Chapter 006: Traitorous Minister 6
When Xiao Chen came back, Xiao Yan was sitting under the wall of his house with a small bench next to him.
Under Xiao Chen's puzzled gaze, Xiao Yan stepped onto the stool and seemed to be planning to climb onto the wall.
Xiao Chen: “!!!”
He hurried into the house to put down the bowl, then ran to Xiao Yan's side without stopping and held Xiao Yan's legs.
"Brother, big brother! You're not well yet, why don't you take a rest? What are you climbing up here for? Be careful not to fall!"
Xiao Yan lowered his head and smiled weakly. His complexion was a little better than yesterday, but that was only compared to yesterday. It was still far from that of a normal person.
Let’s just say that yesterday Xiao Yan’s face looked as weak and ugly as someone who was about to be buried, and he had completely lost all his energy.
Even if things are better today, how much better can they be?
He has a thin physique that cannot tan, and now he is still seriously ill. If a gust of wind blows, people around him will worry that he will be blown down.
What's more, I want to climb up this wall that is a head taller than an adult.
"The weather is getting colder, and I'm thinking of repairing our roof to prevent coughing..."
He coughed bitterly, and it took a while for him to stop. His voice was slightly hoarse as he continued, "Before the winter snows come."
Although this place is located in the south, it snows in winter. If you don’t pay attention to wind and warmth, it can be fatal.
Xiao Yan's expression was gloomy: "While I still have some strength, I will finish these things."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen immediately thought of the words that others had hesitated to say, implicitly telling him to accompany his brother well in his last few days, and how his brother had passed away at this time in his previous life.
Then he thought about how he had prevented his brother from dying for his own reputation and selfish motives mixed with personal desires.
Even though the brother knew that he would not live long, he still worried about him and did his best to pave the way for him.
Compared to this, he is really nothing!
Xiao Chen felt both moved and ashamed, and couldn't help but feel sad.
"Brother, stop talking, you will definitely be fine!"
He definitely will! Hasn't this life changed? His elder brother will definitely live well!
"Come down first. There's no rush. I'll go help Uncle Shan and Uncle Shui fetch firewood and chop grass for the pigs, and ask him to help repair our roof."
Shanshui is the most favored, but he doesn't do nothing.
There is less farm work in winter, so he is responsible for the firewood and pig feed at home.
If it is in exchange for help, and Shanshui is kind-hearted, he will definitely agree.
In addition to this reason, another reason for looking for Shanshui was that Shanshui's father was in the business of building houses for others. Shanshui was influenced by his father since he was a child. Although he was not fully capable of becoming a master, he could also easily repair and reinforce the thatch on the roof.
Xiao Yan patted his shoulder with relief, "You've grown up and have your own ideas. That's good."
Xiao Chen's eyes were slightly hot, and he blinked, "Why are you saying this? I'll help you down, be careful, don't fall."
He treated Xiao Yan like a fragile paper figure, afraid that he would get bumped or hurt.
When Xiao Yan saw Xiao Chen like this, his conscience ached slightly, but he suddenly remembered that he had no such thing as conscience, so he shamelessly accepted Xiao Chen's kindness.
How could he possibly feel guilty about trying to persuade Xiao Chen? Look, isn't Xiao Chen doing very well now?
In the previous life, the original body worked like a slave. After death, he just felt that the original body was too stubborn, and vaguely blamed the original body for bringing trouble to himself. Even if he had some affection for the original body, it was only a little bit after all, which was completely disproportionate to the original body's efforts.
Now that he has been "inspired", don't you see that Xiao Chen has immediately become obedient and sensible, and knows how to understand other people's difficulties?
What Xiao Yan wanted to teach him was that the efforts of others should not be taken for granted, and that one should be grateful and give appropriate returns instead of just asking for things.
Today is another day of influencing others, and I have achieved some small success!
Xiao Chen was used to not talking while eating or sleeping, but Xiao Yan was not that kind of person.
He chewed slowly, asked about what happened this morning, and then picked up the last steamed bun and put it in Xiao Chen's bowl: "You eat it, I'm not hungry."
Xiao Chen had done a lot of work yesterday, so he took it over without thinking.
This was due to inertia. In his distant memory, his brother always shared his food with him.
He just stretched out his chopsticks and then paused, suddenly realizing that he had eaten two and still felt not full. In addition, Aunt Xiao has always been stingy. Other people's families only eat normal portions, but his aunt is different.
Not only is the portion small, but it also contains a bunch of wild vegetables. How can you feel full after eating just one?
It was obvious that his brother was worried that he wouldn't have enough to eat, so he wanted to give the steamed bun to him!
What a touching brotherhood!
Furthermore, it is possible that his brother felt that he would not live long and wasted his food rations!
Xiao Chen took back his chopsticks, afraid that Xiao Yan would give him more, and quickly stood up: "I'm full, big brother, you eat, don't think too much, I'll go catch some fish in the afternoon and come back to make soup."
There is a small river at the entrance of the village. The water is not deep, only up to an adult's waist. There are only small fish. Xiao Chen knows that the river is deep and dares not go in for fear of drowning.
