The little boy retracted his head, and his not-so-clean face turned slightly red, because he was shy. But after a while, he stretched his head out again, and Yang Haiyan was still looking at him and smiling at him, so he smiled shyly as well.
Yang Haiyan said: "Come here, I'll give you some snacks."
Although the little boy was a little greedy, he did not go over directly, but hid at the door for a long time. He was young and fearless, and finally he staggered out of the threshold.
The little boy was not very old, about three or four years old, with a chubby face. His eyes were dark and bright. His hair was not black, but a color between brown and brown. It was probably like this for all children. Maybe his hair would turn black when he was a little older.
He came in front of Yang Hai, then stared at him blankly, drooling.
Yang Haiyan took out a handkerchief and wiped his saliva. Noticing that his hands were a little dirty, she said gently, "Go wash your hands and I'll give you some cookies." As she spoke, she broke the cookies into pieces and put the small white pieces into his mouth. "Do you like it? Go wash your hands first."
The little boy may have never eaten such delicious food before. His eyes lit up and he said in a baby voice, "It's delicious." Then he went to wash his hands with his short legs.
There are usually water tanks in farmyards, where children can fetch water and wash their hands by themselves.
After washing his hands, the little boy immediately trotted to Yang Haiyan's side. Because he was young, his steps were not steady when he ran, and Yang Haiyan was worried that he would fall. But in fact, her worry was unnecessary, and the little boy arrived safely by his side.
Because he was young, his hands were not clean when he washed them himself, so Yang Haiyan used the towel she had used to wipe his mouth to clean his hands. She was not a very patient person, but she was patient with people. If it was a seven or eight-year-old tiger child, she might not have patience, but a three or four-year-old child is at the cutest age in life, very, very cute. So she was very patient with children of this age.
Yang Haiyan put the bag in front of him: "Take whatever you want to eat."
The little boy looked at the biscuits, then at the fried dough twist, and finally picked up a piece of the biscuit he had just eaten, because he knew that biscuits were delicious. He took a small bite, and when the crisp sound came out, he smiled, and then continued to eat it in small bites, like a little squirrel eating pine nuts, chirping.
The village chief's daughter-in-law came back with a basket of vegetables. Seeing her son eating at the nobleman's place, she was startled and said, "What are you doing, you little tiger boy? Don't disturb the nobleman."
The child looked at his mother and gave her a smile.
Yang Haiyan laughed and said, "It's okay. I'm just bored. The child is very cute. Let him accompany me for a while."
The village chief's daughter-in-law was not able to say anything after hearing what the noble said. Her father-in-law selected fifty families for the 1,000-point meal, and each family was given 20 points. One meal could earn 20 cents, and three meals could earn 60 cents. So everyone cherished it very much, fearing that if one meal was not well prepared, the next two meals would be gone. The village chief's daughter-in-law wanted to make a few more points for herself, but she also knew that her father-in-law, as the village chief, could not be so partial, so he could only select fifty families.
While feeding the little boy, Yang Haiyan asked, "Sister-in-law, how long does it take to get to the county town from your place?"
The village chief's daughter-in-law said: "I have never been to the county town, only to the town. On weekdays, it takes half an hour to walk to the town." That is one hour.
After hearing this, Yang Haiyan said to Meng Ping, "Meng Ping, tell Kun Shi to go to the town to buy 50 kilograms of meat, and add a piece of meat to everyone's cabbage tonight." They had been walking for three days. Except for adding bones to the porridge on the first night, there was no oil or water. It was tiring to travel every day. If there was no oil or water, even if the food was okay every day, the body would not be able to hold on. Yang Haiyan arranged an egg for tomorrow's breakfast, which was also intended to nourish everyone, but if everyone could eat a piece of meat in the evening, they would definitely be happier. An extra piece of meat would cost a few more cents, and I think no one would care.
Meng Ping said: "Yes."
Meng Ping left the village chief's house and met Kunshi at the village gate: "Captain, my wife said to go to the town to buy 50 kilograms of meat, and add a piece of meat to everyone's dishes tonight."
Hearing that there would be meat to eat in the evening, not only Kunshi felt his mouth dry, but the remaining soldiers and women also swallowed their saliva. In the past, when they were even poorer, it was normal to not have meat for a whole year. But after having certain conditions, it was really hard to get used to not having meat for three days.
No matter if they were private guards or servants, anyone in the Qin family had a meal of meat more or less every day. So after not eating meat for three days, everyone seemed to be really uncomfortable when they thought about it.
Fifty households, each with twenty cents of food, were cooked very quickly. After it was cooked, everyone kept it warm in the pot.
Kunshi bought the meat and took it directly to the village chief's house. Yang Haiyan asked the village chief's daughter-in-law to cut each catty of meat into pieces, and cut one catty into twenty pieces. Although there are only twenty pieces, one catty in ancient times weighed sixteen taels, which is equivalent to one and a half catties now. One and a half catties of meat can be cut into twenty pieces, and each piece is really not small.
