Chapter 117
The place Yue Wen found was a mountain village not far from the capital. They did not walk fast on the road. Even with An Ning and Anyi's care, they could see that Shen Jin was getting thinner and thinner, especially now that she was pregnant, which made people feel worried.
By the time the six of them arrived at the place Yue Wen had arranged in advance, it was already late autumn. Shen Jin was nearly five months pregnant. The mountain village that Yue Wen found was not rich, and it even took a day to walk to the nearest town. He chose this place because it was the safest place near the capital. The Prince of England was no longer able to lead his troops to attack the capital. The only one who had the strength to do such a thing was Chu Xiuming. The Chu family's army would never do such a heinous thing.
Emperor Cheng would not care about such a remote place, where even tax collectors don't like to come.
It was Shen Jin who suggested finding this place. Chu Xiuming had given her a lot of such things in the past, and the map near the capital was of utmost importance. Shen Jin only gave an approximate location and was not sure whether the village still existed. Who knew that Yue Wen and his men actually found it after searching for several days.
The carriage could not pass as the mountain roads here were very rugged. When the carriage was in the town, the horse and the carriage were sold together. Yue Wen bought a donkey and a lot of daily necessities. It was Shen Jin's first time to ride in a donkey cart as there were a lot of things on the cart, so An Ning and Anyi walked there by themselves.
Yue Wen brought two guards, one codenamed Jiayi and the other Jiasi. Jiasi was a little fat, looked festive and kind, so Yue Wen asked Jiasi and An Yi to pack up first and also delivered a batch of things. Shen Jin and the others rested in the town for a day before slowly walking towards the mountain village.
Because Shen Jin was pregnant, she walked very slowly. They set out before dawn, and it was dark when they arrived. Shen Jin didn't see the whole picture of the village clearly, but the yard had been tidied up. There was a kang in the yard, and at least the bedding and other things were complete. However, because there were only two rooms that could accommodate people, Shen Jin, An Ning and Anyi shared one room, and Yue Wen and the other three shared one room. Because the kang was quite big, even if two more people slept in it it would not be crowded, and everyone had their own bedding.
Shen Jin didn't complain. An Yi had already boiled some hot water and helped Shen Jin wash up. After having a bowl of chicken noodle soup and taking some pregnancy-preserving medicine, Shen Jin went to sleep first. An Yi and An Ning still had to tidy up their things. They moved very quietly and Shen Jin was very tired. He didn't even know when they came up to sleep.
When she woke up the next day, Shen Jin found that the beddings of the two beds next to her had been tidied, and there were voices coming from outside. The voices didn't sound like An Yi and the others. Shen Jin rubbed her head and got up. Clothes had been placed next to her. Shen Jin changed her clothes and put on blue-gray cloth shoes. Then she slowly walked out with one hand on her belly and the other on her waist. She didn't know why, but after she got pregnant this time, she felt sore in her waist. An Ning helped to rub it twice but it didn't work.
When he opened the door, he saw a middle-aged woman in blue cloth talking to An Yi. The voice Shen Jin heard just now was from her. When An Yi saw Shen Jin coming out, she hurried over to help her and said, "Second sister, go in and rest first. I'll ask An Ning to get you some water."
They had agreed that An Yi would address them like this. It would be too conspicuous, so they just pretended to be three sisters. An Yi was the oldest, so she was naturally the eldest sister, while Shen Jin was the second, and the youngest was An Ning.
"Oh, this must be the second sister of the An family." The middle-aged woman said with a smile when she saw Shen Jin, and her eyes swept over Shen Jin's belly.
Shen Jin smiled and said, "I don't know what to call you?"
The middle-aged woman said, "Just call me Mr. Zhang."
Shen Jin nodded, "Mrs. Zhang."
The middle-aged woman laughed and said, "I just came to say hello and ask if you need someone to wash clothes and cook? You all look more fresh than the other, but the water here is cold..."
An Yi was a little annoyed. This person didn't understand how to say no. He had been here since dawn. At first, An Yi and her friends wanted to build good relationships in the village. After all, they were outsiders. If anything happened, the people here wouldn't help them. But they couldn't get through to them. An Ning was so annoyed that she hid in the kitchen. Jia Yi and Jia Er went to the town to buy things according to the list written by An Yi and her friends, while Yue Wen went to the mountains to get firewood. "We really don't need it, Mrs. Zhang. We can do it ourselves."
"That's not right..." Mrs. Zhang said in a loud voice, ignoring An Yi's blunt refusal, "Besides, if you want to wash clothes, you can only go to the river over there, and you don't know which piece is yours..."
An Yi had actually understood it a long time ago. This person just wanted to take advantage of her. Shen Jin felt uncomfortable and felt a headache from this person's voice. When he saw An Ning coming over, he said directly, "An Ning, go call Yue Wen back and invite the village chief."
"Yes." An Ning wiped her hands, took the basin in her hand and said, "Husband... Second sister, you go in first."
Shen Jin nodded and looked at Mrs. Zhang again, "Sister-in-law, you go back first and wait for the village chief to come. If the village really has this rule, then ask the village chief to give us only one piece."
