The inn incident was quickly forgotten by everyone. The weather was quite nice for the next few days; it didn't snow anymore and the sun even came out, but it was still freezing cold.
After rushing for ten days, they finally arrived at a village one evening and decided to stay there for the night.
Zhu Qiuyu and the guards led by Tie Fu went to find the village chief, but all the doors and windows of the houses were tightly closed, and they couldn't even find a villager to ask for directions.
They had no choice but to knock on the door to inquire, but the host family clearly did not welcome them as outsiders. When they heard the knocking, either no one answered or they started cursing.
From the cursing, it was clear that there had been frequent appearances of refugees in the area recently, who often came in groups to rob food and cotton-padded clothes, and even injure villagers. Their behavior was extremely vile. No wonder the village was deathly quiet before dark, with everyone keeping their doors closed and on guard.
"What should we do? We've been sleeping outdoors for so many days. If we don't find a place to rest soon, the young master might not be able to take it, and neither will the horse." The head guard frowned, his face grim.
Zhu Qiuyu opened his folding fan and waved it twice, a cold wind immediately blowing in his face. He closed the fan without making a sound, acting as if nothing had happened, his tone somewhat nonchalant, "If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain. If no one comes to open the door, we'll go in and ask them to come out."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Qiuyu leaped into the courtyard of one of the houses, and soon came out carrying a middle-aged man.
Soon the gate to the man's courtyard was opened, and an old man and a woman came out. The old man was holding a kitchen knife and yelling at them.
"Let go of my son, you heartless bastards!"
The woman also held a thick wooden stick, looking ready to fight to the death. However, no matter how loudly the two shouted or how fiercely they acted, it was to no avail. Zhu Qiuyu stretched out his folding fan and tapped the pressure points of the two, rendering them unable to move.
“You don’t need to be afraid. We are not bad people, nor are we refugees. We are just passing through and want to find a family to stay the night. We have no ill intentions.” Zhu Qiuyu released the man’s hand and explained gently.
At this moment, the others also drove over in their carriages. The man looked them over and found that they were dressed in fine clothes, had several carriages, and a group of guards with swords. They were obviously from wealthy families.
“It’s not that we can’t ask you to stay the night, but lately, there have been frequent reports of vagrants breaking into our village at night. They’ll scale the walls and rob houses if you’re not careful, so it’s not very safe. If you still decide to stay, then you can stay,” the man said with a bitter face.
“Your house is too small, so we’ll have to stay at someone else’s house. We wonder where your village chief’s house is? We’d like to go and say hello to him,” Zhu Qiuyu said calmly.
The man pointed to the very center of the village, "If you keep walking along this road, the most impressive brick house you see is the village chief's house."
"Alright, thank you. I won't bother you any longer." Zhu Qiuyu said as he helped the old man and woman release their pressure points, then jumped onto the carriage and led the way.
The village chief's house was indeed the most impressive in the whole village. Although other families also had brick and tile houses, their courtyard walls were not as high, and their houses did not have as many rooms.
Like everyone else, when they knocked on the village chief's door, no one answered, and no one cursed; they just pretended to be dead.
Zhu Qiuyu had no choice but to resort to his old tricks again, leaping into the village chief's house and personally dragging the village chief to open the door. The village chief had no choice but to bite the bullet and entertain him.
"I think your house is quite nice. There are even a few extra rooms. We can squeeze in for the night. Thank you for your hospitality, village chief. Could you lend us your kitchen so we can cook some hot food?" Zhu Qiuyu asked and answered himself without any politeness, arranging everything.
The village chief sighed, and after everyone had entered the courtyard and the carriage had arrived, he closed the gate.
"The neighboring prefecture suffered a snow disaster. Many houses collapsed, many people died, and there are even more refugees wandering around. We have no choice but to accept this. It's not that we're deliberately refusing to open the door for you gentlemen."
The village chief was perceptive and knew these people were not to be trifled with, so he explained in a friendly manner and said many kind words, hoping that they would not hold it against him.
"It's alright. We already know the situation here. You're doing the right thing. It's always good to be cautious in chaotic times." Zhu Qiuyu raised her hand to stop the village chief from launching into a long-winded explanation.
“We have more than forty people, and your three empty rooms can’t accommodate all of us. Could you find another place for the rest of us to stay?” The rest of us naturally referred to Tie Qingfeng and his group.
"That's easy. My brother's room is next door, and he has extra rooms. The rest of you can go next door." The village chief kindly introduced them and even personally led Tie Qingfeng and his group to the next room before returning after making the arrangements.
So, Fu Ge and his friends squeezed into one room, Zhu Lin and several of her senior brothers squeezed into another, and Zhu Changge, Zhu Qingruo, and Xingxing shared a room. After tidying up their sleeping quarters, the three women went to the kitchen to cook dinner.
Xingxing helped add firewood, while Zhu Changge and Zhu Qingruo took charge of cooking. In less than half an hour, they had prepared the meal.
It's too cold, so I can only make one stew. I cooked a big pot of dried meat and wild vegetable porridge.
"Luckily, Mom prepared a lot of dried meat for us before we set off. Otherwise, with all this snow and ice, it would have been difficult to even catch a wild rabbit. The South is so much better; it's not so cold, and you can hunt even in winter," Zhou Erfu exclaimed while eating his porridge.
"You can hunt in the north even in winter, but it's more difficult. If you're lucky, you might catch a roe deer. Roe deer meat is quite good." Zhu Qiuyu seemed to know a lot about the north, which meant he had obviously been here before.
The senior students exchanged knowing glances, understanding but saying nothing.
“I heard my dad say that before our family fled, we were still in the north. My dad said we ate roe deer meat when we were little, but we were too young to remember what it tasted like,” Zhou Erfu said with a hint of regret.
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