Chapter 1122 The Returnee's Notes 196
Xie Ning climbed onto the donkey cart thoughtfully. The cart was covered with a layer of soft straw, so the person sitting on it wouldn't feel particularly uncomfortable.
The "realm" that Xie Li mentioned is the old man's memory. Her experience inside it was completely different from that outside in the dense forest. The outside was truly gloomy and terrifying, filled with all sorts of rotten smells.
Inside, however, the sunlight felt real, bright and warm, as if it were real when you reached out to catch it.
"Sister...Sister?" The little boy beside them babbled. They weren't speaking Mandarin, since the official language or dialects varied from period to period.
But Xie Ning is now strangely able to understand.
"Hmm, what's wrong?"
When the child saw Xie Ning looking over, he shyly snuggled into the arms of a woman beside him, his ear tips turning red.
The woman laughed a few times, and then said to Xie Ning, "My son is naughty, please don't be offended, young lady."
"No, it's very cute."
Seemingly having heard Xie Ning praise him, the boy secretly raised half his face to examine Xie Ning, his gaze landing on Xie Ning's wrist, where there was a woven red string.
"nice."
"Hmm, do you like it?"
This red rope is meant to ward off ghosts, but she also made some red ropes that wouldn't harm spirits; they were originally meant for Xi'er.
"I...I like it." The child's voice was small. He liked it very much, but he was too shy to ask for it.
Xie Ning took out a red string with auspicious patterns from her bag and handed it to her, saying, "This is for you."
The child hesitated to take it, first glancing at the woman, and only when the adult agreed did he reach out and take it.
"nice!"
Xie Li was chatting with the old man nearby, making small talk. Xie Ning also learned that the village they were going to was called Shangxi Village, which was under the jurisdiction of Qingshi Town.
It was just a small village, but the land there was good, and the village chief taught them to grow some medicinal herbs on the mountain to sell, so they lived a fairly comfortable life.
The only downside is that taxes are getting heavier year by year, so this prosperity is relative.
The old man waved his whip and said to Xie Li, "I'll give you a ride to our village. You can stay at my house for the night. If you want to go to town, I'll go sell medicine in a couple of days, and you can come with me then."
Our village is struggling too, we can't take you in. Go to town, maybe you'll find a way to survive there."
Even if they only take them in for two days, it's already considered kind-hearted, since they'll still have to feed them afterwards.
Thinking of the meager remaining grain at home, the old man couldn't help but feel worried. The south was relatively peaceful, with few natural disasters or man-made calamities, but the taxes were simply too heavy.
The donkey trotted along, pulling the cart all the way back to the village.
After the old man entered the house, he asked the eldest child in the family to bring some food to feed the donkey. Then he patted the donkey's head and stroked its neck, clearly feeling very sorry for it.
After all, this was the only animal in the family, the one he used to haul passengers and goods to earn money. It was also his old partner who had been with him for a long time, so naturally he had to take good care of it.
"Come in!" the woman greeted the two.
The old man's house consisted of only four thatched huts: one main room and three living rooms. He lived in the smallest room himself, while his two sons' families lived in the remaining two rooms.
Now that Xie Ning and his wife have come to stay, they are allowed to stay with his second daughter-in-law, the woman who was just in the car. Since his second son has gone to perform corvée labor, it is not a problem for Xie Ning and his wife to stay.
Xie Ning just didn't know what he was supposed to do inside. Was he just going to watch them live day after day?
We have to find a way out.
Xie Li patted the dust off her sleeves and asked Xie Ning to take out some dry rations to give to the old man. These were things she had specifically asked Xie Ning to bring before she left, in case they came in handy.
Xie Ning didn't understand the meaning behind this action, but he did as instructed. The old man was delighted to see the dry rations. "Oh, how come you have so much rice and flour?"
"The old man has already shown great kindness by taking us in, and his family is not well-off either. Consider this rice and flour as a token of our gratitude."
Since it's been brought over, the old man certainly won't refuse it, as his family is indeed short of rice and flour.
A little tail was following Xie Ning's backside. The little tail spotted the cat in Xie Ning's bag and tried to pet it, but almost got scratched.
Black Egg didn't get angry here, but it was a little uneasy.
When they went to sleep that night, the little boy snuggled up to Xie Ning and said, "So pretty, sister."
"Naughty." The woman patted the child's bottom, then changed him into a new pair of open-crotch pants and tucked him into her own bed.
The villagers of Shangxi Village are very simple and honest. Whenever Xie Ning goes out for a stroll, he is always given some food, mostly wild fruits picked from the mountains.
In their view, displaced people are pitiful, so giving them a wild fruit is nothing.
If you ask them why they do good deeds, they simply say that they hope that even if they end up in such a state in the future, someone will treat them kindly.
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