When Han Yi thought of Yun Xiao, he pictured a gentle and refined man with slightly swollen lips from the spiciness, and the pained look on his face when he killed someone. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
Nangong Yuan glanced at the smiling shopkeeper Tong as he walked in, his eyes full of disdain. But the next moment, he returned to his bewildered expression and pulled the two little ones to the side to practice horse stance.
Han Yiyi intended to have Manager Tong stay for dinner at his home, and naturally wanted to promote his pickled peppers. However, since it was still early, he decided to go to the back mountain to get some chestnuts first.
She remembered that there were a few wild chestnut trees on the back mountain. In her previous life, she loved eating roasted chestnuts. Just thinking about the sweet, sticky, and fragrant taste made Han Yiyi's mouth water.
Turning her head to look at the three people practicing horse stance in the courtyard, and then at Manager Tong in front of her, Han Yiyi decided that she couldn't leave on her own and leave the two children and a person who wasn't quite right in the head at home with Manager Tong, nor could she ask Manager Tong to come with her. So Han Yiyi decided to drag everyone along.
The autumn scenery in the mountains, though lacking the vibrancy of spring, possesses a unique charm. Seeing the scene before her, Han Yiyi couldn't help but think of a poem she had learned in school that read, "The mountains are bright and the waters are clear, frost comes at night, and several trees stand out in deep red amidst pale yellow."
It's chestnut season now. For people in the mountains, chestnuts are a filling food, but they're not easy to prepare. Not only are their spiky shells difficult to remove, but cooking them also requires a lot of firewood.
Therefore, apart from families who are truly short of food, they would pick up some to eat, and also families with children would take some back as snacks for their children.
When the group arrived at the chestnut tree, sure enough, there was only one slender person carrying a basket, picking through the chestnuts.
The person had their head slightly lowered, making it impossible to see their face. However, they were terribly thin and wore very thin clothes. It was already October, and Han Yiyi was already wearing a padded coat, but the person was still wearing summer clothes.
Hearing the footsteps of the group, the man finally looked up at Han Yiyi and the others, but after just one glance, he quickly lowered his head again.
However, this one glance was enough for Han Yi to see who the person opposite him was, so he greeted them.
"Yan'er, you've come to pick chestnuts too..."
This person is Old Lady Huang's daughter-in-law, and also the same Wang Yan'er whom Han Yiyi advised against thinking about finding a short sword when she saw her on the mountain.
When Wang Yan'er heard Han Yiyi's question, she simply lowered her head and gave a soft "hmm," then picked up her basket and quickly walked towards another chestnut tree.
Han Yi frowned slightly upon seeing this, but seeing that he didn't seem to want to talk to her, she wisely refrained from approaching.
There weren't many left on the ground, so Han Yiyi picked up a bamboo stick and started tapping the chestnut tree. But she was too weak, and even though she was sweating profusely, not many chestnuts fell down.
Han Yi sighed, thinking to herself, "It seems that getting a roasted chestnut isn't so easy after all." Just as she raised the bamboo to strike again, Nangong Yuan grabbed the bamboo in her hand.
"This looks fun, I want to try it..."
Han Yi looked up at him. Well, although he wasn't very bright, he was at least tall and strong, so she handed him the bamboo.
Sure enough, as soon as Nangong Yuan swung his bamboo pole down, chestnuts began to fall in droves, making Han Yiyi's eyes widen in surprise.
Some people were in charge of knocking, while the rest of the people just picked them up. In no more than 15 minutes, they had filled three baskets.
Seeing that it was about time, Han Yiyi told Nangong Yuan to stop, picked up the basket, and the group headed down the mountain.
However, on the way down the mountain, Zi Hui tripped over a protruding rock. Fortunately, Han Yiyi pulled him up in time, otherwise he would have rolled down the mountain. Although they hadn't climbed very high, falling down would have inevitably resulted in injuries and scrapes.
So Han Yiyi immediately hugged him in her arms, and Nangong Yuan, seeing this, also subconsciously hugged Zicheng next to him in his arms.
With Han Yiyi and Nangong Yuan each carrying a child, it was inappropriate to carry a basket as well. Therefore, their gazes involuntarily turned to Manager Tong behind them.
Shopkeeper Tong: "How about I carry this basket...?"
Upon hearing what Manager Tong said, Han Yiyi quickly replied.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Manager Tong. Once these roasted chestnuts are ready, you must have a few more..."
Shopkeeper Tong: ...
In fact, with Nangong Yuan's skills, it wouldn't be difficult for him to carry the child in one hand and lift all three baskets down the mountain with the other. However, for some reason, he was carrying Zicheng with both hands and seemed to be struggling. Then he looked at Shopkeeper Tong with a blank expression.
Seeing the basket that Manager Tong had picked up from the ground, the two of them each carried a child and went down the mountain first...
As the shopkeeper watched the two turn and leave, and then looked at the baskets they were carrying, he thought to himself, "I knew it. There's no such thing as a free lunch with Han Yiyi." Helpless, he could only sigh and resign himself to following behind them.
As soon as they came down the mountain, they saw a group of people gathered together, making a fuss. Han Yi didn't want to pay any attention to them, but through the crowd, he saw a familiar figure being pulled by the hair and wrestled by an old woman.
And the old woman was cursing.
"Shameless little whore, you little slut! I only asked you to go and pick some chestnuts, and you ran off to slack off and only came back now. I'll beat you to death, you lazy bum..."
At this moment, Wang Yan'er's face was covered with red finger marks, and even her neck was scratched and bleeding.
Upon seeing this, Han Yiyi's expression darkened, and she quickly walked over.
Just as she was about to rush in to help, someone grabbed her sleeve. Han Yi turned her head and saw that the person who grabbed her was none other than Aunt Zhang.
Aunt Zhang shook her head slightly and said softly, "You can help her this time, but you can't help her next time. On the contrary, if you help her this time, she will only be beaten even more severely when she goes back."
Han Yi watched as Huang's wife beat her, but she just lowered her eyes and let her beating and scolding her, looking lifeless. A surge of anger rose in his heart for no reason. He thought to himself, "I'll help her if I can," and hurriedly stepped forward again.
Before he could even get close to the two of them, he heard Old Lady Huang suddenly kneel down on the ground with a thud, and then start howling in a shrill voice while hugging her legs.
"Ah, my leg..."
Han Yiyi was startled by Old Lady Huang's sudden reaction. When she came to her senses, she saw that Old Lady Huang was bleeding from her calf.
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