Chapter 159 She held back
Sitting in the carriage was a young man with bright eyes and eyebrows, who looked to be in his twenties.
The cuffs of his sleeves, which were draped by the window, were embroidered with gold thread patterns. He wore a white jade crown on his head, and his hair was tied up meticulously. He exuded a noble temperament that was out of place in their small, shabby village.
"The King of Heshun has returned victorious from suppressing the bandits in the north, which is a blessing for the people of Dakang." The young man spoke, the coldness on his face had completely disappeared, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
"I am just a merchant, sharing in the joy of King Heshun and offering generous gifts to the people and enjoying the happiness with them."
What he said was very soothing.
Zhao Zhilan was just a village woman after all. She opened her mouth but didn't ask anything else.
It was not until the carriage slowly moved forward and the young man's hand loosened that she finally realized what was happening and said thank you.
The carriage headed towards the village chief's residence at the west end of the village. Zhao Zhilan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, this young man gave people a strong sense of oppression.
She patted her chest and was about to turn around and go back to work, but suddenly she saw a row of black heads lying at the back door of the new house.
The four children, plus her gossipy eldest daughter-in-law, were all looking outside.
"Mother, who is this person? He's bringing us food? Do you recognize him?"
Wang Cailian saw the group of people leaving, walked out from the back door, and looked at the two large bags of food on the ground.
Zhao Zhilan shook her head. "He said he was a merchant. He was happy because Prince Heshun had won the battle against the bandits, so he came to our village to distribute food so that we could all have some fun together."
She pondered the young man's flowery words and put them into her own words.
"Oh, those who do big business are always generous. They give out money when they are happy. It's a good habit."
Wang Cailian looked at the two large bags of grain with her eyes shining. Both bags were full, probably weighing at least a hundred pounds.
I don’t know what kind of business this guy is in, why he is so generous.
Zhao Zhilan looked around at her neighbors and found that most families had already quietly moved the food into their homes. After all, it was free, so why not take it?
Zhou Cuihua from the opposite door was even more agile. As soon as the carriage wheels started moving, she slipped out and dragged the food into the yard.
The Chen family had been quiet lately. Zhou Cuihua hadn't dared to jump around since Zhao Zhilan whipped her with a horsewhip. Chen Xiaojuan, on the other hand, was quite active, often running to the west end of the village to play with the silly young master from the neighboring Wang family.
But she was also the child bride reserved by the Wang family, so it was normal for her to play with Wang Guikang.
"Mom, let's move in too."
Zhao Zhilan was thinking about the young man just now, and Wang Cailian's words brought her back to her senses.
"Don't move them yet," she said. "Tell Dalang and the others to put the two bags against the wall."
Although the young man said that he was celebrating Prince Heshun's victory in suppressing the bandits, she always felt uneasy holding these two large bags of food.
You should be grateful for what you have received and you should be grateful for what you have received.
This young man appeared suddenly. She had never seen him in the nearby villages and towns, nor had she heard of such a person. So she didn't know whether to believe what the young man said just now.
"Okay." Wang Cailian was not unhappy when she heard her say that. She responded and went back to call Yun Dalang.
Baoya and several other children also ran out from the back door and surrounded Zhao Zhilan.
"Grandma, why don't you move the free food inside? Look, other people's families have moved all their food inside." Yunyue asked curiously.
Zhao Zhilan waved her hand: "Don't worry."
Her speculation about the young man was just speculation after all, so she didn't explain it to the children.
At this moment, Baoya suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?" and tugged at Zhao Zhilan's sleeve, saying, "Grandma, look over there. It seems the big brother who was distributing food just now is back again."
Zhao Zhilan looked in the direction she pointed and found that it was indeed there.
The young man was wearing a lake blue robe and was followed by two servants. He was walking towards her house.
The calm and indifferent demeanor in his every move made Zhao Zhilan frown and mutter, "Why does he look a little familiar?"
She always felt that she must have seen this kind of temperament of the young man somewhere before.
"Does it feel similar to Brother Xiaojing?" Baoya looked up at her and said.
"Hiss," Zhao Zhilan suddenly realized, "Right!"
That’s right, Baoya’s senior brother named Jing seems to be the same.
As they were speaking, the young man had already walked in front of them.
With a smile on his face, he said, "Mother-in-law, my name is Duan Jiang. I have just distributed all the food I brought today. I'm staying at the village head's house for a while. My child is sleeping soundly and I don't want to disturb him. I wonder if I could borrow your yard to rest for a while."
This statement is simply impossible to refuse.
Zhao Zhilan glanced at the craftsmen who were still busy working on the new house and said, "The house is a bit messy. If you don't mind, please come in and sit down."
Duan Jiang bowed and said, "Thank you very much."
After saying this, he took two attendants and entered the Yun family courtyard through the back door.
Even in the coldest days of winter, one couldn't let people blow in the cold wind in the yard. Zhao Zhilan took small steps and walked around the kitchen twice, then took the person to the west wing to sit.
Thanks to Yun Chengfu's words and deeds last time, Yun Chenglu has now learned a little bit of his diligence and tidiness. The kang in the west wing is no longer piled with bedding and clothes, and it looks barely presentable.
The east wing was where the women, young and old, lived. It was inappropriate to entertain strange men there.
Duan Jiang asked two attendants to wait in the courtyard and followed Zhao Zhilan into the west wing.
"You...you sit down and rest for a while, I'll go pour tea." Zhao Zhilan said and got up and went out.
The young man looked gentle, spoke little and was very literary. As a village woman, she didn't know how to communicate with him. It would be great if her eldest grandson Yun Chengfu was at home.
Duan Jiang nodded slightly and saw that the four children who had been lying at the back door and peeking at him were now standing in the yard and looking at him.
He smiled gently and waved to the children: "Come in and play."
In fact, even if there were strangers coming to the house, Baoya and the others would not be as curious yet timid as they are now.
But this time, for some reason, even though the young man had a gentle and beautiful smile, Baoya still stood in the yard, determined not to move an inch.
Seeing that Baoya didn't move, Yun Chenglu, Yunhua and Yunyue naturally didn't move either. The four children stood steadily in the yard, blinking at Duan Jiang.
Duan Jiang frowned slightly, and suddenly reached out to touch his waist, took out a few pieces of candy, and held them in his palm.
That candy was not ordinary malt sugar. It was wrapped in a layer of beautiful candy paper, which the children had never seen before.
"Do you want to eat candy?" He asked again, "Almond candy, you have never eaten it."
Baoya swallowed her saliva successfully because of the almond candy she had never tasted before, but she took a few steps forward and finally held back and did not enter the house.
Duan Jiang's smile remained unchanged as he spoke to the children from a distance through the door: "You have such a large family, you must be living a pretty good life."
"I just came from the village head's house and saw that he had built a small two-story attic. In this whole village, your family and the village head's family are the only ones with small two-story buildings."
Baoya, Yunhua, Yunyue, Yunchenglu: ...
"What's your name?" He pointed at the pink-cheeked little girl standing in the front row. "You look like a lucky doll. Pretty."
When Baoya saw him pointing at her and asking questions, she had no choice but to answer. Her grandmother said that children who ignore others are impolite.
So she said softly, "My name is Baoya. Big brother, what on earth are you doing in our village?"
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