carrying a small jar.
"This contains rapeseed oil, which is extremely precious. Use it sparingly."
Li Xinyue had not expected the officers to be so well-equipped. They even had rapeseed oil.
If she had known earlier, she would have asked for some oil.
But it wasn't too late now that it was delivered to her.
"Don't worry, Sir, I guarantee I'll use it sparingly."
Opening the jar, Li Xinyue broke off a leafy tree branch, washed it clean in the river, and used it as a brush.
Sure enough, after brushing rapeseed oil on the carp, the aroma that spread became even more fragrant.
Li Xinyue also secretly took some thirteen-spice powder and refined salt from her space and sprinkled it over them. With this, the first outdoor grilled fish meal in ancient times was complete.
This time, Li Xinyue grilled a total of ten fish.
It was assumed she would first give the fish to the officers to curry favour with them.
Unexpectedly, Li Xinyue did not do that at all.
Instead, she selected the biggest one and handed it to Old Lady Mo.
Old Lady Qin hesitated momentarily and deliberately looked at the officers again.
Li Xinyue naturally understood her mother-in-law's meaning. She just wanted Li Xinyue to share the grilled fish with those officers.
To put Old Lady Mo's heart at ease to eat the fish, she gave the other party a reassuring look.
Then, she also distributed one fish each to her eight sisters-in-law.
One was left. She looked at Qin Yichen, still lying limply on the wooden cart, and then at the salivating Qin Hanyue. In the end, she chose to give it to Qin Hanyue.
Seeing her actions, the officers instantly became unhappy.
Especially Zhang Qing. He had hurriedly brought rapeseed oil to her, but in the end, there was no share for him.
"Miss He, is this how you were taught to conduct yourself since you were young?"
Li Xinyue looked up, answering evenly,
"What's wrong with how I conduct myself?
Since I was little, my father has taught me that elders should get them first when nice things come along. I gave it to my mother-in-law first and my eight sisters-in-law first. They are all older than me, so it's not improper for me to give to them first.
My younger sister-in-law is younger, so I should care for her more. Sir, tell me, where did I do wrong?"
Zhang Qing was left speechless, unable to retort.
Indeed, there was no issue...
Zhou Laoba, on the other hand, was patient. Seeing Zhang Qing's impatience, he nudged him, hinting for him to keep calm.
After all, it was reasonable for someone not to want to give you their things.
They could find an opportunity to make things difficult for the Qin family later.
Zhang Qing struggled to suppress the anger in his heart as he sat there glaring at Li Xinyue.
Peng Wang, upon seeing all this, actually found it quite amusing.
In all his years working as an escort officer for exiled prisoners, this was still the first time he had met someone unafraid of them.
Moreover, the other party could always reason things out, leaving others unable to refute.
Thinking of this, he looked again at Qin Yichen lying beside him.
"Your wife is becoming more and more extraordinary."
Now, aside from describing Li Xinyue as extraordinary, Peng Wang could hardly find other words.
Qin Yichen turned his head and feigned weakness, "She just has a sharp tongue."
"Oh... don't be modest. I say your wife is extraordinary, and she is."
How could she not be extraordinary?
Not only could she heal illnesses, but she could also catch fish from the river, and her tongue was so smooth.
Anyway, Peng Wang was now convinced. It was just a pity that Li Xinyue was a woman.
Otherwise, with her capabilities, she could become a fantastic figure.