One year brought a great drought, the next year floods, and then, in a blink, a plague.
The Xu family fled from the north to the south, and then from the south back to the north.
Before...
In fact, Xu Ning didn't think enough.
Xu Ning thought she could leave after having a full lunch, but the enthusiastic Qiu Tingting and her parents kept her chatting for the whole afternoon, and only sent her back to the inn after she had eaten a full dinner.
Lying in bed, Xu Ning rubbed her stomach helplessly several times. The treasure chest told Xu Ning that the Xu family also prepared New Year gifts for her.
Xu Ning was not surprised to hear the news, but she still got up happily and sat on the quilt to open the gifts prepared for her by the Xu family.
The first thing she opened was the one prepared for her by Old Lady Xu. It was a cloak with fine stitching made of white rabbit fur. There was a circle of red fur around the hat, which looked very beautiful.
Xu Ning thought that taking a photo in the snow would definitely be a great success.
Old Man Xu prepared a hand warmer for her. The outside was a round ball woven with bamboo strips. The small stove inside could hold charcoal. The outer round ball had a lid with a snap, through which charcoal could be put in.
Xu Ning tried it out and found that no matter how she rolled the ball, the charcoal inside would not spill out. It was very magical. Xu Ning casually put the charcoal-filled ball hand warmer into the quilt, and soon the quilt became warm.
"Grandpa is so awesome." Xu Ning praised Old Man Xu while opening the gift that Xu Dad had prepared for her.
The gift Xu Da gave her was a red leather whip. The inside was made of animal tendons and was very tough. Xu Ning tried to swing it and could hear the sound of breaking wind.
Xu Ning also liked this gift very much. Then she opened the gift Zhang gave her. It was a red scarf that was the same red as the one on her cloak.
It is also made of rabbit fur. In addition to the scarf, there is also a pair of rabbit fur boots, also made of red. Both the outside and the inside are fluffy, which looks good and keeps warm.
Xu Ning also felt warm in his heart.
Then Xu Ning opened the gift Xu Yuan had prepared for her. It was a hairpin containing a hidden weapon. It was red and shaped like a pear blossom branch, and it matched the cloak very well.
Finally, Xu Ning opened the gifts from the two brothers Xu An and Xu Feng. Their gifts were together. Xu An made a vest for Xu Ning. The stitching was not rough and it was obvious that he had sewn it carefully.
The surface of the vest is also made of white rabbit skin. The vest is very long and can completely cover Xu Ning's knees when worn, leaving only the red rabbit skin boots exposed.
Xu Feng made a pair of wrist guards and knee pads for Xu Ning, also made of rabbit skin. The wrist guards and knee pads were also very long, almost covering Xu Ning's hands and feet.
Xu Ning tried it on and found that he didn't feel restricted and could still move around easily.
Xu Ning took off his knee and wrist pads, and when he checked, he found that the gifts given by brothers Xu An and Xu Feng were not as simple as they seemed, and there was something else inside.
This was discovered by Xu Ning after careful study. Xu Ning did not recognize the materials inside the vest and wristband, but she tried to cut it with a knife and found that it could not be cut at all.
There are also several small compartments inside the vest and wristbands, which contain silver bills, some commonly used pills, and the blades that Xu An had just developed.
Xu Ning then searched inside the cloak's scarf again and found that there was no special material used by the Xu An brothers, but there were gold and silver threads hidden in the compartments and corners inside.
Xu Ning's eyes felt a little hot. Finally, he sniffed his sore nose and lay on the warm quilt.
The next day, Xu Ning specially put on the gifts sent by the Xu family and took a walk around the Cidu Town with Qiu Tingting. He also asked a drone to take a few photos, printed them out, and sent them back to the Xu family.
Qiu Tingting praised Xu Ning's outfit all day long. After receiving the photos, the Xu family gathered together and praised Xu Ning's good looks.
"Wow, grandma, do you think my second sister looks like the legendary female knight?" In the photo, Xu Ning has a high ponytail, a cloak sewn by Old Lady Xu, a scarf knitted by Zhang, a vest made by Xu An and red wool boots made by Zhang, wrist guards and knee pads made by Xu Feng on her hands and feet, a red leather whip in one hand, a hand warmer in the other, and a red pear blossom-shaped hairpin on her head.
She stood in the snow and smiled brightly at a little girl of about the same age.
"Mom, who is this little girl?" Xu Da asked curiously.
The Xu family's gaze shifted from Xu Ning to Qiu Tingting. Old Mrs. Xu glanced at the equally clever little girl and said to Shadaer unhappily, "You ask me, who should I ask?"
"Hey, aren't I curious?"
"Mom, Ningning's letter should have written that this little girl should be a friend she met in Cidu Town." Xu Yuan's words brought everyone back to their senses from the photo. Only then did they remember that what Xu Ning had sent was also Xu Ning's letter.
Xu Ning's letter said she would be leaving Cidu Town in two days, but she didn't say where she would be going next. However, she told the Xu family that the porcelain in Cidu Town was very good, and asked them to tell Qi Canglan to go and buy some porcelain.
In addition, Xu Ning also introduced Qiu Tingting's family to the Xu family, and asked Qi Canglan to contact Qiu Ming directly after arriving in Cidu Town.
Time passed quickly. Chu Er played with Qiu Tingting for a day. Xu Ning told Qiu Ming that someone would come to buy porcelain later, and then he talked about leaving.
Xu Ning left Cidu Town on the morning of the third day of junior high school. Qiu Tingting and her father Qiu Ming were very reluctant to see her off for three miles. In the end, Xu Ning used her Qinggong skills to successfully persuade her parents to give up and continue to send her off.
"Xu Ning, please don't forget me! Be sure to come back to see me when you are free! I will miss you! If you are not free, I can also come to see you! If you remember, write to me~" Qiu Tingting waved her hands vigorously, and she shouted at Xu Ning's back, crying out her tears.
Seeing his daughter crying and sobbing, Qiu Ming's reluctance to part with her was somewhat diluted. He said to his silly daughter with a smile, "Okay, why are you still crying? It's not like you're parting forever. There's still a lot of time left, and there are plenty of opportunities to see each other again."
"Huh~ I... burp... It's so rare to have a friend... who likes me so much. I... sniff, I can't bear to leave. Is that not okay?!" Qiu Tingting glared at her father. Qiu Ming lowered his head and saw that the girl's snot was frozen.
"Okay, okay, Daddy isn't laughing at you. Daddy is just telling you not to be so sad."
"Who said... I'm sad? I'm... sad, Xu Ning... hiccup, why, hiccup! Don't you want to... hiccup, take me with you... wow" She also wanted to travel the world as carefree as Xu Ning...
Xu Ning didn't know that Qiu Tingting had been radiant since she learned yesterday about her plan to travel around the entire Daqing Dynasty alone.
Later, when Xu Ning came back from his travels, Qiu Tingting followed him to Haicheng to find him. She listened attentively to Xu Ning's stories about his travels for several days and nights. Finally, she left Xu's house and returned to her own home to pack her bags. She also went on a secret trip with great interest.
Later, Qiu Tingting was accidentally deceived, and then encountered the "hero saves the beauty" plot that was only written in the opera script, and she really traveled around the entire Daqing Dynasty with that person.