Chapter 31
Before Shu Shouyi knew it, Xun Yi had picked him up.
This was the first time the little boy had been held in the arms of someone so tall.
Normally, when he looked at Uncle Xun, he thought he was very tall and strong, but now, sitting in his arms, he felt that he had also grown from a short radish into a big tree.
marvelous!
Shu Shouyi was carried by Xun Yi to the entrance of Wuli Village, and Xun Yi did not switch arms with him at all.
He put the person down under a tree at the village entrance and looked at Shu Wanxiu, saying, "I won't go in."
His eyes were clear and bright, with a lively spirit.
Shu Wanxiu stared at him, and suddenly became speechless, forgetting what she was going to say.
"aunt."
Shu Shouyi's buttocks were numb from sitting so long. When he was finally put down, the first thing he did was to take Shu Wanxiu's hand.
Standing next to Shu Wanxiu, Shu Shouyi mustered enough courage to look up at Xun Yi and say, "Uncle Xun, thank you."
These actions and words brought Shu Wanxiu back to her senses. She quickly shifted her gaze to the side, and after feeling uneasy for a moment, she steadied her voice and invited her back.
"Now that we're here, Brother Xun, please come with us to your uncle's house for a bowl of tea."
“My uncle and aunt are always very warm and welcoming. My two cousins will also be home. With so many people around, you don’t need to feel uncomfortable.”
Shu Wanxiu's invitation was sincere, but also tinged with a bit of guilt.
She thought Xun Yi would only help carry Shu Shouyi for a short distance intermittently, but she never expected that he would not let Shu Shouyi get down to walk for the next few miles.
She didn't even notice until now that Xun Yi had sweat on his temples.
"No, thank you."
Few people go out on snowy days, but if you do run into someone, there's a risk of rumors spreading, which could damage a woman's reputation.
Xun Yi took this into consideration, which is why he only escorted them to the village entrance.
He didn't explain much, glanced at the two of them, and turned to wave.
"They're gone."
A gust of wind blew, and snow fell from the trees, pattering into Shu Wanxiu's collar.
She couldn't help but flinch, and when she looked up again, Xun Yi had already turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
"Then let's go too."
The road from the village entrance to his uncle's house was a bit long, but Shu Shouyi walked happily, his steps uneven, and he didn't mention carrying him again.
When the two arrived at Shu Yanrong's house, it was still an hour or two before noon.
"Auntie? Uncle?" Shu Wanxiu called out as she entered the courtyard.
Soon someone opened the door to the main room.
It wasn't Shu Yanrong or Xu Zhen, but Shu Tingyi.
She looked at Shu Wanxiu with a gaping mouth in astonishment.
"Sister Wanxiu?"
"No, didn't my dad say he'd pick you up this afternoon?"
After entering the house, the two sides exchanged information, and Shu Wanxiu felt that the person who told her uncle the news in the snow must be Xun Yi.
But that's not very important.
Anyway, her uncle knew the news before she did, which really relieved her.
...
Shu Yanrong's house was very lively, after all, even though there weren't many adults at home, there were still four or five children.
Shu Shouyi was having so much fun with them that he completely forgot about home.
Shu Wanxiu watched them play with a smile. Not long after, Xu Zhen, who had gone out with her two daughters-in-law to visit neighbors and borrow grain bags, returned.
She asked Shu Wanxiu with concern how she got here, then sat down beside her and chatted with her for a long time.
By noon, the children who had been playing wildly had grown tired of it, and the adults who had been chatting had run out of things to say. The whole house sat listlessly around the fire pit, finally seeing the return of Shu Yanrong and his son.
After walking through the freezing cold for so long, their lips were purple from the cold. When they entered the room, no one asked them about their rations. Instead, they all stood up and gave them the best spots to warm themselves by the fire.
After a long while, having warmed themselves up and drunk hot water, the two of them regained their composure and began to tell each other the results they had found out.
"That news is true."
"I heard that the county government has sent people to each village to spread the word. By this afternoon at the latest, the refugees in each village will have received the message."
"It's over!"
Xu Zhen clapped her hands and slumped into a chair.
"If the county government is handling this this way, wouldn't it be a waste of our time if we knew about it in advance?"
