Chapter 63 The person was rescued, but Lin…

The man was rescued, but Lin Dama fell into a trap dug by a hunter and his calf was pierced by a bamboo splinter. When he was carried back, a large part of his pants was soaked with blood. He was probably unconscious due to excessive blood loss and being terrified, and he was mumbling that he was cold.

His wife followed beside him, covering him with a thick cotton-padded coat, and muttered a few words: "This cotton-padded coat is so thick, how can you be cold?"

Zhu Mingyue watched helplessly as they carried the person to town. She twitched her lips, guessing that if they had found the body any later, it would have been a stiff corpse. No wonder it was cold.

The child was lucky enough not to fall into the trap. It is said that his father told him to go down the mountain to find someone to help, but what could such a young child do? He could easily fall down if he ran too fast, not to mention that the mountain forest was full of dangers and there was no road. The child ran around in the mountains for a long time and finally tripped over a lurking tree root and rolled down to the middle of the mountain.

Er Ya was the first to find him. When she found him, his eyes were still wide open. Apart from a few bruises on his body, he had no other injuries, but he was obviously not in a good state. He seemed to be scared out of his wits and was in a daze. He did not respond when others called his name. Only when asked why he went up the mountain with his father did he respond and struggle with his limbs to eat meat.

When asked where his father was, he stopped talking and started howling. His voice was sharp and piercing. He would bite the hand of anyone who tried to cover his mouth and wouldn't let go. No one could do anything about him and they were afraid that the noise would attract wild beasts from the mountains. In the end, the village chief took out a palm-sized piece of meat from his pocket and finally managed to shut him up.

Watching the child eat with such gusto despite his seemingly carefree antics, Li Zhengyang glanced at his father. These pancakes were their lunch from yesterday at the shop; the three of them had made ten in total, all with fresh meat bought that morning. The pancakes were substantial, bursting with meaty flavor with every bite. Zhu Mingyue, lacking appetite, ate only one, then packed two more to take back as provisions for Xie Pei. He and He An each ate two of the remaining pancakes, not wanting to eat any more. He An said he wanted to take one back for his mother to try, and he also thought of taking two back for his parents. He certainly didn't lack for food while living with Zhu Mingyue, but his parents certainly did.

So, she brought the pancake back. Her mother saw that the meat inside was very firm and sighed that Zhu Mingyue was too kind-hearted. She couldn't bear to eat it all, so she shared half with her husband that night, and as usual, she put the remaining one in her husband's pocket.

If his mother knew that the pancake ended up in someone else's mouth instead of her husband's, she would definitely regret it and wish she could replace the meat pancake with a hard, choking flatbread that she made herself.

The village chief felt his son's gaze and thought to himself, "He mustn't tell his mother. Just tell him that the two of them got hungry on the mountain and ate it together."

He tried to cover it up for his father, but he couldn't! Now the child had finished eating the pancake and was hungry again after a long time of fussing. He had his eye on the village chief and was desperately pulling at him, yelling that he wanted more meat pancakes.

The village chief was entangled and couldn't get away. He was under the death stare of his wife, who had rushed over after hearing the news, but he couldn't do anything to the child. He was so anxious that sweat beaded on his forehead.

Li Zhengyang was carrying Lin Damaizi and had no energy left to save his father.

Zhu Mingyue found it somewhat amusing to see the chaos outside the door. She went back inside, broke off half of Xie Pei's meat pie, and brought it over, barely managing to rescue the village chief from the children's clutches. The village chief gave her a grateful look.

Zhu Mingyue looked at the child, who was staring blankly as he mechanically ate the meat pie, and felt a faint pity in her heart: Eat more, silly child. Both of your parents have gone to town and forgotten about such a big child. The child is so frightened that he is in a daze and no one cares about him.