"I just have good intentions..." Mrs. Zhang said unwillingly.
Shen Jin narrowed her eyes. Her thoughts were different from An Yi's. No matter how kind they were, they were outsiders to the people in this village. Besides, they didn't want to live here forever. She said directly, "An Ning, ask them to leave."
"Yes." An Ning no longer hesitated and said directly, "Please come in."
Seeing this, Mrs. Zhang snorted coldly and said, "Don't regret it."
An Ning's expression didn't change at all. Mrs. Zhang turned around and left. She even spat at the door. An Ning closed the door in front of her, then looked at Shen Jin and asked, "Madam, are you still calling me village chief?"
"Call." Shen Jin said, "Call Yue Wen first."
An Ning quickly agreed and said, "Then I will go, Madam, please close the door."
Shen Jin listened to An Ning's address, smiled helplessly and nodded. After An Ning left, An Yi locked the door from the inside, and then helped Shen Jin in. After Shen Jin finished washing up and had a small bowl of chicken porridge, Yue Wen and An Ning also came back. Yue Wen changed into brown clothes, and the whole person looked gray. After An Yi opened the door and let the two people in, An Ning went to bring water for Yue Wen to wash his hands. Yue Wen said, "Madam, I will go and ask the village chief to come."
"No hurry." Shen Jin said, "Eat something first."
Yue Wen agreed, and An Ning went to the kitchen to bring him porridge and pancakes, which she had made in the morning. When Jia Yi and the others left, they also ate this kind of pancakes on the road. Because the house was not fully stocked, they only rolled them with fried cabbage and pickles.
After Yue Wen finished eating, Shen Jin also finished using it. An Yi and An Ning used it in the morning. Yue Wen went to ask the village chief. An Yi asked, "Wait until Madam has rested..."
"From now on, just call me what we have agreed upon, even in private." Shen Jin said.
An Yi heard this and said, "Yes."
Shen Jin looked at An Ning and said, "An Ning?"
"Yes." An Ning also responded, blushed and called out, "Second sister."
Shen Jin smiled with eyes curved, less innocent and more charming, "I've got it in mind."
An Yi asked, "Second sister, is this okay? After all, we are outsiders..."
"It's because we are outsiders." Shen Jin moved his waist slightly and said, "We don't have that much time to get along with them. It's better to make them afraid of us and dare not provoke us."
An Yi was stunned for a moment and said, "I was wrong."
Shen Jin shook her head. In fact, it was not that An Yi was thinking wrong, but that the two of them grew up in different environments. Even if Shen Jin was a concubine, she was also a concubine of the royal palace. What about An Yi? Although she was a lady of an official family, because her family was confiscated, she grew up in a place like the Jiaofang since she was a child. The people she dealt with were all higher than her status. Not only could she not offend anyone, but she also learned to serve others. Even though she had traveled all the way to the border town because she wanted to protect the child in her belly, the first thing she thought of when encountering things was to be kind to others.
This is not a bad thing, but it is not suitable for use in a place like this.
Since An Yi had figured it out, Shen Jin stopped talking. An Ning looked around the room and said, "Second sister, I'll make you some cushions in the next two days so you can lean on them more comfortably."
"Okay." Shen Jin agreed and said, "No rush."
An Ning responded with a smile. Just as she was about to say something, she saw that Yue Wen had already invited the village chief. In fact, the village chief was only in his forties, but he looked like he was in his fifties. His clothes were patched and the shoes on his feet could not be seen in their original color.
Yue Wen asked everyone to sit down, and An Ning went to pour water. She used a large bowl, put the tea in it and poured boiling water directly into it, and then poured some sugar into it. This was Yue Wen's special instruction. People here like to drink tea this way. After serving it, the old village chief was not afraid of the heat and took a sip. An Yi helped Shen Jin out. An Yi told Shen Jin what happened today, and then said, "We sisters mean that if there is such a rule, we will naturally abide by it."
The old village chief cursed Zhang Dajia in his heart, for he hadn't even figured out who the person was yet he came to their house and did such a thing.
Shen Jin said, "Village Chief, I won't hide it from you. After I give birth to the baby, someone will come to pick it up naturally. We will live here for a year at most. Living in the village will inevitably trouble the village chief. After we leave, this yard will be regarded as a gift to the village chief."
As soon as these words came out, the village chief's eyes lit up and he looked at Shen Jin. Yue Wen had bought this yard in the beginning, and later renovated it. Shen Jin glanced at An Ning, who smiled and took out a piece of silver, then pinched it with two fingers in front of the village chief, and it looked like she had squashed the silver without much effort, and then put it on the table next to the village chief. Shen Jin said as if he hadn't seen these things, "I'll trouble the village chief for the rest."
The village chief swallowed his saliva, without taking his eyes off the silver, and quickly put it away and said, "It's no trouble, no trouble, just tell me if you need anything."
Shen Jin looked at An Yi, and An Yi said, "Then please trouble the village chief to buy a few hens for us... all at the market price, and the extra ones will be considered as gifts to the village chief.
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