When the soy milk was almost cooked, Ye Wenxue was about to add some sugar to enhance the flavor, but when she saw that there was very little sugar in the bamboo house, and it was just cloudy yellow sugar, she immediately gave up the idea.
"Dazhuang, Shuangshuang, Sanyuan, Siwang, Lanqing, come and have some soy milk."
Shuangshuang and Siwang, who weren't focused on their studies, were the first to arrive. Each of them took a small sip of soy milk, and then their eyes lit up as they gulped down the whole bowl.
Worried that the two wouldn't be able to hold on, Ye Wenxue stopped them just as Shuangshuang and Siwang were ladling out their third bowl of soy milk:
"Still drinking? Are you going to eat later?"
Shuangshuang obediently put down her bowl and picked up another bowl: "Mom, I'll feed Yuanyuan some soy milk."
Looking at the well-behaved Shuangshuang, Ye Wenxue thought to herself that this child was already being cunning: "Go ahead."
Siwang studied with Su Jiu and Xu Lin for so long, but only learned a few more characters. Unlike Shuangshuang, he wasn't interested in such things and clung to Ye Wenxue's leg, refusing to let go.
"Mom, please let me have one more bowl. I love the taste."
Ye Wenxue's heart was as cold as iron: "No."
Siwang, feeling sullen, rolled his eyes and hurriedly circled around Dazhuang and Sanyuan.
Sanyuan had just taken a sip when he saw Siwang coming over. He knew what Siwang was up to and was about to let Siwang have some, but Ye Wenxue glared at him and he immediately gave up.
Sanyuan gulped down the soy milk in a few gulps, then, avoiding the eager-looking Siwang, he made two more bowls of soy milk and took them inside: "Mother, I'm taking these to Master and Uncle Xu."
Seeing his third brother flee in a flash, Siwang could only look at Dazhuang, his mouth almost touching Dazhuang's bowl: "Big brother..."
Dazhuang suddenly stood up, holding the bowl. He was much taller than Siwang, and Siwang couldn't even reach the bowl while he was standing like that.
Dazhuang let Siwang jump around on tiptoe, and after slowly finishing a bowl of soy milk, he gave his evaluation: "Delicious!"
Lan Qing stood quietly in the corner, sipping her drink in small sips.
Seeing that the children liked it, Ye Wenxue and Xu Lin's mother each got a bowl of soy milk, and then asked Dazhuang to give a bowl to Xu Lin's father, Baldy's mother, Wang Chun, and others.
Watching bowls of soy milk being carried away right in front of him, the bald man, still grinding grain, thought: "???"
He refused to continue, threw off the rope binding him, stormed into the kitchen, and said gruffly, "I work so hard grinding grain, and I don't even get a share of the good drinks?"
Ye Wenxue slowly sipped her soy milk; it was rich in soy flavor but not sweet enough.
Seeing the bald man gritting his teeth in anger, Ye Wenxue smiled and pointed to the bowl on the table: "I saved it for you."
The bald man calmed down, finished his drink in a few gulps, and went back to grinding grain.
As the sky gradually darkened, Ye Wenxue and Xu Lin's mother busied themselves preparing food.
On a whim, Ye Wenxue used the old tofu she made yesterday to make a simplified version of Mapo Tofu. She replaced the chili peppers that should have been added with a spicy sauce, and it tasted pretty good.
Before rushing back to the valley that evening, Ye Wenxue warned the bald man: "Take care of the mountain stronghold matter as soon as possible. I'm busy planting vegetables and don't have time to show you the bamboo house."
Baldy agreed with a bitter face, racking his brains but unable to come up with a solution, so he had no choice but to go and have a late-night talk with Su Jiu and Xu Lin.
Xu Lin's eyes were blurry, but he could still see some light. He was adjusting and didn't dare to strain his eyes too much. He listened quietly to the bald man's complaints.
"How was I supposed to know they had so many tricks up their sleeves? The mountain stronghold is now divided into three groups. One group doesn't believe me and thinks I'm just bluffing to get them to obey."
Another group firmly believed in me and worked through the night to sharpen their wood-chopping and kitchen knives, vowing to live and die with the mountain stronghold.
And then there's a group... who neither believe nor disbelieve, who haven't made up their minds yet, but not one of them said they wanted to go down the mountain. Can you believe that?
Su Jiu sneered without any politeness: "Who told you to be so uncivilized all the time?"
Xu Lin shook his head: "No, it's clearly because he's doing such a good job as the second-in-command that the bandits are unwilling to let him leave."
After they came down the mountain, where did these suckers come from who would feed and drink them for free? They had no worries about food, clothing, or charcoal, and they didn't have to do any heavy, hard, or tiring work.
The bald man touched the short stubble growing on his head, feeling annoyed: "Is it because I'm too easygoing?"
But he carried his mother on his back as he fled from Qiongzhou to Tanzhou, enduring much hardship and witnessing all walks of life.
Baldy knew how much suffering ordinary people endured during natural disasters. Seeing these people reminded him of the time when he and his mother could only dig up grass roots to eat when they fled famine. How could he bring himself to do that?
If the people in the mountain stronghold went too far, Baldy could harden his heart and deal with them mercilessly.
But the bandits haven't started any trouble, nor have they committed any murders or arson. The bald man can't just kill people at will, can he?
Especially since Boss Ye was watching from the side.
Xu Lin remained silent for a moment, then, hearing the bald man clutching his head and banging his head on the table in distress, he had no choice but to speak up and advise, "Once Zhixing brings back news from down the mountain, the bandits will make a decision."
Su Jiu wasn't that optimistic.
The rebellion in Qiongzhou has even reached the Tanzhou area. If we don't rebel now, aren't we just waiting to die?
He didn't believe that the people in charge of Qiongzhou wouldn't have thought of this.
The bald man's eyes were lifeless as he muttered to himself, "I hope so."
He wouldn't have wanted to go down the mountain if he hadn't been forced to.
The people at the foot of the mountain are far more complex than those in the mountain stronghold.
*
Zhixing and his men traveled for several days in a row.
The snow is icy cold and difficult to walk on, and the north wind is bitterly cold. Especially at night, if there is nowhere to put your feet, you will freeze in less than half an hour.
Fortunately, Zhixing had someone carry more than a dozen baskets of charcoal down the mountain. They found a place to burn the charcoal at night, and everyone gathered around, which made it much warmer.
After several days of travel, we still haven't reached Tanzhou City.
Knowing some of the inside story, Zhiwu was extremely anxious and wished he could lead his men to travel overnight, but fortunately, Zhixing suppressed his anxiety.
After walking for a whole day, and with darkness approaching, Zhixing looked around along the road for half an hour before finally spotting a dilapidated temple where he could find shelter.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