He didn't intend to offer any advice, after all, his family wasn't well-liked in the village, and no one would believe him anyway. Even if they did believe him, what difference would it make? In ancient times, especially among common people, this kind of shock was generally considered to be due to the loss of one of the three souls or six spirits. There were no scientific treatments, and even if the family performed a soul-summoning ritual, the effect would be almost zero.

Hopefully, the child will recover on his own.

Er Ya deserves a lot of credit for successfully finding the person this time.

Not only did they find the child, but they also led everyone through many dangerous areas and traps. Finally, during the rescue of the unconscious Lin Dama, they woke him up and tied him with a rope so that everyone could pull the rope to rescue him.

Zhu Mingyue touched the bird's head, which had a little blood on it, wiped the blood clean with a damp cloth, and rewarded it with a large bowl of chopped chicken. Seeing that it was eating without even raising its head, it was clear that it had exhausted too much energy and was hungry again.

He then went to the kitchen to serve Xie Pei a bowl of taro porridge, peeled two eggs, and handed it to her, saying, "Eat this, and then go take a nap."

Xie Pei nodded, quickly finished his meal, and then looked at the person in front of him and said, "You go to sleep too." The dark circles under Zhu Mingyue's eyes were too obvious; she probably had been foolishly waiting for him at home all night without sleeping.

Zhu Mingyue nodded haphazardly. He was indeed extremely tired. He hadn't slept since yesterday morning and felt like he was going to die suddenly if he didn't go to sleep soon. He didn't want to die again at such a young age.

He slept exceptionally soundly, not particularly sweetly, but most of his fatigue had dissipated. Zhu Mingyue lay on the bed, wrapped tightly in the blanket, feeling limp and unwilling to get up. Outside the window, it was already dark; it seemed he had woken up after late afternoon.

He felt a little disappointed. If only he could sleep until the next day, but unfortunately there were no "ifs." The porridge he drank in the morning wasn't enough, and he was already starving, with a symphony playing in his stomach.

He got up and changed his clothes in one go. When he opened the door, he smelled a faint aroma of food. Li Zhengyang was squatting in the kitchen talking quietly with Er Ya, while Xie Pei silently started the fire and cooked.

Hearing the noise, the two looked over at the same time. Li Zhengyang said, "You're finally awake."

"I'm so sleepy," Zhu Mingyue rubbed her eyes, a little envious. "You guys have so much energy. You didn't sleep a wink last night, and you only need a few hours of sleep."

Li Zhengyang waved his hand: "Why do I need to sleep for so long? If I sleep too much, people will call me a lazy bum."

Lazy Zhu Mingyue: ...

Li Zhengyang and Er Ya bonded over the time. After exchanging a few words with Zhu Mingyue, he prepared to leave. He had come to deliver meat and vegetables to the Xie family. Before he went to town, his mother pulled him aside and told him to buy half a jin of meat. After he bought the meat, his mother stewed it in a pot with cabbage leaves, filled a large bowl, and told him to deliver it to the Xie family.

"Auntie, you're too kind," Zhu Mingyue said, wanting to give him a return gift as he was about to leave.

The Xie family is living a comfortable life now, so they can't just accept any return gift. Sure enough, Li Zhengyang saw Zhu Mingyue pull out half a young chicken. He hurriedly walked out, shouting as he went, "Don't give it to me! If I dare to take it back, my mother will beat me to death. Besides, Lin Dama's kid is now clinging to our family. He doesn't respond to anyone else's calls, but his eyes light up as soon as he hears the word 'meat.' My mother can't do anything with him. She's given him meat broth with rice, but he's still not satisfied. We're on guard against him now. Giving me the chicken is no different than offering a sacrifice to a weasel."

Zhu Mingyue thought for a moment and then took the chicken back.

The village chief's meat pie really ruined things; it spoiled the child so much that he started clinging to him.

