On New Year's Eve, the sun was shining brightly, but the temperature was very low. In places where the sun didn't reach, if you splashed some water on the ground, it would freeze very quickly.
Xu Di got up early. In the kitchen, the steamed buns that had been made were already dried and packed into white cotton bags. Chen Zhaoci loaded dozens of bags of rice he had bought onto the carriage. Zheng Yuanyuan had already ordered two pigs from the butcher in the county, and they were to be slaughtered and delivered to the barracks today.
Only Xu Di and Chen Zhaoci, along with a few servants, went to the military camp. Zheng Yuanyuan and Xu Zhi did not go. The environment there was not good, and more importantly, it was all men. It was not appropriate for girls to go there.
When Xu Di came out of his house, he saw that there were already more than ten carriages parked in front of the county government office. Two of them were for passengers, and the rest had some things on them, but it was not clear what they were from a distance.
As Xu Di approached, he saw several people coming out of the county government office. County Magistrate Yuan and Registrar Tong accompanied the two to the entrance of the county government office. Upon seeing Xu Di, County Magistrate Yuan introduced them to everyone.
The slightly taller man in his thirties was the eldest son of the Zhou family. He seemed a bit arrogant and gave Xu Di a rather perfunctory bow. The other man, Manager Chen, was a man in his forties. He was rather sturdy and had an honest face, but he was able to build such a large business. He not only had a dye shop here, but it was also said that he had branches in Qingzhou and even Linqing. This man was truly very shrewd.
Xu Di cupped his hands in thanks to the two men and said, "I must thank you both for your great help this time."
The eldest son of the Zhou family was clearly getting impatient and spoke rather rudely, saying, "Lord Xu, now that everyone is here, let's hurry up and deliver the gifts. Today is New Year's Eve, and everyone has a lot to do."
Yuan, the county magistrate, looked very unpleasant, but Xu Di didn't seem to care. He stretched out his arm and gestured for them to come, saying, "Then please come with me to the barracks."
It only takes about fifteen minutes to get from the county town out of the city gate to the barracks.
Xu Di led the convoy of people to the military camp, where he saw Zheng Boyuan and his men waiting at the gate. After all, he was a man from Yanmen Pass, so he knew exactly how to receive him.
After the group exchanged greetings, Zheng Boyuan arranged for people to unload the goods. The original plan was to take the group for a walk around the area. Although the barracks had not yet been built and they were still living in some old houses, the houses were quite interesting to see after a simple cleaning.
As a result, the eldest son of the Zhou family directly refused, saying that he had something to do at home and had to rush home. Although Xu Di and Zheng Boyuan still had smiles on their faces, they felt a little more disdain for the eldest son of the Zhou family.
Manager Chen, on the other hand, followed the group with a smile the whole time. When the eldest son of the Zhou family said he wanted to go back, he didn't say anything. Zheng Boyuan personally escorted the eldest son of the Zhou family to the gate of the barracks, and then they saw another group of people coming from afar.
As the people approached, it turned out they were local people, leading horse-drawn carriages and pushing wheelbarrows. Upon seeing Xu Di, a burly man leading the group stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Lord Xu, these two carriages have two pigs that a Miss Zheng bought. I have already slaughtered them. This carriage has a pig's head and offal that my wife braised herself. Don't underestimate them; they taste quite good. I brought them over to add a couple of dishes for the soldiers."
Xu Di and Zheng Boyuan quickly bowed and thanked him. The man laughed and said, "We didn't know about this before. It was only after that young lady told us that we found out. I discussed it with some neighbors, and everyone chipped in some New Year's goods. It's just a token of our appreciation."
Xu Di hadn't expected that his good intentions would be understood by these people. Xu Di bowed respectfully to the man and said, "Thank you, brother."
Zheng Boyuan also saluted the man and said, "Brother, on behalf of all of us soldiers, thank you."
The man was at a loss, waving his hands repeatedly, saying, "What we've done is not enough, far from enough. The girl who came to my stall the day before yesterday said that you are here to protect us and to wipe out those hateful Japanese. Now that the weather is cold, many of you are living in these dilapidated houses and have frostbite because you are from the south. How can our food compare to what you have done for all of us?"
Xu Di was very happy about Zheng Yuanyuan's actions. Without his knowledge, this girl had actually brought him so many supporters.
The shopkeeper Chen was somewhat moved by the man's words, but the eldest son of the Zhou family still had his nose in the air. Xu Di was a little annoyed by this guy and said to the eldest son of the Zhou family and the shopkeeper Chen, "Since you two still have things to do, please go ahead."
The eldest son of the Zhou family nodded, turned around and left. Manager Chen bowed to Xu Di and Zheng Boyuan, then bowed to the man who delivered the meat, before getting into his own carriage.
Zheng Boyuan invited everyone into the barracks and led them to see the cleaned-up dormitories, the soup room, and the room that was temporarily used as a classroom. One wall of the classroom was painted with black paint, and some simple words were written on it with white lime powder.
Hearing that the lesson was for teaching the soldiers to recognize characters, the villagers were quite surprised. Looking at the soldiers dressed in the same uniforms, standing outside looking smart and ready for inspection, the man whispered to the person next to him, "Being a soldier isn't as tough as people say. They even teach them to recognize characters."
The people nearby listened but didn't say anything, though they did nod.
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