Chapter 143 Let’s have a picnic
After Hao Ren finished adding clothes to Su Zhizhi, he turned around to add clothes to Xue Che, but saw that Xue Che had already put on his cotton jacket and fluffy hat.
Xue Che: "Chang'an is also cold in the winter. In the past, I used to wear a cloak in addition to a cotton robe when I went out."
When Hao Ren saw the hat on Xue Che's head, he seemed to be reminded and decisively took out a rabbit fur hat from the suitcase and put it on his daughter's head.
The rabbit fur hat was handmade by Lu Chunniang. There are two ropes on the hat to adjust the tightness. It is very warm after tying the ropes.
"It's not like Lingnan here. It's easy to catch a cold when the wind blows, so you have to cover yourself up."
As soon as Hao Ren finished speaking, he sneezed.
Su Zhizhi, who was wearing a rabbit fur hat, giggled and found a large mink hat for Hao Ren to put on.
"Dad should wear more clothes too."
Hao Ren adjusted his hat and forced a helpless smile like an old father taking care of a child alone.
Their carriages followed the team escorting military uniforms and traveled quickly every day.
As we head north, the weather gets colder every two or three days.
Xue Che was okay, as he was calmer, but Su Zhizhi was very active and couldn't stay in the carriage for long.
When the team was resting, Su Zhizhi would come down to play with insects, pick up leaves and stones; when on the march, Su Zhizhi would go out to drive horses and ride horses, and chat with the soldiers in the team.
In short, she never has a moment to spare.
She was getting in and out of the carriage, her face sometimes feeling cold from the wind, sometimes sweating all over, and her clothes were always covered with dust and insects.
Hao Ren scolded Su Zhizhi many times with a stern face, but he could not control her restless temper.
On the way, Hao Ren missed Yingniang's iron-fisted approach very much.
This kid really needs a beating sometimes.
Hao Ren saw Zhizhi holding a wooden box and putting the "treasure" she picked up into it.
Su Zhizhi held the box and said, "Mom, there are still many villagers who didn't come with us. They have never been here before. I will pick up some things on the road and show them to them."
"Okay, Dad understands Zhizhi's intentions, but—"
Hao Ren pressed his brows.
"—Why are you picking up dirt?"
There was still a piece of soil in the box.
His daughter even picks up dirt??!
Su Zhizhi's reasons are very sufficient:
"Because the soil here is different from the soil in Black Bandit Mountain."
Xue Che became interested, put down the book and asked, "What's the difference?"
Su Zhizhi showed the box to Xue Che:
"The soil at home is a little red, but the soil here is really yellow."
Su Zhizhi had never left Lingnan before, and she thought that the soil in the world was the same. Only after she came out did she discover that the soil had different colors.
Xue Che leaned over to take a look and found that the soil here was indeed yellower:
"Then what are you picking up these leaves for?"
Su Zhizhi picked up a narrow leaf:
"The leaves on our Black Bandit Mountain are bigger and rounder than the ones here. The leaves here are much narrower, and there are red and purple leaves..."
"No wonder Master Qiu always said that different places have different climates. The wind here is so strong, and the soil is so yellow. It's really different from Baiyun County."
Su Zhizhi closed the box and stuffed it under the carriage seat.
You can learn something by reading thousands of books, and you can also learn a lot by traveling thousands of miles.
Boom boom boom!
Someone knocked outside the carriage:
"It's getting dark. They should be setting up camp and resting in half an hour. What would Zhizhi and Ache like to eat today?"
Su Zhizhi stuck her head out again and saw Aunt Qiu and Uncle Ni standing outside:
"Aunt Qiu, I want to drink pork bone soup today."
Qiu Jinyu pushed Su Zhizhi's head back into the carriage window:
"I know. It's cold outside. Sit inside."
There are a total of ten people from Black Bandit Mountain this time:
Hao Ren, Su Zhizhi, Xue Che, Wei Dashuan, Qin Xiao, Hua Erniang, Doctor Yu, Song Yu, Qiu Jinyu, and Ni Tianji.
There were ten people in the group, three carriages and four horses, which was quite a sight.
Song Yu arranged everything in the ink workshop in advance and wanted to go to the northwest to visit the Song family members who were exiled.
Qiu Jinyu originally didn't say she wanted to go, but a few days before leaving, she found Hao Ren and said that she wanted to go with him.
The kitchen now has sufficient staff. Aunt Cuihua is very capable and familiar with the procedures, so she can temporarily take charge of the village's food supply.
As for Ni Tianji, if Qiu Jinyu said she wanted to leave, he would naturally follow her. After all, he didn't have much work to do delivering food and other things up and down the mountain.
Because when Old Man Qin was teaching Murong Di the art of mechanisms, he accidentally designed a mechanism that could transport things remotely.