They're not a bad family; they wouldn't secretly eat something while the child watches. It's just that although the child is somewhat mentally challenged now, his character has been corrupted, and he won't change overnight. Indulging him every time isn't a solution; it will only make him more complacent. On the contrary, if you suddenly don't meet his expectations, he will hold a grudge against you without hesitation.

A few days later, Shangyang County welcomed its first snowfall of the year.

Zhu Mingyue felt the air outside the covers was exceptionally cold. He had been woken up by the cold in the middle of the night, and in his groggy state, he wrapped himself up in a ball and fell back asleep. When he got up early in the morning and opened the window to let in some fresh air, a biting chill rushed in. Before his eyes was an endless expanse of white, with snowflakes still fluttering down. Every now and then, a few flakes would be carried by the wind and land on his face, making him shiver on the spot.

Xie Pei, as always, got up much earlier than him. Steam rose from the stove, revealing freshly cooked rice, with two dishes on top: one of braised cabbage with pork cracklings and the other of stir-fried eggs with chili peppers. Both were very oily and spicy; in extremely cold weather, unlike other seasons, one needs to eat more oil and chili peppers to ward off the cold.

Xie Pei was practicing rope darts in the backyard. He could hear the booming sound of the darts cutting through the air from inside the house. He filled his bowl with rice and picked up a few pieces of vegetables, then slowly leaned against the eaves to eat and watch.

The boy was not only skilled with a knife, but also with rope darts. He was willing to study them, and after the day of the hour, he even went to town to carefully select a suitable hemp rope while he was making up for lost time.

He wielded the rope, roughly two zhang long, with incredible ease, and in the blink of an eye, the iron dart shot out with the speed of a silver snake spitting its tongue. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the dart head veered in mid-air, emitting a muffled thud. Zhu Mingyue, forgetting even to eat, followed the sound and stared wide-eyed. The dart's power was immense; most of it was already embedded in the wood, yet the log remained upright, untouched by the impact. Zhu Mingyue was astonished. This meant Xie Pei's dart was incredibly fast; it struck the log before it even had time to fall.

If he hadn't been holding a bowl and chopsticks, he would have clapped and cheered.

"That's amazing! You've only been training for a few days at most."

Upon hearing this, Xie Pei stopped and pulled the rope back, using the momentum to coil it around his arm. He walked up to Zhu Mingyue without breaking a sweat, his expression very serious: "Not very good. I haven't found the right way to exert force yet. This is all I can do for now." He carefully wiped the dart in his hand, his tone slightly regretful: "It could easily split a wooden stake in two."

Zhu Mingyue was speechless.

Is that so? He, who prides himself on knowing more about rope darts, has fallen behind Xie Pei in his understanding of rope darts in just a few days.

Indeed, what you learn from books is never enough; you only gain true knowledge through practice!

He had no idea the rope dart could be that powerful. Come to think of it, Xie Pei seemed quite disappointed. What's the difference between embedding it in a stake and splitting it in two? If you replaced the stake with any human or animal resisting with their own flesh and blood, they'd probably be dead no matter the degree of impact!

Zhu Mingyue took a deep breath, expressing her utter incomprehension of Xie Pei's obsession, but still offered great praise and encouragement: "You've done very well in just a few days. I believe you can definitely do it in time."

Xie Pei nodded: "It should be soon."

Zhu Mingyue was speechless. In short, whatever the awesome person said seemed like bragging to him. If Xie Pei hadn't still looked so sincere, he would have definitely thought he deserved a beating.

No, he really deserves a beating right now. Ugh, why can't there be another martial arts prodigy like him?

He chuckled dryly, "Then you should practice some more. I'm going to town." He wasn't going to say anything more; he was going to huddle together with Li Zhengyang, that good-for-nothing who couldn't even be pleased with a bird.

Refusing Xie Pei's advice and offer to accompany her, Zhu Mingyue met up with Li Zhengyang at the village entrance.

The heavy snow buried the ground, but thankfully it wasn't too deep, and we could still manage to walk. Things were much better once we reached town; everyone was tidying up the snow in front of their doors.

