After an unknown amount of time, Yan Liqiang woke up. As soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a pile of firewood, with thick dry straw on his body and under his body. There was a spider web on the corner of the wall right in front of him, and the walls on all four sides were covered with weeds. It seemed to be a woodshed where firewood was stored.
There was still a feeling of dizziness in his head. Last night was the first time that Yan Liqiang got drunk and lost his composure since he was a child. Yan Liqiang remembered that he seemed to be going to the Deer Park last night, but because he was drunk, he ended up falling asleep in a pavilion next to the official road. He didn't expect to find himself here after waking up.
It seems that a kind-hearted person brought me here from the pavilion beside the official road!
Yan Liqiang checked his whole body and found that he was intact, including the things he had on him, and had not been touched. Thinking about how he was drunk and unconscious last night, Yan Liqiang was secretly a little scared. Fortunately, he did not encounter any enemies or bad guys. If he did, in a situation like last night, wouldn't any gangster be able to take his life
"This is the first time, and the last time. I will never get drunk again!" Muttering to himself, Yan Liqiang made up his mind, lifted the dried straw covering himself, stood up, moved his hands and feet slightly, and stood in the woodshed. After taking a deep breath, he performed the "Three Talents Qi Movement" of Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing...
Powerful energy and spiritual energy from heaven and earth gathered from all directions like water from a floodgate, and then poured into Yan Liqiang's head. Under the cleansing of that powerful energy and spiritual energy from heaven and earth, the remaining drunkenness in Yan Liqiang's body was instantly washed away and dissipated without a trace. Agility and strength returned to Yan Liqiang again.
Yan Liqiang had just finished practicing the "Three Talents Qi Movement" when he heard footsteps outside the door, so he stopped practicing.
"Squeak..." The door of the woodshed was pushed open, and an old man dressed in green, with gray hair and a hunched back walked in, holding a bowl of hot porridge in his hand. Seeing that Yan Liqiang had woken up, the old man laughed, "Young man, are you awake?"
"Did you bring me here last night?"
"Yes, my son and I came home late last night, and we happened to see you sleeping in a roadside pavilion, so we brought you back!" The old man said this, shaking his head and sighing, "You young people just don't know how to take care of your bodies. Don't you know that you can't get drunk on a snowy day? It snowed so heavily last night, and it was so cold outside. You didn't feel cold after drinking too much, but as long as you sleep outside like that, your body will slowly become completely stiff, and you will never wake up again. Every year when there is a heavy snow in the Imperial Capital, don't there always freeze to death a few drunkards who can't go home..."
With Yan Liqiang's level of cultivation, he would not freeze to death even if he slept naked in the snow all night while drunk. However, he also knew that the old man was telling the truth and was kind-hearted. Ordinary people, or people with low levels of cultivation, would never get up again if they slept outside in the snow after getting drunk.
"Thank you for saving me!" Yan Liqiang bowed to the old man, "Where is this place?"
"This is Xiaoqi Village..." the old man said with a smile on his face, and handed the bowl in his hand over, "Come, drink this bowl of porridge, it will warm your stomach and make you energetic..."
Yan Liqiang thanked him and took the bowl of porridge. He took a sip and felt that the porridge was a little sweet. He stirred it with a spoon and found that there was a layer of brown sugar crumbs underneath the porridge. Judging from the old man's clothes, he was just an ordinary family, but brown sugar and other things were more expensive "luxury goods" than oil and salt for these ordinary people...
"Well, it's good to eat something sweet after drinking too much. I happen to have some brown sugar at home. The brown sugar has been at home for a long time, and the taste has changed a bit, but the sweetness is still there. Don't dislike it, young man..." The old man also saw that Yan Liqiang had discovered the brown sugar in the bowl of porridge, so he spoke.
"Father-in-law, what are you saying? I haven't even expressed my gratitude to you enough, how could I despise you!" Yan Liqiang smiled and drank the porridge in big gulps.
"Haha..." The old man laughed, looked at Yan Liqiang who was eating porridge kindly, and chatted with Yan Liqiang, "I think you don't look like a young man who has experienced hardship. You should have a good family background. I'm afraid you are not used to it..."
"How did you figure that out, old man?"
"Look, you don't even have calluses on your hands, your skin is so soft and tender, it's obvious that you don't work. You were drunk last night, and the jar of wine next to you is the aged strong liquor from Qianjialou, the most famous and expensive in Imperial Capital. A jar of wine would cost at least ten taels of silver, how could ordinary people afford it? How could you drink like you did, treating wine like water? I tell you, there is no hurdle in this world that cannot be overcome. I am not afraid of an old man like me, but you young people must not give up on yourselves..."
Yan Liqiang used to have calluses on his hands, a thick layer of them, left over from practicing archery and spearmanship. However, after he sucked the essence of the thousand-year-old leech, the calluses on his hands fell off, and his whole body became delicate and tender, with no more calluses on his hands. So he looked like a young man who never worked. As for the jar of wine, it was really bought by Yan Liqiang for eighteen taels of silver.
