Chapter 47 Encouraging Agriculture and Sericulture (3)
To everyone's astonishment, the woman gave Li Xiaoxiao the wild vegetable dumplings that her husband and daughter had made. Li Xiaoxiao then gave her two white steamed buns and invited the family of three to squat down and eat together.
A strange thing happened: the scene seemed to split into two factions. One faction was the stunned Meng Guanqi and his group, and the other faction was Li Xiaoxiao and the refugee family of three, who were calmly eating steamed buns and vegetable dumplings.
Ah Sheng watched as Li Xiaoxiao ate the dumplings with great relish, and couldn't help but swallow hard. He tugged at Meng Guanqi's sleeve and whispered, "Young Master, are those dumplings really that delicious? Sister Xiaoxiao is eating them so heartily~"
Is it delicious? Meng Guanqi was in a daze. He couldn't even swallow. He thought Li Xiaoxiao was coming to his rescue, but who knew that after finishing the remaining half, she wasn't satisfied and even exchanged two more with someone else. She ate with great joy, as if she were really savoring a delicious treat.
Tian Lizheng stared in horror at Li Xiaoxiao, who was squatting with the refugees eating vegetable dumplings. She was truly a ruthless person. He knew all too well how pungent these vegetable dumplings were, yet she ate them with such relish. Not only had she helped the magistrate's son out of a predicament, but she had also taken care of the feelings of the refugee family of three. Most people couldn't do that.
Magistrate Meng looked at her with astonishment. Under those circumstances, Meng Guanqi had to finish the dumplings in his hand before he could leave, but he also knew that his son was precious and that he certainly couldn't swallow such coarse grains.
He didn't expect Li Xiaoxiao to be so quick-witted as to step forward and help Meng Guanqi out of the predicament. Moreover, her way of helping out was also very clever. Not only did she finish Meng Guanqi's dumplings without changing her expression, but she also used steamed buns to exchange for the remaining dumplings from the family and ate them with great relish.
She's a sensible person; no wonder her son insists on keeping her by his side.
Magistrate Meng was very satisfied. His son needed such a clever follower by his side. Although Asheng was also very loyal, he was still a bit too young to think of so much.
Seeing how much she was enjoying her food, everyone present became hungry. Magistrate Meng took the lead and sat down by the field ridge, also taking out his own dry rations to eat.
Because he had come to the field unexpectedly and was unprepared, Magistrate Meng even instructed Zhao Jian to give him a steamed bun.
A group of people sat in a circle in the field, all eating steamed buns.
As everyone ate together, the woman and her family of three finally relaxed and began to nibble on their steamed buns.
Li Xiaoxiao finished the vegetable dumplings, but she was still a little hungry because she wasn't full.
Actually, the vegetable dumplings really didn't taste good; they were bitter and astringent, and the bran residue was quite coarse. But she respected all the food in this world; she could accept sweet, bitter, astringent, and coarse foods, and didn't find them particularly unpalatable. She tilted her head and looked at Qifeng Mountain beside her. Back then, in order to restore her supernatural abilities and unlock the necklace, she had even gone into the mountains to find beast blood, swallowing it raw for many days before obtaining the medicine to save Magistrate Meng. So what were these purely vegetarian vegetable dumplings compared to that?
Thinking of this, she suddenly remembered: "By the way, Tian Lizheng, do you know where the old hunter in Hedong Village lives?"
Tian Lizheng was taken aback: "Old hunter? You mean Old Zhou?"
Li smiled and said, "The one who knows how to tan leather has a son named Daqing."
Tian Lizheng suddenly realized: "That's Old Zhou's house. Go east from here, it's the house to the left of the big banyan tree. But young man, what do you need the old hunter for?"
Li Xiaoxiao was dressed as a servant, with slightly dark skin, so Tian Lizheng didn't realize she was a woman.
Li smiled and said, "I had a piece of leather tanned by him a few months ago, but I haven't had a chance to pick it up. It just so happens that I'm here in Hedong Village now, so I can go and get it from him."
Tanori Tadashi said, "It's noon now, he should be home. You can just go and find him."
Li Xiaoxiao stood up and said to Meng Guanqi, "Young master, I would like to go to the old hunter's house."
Meng Guanqi felt unwell from the sun and was a little dizzy, but he didn't dare to say that he was uncomfortable and wanted to leave the sun with Li Xiaoxiao. So when Li Xiaoxiao asked him, he looked at Magistrate Meng with longing eyes.
Magistrate Meng knew his son had never experienced such hardship. In fact, he himself was finding it difficult to bear under the scorching sun, let alone his son, who was still just a child. So he nodded and said, "Go ahead if you want to. Go directly to Tian Lizheng's house in an hour and meet us there." He still had more than a dozen households to visit.
Meng Guanqi nodded, then pulled Ah Sheng and Li Xiaoxiao away.
The midday sun was scorching hot. Even though he was wearing a veil, Meng Guanqi was still sweating profusely and just wanted to find a cool place to stay.
Neither Li Xiaoxiao nor Asheng wore hats. Asheng looked a bit wilted from the sun, but Li Xiaoxiao was full of energy and not afraid of being exposed to the scorching sun at all.
Ah Sheng was truly impressed by her boundless energy: "Sister Xiaoxiao, how can I become as unafraid of the sun as you?"
Li Xiaoxiao was taken aback and glanced at the sun in the sky: "Is it very hot? Is it alright?" In her opinion, even under such a scorching sun, the temperature was probably only around thirty-one or thirty-two degrees Celsius. Compared to the high temperatures of fifty or sixty degrees Celsius in the apocalypse, she certainly didn't care about this kind of sun.