The area in front of the dumpling shop was also cleaned up, and He An was seen taking out his key to open the door.

Li Zhengyang helped Zhu Mingyue forward: "You little rascal, you knew to come early and shovel the snow. Well done!"

He An looked bewildered: "It wasn't me. I just came from shopping too." He kicked the bags of vegetables and meat at his feet.

Li Zhengyang was dumbfounded. He glanced at Zhu Mingyue and then looked around: "If it's not you, then who is it? Could it be that we have a kind neighbor?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Mingyue and He An glanced at him indifferently, their eyes conveying an unspoken message: they were looking at a fool.

Li Zhengyang scratched his head, realizing that it was really not the smart thing for him to say such a thing. He had been on this street for so long, and the neighbors, seeing his business booming, firmly believed that the dumpling shop had stolen the business that originally belonged to them. At first, quite a few people secretly picked fights with him, but after that fierce battle with the thugs, many people saw that his brother, who was a minor leader in the county government, seemed to have a close relationship with the dumpling shop, so they gave up their little schemes. But the malice was still inevitable. It was already good enough if they didn't secretly spit on each other in front of their shops, let alone shovel snow for them. They were dreaming.

So here's the question: which kind-hearted citizen helped shovel the snow?

Zhu Mingyue patted his arm and reminded him, "Stop thinking about it, let's get to work."

As the weather gets colder, people in the town crave a hot meal and a bowl of hot soup, feeling warm and cozy afterward.

Her dumplings are filled with meat and noodles, and the soup is generously oiled, so naturally, she has more customers than ever before.

To be honest, Zhu Mingyue felt that the three of them were almost too busy since winter started.

He was a little better off; apart from making and cooking dumplings and counting money every day, He An and the others didn't want him to do anything else.

He An was in a terrible situation. He had to go out early to buy ingredients, greet guests, handle the cash register, clean the tables and see guests off. Although he was paid more, He An was willing to work, but he just felt something was wrong. He felt like a heartless manager who was exploiting underage laborers.

Xie Pei did mention going back to work at the shop to him, but he refused.

Firstly, Xie Pei and Er Ya used to go hunting in the mountains, earning several taels of silver each month by selling wild game and animal pelts. On lucky days, they could earn far more. By keeping Er Ya at the dumpling shop to help him, a considerable source of income was lost for the family.

Secondly, Xie Pei and Li Zhengyang have overlapping responsibilities. Li Zhengyang can do things like chopping bones, mincing meat, and transporting swill. What he lacks now is someone who can share the burden on He An.

He sighed as he watched He An's figure spinning like a top as soon as he entered the shop. It was time to find a helper for the dumpling shop.

He didn't have high expectations of people. He didn't expect them to be as meticulous and thorough as He An, just that they be less clumsy and make fewer mistakes. Seeing that little He An hadn't grown much since coming to live with him for several months, he felt really guilty.

The heavy snow stopped for a while, then started falling again at night. He An got up very early and set off to sweep the snow outside the shop while it was still dark, carrying an oil lamp. He had some doubts in his mind and thought he might be able to find out more about them.

The next day, as soon as Zhu Mingyue opened the shop, He An stopped her, raising an eyebrow: "Shopkeeper, guess what? I saw people shoveling snow this morning."

"Oh? Who is it?" Zhu Mingyue and Li Zhengyang became interested and looked at him, wanting to hear the answer from him.

He An said mysteriously, "I came to shovel snow this morning, but someone beat me to it. When I arrived, most of the area in front of the door had already been shoveled." He then pointed towards the backyard, "There were those kids. The older ones were leading the younger ones, and they were squatting on the ground, shoveling old tree bark from who-knows-where."

When those people saw him, they ran away like mice encountering a cat. I don't know what the older one said to them, but they all timidly ran back, not daring to look at him or talk to him. They silently shoveled the remaining snow before running away in a hurry.