In the blink of an eye, Yan Liqiang finished all the porridge in his hand. He put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and did not explain anything. Instead, he smiled and clasped his fists towards his father-in-law, "Father-in-law, you really have a sharp eye. Thank you for bringing me back last night. I will definitely repay you..."
"Oh, what's the point of reporting or not? I'm old enough to still be able to tell the good from the bad. You have a righteous look between your eyebrows, so you're definitely not a bad person. I just did a little favor, so don't take it to heart. By the way, from your accent, you should be from another place..."
"Well, my hometown is in Ganzhou..."
"Ganzhou, that's so far away. How come you come to the capital city in the middle of winter?" the old man asked curiously.
"Something happened at home, I have to come!"
"Oh, so that's how it is!" The old man nodded, and then advised earnestly, "Young man, leave Imperial City as soon as you finish your business. You should have heard about the news of the Imperial City's catastrophe. Now Imperial City is not a place to stay for a long time. Almost everyone who can leave has left,..."
"Oh, I've heard that news too. Thanks for reminding me, by the way, why don't you leave..."
"It's not that easy to leave!" The old man sighed with a sad face. "Our family has lived in this village for generations. It's not that easy for a family like us to leave with our family. When we first heard that a stone turtle was dug out from the Ling'an River, our family was skeptical. As the news spread, we were preparing to sell our old house and the little land we had to scrape together some money to leave. But how could we sell anything at this time? We've been delayed so much that we can't leave now. The government officials will come one day. They walk around the village beating gongs at night, saying that the stone turtle's words were fabricated by bad people to confuse the people, and tell everyone not to believe them or panic. If you want to leave, you have to go to the government to get a pass. The village headman and the head of the village are always around the village all day, afraid that you will run away. For example, Liu Laosi's family in our village was originally planning to run away, but they were discovered by the headman and the whole family was arrested and paraded through the village. The family's land and house were confiscated by the government. It was a miserable situation. I heard that he is still in prison. Who dares to leave casually? How can he get away with his family..."
"I also heard about this when I came to Imperial Capital this time. You need a pass to go out, and there are also newspapers saying that what the stone turtle said is false..."
"I'm also wondering, if what Shigui said is false, then why don't those wealthy families and dignitaries in the Imperial Capital stay in the Imperial Capital? They packed up their bedding and money and ran away, leaving in a clean manner, but told us ordinary people that there will be no natural disasters or man-made disasters in the Imperial Capital next year, and everything will be fine, so that we ordinary people can stay here with peace of mind. How can people believe those dignitaries who say one thing and do another behind the scenes? If there really won't be any trouble in the Imperial Capital and they believe what they say, why don't they stay and run away instead..." the old man said angrily.
"You see clearly, old man!"
"Why don't I understand? My family used to deliver pear blossom charcoal to the wealthy families in the city. Last year, my son and I had to deliver to dozens of wealthy families every day at this time, and we made a little money by working hard all winter. This year, those wealthy families have left, and there are only a few people left. We can't deliver pear blossom charcoal to one out of ten families, so we have to drive the car along the street to sell it at a reduced price. Last night, my son and I sold a car of charcoal in the Imperial Capital City for a whole day, and there was only half a car of charcoal left. If I hadn't come back so late, I'm afraid I wouldn't have met you..."
"By the way, I don't know your last name, father-in-law, and how many people are there in your family?"
"Haha, my surname is Hu, and there are only four people in my family, me, my son, my daughter-in-law, and a grandson..."
…
After chatting with the old man for a while and getting the information he wanted, Yan Liqiang left. Mr. Hu's family lived in the east of Xiaoqi Village. There were three earthen houses, a pigsty and a woodshed in their home. They brought Yan Liqiang here last night, but there was no place for him to live at home, so they had to put him in the woodshed. Early this morning, Mr. Hu's son and his wife continued to drive to the city to sell charcoal. Only Mr. Hu and his grandson, who had just turned eight, stayed at home.
When Yan Liqiang left, Mr. Hu took his grandson to send Yan Liqiang out of Xiaoqi Village and showed him the way. Yan Liqiang secretly stuffed a silver note of five hundred taels of silver into his grandson's pocket, and then said goodbye to Mr. Hu and left.
…
It had snowed all night and it hadn't stopped yet. The snow on the road was already more than half a foot thick. Yan Liqiang left Xiaoqi Village and walked along the official road. In less than an hour, he arrived at the gate of Xijiao Deer Park.
Several soldiers in cotton-padded clothes were standing guard at the entrance of the Deer Garden. Because it was cold, the soldiers were stamping their feet and blowing on their hands. They were freezing. When they saw Yan Liqiang walking straight towards the entrance of the Deer Garden, the soldiers turned their heads and looked at this side with some vigilance. When Yan Liqiang came closer, one of the officers saw Yan Liqiang's face at once. The expression on his face changed instantly, and then he screamed with joy.
"Ah, Principal Yan... Master Yan is back..."
(End of this chapter)