Seeing the green rice, Yu Xiaocao suddenly became excited and made rice balls. The rice is stuffed with dried meat, crispy milk melon, ham and some nuts, and the taste is particularly rich in the mouth. Su Ran, who ate like this for the first time, accidentally got full, and walked around with graceful steps to digest.
Zhu Junyang also felt that this way of eating was novel and delicious. In the future, when marching and fighting, there is another kind of dry food that can be brought, that is, packaged rice balls, with vegetables and rice, as long as it is warmed up a little, it can fill the stomach, and the taste is not bad!
After walking for another day, they came to a small village at the foot of the Mangmang Mountain. To say it is small is an understatement. There are only seven or eight families in the village, all of whom are hunters. Because every winter, ferocious beasts often come down the mountain to attack the village. Therefore, every time the first snow falls, people in the village will migrate to a town more than a hundred miles away. It was not until the warm spring of the following year that he returned to the village to cultivate the little land.
Spring is the time for beasts to reproduce. There is an unwritten rule among hunters, that is, no hunting in spring, and all animals with cubs, young and mutilated animals must be released. Autumn is the busiest season for hunters. The prey in this season are plump, with plump fur and relatively high value. And at this time, the prey are active, which is more convenient for hunting.
When Yu Xiaocao and his group came to this dilapidated small village, there were only old, weak, women and children left in the village, and all the adult men in the family went hunting in the mountains. Although he only dared to move around the mountains, the mountains and forests stretched for hundreds of miles, and he couldn't return for ten days and half a month.
The old people, women and children in the village, when they saw a group of tall horses, well-dressed and well-dressed, they looked like ordinary people, and even the guards and maids were not dressed like ordinary people, so they only dared to look at them from a distance. And hold back their curious children and grandchildren, so as not to offend the nobles and cause disaster.
However, although the faces of old people, women and children showed curiosity, they were not timid. After all, it is the home of the tough hunters, the old and the weak, women and children can hold hunting forks, knives and guns.
Among the group, Yu Xiaocao seemed the most harmless, so she volunteered to discuss with the villagers about staying overnight. She walked towards the house with the largest yard and the most rooms in the village, with a bright and warm smile on her delicate face, and said in harmony to the old and the young standing at the door: "Hi, grandpa! We passed by here, it was getting late, and we wanted to spend the night in Guicun. Take a look, can it be convenient for you?"
The old man's beard and hair are all white, but his body is very strong, his waist is straight, and his recovery is not bad. A scar on his forehead should be a wound from hunting when he was young, but it doesn't look ferocious. The little boy next to him looked about ten years old, and looked quite strong, holding a hunting knife in his hand, with a somewhat guarded expression on his face.
The old man put away the scrutiny in his eyes, looked at the little girl with clear and pure eyes and a sincere and bright smile, and replied with a kind smile: "Are you here to hunt? To tell you the truth, every year our village welcomes There are a few waves of nobles like you who have finally gone hunting in the mountains. If the distinguished guests do not dislike the shabby home of the old man, please stay at home!"
"Grandpa!" The little boy didn't seem to welcome them very much, with a bit of resistance in his expression. It's no wonder that not everyone is reasonable. In their opinion, the better the family situation, the worse the tempers of the young masters and ladies. The group who stayed at their house last time were picky all day long, and said that the food they serve for guests is pig food! !
These people in front of them seem to be much more difficult to serve than the last batch! Especially the one wearing black clothes and riding a black horse, with the expression on his face as if someone owed him hundreds of taels of silver, his eyes were like knives, and he didn't dare to look at him! The one in white looked smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, and he didn't want to be annoying. A group of six people, only the young lady in front of me, looked a little closer. Grandpa is getting old, and mother is sick in bed. He really doesn't want to serve these people, but in the end he can't get a good word!
The old man looked down at his little grandson and stroked his head. These few nobles came towards his house as soon as they entered the village. If they refused for no reason, wouldn't they offend people for nothing? Besides, from the perspective of him who has lived most of his life, this group of people are not the kind of bullying, arrogant and rude people.
"Guests, please come inside!" He ordered to his little grandson again, "Take this little brother and lead the horses to the rear barn, feed them with water and fodder..."
"Don't trouble this little brother, you tell us the general direction, we brought the fodder ourselves!" Yu Xiaocao thanked the old man for his kindness with the purpose of not causing trouble to others as much as possible.
The little boy pursed his mouth and muttered in a low voice: "What's the trouble? You bring your own fodder, and you can also bring your own water?"
"Little Tiger!" The old man reprimanded his grandson, and smiled apologetically at Xiaocao and the others. Seeing that the other party showed no sign of anger, it confirmed his initial guess.
