Chapter 98: Villagers from Yakou Village Picking Hazelnuts on the Hillside
Zheng looked at Xu Nian with gratitude. Nian'er was still very thoughtful. She was only concerned with reminiscing.
Xu Nian also saw that the Zheng family was in a difficult situation, and he came here in a hurry without buying any gifts, so he just ordered the guards to buy some food.
Xu Nian's estimation was correct. Judging from the noise coming from outside, it should be the guards returning.
The Zheng family followed Xu Nian out and saw several guards carrying food down from the car.
Zheng Donglai and Zheng Chunlai quickly ran over to help.
"How much money will it cost to buy so much food?" Zheng's mother felt distressed, especially when she saw such a large piece of meat in her youngest son's hand, she cried out "ouch" continuously.
The two daughters-in-law of the Zheng family were very happy to see so much food coming into the yard. You know, they only have a bowl of porridge for each meal now.
The Zheng family's children also happily circled around their uncle.
Zheng turned around, covered her mouth and cried silently, knowing that her family had suffered over the past year.
Such a big commotion in the Zheng family courtyard naturally attracted the attention of the neighbors, especially since there were several horse-drawn carriages parked outside the courtyard. In Yakou Village, not even a cow could be seen, let alone a horse.
"Sister-in-law Zheng, are there guests coming to your house?"
When Zheng's mother saw that it was her neighbor Sun who was talking, she smiled and pulled Zheng over, explaining to the villagers who were watching the excitement, "This is my little daughter. I originally thought that we would never see each other again in this lifetime, but I never thought that my daughter would come to visit us."
The villagers tried to comfort them, saying that this was a happy event. Everyone in the village knew the Zheng family's origins very well. They knew that the eldest son had died on the way to escape, and the young daughter had been separated from her parents' family when she fled with her husband's family.
Everyone turned their attention to the young lady of the Zheng family. When they saw her attire, they realized she didn't look like a village woman at all. She looked even more noble than the rich ladies in the town.
At this time, Yanfu came over and handed the cloth bag in her hand to Zheng.
"Second Madam, this is given to you by the eldest lady."
Zheng looked down and found that the bag was filled with candies and cakes. She smiled knowingly.
"Fellow villagers, I heard my parents say that they were able to settle down here thanks to your kindness. I don't have much to thank you for. Please share the candies and cakes here with everyone and give them to the elderly and children at home."
The people around were happy to hear this. Even though each family was only given a handful of grain at the beginning, everyone regarded food as their life. Now, the words of the girl from the Zheng family warmed everyone's hearts.
The villagers also knew that the Zheng family was going to entertain distinguished guests, so they all took the things they were given back home with foresight.
Xu Nian watched with admiration in her heart. It is said that poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people, but she did not see that entirely.
Mother Zheng called Xiniu and said, "Take your sister Nian'er to her room to rest. I will go and prepare the meal."
Xiniu is already eleven years old this year, but her dark and thin figure looks only eight or nine years old. She hesitated to move forward when she saw her fairy-like sister standing in the yard.
Xu Nian said softly, "I'm not tired yet, why don't you take me around?"
Seeing the fairy sister's gentle smile, Xiniu nodded quickly. Accompanying them were a pair of brothers from the second room, ten-year-old Defu and eight-year-old Debao.
After Zheng's mother arranged for Xu Nian, she took her two daughters-in-law to the kitchen. Zheng followed closely behind, but was stopped by Zheng's mother.
"Go to the main room and talk to your father and your brothers. Your sisters-in-law and I will come over here soon. Besides, I will be heartbroken if your dress gets dirty."
Wang and Xu also tried to persuade her, so Zheng had no choice but to go back to the main room.
When Zheng's mother arrived at the kitchen and took a look, she sighed, "How much money does such good rice cost? Look, why did they buy so much flour?" Zheng's mother muttered as she sorted things out.
The guards not only bought food and meat, but also bought a full supply of salt, sugar and other seasonings.
Wang saw her mother-in-law cutting a large piece of fat meat with a knife, and she hurriedly said, "Mom, I heard from my younger brother that many rich families don't like to eat this kind of fat meat. How about we make the leaner one?"
Xu also echoed, "I have heard my younger brother say that too. At that time, I even laughed at him for not knowing how to enjoy himself."
Mother Zheng put away the fat meat and said, "Thanks to you for reminding me, I still thought the county magistrate's daughter was our clay doll. Now that I think about it, it feels like a dream. Not only did I find your sister-in-law, she also became a noble lady. I just heard that girl call your sister-in-law the second lady, and I didn't dare to say anything."
"Haha..." Not to mention the mother-in-law, even they could have imagined that the dark and fat sister-in-law before not only has fair skin, but also has an extraordinary aura.
The mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and their two children sighed while trying to make the meal as sumptuous as possible.
Xu Nian and his group left the yard. Xiniu looked at Xu Nian timidly and asked softly, "Sister Nian'er, where do you want to go?" Xiniu was puzzled. Yakou Village was very poor, so how could it be worth it for the fairy sister to go there?
In fact, when Xu Nian came here, he noticed the cliff not far away. I think this is the origin of the name of Yakou Village.
"Why don't we go there and take a look?"
When they saw that Xu Nian was pointing at the cliff on the hill, they all ran towards there in unison. However, Yan Fu took a few quick steps to eliminate the danger in advance, leaving Yan Rong to guard Xu Nian.
The small hill was not far away, and the group reached the hill in less than a cup of tea. Just as Xu Nian was about to take a step forward to take a look at the cliff, his eyes were attracted by some bushes.
When several people saw that she suddenly changed direction, they did not ask any further questions. Only Xiniu felt distressed when she saw that the tree branch had scratched Xu Nian's sleeve.
Xu Nian was delighted when he came closer and took a look. He didn't expect that they were really hazelnuts. The hazelnuts on the top were already ripe, and the ones at the bottom had also changed color. It seemed that they would reach maturity in another half a month.
"Yanrong, can you climb trees?"
"Miss, do you want this fruit?" Yanrong stood up after she finished speaking, and stepped on the tree trunk and stood on the branch. Not only Xu Nian was amazed by Yanrong's move, but even Xiniu opened her mouth wide, especially the two boys Defu and Debao, whose eyes were shining.
When Yanrong came back with a bag full of hazelnuts in her clothes, she was met with several pairs of admiring gazes.
"Yanrong, I didn't expect you to be able to do Qinggong?"
"Qinggong?" Yanrong didn't understand what the young lady meant by Qinggong. She just used the tree trunks to jump higher.
At this time Yanfu came over in a hurry. She waited at the cliff for a long time but no one came, so she came back to look for someone.
"I'm sorry, Yanfu. I stopped when I saw the hazelnut tree. I guess you must have been waiting impatiently."
Yanfu hastily waved her hands in greeting, "Yanfu dare not." How could she accept the young lady's apology? She turned to ask, "Young lady, do you still want this fruit?"
"No need, these are enough." Xu Nian realized that it was inconvenient to go to the cliff with the hazelnuts, so he called a few people and ran back to Zheng's house the same way they came.