Chapter 586 Hospitality
After Wan Laoer drove the carriage into the yard, the yard suddenly became a little crowded.
The courtyard of the village chief's house is the largest in the village, because their family built the house first and chose a flat land halfway up the mountain. Unlike other people's courtyards, many of which were later built with earth and stones, and the courtyard area is limited.
After parking the carriage, the man led Wan Laoer and his group into the upper room.
"Dad, Mom, there are guests coming."
As soon as Wan Laoer and Yuwensong entered the house, they saw a fire pit on the floor with a fire burning in it. It turned out that the light in the house was coming from the fire.
There were several people sitting around the fire pit. An old man was weaving a backpack with bamboo in his hands. An old woman was putting a boiler on the fire pit, apparently preparing to boil water. There was also a young woman mending clothes by the firelight. Next to them sat several half-grown children, their faces and hands were black, and there were a few roasted sweet potatoes on the ground.
The room still smelled of roasted sweet potatoes.
Fubao's stomach couldn't help but growl, but she stood obediently beside Wan Laoer without moving.
"Here, eat." A little girl who was slightly younger than Fubao was closest to Fubao, and she heard Fubao's stomach growling.
The little girl held a black sweet potato in both hands and handed it to Fubao. Her pair of bright eyes on her dark little face were reflected even more clearly by the firelight. The little girl showed a row of white millet teeth and looked at Fubao with a smile.
Fubao quickly took out a few pieces of candy from the purse he carried with him.
"This is for you. I brought it from the capital. It's so sweet."
Fubao stretched out his white and tender little hands, which formed a sharp contrast with the little girl's dark hands.
The little girl didn't feel ashamed at all. She generously put the roasted sweet potato in Fubao's palm and took the candy that Fubao handed over with her other hand.
"Thank you, sister." The little girl ran to the side with the candy and gave one to each of her brothers and sisters.
Wan Laoer was observing secretly from the side and found that this family had a very good family tradition.
Fubao couldn't wait to peel off the burnt sweet potato skin, revealing the golden flesh inside. The aroma of the roasted sweet potato filled his nose, making Fubao swallow hard.
"Be careful with the heat, eat slowly."
Wan Laoer quickly warned his daughter, then looked at the man with an embarrassed smile.
"Children are ignorant, please don't laugh at me."
"No, how many roasted sweet potatoes can your daughter give you just now buy? The guests haven't eaten yet, right? I'll ask my wife to make something for you."
"Cui Niang, go to the kitchen and make some food for the guests. It's cold, make some soup."
The man's wife, Cui Niang, nodded meekly, put the half-mended clothes aside, nodded to Wan Laoer and others, and left the upper room.
"Sister-in-law, do you want to cook? Can I help you?"
A younger woman was standing at the door of the upper room. She should be the daughter-in-law. I only heard the two of them whispering something and then she went into the kitchen.
"May I ask your name, brother?"
"What's the Gao surname? We are Gaoliu Village, and everyone in our village has the surname Gao."
It was the first time that Yuwensong heard that everyone in a village had the same surname. This was very strange.
However, Wan Laoer didn't think it was a big deal. After all, before they were exiled, many villages had a big family name, and everyone was more or less related.
In a small village like Gaoliu, it is normal for everyone in the village to have the same surname.
"Brother Gao, my last name is Wan, and I am the second oldest. This is my friend, whose last name is Yuwen. This is his maid, and this is also my friend, who sent me home."
Wan Laoer introduced his group of people.
Gao Hongzhuang also introduced his family.
"This is my father, the village chief of Gaoliu Village. This is my younger brother Gao Hongyuan. My name is Gao Hongzhuang. This is my mother. These are my and my brother's children."
Wan Laoer quickly bowed and said, "Village Chief Gao, we are sorry to bother you tonight. This is a small gift from us. I hope you will accept it."
Wan Laoer gave the old village chief one or two taels of silver as food and lodging expenses for the group. Staying at a farmer's house for one night doesn't cost much, but one or two taels of silver is a considerable income for the farmer.
For Wan Laoer now, it is nothing at all. If so many of them were to stay in the inn, one or two taels of silver would definitely not be enough to spend. Maybe it would just be enough to make the stay more comfortable.
When Wan Laoer handed the old village chief one or two taels of silver, the old village chief was shocked.
"No, young man, no, our house is not a good place, nor do we have anything good to treat you, so we can't take this tael of silver."
The old village chief quickly pushed it back.
Yuwensong raised his eyebrows. People say that poor and bad places produce unruly people. This is the first time he has seen someone push away the money he has earned. This is different from what he has heard about in the army.
Wan Laoer refused to accept the money. "Old village chief, our group is not too many, but not too few either. If you don't accept the money, we won't be able to live safely. This is just a reward for your hard work. If you really don't want to accept the money, we can only go to another place."
"Young man, where else can you go? My house is the most spacious in this village. Okay, I'll take it."
The old village chief finally had no choice but to pack up the silver. However, he turned around and told his eldest son, "Hongzhuang, go tell your wife to cook more delicious dishes and not neglect the guests. Take out the bacon that we saved during the New Year and stir-fry it with the cabbage."
"Oh, okay, I'll go right away."
The old lady also stood up happily at this time. She dusted herself off and said with a smile, "Please take a seat, my guest. I'll go see if the big rooster has entered the chicken coop."
"Auntie is busy, you're welcome." Wan Laoer quickly stood up and said.
Soon everyone heard the sound of chickens being slaughtered in the yard.
Yuwensong raised his eyebrows again. This family was really interesting. The treatment was really different if you paid them or not. It turned out that he was too naive.
Fubao has already started playing with several other children from the Gao family, while the adults are sitting around the fire pit and chatting.
Yuwensong was a very outgoing person and now he started to ask about the life in the village.
He likes listening to stories, especially stories about poor families.
He asked about the main source of income in the village and talked to many parents.
The old village chief told him everything.
After more than half an hour, the women brought the sumptuous meal to the table.
There were four dishes and one soup in total.
The staple food is white flour steamed buns. This white flour is all the flour the house has, and only ten steamed buns are made in total.
The old woman felt that it was not enough, so she asked her daughter-in-law to steam half a pot of mixed grain rice.
There was no white rice at home, only corn, which was a bit irritating to the throat, but it was indeed a delicious food that they usually didn't want to eat.
Wan Laoer and the others were arranged to sit at the table. The children of the Gao family looked at the food on the table eagerly, but were dragged away by their parents and taken to the side room.
The only people in the room were the old village chief and his two sons.
He ate every ounce of the meal and even drank up all the chicken soup.
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside the village chief's house.
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