The craftsmen in the village modified it into an extra-long zipline that could be used to transport things up and down the mountain, so that Ni Tianji didn't have to fly back and forth all day long.
"I'm looking for ingredients for pork bone soup." Qiu Jinyu returned to the carriage at the back and rummaged through the box.
They did not compromise on this trip. In addition to bringing money and clothes, they also brought a lot of dry food.
When Qiu Jinyu was in Heifei Mountain, she was reluctant to throw away the excess soup, so she boiled down the soup or sauce until the juice was dry, and finally condensed it into chunks of sauce, which she then dried in the sun and turned into powder.
Whenever they cooked food in the wild during the trip, they just had to put a packet of powder in, and the boiled water would immediately have the delicious taste of a thick soup.
“Whoa—”
The team in front stopped, and the carriages and horses from Liangmin Village behind also stopped.
Everyone acted quickly and cooperated well.
Ni Tianji used his Qinggong skills to look for water sources everywhere, Song Yu and Hao Ren collected firewood to make a fire, Qiu Jinyu prepared the food, Wei Dashuan and Qin Xiao checked the condition of the carriage and the horseshoe nails.
Doctor Yu treated the headaches and fevers of the soldiers who lined up to see him, while Hua Erniang patrolled around and told everyone which wild grasses and fruits on the roadside were not to be eaten.
Su Zhizhi and Xue Che hurried to find the forest to relieve themselves, and surprisingly, yet normally, they caught a pheasant or a rabbit as a snack.
Following the marching team, the two children's defecation time became very regular, and there was no time to stop on the road during the day for them to relieve themselves.
Captain Zhou and Qin Yuan walked through the ranks of soldiers for inspection. Captain Zhou sighed repeatedly, "I never thought that Liangmin Village would be so full of talented people."
At first he didn't understand why Qin Yuan wanted the people from Liangmin Village to follow him. Wouldn't this just be a bunch of extra burdens?
Now looking at it this way, these people from Liangmin Village can be of great help.
Not only can it treat the soldiers in the team, but it can also find water sources as quickly as possible so that the brothers can rest in time.
"Lord Qin, your opinion is profound." Captain Zhou clasped his fists towards Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan smiled awkwardly and replied, "Thank you, thank you."
He didn't expect this to happen.
He didn't want to agree at first, but with Qin Xiao around, he had to agree even if he didn't want to.
There is no way, in front of his grandfather, he will always have to be a grandson.
Captain Zhou then asked, "Why aren't the entourage from before, Lord Qin, on the same journey?"
Qin Yuan replied calmly, "I bought some local specialties in Lingnan and sent him back to the capital to let my wife and children know I'm safe."
Captain Zhou clapped his hands regretfully, "Master Qin, if you had told me earlier, I would have bought some local specialties to take back with me. If I had known, I would have sent them back to Chang'an as well."
Qin Yuan: "Hehe."
In just half a cup of tea, Ni Tianji had already flown back on the treetops and landed gracefully in front of Qiu Jinyu, with the two large water bags in his hands filled to the brim.
"There's a lake half a mile southwest where you can get water."
Ni Tianji pointed in a direction, and many soldiers took their water bags and headed southwest.
"Aqiu, is this water enough? If not, I'll go get more." Ni Tianji handed the water bag to Qiu Jinyu.
Qiu Jinyu took the heavy water bag and continued to order him around naturally: "That's enough. Use these first, then you can fill it with water for tonight and tomorrow. Now go to the carriage and help get the bowls."
Ni Tianji was ordered around, but he didn't show any displeasure at all. Instead, a look of happiness appeared on his face.
He thought this was great, just like an ordinary old couple, working and eating together.
Hao Ren and Song Yu had already started a fire.
They put a pot filled with water on the stove and when the water boils, add the soup packet.
Qiu Jinyu then put in all the dried noodles, fried tofu skin, fried pork skin, meat jerky and other things from the village.
Hua Er Niang took a few washed mushrooms and threw them into the soup pot.
"We'll be ready to eat soon." Qiu Jinyu invited everyone to sit over.
Hao Ren turned around and looked: "Zhizhi and Ache haven't come back yet?"
Wei Dashuan: "I saw the two children not far away, they seemed to be at the edge of the woods."
As soon as Wei Dashuan finished speaking, Su Zhizhi rushed out from the woods.
He did not rush towards the boiling pot, but towards Doctor Yu who was treating the soldiers.
"Doctor Yu! Doctor Yu!" Su Zhizhi's voice was a little anxious.
She ran to Doctor Yu, but her voice became softer: "Doctor Yu, A Che..."
Doctor Yu was examining a soldier's festering wound and didn't bend down to listen:
"What? What happened to him?"
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