On the other side of the mountains, a group of people were moving forward. They were villagers from Huojia Village.
"Jinqian, everyone is tired. Do you want to stop and rest?" The head of Huojia Village came over and said to a fifteen-year-old boy.
The young man was tall and slender, with a handsome face, clear eyebrows, a high nose bridge, red lips, white teeth and a pair of bright eyes.
He is Huo Jinqian, the third son of Huo Zhiyuan, the old man from Huojia Village. He just passed the imperial examination and became a scholar last year. He is the only scholar in Huojia Village.
He is not only knowledgeable, but also has independent insights. He is the smartest person in Huojia Village.
The village head likes to discuss matters with him, and the villagers will adopt his decisions.
It was he who suggested going into the mountains this time. He said that going into the mountains could help one escape from bandits and avoid the dangers outside.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered the mountains, they heard that the villagers fleeing famine on the road outside had encountered bandits, and none of them escaped and were all killed.
Huo Zhiyuan has five sons and no daughters.
The eldest son, Huo Jinzhou, is twenty years old this year; the second son, Huo Jinhao, is eighteen years old this year; the fourth son, Huo Jinchuan, is twelve years old this year; and the fifth son, Huo Jinfeng, is ten years old this year.
The eldest son married his daughter-in-law Yang Cuihua, who is eighteen years old this year, and had a son, Huo Wenshan, who is three years old this year.
The second son married his daughter-in-law Liang Xiumei, who is sixteen years old this year. They have a pair of twin sons who are one and a half years old this year.
The Huo family not only has sons, but also grandchildren. The lack of a girl is a regret in the hearts of old man Huo and his wife.
Old man Huo’s wife, Lv Qiuyu, is 38 years old this year, three years younger than Old man Huo.
Huo Jinqian looked around, then at the scorching sun hanging in the sky, radiating heat as if to melt everything.
Looking at my parents, brother and sister-in-law who were sweating profusely from the heat, I was really afraid that everyone would get heatstroke if I continued to move forward.
So he nodded and said, "Okay, let's find a cool place to rest. It's noon now. After lunch, let's set off in an hour."
When the village head heard that Jinqian agreed to take a rest, he said happily, "Okay, I'll go and inform the villagers." After that, he hurried to the front to inform the villagers.
Huo Jinqian looked around and saw a spacious place with not many weeds. There was also a towering tree next to it, which blocked the sunlight and was just right for cooling off.
So, Huo Jinqian pointed to that place and said, "Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, let's go there to rest."
Old Man Huo and Mrs. Lu looked in the direction pointed by the third brother and saw a large shade under a big tree. It would be the best place to rest in the cool air. "Okay, where should we rest? First brother, second brother, pull out the weeds under the tree."
"Yes, Mom!" Huo Jinzhou and Huo Jinhao answered in unison.
They put down their luggage, took out their sickles and started cutting the grass.
Huo Jinfeng and Huo Jinchuan saw their eldest and second brothers cutting grass. They also put down their luggage and said to their mother, "Mom, let's go help our eldest and second brothers."
Seeing her fourth and fifth sons being so sensible, Mrs. Lu was both relieved and distressed. Such young children were sensible and helped with the work: "Okay, be careful and don't cut yourself."
Huo Jinfeng and Huo Jinchuan, who had already run over, were mowing the grass with sickles while saying, "Got it, Mother!"
Mrs. Lu took out the pot, and the eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Yang, helped to wash the rice and cook, while Huo Jinqian went to collect firewood nearby to make a fire.
The villagers of Huojia Village also began to find a good location and started washing rice and cooking.
Huojia Village has more than 100 households and a population of about 500 to 600 people. It is a large village, so their village chief was changed to the head of the village.
Most of the people in Huojia Village have the surname Huo and are from the same family.
There are three other surnames, namely Li, Huang and Zhang. They are all from the same family with a relatively small population.
For example, there are only five families with the surname Li. Their ancestors fled from other places and settled in Huojia Village.
The Huang family also moved here from other places, and now there are ten households in the family.
The Zhang family was the first outsider to flee to Huojia Village. It is the second largest family in the village, with twenty households and almost a hundred people.
When Huo Jinqian came back from collecting firewood, Mrs. Lu and Mrs. Yang had already washed the rice and were waiting for firewood.
Light the fire and start cooking.
In fact, lunch is a wild vegetable porridge, with a small amount of rice, some wild vegetables and a large pot of water.
The wild vegetable porridge was cooked quickly, and Yang added some pancakes, one for each person, leaving two pancakes left.
"Fifth son, take two cakes to grandpa and grandma!" Mrs. Lu picked up the two cakes and called out to her fifth son, who was teasing her eldest grandson, asking him to give the two cakes to his parents-in-law.
Huo Jinfeng, who was making his nephew laugh, heard his mother calling him. He immediately put his nephew down, stood up, ran to Mrs. Lu, took the cake, and said happily, "Okay, Mom, I'll take it to grandpa and grandma." He jumped and ran to the place where his uncle was resting in front and handed the cake to his grandparents.
Looking at her son walking away, Mrs. Lu smiled, this mud monkey.
"Grandpa, grandma, mom asked me to bring you some cakes." He jumped in front of Huo Gang and Zhang Chan and handed them two cakes.
Hawking is the father of old man Huo, who has three sons and one daughter: the eldest son Huo Zhicheng, the second son Huo Zhiyuan, and the third son Huo Zhijun.
Hawking is 63 years old this year, and his wife Zhang Chan is 60 years old. Their ages are considered long in Huojia Village.
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