As the saying goes, those who can swim are brave. Those who drown are those who can swim. Those who cannot swim generally dare not take risks in deep water.
He is so short that he won't take any risks.
Xiao Yan on the side: "???"
He really just felt that the wild vegetables in the steamed bun were a bit too bitter, so he gave the steamed bun to Xiao Chen!
I don’t know what Xiao Chen is thinking about, but seeing that he knows how to think from other people’s perspective, I feel a sense of accomplishment.
In just one day, Xiao Chen has changed so much, he is worthy of being him!
Of course, the biggest credit goes to the original body who paid too much. Otherwise, even if he wanted to PUA, oh no, want to influence Xiao Chen, he would probably have to spend more effort.
I have to say that wild vegetables are delicious, but they must be oily to be delicious, otherwise the taste of wild vegetables will be very strong and a bit bitter.
Xiao Yan did not forget to praise him: "You have grown up."
He also warned: "Come back soon after you finish your work, don't waste time arguing with others, and don't go into deep water, even if there are no fish, it doesn't matter."
Xiao Chen's ability to attract monsters was too strong. The village chief had just warned Uncle Xiao yesterday, and today he had already eliminated this kind of thing. However, the protagonist is the protagonist after all, and he can always turn danger into safety. No matter how the process goes, it will benefit him in the end.
Even so, ordinary people would feel uncomfortable if they were exposed to too much negative energy, let alone the protagonist who was constantly exposed to negative energy. Even though he was the protagonist, he was still a human being, so it was no wonder that Xiao Chen turned evil in the end.
Who wouldn’t feel uncomfortable if this happened to them?
Xiao Chen felt the care he hadn't felt for a long time, and his heart warmed slightly: "I save it."
He took the dishes out to wash them, then changed into even more worn clothes, and even wore straw sandals with a big hole on the toes.
Whenever the wind blew, Xiao Yan felt cold for him.
"Wait." Xiao Yan shouted.
"Go back to the house and change your shoes and put on more clothes."
Xiao Chen's face showed disapproval, and he frowned: "It's not cold, it will get dirty."
Carrying firewood would tear his clothes, but that was a thick coat he had saved for Chinese New Year because he didn't have that many patches! It was bought for him by his parents when they were still alive. Even though it was a lot shorter now, it was his only one!
Xiao Yan lowered his eyes, his expression filled with self-blame: "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have ended up like this. It's all my fault..."
Xiao Chen was in a state of panic, fearing that Xiao Yan would start to have wild thoughts again, so he quickly interrupted him: "Okay, okay, can't I wear it?!"
As if being chased by a dog, Xiao Chen put on thick clothes, and put on two layers of worn clothes on the outside, and ran out of the house in a hurry, completely unlike the reserved look he had when he was just reborn.
After Xiao Chen left, Xiao Yan was not idle either.
He knew his own condition clearly. It looked serious and he was indeed a little weak, but as long as he didn't suffer a serious head injury or a fatal injury, he would slowly recover.
So it is not as fragile as a paper man.
Xiao Yan came to Aunt Zhao's house next door.
Aunt Zhao had two sons and a daughter. The eldest, Shanmu, was married and had a two-year-old daughter. The second, Shancai, was engaged to a woman from the next village. The third, Shantao, was about the same age as Xiao Yan. She was very quiet, spoke softly, and was a shy little girl.
In this dynasty, little girls would start learning needlework and embroidery and managing household chores when they were eleven or twelve years old, while their families would also be busy arranging marriages for them.
Generally, when a girl turns thirteen, she will be engaged and then married. Parents who love their daughters will keep them for one or two more years, depending on the circumstances of each family.
The Zhou family doesn't have many people, but after the second son gets married, the child will live nearby, and money will be needed everywhere. Therefore, even if Aunt Zhao loves her daughter very much, she cannot ignore her daughter-in-law's thoughts.
At this time, the men in Aunt Zhao's family had already gone out to do work.
Even though it is winter now and there is not much big work to do in the fields, there are still many things that need to be done.
From now on, we have been preparing for the New Year bit by bit, pickling food, chopping firewood in the mountains, collecting firewood for the winter, and repairing the house.
During the winter, there was also corvée labor, which generally occurred every four years for a month. Anyone aged ten to fifty-six was required to serve. Of course, in addition to military service and compulsory corvée labor, some people could pay for simple tasks like road repairs and canal digging, which were not particularly time-consuming.
However, for poor people like them, even if they become terribly thin after serving in the army, they do not want to spend this money and would save as much as possible.
In addition to performing corvee labor, several villages would also organize men to go hunting in the mountains.
Firstly, it is convenient for fattening up during the winter, secondly, it is to add some meat dishes for the New Year, and thirdly, it is to prevent the jackals and wild beasts in the mountains from getting too hungry and coming down to attack and prey on people.
It can also be considered as regular cleaning, driving these wild beasts back into the mountains and preventing them from coming out to harm people.
The hunting has not started yet this year, and it will probably be a while.
Even if Xiao Yan's family did not contribute any labor, as long as they were part of the village, they would receive meat according to the population. However, they could not compare with those who contributed labor, not to mention that they were just two little children.
But it's better than nothing.
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