Jin Xiaohu puffed his cheeks and reluctantly led them to the barn. Their house is similar to the house in Xiaocaodongshan Village before it was built. It is a big courtyard house with five main rooms and three side rooms on each side. The barn is on the left hand side as soon as you enter the door, and there is a strong howling donkey tied to it.
As soon as a group of six horses were brought into the barn, the originally empty shed seemed crowded. The howling donkey was squeezed into a corner by Feng Feng and Xiao Hong, timidly looking at the strange "guests".
Hou Xiaoliang took the fodder and fed the horses. Xiaohong also acted like a baby to Xiaocao, begging for some sugar cubes. Seeing Kuang Feng watching helplessly, it kindly distributed one to it. As for the yelling donkey who yelled at the leftover forage it ate, Xiaohong showed a "hillies" expression: how about it, haven't you eaten it? It has grown tired of eating these forages since it was a child!
Leaving Hou Xiaoliang to take care of the difficult horses, Yu Xiaocao and Zhu Junyang were welcomed into the yard. The old man pointed to his yard and introduced them one by one. Although his house has a large yard and many rooms, there are also many people in the family. The old man had nine sons and grandsons in total, and all of them went into the mountain except for the little tiger who stayed with him. Except for the third daughter-in-law who was bedridden, all the daughters-in-law went to the wasteland at the foot of the mountain to break corn.
Last year, his eldest son queued up for a day and a night at the grain store in the town, and finally bought corn seeds that were said to be able to produce thousands of catties. After the summer harvest this year, they were planted according to the sowing manual. Although the newly reclaimed land is still relatively barren, the corn that grows does not seem to have much impact.
This kind of crop is really not too picky. The one acre of corn is growing well, and the corn cobs are big and full. Although he doesn't have much farming experience, he can predict that the yield will not be low! No, the harvest season has just arrived. Although the sons have entered the mountains, the daughter-in-law is a good hand at work. They went out to pick corn together at dawn.
Other families in the village also stared at their acre of land with a wait-and-see attitude. It is said that if their family grows well, they will go to the town to queue up to buy seeds next spring. In this way, a lot of money for buying food is saved, and the life of the family will be much easier.
"Ahem...Father, are there any guests? I'm going to cook..." A woman with a sallow complexion and a sickly look came out of the wing, holding her chest with one hand and coughing non-stop. Yu Xiaocao saw her face was flushed and her breathing was not smooth, guessing that she must have something wrong with her bronchus or lungs.
"Mother, you are still sick, go back to the house and lie down. They brought their maids here, and they can't cook whatever they want!" Jin Xiaohu took a step forward, mixing with women, not so strong His body supports most of his mother's weight. While helping the woman into the house, he didn't forget to turn around and give Xiaocao and the others a hard look.
The old man was busy trying to smooth things over for his grandson, saying: "My daughter-in-law suffered some wind and cold a few days ago. She didn't listen to the persuasion and didn't go to the doctor. She just boiled some herbs at home and burned all night last night. Xiaohu was worried about his mother. Guests, don't take offense!"
Yu Xiaocao guessed that she must have respiratory and lung problems caused by fever, so she took out a bottle of pills for respiratory infections caused by wind-cold, handed it over and said, "This is the cough medicine produced by Tongrentang, it can treat coughs caused by wind-cold, Fever has a very good curative effect. If you let your aunt take a pill before every meal, it will be cured within three days."
Xiaocao still has some confidence in the medicines that she personally concocts.
"Tong Ren Tang's pills?" Old man Jin waved his hands again and again, not daring to take them. When he went to Fucheng to sell furs, he walked to the gate of Tongrentang and heard people queuing there say that Tongrentang's pills and syrup cost hundreds of taels, and they were often out of stock. Every time a new batch is put on the shelves, they are sold out quickly. Both the pills and the syrup have a shelf life of more than one year, but anyone who has a family will keep some at home, so they are prepared!
Don't look at this small bottle, it costs hundreds of taels of silver. The whole family is good at hunting. Rare fur, selling it for a hundred taels of silver would be a stroke of luck. These several hundred taels of pills are enough for their family to keep for many years!
"Meeting is fate, so you can accept it as long as you want. Just treat it as the cost of staying overnight for the few of us! Auntie's illness can't be delayed any longer. Be careful that a minor illness can turn into a serious illness." Yu Xiaocao stuffed the pill into the old man He asked again, "Grandpa, where do we live at night? Let's put down our luggage first, and then make some dinner. To tell you the truth, I've been living and sleeping in the open these days, and I've long wanted to have a comfortable meal. "
Old man Jin saw that she was sincerely sending her off, so he stopped pushing, and handed the pills to his impatient little grandson. As soon as Jin Xiaohu got it, he didn't even bother to thank him, he rushed into the room quickly, fetched warm water for his mother to drink.