He An watched their figures disappear into the darkness, feeling both amused and a little sad. This group of orphans, without fathers, mothers, or homes, struggled to survive in this chaotic world and even knew how to repay kindness. It was truly remarkable!

Zhu Mingyue was somewhat moved after hearing this. He had only given the children food because he felt sorry for them. Every day, he would just give them some vegetarian dumplings mixed with a couple of meat dumplings and a pot of soup. He knew that these children were not getting enough to eat and could only barely survive on this. He did not expect them to be grateful to him.

He never expected that the children would spontaneously help him shovel the snow in front of his door in this freezing weather.

Li Zhengyang: "They are all poor kids, yet they know how to be content. Every time I go to the backyard to deliver swill, even if they are not full, they will not beg me for more charity."

Zhu Mingyue's heart skipped a beat, and she pursed her lips, saying, "Let's bring them all in today since we're delivering swill."

“Okay,” Li Zhengyang’s eyes lit up, “I’ll bring them in from the backyard after we close.”

As they were talking, a new customer arrived at the shop.

"I'm freezing, shopkeeper. What kind of food do you have here?"

Li Zhengyang hurriedly went to the kitchen to start a fire to cook soup and chop filling.

He An draped the towel over his shoulder and put on the standard waiter's smile: "Please, sir. It's all written on the sign. Please feel free to order whatever you'd like."

The man glanced at the sign casually and then looked away, saying, "Oh, I've never been to school, I can't read!"

Zhu Mingyue stepped forward and patiently explained to him, "We mainly sell dumplings here, with pork and cabbage filling, pure pork filling, mutton filling, and vegetarian filling. We have all kinds of dumplings, large and small. What would you like to order?"

The man thought for a moment before speaking: "Give me a small plate of both pork and lamb fillings so I can try them first. By the way, can I order here? In this awful weather, I just want something spicy."

Zhu Mingyue paused for a moment, then asked, "Sir, are you perhaps from the south?"

"Haha, you have a good eye, shopkeeper. All along the way, they all said I came from the north because I'm tall, but only you noticed." A barely perceptible hint of wariness flashed in the man's eyes, then he laughed heartily as if nothing was wrong. "It's not particularly south, just Jizhou downstream from the Ji River. What's wrong? Does the shopkeeper know that area well?"

Zhu Mingyue smiled and shook her head: "I've only heard of it, I don't really know anything about it. A while ago, quite a few guests came from Ningjiang, and they all liked spicy food, so I remembered it."

"We have some chili oil and pickled vegetables with chopped chili peppers in the shop, they're free. I'll have someone bring them over to you later." After saying that, he walked into the kitchen with a listless look on his face, and before leaving, he gave He An a meaningful look.

He Anxin understood, brought over two dishes of spicy side dishes, and casually tried to get closer to the man.

"Why don't you try it?"

The man dipped the tip of his chopsticks in some chili oil, put it in his mouth, and savored it. He exclaimed with delight, "Really good, very flavorful!"

He An raised his eyelids: "That's good. If it's not enough, I'll bring you some more. Brother, you must have had a tough journey all the way from the south, right? There are quite a few people coming from the south."

"Well, it's alright. There are fewer people heading north this season. Even if you want to escape, it's difficult for ordinary people to move around in winter. Only those from wealthy families dare to go out. I wouldn't say I'm from a wealthy family, but I think I have some resources. When I was young, I traveled all over the country and made a few friends in Ganzhou. I came here to seek refuge."

He An's eyes darted around, and he smiled again: "So that's how it is. I noticed that many of the newcomers to Shangyang County all claimed to be from Ningjiang. To be honest, I don't have a good impression of them. The government couldn't do anything about the robberies that happened around the time of the Yin Festival. They arrested several groups of criminals, and without exception, they all claimed to be from Ningjiang."