That's true.
I originally intended to seize the initiative and prepare more thoroughly than others.
As a result... everyone will know this news today.
Everyone fell silent.
Only Shu Yanrong, who had long since accepted reality, offered a word of comfort: "It's only natural, take it easy."
Since the county magistrate was able to stand in the refugees' shoes and help them request permission to provide three months' worth of relief grain, it was only natural that he would inform all the refugees of this news.
As for how all the refugees will receive good food, that's a matter of skill and ability for each individual.
Shu Wanxiu repeated Xun Yi's idea of staying at an inn, clearly analyzing the pros and cons, and asked them how they would choose between spending money to buy food and staying at an inn.
Shu Yanrong silently dug at the ashes, and only after a long while, when Shu Wanxiu finished speaking, did he sigh and open his mouth.
"Grain prices... have gone up."
This is undoubtedly another piece of bad news.
The adults who didn't go to the county town felt a sudden weight lift from their hearts.
Shu Wanxiu's face was pale. After hesitating for a while, she finally made a sound.
"How much did it go up?"
"A bushel of rice now sells for two hundred coins."
Shu Chenglin's wife shrieked, "How come the price has increased by fifty coins in less than a month?!"
Shu Yanrong touched his face. "This year, with both war and disasters, grain prices were already unstable. The price dropped a while ago because of the good harvest. But after the weather got cold, the price kept rising. Didn't it snow these past two days? I heard that such heavy snow is rare in Fangyuan County, and grain prices have risen to an unbelievable level because of it."
At this grain price, even if you save the money you would spend on staying at an inn, you wouldn't be able to buy much grain.
Even Shu Yanrong was dejected when this was mentioned.
Shu Wanxiu was also frustrated for a while, but quickly realized that this couldn't go on.
Her mind raced, and suddenly she came up with a compromise.
"Listen to me one more time."
After speaking loudly, seeing that everyone was looking over, she said, "We can accomplish great things with little money."
What does this mean? While everyone looked at each other in confusion, she continued to speak, explaining her specific thoughts in detail.
First, we need to split into two groups. Today, we will send two or three people to stay in the county town. They will spend a total of ten or twenty coins to stay in an inn for one night.
Before the city gates open tomorrow, the people staying at the inn will run to the county government office to queue up, while another group will set off from home early tomorrow morning, and must arrive before the city gates open.
Once the city gates opened, the second group rushed in with all their might to join the people who had been queuing up in front of the county government office.
The advantage is that, assuming everything goes smoothly, we can actually receive good food, and we don't have to wait in the snow for hours in advance.
The downside is that doing so will inevitably lead to arguments with others.
Shu Yanrong's forehead veins bulged, and after a long while, he said, "The idea isn't bad, let's do it this way."
Next, it needs to be decided who will be the first team to go to the county town.
"I want to take Shouyi with me today," Shu Wanxiu stated.
No one objected; they had confirmed that both sides' information came from Xun Yi.
If you want to save money when staying at an inn, you have to mention Xun Yi's name.
Only two members of their family had met Xun Yi once, so how could they possibly dare to give out his name at the inn?
Shu Yanrong simply said, "How about you have your eldest cousin accompany you?"
Between his two sons, he felt that his eldest son was older, but his temperament was not stable enough.
I didn't want to entrust the task of protecting Shu Wanxiu and the other two to Shu Chenglin, but he and his second brother had already made a trip to the county town today and suffered a lot. If they made two trips in a row, they might catch a cold.
Shu Wanxiu readily agreed.
However, the winter days are short, and Shu Chenglin's leg is not fully healed. If they want to reach the county town before the city gates are closed, they should set off immediately.
Shu Wanxiu took her money and food bag with her when she went out, so she could get up and leave immediately.
While Shu Chenglin was preparing his things, she reminded Shu Yanrong and the others that they should have a bowl of strong spicy soup before leaving the house the next morning.
The hardships of the journey to the county town need not be elaborated upon.
With the county town gates almost within reach, Shu Wanxiu felt like her ears were about to freeze off. She was just waiting for the guards to check their identities and let them pass. She immediately asked around to find out which street the Fulai Inn was on.
