Chapter 16: Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog

At this moment, Luo Jinan felt that he was trapped between ice and fire, unable to advance or retreat, and he could faintly hear voices talking around him.

Xu Nian fed the processed cherry juice and sea buckthorn juice into Luo Jinan's mouth. Fortunately, he had the ability to swallow independently. As the juice was swallowed into his stomach, Luo Jinan felt like he was soaking in a hot spring, and every pore opened comfortably.

Xu Nian looked at Luo Jinan, whose brows were slowly relaxing, and the stone in his heart finally settled down.

Looking at the villagers who were still gathered around, he advised: "Mr. Mu is no longer in danger, so everyone should stop gathering here and make room for some air."

"Yes, yes, everyone should go about their business."

After everyone left, Wang and Tian pulled Xu Nian aside. Xu Nian looked at her grandmother and mother's serious expressions and felt a little puzzled.

"Grandma, Mom, what's wrong with you?"

"Big girl, how can you so carelessly take out the things that the Mountain Goddess gave you?"

"Nian'er, you are not a child anymore, how can you do anything to Changsheng?"

Xu Nian looked at her grandmother and then at her mother, and said helplessly, "Grandma, if I don't take the things out, what if Master Mu dies here?

And mother, I didn't do anything to Mr. Mu, I just simply took his temperature."

Tian opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but then she thought that this was a special situation, and she would definitely teach Nian'er some rules and etiquette after everything settled down.

Wang felt a little guilty. She was in a panic and didn't care about so many things. She glanced at her eldest daughter-in-law's face and ran away in shame.

It's not that Wang, the mother-in-law, is afraid of her daughter-in-law, but she knows very well that she, an old country woman, doesn't know as much as her eldest daughter-in-law. After all, her eldest daughter-in-law is the daughter of a scholar and has been literate since childhood.

Tian looked at the two grandparents who had already slipped away and shook her head helplessly.

A sudden rainstorm made people both happy and worried. They were happy because the drought was relieved, but they were worried because the food would easily become moldy after being exposed to the rain.

The rain lasted for two days. Fortunately, the rain stopped in time, otherwise Xu Nian would have been worried that a flood would occur after the drought.

Two things happened during this period. One was that Luo Jin'an's health had almost recovered, but he always liked to follow Xu Nian and ask questions. The other thing was that a disagreement occurred in the fleeing team.

Look, all the men in the Xu family have been called to a meeting by the village chief.

"Would you please stop following me?"

"I'm not following you. My bones are a little stiff from lying here and there. I'm moving around a bit."

"Isn't it big enough for you to move around? Why are you where I am?"

"Oh~ what a coincidence."

Xu Nian considered herself a mature adult, but at this moment she couldn't control her expression. This guy had become much friendlier since he recovered.

Luo Jinan looked at the girl with puffed cheeks and wide eyes, and his palms felt itchy. He really wanted to poke a hole in this person's shell and see what she looked like inside. It was undeniable that he was a little curious about her.

In the past two days, the Xu family has become accustomed to the quarrels between the two and no one cares about them. Especially Zheng, who heartlessly teased Tian:

"Sister-in-law, look at the two girls, they are arguing like a young couple."

"Second brother and sister~what nonsense are you talking about."

Zheng was stunned by Tian's serious tone. She was just joking, so why was her sister-in-law angry?

Tian knew that her tone was a little harsh, so she explained, "Nian'er is already twelve years old, and my second brother and his wife should not joke like this again. We must be more careful with our words and actions when we get to the northern border."

Although Zheng is sometimes stubborn, she has one good point: she is willing to listen to advice.

As soon as the sister-in-law finished speaking, the men of the Xu family came back.

Wang saw her old man looking worried and couldn't help asking, "What did the village chief say to you?"

Old Man Xu sighed, gathered his family together, and then spoke:

"As you can see, now that it has rained and the drought has eased, many people in the village no longer want to go north. You can all share your thoughts."

Xu Youliang and Xu Fugui looked at Xu Yaozu at the same time. They were used to listening to their eldest brother in everything.

Xu Yaozu said decisively: "I suggest that our family continue to move north."

After hearing his words, both Zheng and Xiao Wang's faces changed. They had people from their mother's families, and although they didn't know where their relatives were now, if they went to the northern border, they would never see them again in this life.

"I say this for a reason. Although the Zhenbei Army has defended Qingyun City, the Zhenbei King's fiefdom is in the northern border. Who can guarantee that there won't be another war? Do we have to flee again then?

Furthermore, although I have passed the imperial examination and have won the title of Juren, I don’t know how long it will take for the imperial court to select an official, let alone the current imperial court... But if we go to the Northern Frontier, it will be different. There is a shortage of literary talent in the Northern Frontier, and the King of Zhenbei has the power to appoint and dismiss officials. I believe that only there can we truly change our Xu family. "

Old Man Xu slapped his thigh and decided to continue heading north.

"I know that going north now would be unfair to my second and third daughters-in-law, but wasn't it that our family tightened our belts to support our eldest son's education so that we could change our family's situation and let the younger generations not suffer the same hardships we went through?"

"Dad, I will listen to you and my elder brother."

Xu Youliang is a kind-hearted man. He does not understand those big principles. He only knows that it is right to listen to his eldest brother. Moreover, his two sons are not in good health and will have to rely on this uncle in the future.

"I also agree to continue northward."

Xu Fugui was not a stubborn person. He believed that the rarer the object, the more valuable it was, let alone a man who was a great man. According to his eldest brother, only if they went to the northern border could his eldest brother appear noble and their family could live a good life.

Just like that, the Xu family decided to continue their journey northwards, and Xu Nian, who was listening, could not help but realize more deeply that in ancient times, if you marry a chicken, you follow the chicken; if you marry a dog, you follow the dog.

Xu Nian walked silently out of the cave, looking at the clouds floating in the sky, feeling depressed.

"Why? Don't you want to go to the Northern Frontier?"

Xu Nian shook her head as she looked at Luo Jinan who had come to her side at some point. She didn't want to say something that seemed inexplicable and would only make people laugh.

"I wonder what the northern border is like?"

Luo Jinan didn't care whether Xu Nian really thought so or not. He raised his head and looked at the sky above with a smile on his face.

“Broad, strong, free”

Xu Nian couldn't help but be lost in thought as he looked at the young man beside him, because the sleeves of Xu Yaozu's long gown looked even more flowing in his eyes, and the strand of hair falling on his forehead also added a sense of unruliness.

Especially when he talked about the Northern Frontier, his eyes no longer seemed so calm. Perhaps that was the most important place in his heart.

He succeeded in arousing her curiosity.

“Freedom is good!”

"When I return to Northern Xinjiang, I'll take you to see the scenery there."

"Your business has expanded to northern Xinjiang."

“It’s not impossible.”

"Your real name is Mu Changsheng?"

"Changsheng is my name, you can call me Changsheng~brother."

"Okay, Mr. Mu."

“…”