The man's expression remained unchanged: "Oh? How did you, a mere waiter, know that?"

He An bent down and whispered in his ear: "I'm not afraid to tell you, my brothers work in the government office, I know everything."

The man scoffed, "Then your county government has made a mistake in the trial. You might as well re-interrogate the offender."

He An: "What do you mean?"

There was a hint of anger in the man's expression, but it was clear that he was holding back his anger because of the presence of this outsider.

"Hmph, in this world, even the most cunning and treacherous people dare to use their Ningjiang identity to act with impunity. Ningjiang was breached by those southern barbarians months ago. Almost every county and township near the border is gone, and the city is under their blockade and control. To put it bluntly, even rats from Ningjiang can't escape. How much ability do those people claiming to be from Ningjiang have to get out? They're just fooling uninformed people like you. Besides..."

He An tilted his head: "Huh?"

The man was a bit impatient and waved him off, saying, "It's nothing. This isn't something we ordinary folks should concern ourselves with."

He An knew this person clearly didn't want to talk to him anymore, so he wisely stepped aside.

Zhu Mingyue scooped out the cooked dumplings, drained them, and handed them to Li Zhengyang: "Take these dumplings over there. Don't worry about the kitchen for now. Help He An cover for a while."

Li Zhengyang: "Okay, okay!"

After he left, He An came up and whispered his report: "Manager, I've found out everything." He repeated what the man had said in detail, and concluded: "I feel that he is not honest and is hiding something from us."

Zhu Mingyue laughed: "Isn't it normal to keep things to yourself? In this world, who among those capable of going to Ganzhou alone is an ordinary person?"

He An nodded: "That's true."

Zhu Mingyue: "You really saw that he was angry?"

He An: "Is that even possible? I have a good eye for people."

Zhu Mingyue believed in him; He An was certainly good at reading people and understanding their moods, which was why he was able to be a good waiter.

He seemed to be deep in thought.

“That man lied the moment he walked in,” he asserted. “Our menu sign wasn’t very noticeable. You didn’t even point to it before he looked at it. Subconscious reactions don’t lie. He’s definitely not illiterate.”

Hearing Zhu Mingyue say this, He An felt enlightened: "Yes, I felt that something was wrong with him, that he was very awkward. He specifically mentioned that he was from Jizhou, so I lied to him and said that several people who had recently caused trouble in Shangyang County claimed to be from Ningjiang. His expression suddenly changed, and he became very unhappy."

Zhu Mingyue chuckled: "It's normal for him to be angry because he can't stand seeing his fellow townsmen being slandered. He's probably not from Jizhou at all, but from Ningjiang, or rather, he came from Ningjiang."

“That’s not right!” He An said, puzzled. “Why hide it? Just say it.”

Zhu Mingyue: "When I first asked him if he was from the south, he looked wary and defensive, which shows that he doesn't trust anyone and wouldn't tell you his true origins. Later, he was obviously angered by your words and was eager to clarify, so what he said later should be the truth."

He handed He An a cup of warm water and took a couple of sips to moisten his throat. "That makes it easier to explain. Ningjiang was occupied by the Southern Barbarians, but he escaped from Ningjiang at this time. We common people know everything about Ningjiang, but the government knows the inside story. He didn't want to be targeted and questioned by the government, so he kept it a secret. Knowing that you have a brother working in the government, he was even less willing to talk to you."

He An slapped his forehead in frustration and said, "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have brought up my brother."

Zhu Mingyue comforted him, "You've done very well. Whether you say it or not, he's already wary of us."

As more and more customers arrived, Li Zhengyang was already struggling to keep up, so Zhu Mingyue asked He An to return to his post and switch him to the kitchen.

To be able to escape from a heavily guarded city alone is probably not as simple as He Antong said, that he simply has "some skill".

Although this was just a minor incident, he understood that the man was no ordinary person. His infiltration of Ganzhou was definitely not to escape, but rather to carry out a greater scheme. As for the rest, he closed his eyes; that was beyond his ability to speculate.