None of the three of them could read, so they couldn't recognize the signs hanging at the entrance of the shops.
Following the directions given by others, they arrived at a place that looked like an inn. The three of them stood at the door, mentally preparing themselves, before lifting the curtain and stepping inside one after another.
"Hello, innkeeper, is this the Fulai Inn?"
The woman behind the counter, fiddling with the abacus, was a middle-aged beauty with her hair styled in a bun. Shu Wanxiu felt that she looked familiar, so when she asked her a question, her voice was completely smooth.
"Yes." The innkeeper, who was a few feet taller than Shu Wanxiu, smiled and looked up. After seeing the three of them clearly, he asked, "Are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"
"We'd like to stay at your hotel. Do you have any rooms available in your large dormitory-style rooms that can accommodate twelve people?"
"Yes, it's ten coins per person, and the price is the same for children."
"But..." The female manager turned her gaze to Shu Wanxiu and kindly reminded her, "The dormitory-style rooms are mixed-gender, so you should think it over carefully."
Fame and chastity—these ephemeral things can indeed trap people.
But for Shu Wanxiu, whether she cares or not depends on the situation.
She doesn't usually get too close to men, partly because of her upbringing and partly because it's unnecessary.
But now they face the problem of rushing to get the food first.
Why did she steal the grain?
It's very simple, good food is more nourishing.
If they manage to secure good grain, her and Shu Shouyi's lives will be much easier in the coming months.
They could even make up for all the losses incurred on the journey of fleeing famine in one winter.
Having experienced the hardships of fleeing famine, in her heart, apart from life and death, food was the most important thing.
Although mixed-gender accommodation means sharing a room with a strange man, she has her brother to protect her, so there is no guarantee of safety.
There's also the point about damage to one's reputation.
There has to be someone who knows her and sees her living in the same house with a strange man before the news can spread and gossip spread, right?
Nobody here knows her, so how could this possibly spread? There's no need to worry about such things at all.
Shu Wanxiu thanked the female shopkeeper for her kindness. In short, she was willing to risk her reputation to secure the grain and save money.
Now that everything in the inn matched what Xun Yi had said, she felt much more at ease. Turning around, she looked around the shop and, seeing no one sitting, approached the counter and lowered her voice, saying, "We were introduced by Xun Yi. Is the price...?"
The female shopkeeper was slightly surprised, but quickly smiled and replied affirmatively, "Yes."
"Once you have paid your room fees, I will have a waiter take you to your rooms."
Shu Wanxiu took out twenty-four coins that she had counted out separately, counted them in front of the shopkeeper, and then placed them on the counter.
She waited for the shopkeeper to count again, but the shopkeeper simply flicked the coins in front of him with his pen and loudly called over a tall, muscular waiter.
"Take the three guests to room number two in the T-shaped building."
Shu Wanxiu led the somewhat reserved Shu Shouyi to catch up with the tall, muscular waiter, while Shu Chenglin lagged behind.
Led by the waiter, the group passed through the front hall and a courtyard, and entered the back hall.
"The three of you, your room is the one on the far right of this row."
After opening the door, he said to the group, "There are already three guests ahead of us, and these are the spots they have chosen. You can choose any of the remaining spots."
After looking around the room, Shu Wanxiu found that it was much better than she had expected.
Although it was a large dormitory room for twelve people, the room was not small or cramped.
The interior was spacious, bright and clean, even more so than her home halfway up the mountain.
The large communal sleeping area was lined with rows of low wooden planks. While these didn't guarantee privacy, they at least prevented others from rolling into your bed while you were sleeping.
Shu Wanxiu chose the empty bunk on the left against the wall, and Shu Shouyi and Shu Chenglin slept next to her in turn.
When the waiter was around, the three of them tried their best to maintain a composed demeanor. Only after the waiter left and there was no one else in the room did they start touching and looking around.
Shu Wanxiu opened the blankets of the three of them and found no fleas or other insects. She then touched the blankets to confirm that they were cotton blankets and that the mattresses underneath were also cotton mattresses, although they were relatively thin.
There was a thick layer of straw under the mattress, and when you pressed it down with your hand through the mattress, it felt soft and elastic.
These conditions are even more comfortable than her current home.
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