After the meat was cut into pieces, the village head's daughter-in-law was asked to make braised pork. After the braised pork was done, the village head's daughter-in-law was drooling over the fragrant soup. Even Yang Haiyan, who was outside the yard, couldn't help but give herself a thumbs up. She felt that she was really smart in buying meat.
"Yan Yan." Qin Fang led the team to stop at a certain distance from the village. If they got too close, they would disturb the villagers. Then, he came to find Yang Haiyan. He saw his wife playing with a little boy in the yard, and he watched for a long time. Qin Fang felt that his wife must want to have a child. Seeing her smile so gently and sweetly to the little boy, he couldn't help but be touched. After they settled down in Yunxiang County, he would definitely work harder to let her give birth to a child for him.
Yang Haiyan raised her head when she heard Qin Fang's voice. Qin Fang stood at the gate of the yard looking at her, and she walked towards him: "Are you tired?" Although he was just the leader, he also had pressure. If those people were not settled in one day, Qin Fang's pressure would not be reduced. Besides, they had only walked one-fifth of the journey, and accidents could happen at any time.
Qin Fang grabbed her hand and held it in his palm. Her hand was smooth and white, which was very different from his black and rough hands. The strong contrast was once his deep inferiority complex. But her persistence and companionship were also the deepest motivation in his heart.
Qin Fang shook her head: "Not tired. Kun Shi told me about today's events. I think it's very good. We can do the same in the future." It was much easier than asking the servants to cook for her.
Yang Haiyan nodded: "I thought so at first, but we have a lot of food stored at home, so I ate it first. After all, so much food is a burden, and it is really tiring to carry it over."
When it was time for dinner, the village chief organized each family to carry sweet potato rice and fried cabbage to the team's resting place, a total of fifty households, and then more than a thousand people lined up to receive their dinner.
It’s worth mentioning that with 20 people in each household receiving the subsidy, the speed is quite fast.
A barbarian said, "Let's eat meat today. The meat is so delicious that I can't bear to eat it." As he spoke, he licked it with his tongue. The braised pork was not only fragrant, but also a little sweet, and it was full of soup, which seeped into the cabbage and rice. It was also delicious when made into a mixed pot rice.
"There's really meat, that's great."
"Meat. It's meat."
"… "
Looking at the person who talked about meat with a surprised look and voice, Yang Haiyan also felt very happy. Perhaps it was the joy of being recognized by others.
Compared to everyone else who only had a piece of meat, the Qin family obviously had a whole plate of meat. Although everyone was envious, they also understood. After all, their portion was only three cents, and they bought it with their own money.
After dinner, everyone started to rest, just like the previous two days.
Yang Haiyan went to find Qin Fang: "Husband, I have made an appointment with the village chief's daughter-in-law today. I will go to her house later to borrow a room and stay overnight." The main purpose is to take a shower, and someone will prepare breakfast tomorrow.
Qin Fang heard this and said, "Let Aunt Lian and Aunt Fan go with you."
Yang Haiyan nodded: "Yes, that's what I had planned."
Not only did Yang Haiyan go to the village to take a bath, but Mrs. Yang and Mrs. Lu also followed Yang Haiyan. They brought their children and also wanted to take a bath and have a good sleep.
Maybe it was because this village had a three-meal relationship with them, so some villagers came to play by the brigade after dinner.
Yang Haiyan took a nice bath at the village chief's house. The next morning, just after daybreak, she and the village chief's daughter-in-law led the villagers to deliver food to the brigade. There were still 50 households, and the people who wanted to receive food lined up in front of each household, but there were more people today than yesterday.
Following yesterday’s braised pork, everyone ate boiled eggs today and felt so happy that they wanted to cry.
Yang Haiyan said at the same time: "Listen to me, everyone. The villagers have prepared a lot of boiled eggs. If you want to buy a few boiled eggs privately, you can ask them. Boiled eggs are only one cent each."
Although boiled eggs cannot be stored for a long time, they will go bad. But if you buy them today, they will definitely not go bad tomorrow. As for whether to keep them overnight or not, no one cares when you are away from home.
Sure enough, everyone heard this, and soon, all the extra boiled eggs of the villagers were looted, and the villagers who had good business didn't want to leave the team. On weekdays, they took eggs to the town to set up stalls, and sold them for a penny. If they brought a lot of eggs, they would still have some left. But today, they just regretted that they didn't have enough eggs.
After breakfast, everyone prepared to hit the road. Lunch consisted of two steamed buns, and some also had boiled eggs.
Two days passed one after another. Early in the morning, while everyone was still having breakfast, Niu Da came to find Yang Haiyan: "Madam, I have some ideas. I don't know if I should tell you."