It's uncertain when this turbulent situation will end, when the displaced people will be able to return to their homes, when the court will prepare to conscript troops to march south after the fall of Ningjiang, and whether Xie Pei will be able to escape the disaster...

After noon, the shop finally closed after seeing off its last customers.

For the first time ever, Zhu Mingyue cooked a lot of dumplings this time, and they didn't turn into a mess.

Li Zhengyang went to the backyard empty-handed, opened the back door, and sure enough, several children were huddled outside, dirty and staring expectantly at the door with their big eyes. Finally, the uncle who brought them swill came out, and they quickly got up to greet him. However, they soon realized that the uncle did not bring out swill this time, and the light in their eyes dimmed instantly. They quietly and obediently retreated to their original positions.

Li Zhengyang's heart broke at the sight. He then remembered that his family was still clinging to Lin Dama's child. The child wasn't that stupid, but he didn't treat them like outsiders and kept nagging for meat, making the whole family look terrible these past few days. His mother had gone to see Lin Dama's wife twice, but each time she just cried and played the victim, never mentioning taking the child back.

He couldn't stand it anymore and took the child back. In the blink of an eye, the child came running back on his own.

He couldn't hit him, and he was so angry that he ate half a bowl less of rice.

Compared to them, these children are simply exemplary, far superior to those raised by Lin Dama.

He stepped forward, patted one of the boys on the head, and tried to speak gently, "Our manager wants you to come in."

"Waaah!" The subordinate was so frightened by the boy who patted his head that he burst into tears and buried his head in his hands, sobbing softly.

Li Zhengyang: ...Is he that scary?

The girl in the lead, her face showing a hint of determination, asked him neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Is it because of clearing the snow? That's what we should do, no need to thank me."

“Uh,” Li Zhengyang paused for a moment before explaining, “I don’t know either, but it shouldn’t be just about this. It should be that he has something to discuss with you.”

Zhu Mingyue only told him to come and call people, but he had no idea what they were supposed to do. However, as far as he knew, it was definitely not just to thank them. If that was all, he could have just cooked more dumplings instead of going to all this trouble.

“Let’s go in,” the girl said without hesitation, believing that the older brother she had only met once up close was a good person.

He An divided the dumplings into several portions, with each plate containing more than ten dumplings, a mix of meat and vegetables.

Just as the food was served, Li Zhengyang led the child in.

Inside the house, there was a brazier specifically for heating customers. The children, who had come from the freezing cold, were instantly amazed, as if they had entered a warm spring.

The youngest child looked around curiously, while the others, who were of age to understand things, behaved politely and reservedly, neither daring to move nor look around.

Zhu Mingyue walked straight to the girl in the lead and said, "If He An hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, I wouldn't have known that you had been clearing snow from my shop for two consecutive days. Thank you."

The girl was able to remain calm and composed when facing Li Zhengyang, but now that she was facing Zhu Mingyue, she seemed more reserved and uneasy.

She tried to make herself look more presentable, saying, "We should thank the shopkeeper for saving our lives. We have no way to repay him, so we can only do what we can to help."

Zhu Mingyue noticed their predicament and, not wanting to add to their pressure, simply said, "There are some dumplings left over today; it's a waste to leave them. You can eat them!"

The girl looked at the table; each plate was half full, enough for adults with small appetites, let alone the children.

She knew this dumpling shop was thriving. While other food stalls were open until late at night, this one closed at noon without hesitation, quite arrogantly. So how could it have so much food left over?

The shopkeeper is just trying to trick them into eating because he's afraid they won't dare to!

The children were indeed very hungry. Even the most sensible children couldn't control their mouths from drooling at the sight of the delicious food, and the gurgling sound quickly filled the air.

The girl, adopting a mature demeanor, thanked them before ordering, "Eat."