Chapter 93 A Visit to Express Gratitude
After washing up, the four people, who had originally planned to rent a car and return to the village early in the morning, ended up staying in the county town for almost an hour.
They went to a nearby noodle shop and had a hot, fragrant, and hearty brunch.
The shopkeeper had almost sold out of soy milk and fried dough sticks, but the four of them bought them all. In addition to these two items, they also ordered six brown sugar pancakes and twenty meat buns.
The four of them ate all the soy milk, fried dough sticks, and brown sugar pancakes, while the twenty meat buns were meant to be taken back to Wang Xiaozhi's family.
After eating and drinking their fill, Hao Yu and the others boarded the hired horse-drawn carriage and headed back to Mingfu Village with a large amount of stuff.
To their surprise, before they even got home, the victims and their families who came to thank them had already "occupied" their house.
They did not tell the victims their names and addresses, but when taking their statements, the officials from the county government routinely asked for everyone's names and addresses each time.
When the officials asked, how could Xie Wanniang and the other three dare not answer?
With them saying this, those who wanted to thank them now had an easy way to obtain their names and addresses.
Before Xie Wanniang and the others even got home, families eager to express their gratitude had already rushed to Mingfu Village with generous gifts.
Thirty or forty people rushed over, all claiming they were there to thank Xie Wanniang and the others for saving their lives. Not only were the villagers stunned, but even Wang Xiaozhi and her husband, who were responsible for looking after the house, were dumbfounded.
The young couple busied themselves finding tea, pastries, candies, and other items to serve their guests, while also explaining to everyone, "They went to the county town to see the lantern festival. They said they would be back today, but they haven't arrived home yet."
There wasn't enough room for so many people in the main room, so Wang Xiaozhi requisitioned Jiang Yuan and Xiao Yang's rooms.
Fortunately, Chen Lizheng, who had rushed over to help after hearing about the incident, his second son and daughter-in-law who lived next door, as well as Chen Zhao's parents and brothers, were all helping Wang Xiaozhi and the others entertain the guests.
When Xie Wanniang and the others returned to the village, villagers immediately told them that many people had come to the village one after another to express their gratitude for the strange event that saved their lives.
The four had received advance notice, and when they saw the sudden influx of thirty or forty people pouring out of the house, they remained relatively calm.
They greeted each other in a chaotic manner, and then passively accepted the sincere thanks from each household.
The first to approach were the two teenagers and their family members. Judging from their clothes yesterday, it was clear that they were the wealthiest of all the victims.
As expected, one of their fathers was a wealthy scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, and the other was a famous local gentry who, despite only holding the title of Xiucai (a lower-level scholar), possessed a vast ancestral fortune due to his family's three generations of only sons.
The gifts from both families were so generous that Xie Wanniang and her family felt embarrassed to accept them.
Despite their repeated refusals, the two families insisted on giving them several thank-you gift boxes.
After delivering the gifts, the other party did not linger, saying, "If you need anything in the future, feel free to come over. If you don't need anything, don't forget to visit often." The two families then took their leave with their servants.
As soon as they left, Wang Yuzhi and Zhao Yueniang gathered around with their respective families.
One family owned a security escort agency, and the other owned a butcher shop. Although they were not as well-off as the previous two families, they were still considered wealthy compared to other families.
They also gave generous thank-you gifts, which, although not as valuable as the previous two gifts, showed just as much care and thoughtfulness.
Wang Yuzhi and Zhao Yueniang even pulled Xie Wanniang aside, insisting on becoming her sworn sisters.
Hearing them say that, the other rescued girls were very tempted, but because of various concerns, they didn't dare to come over and say, "Count me in too."
Xie Wanniang was being held on either side of her arms by Wang Yuzhi and Zhao Yueniang, and she didn't notice the other little girls standing next to their parents, who were looking conflicted and hesitant.
She patted the two girls who were clinging to her like koalas, "Okay, okay, let's be best friends and visit each other often."
Zhao Yueniang gave a small cheer, "Then it's settled. You have to come and play with me and Sister Wang often from now on."
Xie Wanniang smiled, "I will definitely go when I have time. You can also come and visit me when you have time. I will build a new house after the ice melts, probably at the end of February or the beginning of March. I will move from Uncle Hao's house to the one next door. You can come and play at my house then."
She paused for a moment, then smiled at the other girls who were looking at her expectantly and said, "If you have time, you can come to Mingfu Village to visit me. Of course, you can't come out on your own, or you might run into bad people."
The girls' eyes sparkled as they turned to look at their elders.
Upon seeing this, their parents quickly came over to thank Xie Wanniang and the others, and presented them with a carefully prepared gift.
These families weren't well-off, and the gifts they gave couldn't compare to those of the previous four families, but Xie Wanniang could tell that they had tried their best to offer the best they could.
Xie Wanniang and the others accepted the items with both hands with great care, and then handed them one by one to Wang Xiaozhi and the others, asking them to take them to the storeroom for the time being.
Seeing that the four of them treated their family the same way they had treated the previous four families, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and felt even more grateful to Xie Wanniang and the others.
After everyone had thanked her and given her gifts, Xie Wanniang immediately suggested that they stay for dinner, but they all refused to stay no matter what.
They came up with a reason that Xie Wanniang couldn't refuse: "We need to get back before dark."
These people were different from the two families who had already left. Those two families had come with carriages and servants, but these people were going back on foot.
Seeing that they were determined to leave, Xie Wanniang, Hao Yu, and Jiang Yuan had no choice but to do what they could to provide them with some food, water, and transportation.
Jiang Yuan called over Chen Zhao and the others, and they quickly unloaded the things they had brought back from the carriage. Then he gave the coachman two handfuls of copper coins and asked him to help take the ten people who planned to walk back to Tang County.
As for the remaining thirteen people, Jiang Yuan planned to hire two oxcarts in the village to send them back.
While he was busy solving transportation problems for these people, Xie Wanniang and Hao Yu were also busy.
Xie Wanniang quickly gathered two packets of walnut shortbread, two packets of fried sesame leaves, a large bag of roasted peanuts, and a large bag of dried chicken, and stuffed them onto the carriage without saying a word.
Hao Yu filled bamboo tubes with warm water for them. There weren't many bamboo tubes in the house, so it was impossible for each person to have one; each family could only have one.
Fortunately, these people had just drunk the tea and brown sugar egg water that Wang Xiaozhi and the others had prepared for them; otherwise, a bamboo tube of warm water would not have been enough for a family of three or four to share.
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