Seeing Meng Guanqi panting even while wearing a hat, she was a little worried: "Young master, getting some sun is good for your health. You're covered up so much, you're more likely to get heatstroke."
Before she could finish speaking, Meng Guanqi stumbled and fell straight to the ground.
Li Xiaoxiao and Asheng were shocked and rushed forward to help him up. Upon closer inspection, they found that the young man was pale and covered in sweat, and had actually fainted from the heat.
Li Xiaoxiao immediately took off his hat, loosened his tightly buttoned collar, and pressed hard on his philtrum. Meng Guanqi frowned, groaned, but did not wake up. She immediately carried Meng Guanqi on her back and ran towards Hedong Village as fast as she could.
Ah Sheng followed behind in a panic, her voice trembling with tears: "Young Master has fainted from the heat, shouldn't we go find the Master?"
As Li Xiaoxiao ran, she said, "What's the use of going to find the adults? It's even hotter there, and there's no doctor there. We need to go to Hedong Village to see if there's a doctor there. Hurry up!"
Upon hearing this, Ah Sheng immediately ran ahead as fast as he could.
Li Xiaoxiao carried Meng Guanqi on her back and followed closely behind Asheng. They ran for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before they found the big banyan tree that Tian Lizheng had mentioned. Under the banyan tree, several old men and women were enjoying the cool air with palm-leaf fans. When they saw the three of them rushing over, they all looked at them in surprise.
Ah Sheng, panting heavily from running, cried out, "Quick! Our young master has fainted from the heat! Is there a doctor in your village?"
"Heatstroke?" The group of people who were cooling off immediately stood up. At this moment, Li Xiaoxiao had already run over carrying Meng Guanqi on her back. An old woman stepped forward, glanced at his face, and shouted, "Tiedan, quickly bring over a bowl of cooling herbal tea. Someone here has heatstroke."
The remaining elderly people all came over to help, helping Meng Guanqi to sit on a stone bench under the banyan tree and fanning him with their tattered palm-leaf fans.
Li Xiaoxiao let Meng Guanqi lean against her, then reached into Meng Guanqi's sleeve and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat.
Before long, a five or six-year-old boy, his skin tanned dark from the sun, appeared under the banyan tree with a bamboo tube in his hand. The old woman took it from him and tried to feed it to Meng Guanqi: "Quick, drink this herbal tea. It's to cool you down."
Ah Sheng immediately took it, drank a couple of sips himself, and felt refreshed before confidently handing the bamboo tube to Meng Guanqi's lips.
Meng Guanqi had actually regained some consciousness and opened her mouth to drink the herbal tea that was offered to her.
Several elderly people were fanning him with fans.
A short while later, Meng Guanqi opened his eyes. The bowl of cool, bitter tea seemed to have extinguished the fire in his body immediately. His breathing returned to normal, and his head was no longer so dizzy.
It was Meng Guanqi's first time accompanying her father to the countryside, and she had actually fainted from the heat. Feeling quite ashamed, she whispered, "I'm much better now, thank you..."
When the old couple saw that he was awake and blushing as he apologized, they immediately waved their hands and said, "Don't thank me, it's just a bowl of herbal tea."
"Yes, young master, where are you from? Why are you wearing so many clothes in this heat? You're likely to get heatstroke."
"This young master is so fair-skinned, he must never have been in the sun. People who have never been in the sun are most afraid of the sun. They can't be in the sun for too long, or they'll get heatstroke..."
Ah Sheng quickly replied on his behalf, "Thank you, sirs and aunties. We came from the county town. It was the young master's first time being out in the sun, and he was caught off guard, which is why he suffered heatstroke..."
The woman delivering the herbal tea immediately asked, "What brings you here?"
Ah Sheng looked at Li Xiaoxiao, who said, "I came to see Lao Zhou. I asked him to tan a piece of skin a few months ago..."
Old Zhou was a well-known hunter in the village, and the older women immediately recognized him. It was the woman who delivered the herbal tea, with her particularly loud voice, who immediately called out in one direction, "Chrysanthemum, Chen Chrysanthemum, you have a guest!"
A small courtyard gate in front of the banyan tree creaked open, and a woman in an apron came out: "Where did you come from, guest?"
Li Xiaoxiao helped Meng Guanqi to her feet: "Auntie, it's me. I asked Old Zhou to make a wolf skin a few months ago, but I haven't had time to come yet. Has he finished making it?"
Wolf skin?! Chen Juhua immediately became excited: "You, it's your wolf skin?"
Old Zhou and his son Daqing had been talking about the girl who killed the wolf for a long time... but she immediately realized something and frowned, saying, "That's not right, Old Zhou said the one who killed the wolf was the county magistrate's young lady..."
Li smiled and said, "I am the young lady~"
The elderly people watching were startled. After looking at Li Xiaoxiao carefully for a while, they realized that she was wearing the servant's clothes.
"It's a young lady, why is she dressed like that?"
"You've gotten so tanned, I didn't even notice!"
"I really didn't notice until you pointed it out..."
Li Xiaoxiao: ……
Chen Juhua said repeatedly, "Young lady, please come in, please come inside. I'll ask my grandson to go and call Old Zhou back; he's in the fields."
Li Xiaoxiao thanked the elderly couple who helped her and then helped Meng Guanqi into Chen Juhua's house.
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