Min Yueqing gestured for Uncle Zhao to lead the carriages ahead first. They followed the two children and were about to move forward when Shi Tou brought Liu Dashan over.
Liu Dashan's face flushed red. He walked up to Liu Xiaoliu and stammered, "I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have scolded you, and I shouldn't have made them laugh at you too."
As soon as Liu Xiaowu saw him approaching, he instinctively pulled his younger brother back two steps, but they were stunned when they heard Liu Dashan apologizing.
Seeing this, Pei Ji was very pleased and said to Liu Dashan, "You must change your ways in the future and stop bullying others."
Liu Dashan was lectured twice by such a young child, and the child was even in the right, leaving him speechless. He could only bury his head like an ostrich, too ashamed to look up.
Stone then patted him on the back twice and said, "Let's go. Don't let me see you do this again next time."
Liu Dashan felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly ran away.
Min Yueqing and her two companions followed the Liu brothers home. As soon as they entered, they heard a woman's voice from inside the house: "Xiao Wu, is your brother alright? Did you bring him back?"
Liu Xiaowu answered loudly, "I brought it back, Mother! Come out quickly, we have many guests!"
Lady Liu was startled. What kind of guest had come at this time of year? She quickly put down the dishes she was holding and came out of the kitchen.
Seeing Min Yueqing and the others, Madam Liu felt even more flustered and said anxiously, "Could it be that the children are ignorant and offended the noble people? They certainly didn't mean it."
Upon hearing this, A-Zhu quickly smiled and said, "No, your two children are very sensible. We were just passing through and it's getting late, so we wanted to ask if it would be convenient for you to stay the night. We'll pay the same as if we stayed at an inn. We just wanted to ask if it's convenient for you?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Liu immediately breathed a sigh of relief and agreed, "It's convenient. There are a few rooms available at home, and we also have beds."
At this point, Madam Liu hesitated again, saying, "It's just that... we probably don't have that many quilts."
A-Zhu laughed and said, "That's alright, we have blankets in our carriage. But we have twenty-one people, so I wonder how many empty rooms you have?"
Lady Liu originally thought that these people would be the ones living there, and she even thought that her two sons would sleep with them, and her four daughters would sleep in one room, leaving three empty rooms, which would be enough.
Upon hearing that there were more than twenty people, he immediately waved his hands apologetically and said, "We only have three empty rooms, I'm afraid we can't accommodate so many people, I'm really sorry."
Min Yueqing had anticipated this. Ordinary households really couldn't accommodate so many people. If it were summer, it would be fine to sleep on the floor, but it was clearly not possible now.
Min Yueqing smiled and said, "It's alright, a few of us will stay here, and the rest of you can ask around. Do you know any other families nearby who have a lot of spare rooms?"
Having lived here for over a decade, Lady Liu was well-versed in the village's situation. Upon hearing the question from the distinguished guest, she quickly replied, "I know. Uncle Liu's family next door can also free up three rooms, and the house directly opposite mine is also large and can also free up three rooms."
Liu Xiaowu added, "Liu Dashan's house is also big."
Liu Niangzi smiled and said, "Of course, Liu Dashan's house is the village chief's house. The village chief's house is big, but there are also many people in the family. If we want to make room, we can still free up a few rooms."
A-Zhu asked, "Is the village chief's house far away?"
“It’s not far. Our Shangliu Village isn’t big. It’s not long to walk from one end of the village to the other. If you have a horse-drawn carriage, it will be even faster.”
Min Yueqing nodded, signaling Azhu to make the arrangements.
When Lady Liu saw that they really wanted to stay, she quickly welcomed them into the house and had them sit down. She then took her four daughters to clean the rooms. Two of the rooms were usually occupied and were not difficult to clean, but the last room, which was not usually occupied, needed to be tidied up properly.
Amo drove the carriage loaded with bedding and other items into the Liu family's courtyard. Seeing that the rooms had not yet been prepared, he waited in the carriage.
Just then, Liu Xiaoliu's voice rang out from the courtyard: "Dad!"
It turned out that Liu's father had returned. Liu's father's name was Liu San. As soon as he entered his own courtyard, he saw a luxurious carriage parked in the middle of the courtyard and almost thought he had entered the wrong house.
Just as Liu San was about to go back and take a look, he heard his youngest son calling, which confirmed that he hadn't gone to the wrong place. He put down the hoe on his shoulder, picked up his youngest son, and asked, "Whose carriage is this?"
Liu Xiaoliu excitedly took out a purse and handed it to him, answering a completely unrelated question: "A little brother gave me candy today, it was so delicious, Dad, look!"
Liu San took the purse and saw that it really was candy, and it was a very good quality candy. Just holding it, he could smell a sweet fragrance. He could never buy such high-end candy in his town.
Besides candy, they even have dried meat!
Liu San wasn't one of the two children. Just by looking at the color and texture, and then taking a sniff, he could tell that the small piece was dried meat. He just didn't know what kind of meat and seasoning it was made with, but it smelled wonderful.
Seeing that he was only looking at the food and not eating, Liu Xiaoliu got anxious and took a piece herself, stuffing it into her father's mouth, and asked, "Dad, is it delicious?"
With a piece of candy in his mouth, Liu San kissed his youngest son hard on the cheek. This kid was well-loved; he always thought of his father whenever there was something delicious to eat.
Liu Xiaoliu leaned on his father's shoulder and laughed heartily as he was kissed.
Liu San wasn't in the mood to laugh; he just wanted to know who had come to his house. He then asked his youngest son, "Where's your mother?"
Liu Xiaoliu pointed and said, "Look, it's over there."
Following his gesture, Liu San looked and saw that this was the only empty room in the house that had never been lived in. He carried Liu Xiaoliu inside.
"Wife, who has come to our house?" Liu San asked as soon as he saw Liu Niangzi.
Lady Liu replied carefully, "These are very distinguished guests. They are passing through our village and it's getting late, so they've brought some people to stay at our house for the night. There are more than twenty of them, and we can't accommodate them all, so the others have stayed at other houses."
Only then did Liu San understand the whole story.
Lady Liu thought for a moment and then added, "There is a noble lady sitting in the main room, along with a young master. Be careful not to offend such an important person."
Liu San is, after all, a grown man, so he should be careful.
Liu San asked in confusion, "Is this noble lady in charge? Isn't her husband here?"
"They're not here. If they don't say, we shouldn't ask too many questions. These people must be quite important. They look like the family members of some high-ranking official."
Liu San hurriedly said, "Of course, I was just asking you. You can't say such things when we get out."
With Liu San's help, the room was quickly tidied up. Liu Niangzi came to the main room and said to Min Yueqing somewhat reservedly, "Madam, the room is ready."
Min Yueqing smiled and thanked them, "Thank you for your help."
Lady Liu quickly waved her hand and said she didn't deserve it.
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