Chapter 347 Doji and Grandma
The young man led Yun Chen and the other three for a long time and came to the most remote tent in the entire tribe.
Unlike other tents that are tall and thick with three passages and four connections, this tent has only two rooms and is as small as the boy in front of him.
The tent was low and shabby, with a dim lantern hanging on the door and the roof covered with various patches.
There was no big horse shed or cow shed next to the tent, but only a small sheep pen where a lamb was bleating non-stop and eating thin grass.
The young man rushed into the sheepfold, quickly hugged the lamb and gave it a kiss, then ran to the door of the tent, opened the curtain with one hand, and greeted Yun Chen and the other three warmly with the other hand:
"Be my guest! Be my guest!"
At this time, an old woman in a worn cotton-padded jacket walked out of the tent and said to Yun Chen and the others in fluent Nan dialect:
"It's a cold night, go into the tent and sleep. You gave too much gold."
The night was dark and the lights were dim. Yun Chen and the others could not see the old grandmother's expression, but they could feel her kindness from her kind tone.
The old lady, like the young man, was of a thin stature, which was rare in Luojiang, and did not look threatening at all.
In addition, the four of them were so cold that their hands and feet were numb, and they had no time to care about too much. They quickly lowered their heads and bent down to get into the tent.
The tent was not big to begin with, and now with the sudden appearance of four big "men", it was so crowded that it was impossible to turn around. Yun Chen could only put on a fierce look and said to Huo Gannian and the other two:
"Slaves don't deserve to sleep in tents! Get out!"
After hearing this, the old grandmother hurried forward to stop Yun Chen from speaking.
But her action to stop him was neither scolding nor persuading. Instead, she gently hugged Yun Chen's shoulders with both hands as if he were her own grandson, and said lovingly:
"Good boy, don't be like this. We can sleep in the small tent next to it. Slaves are also human beings. Let them sleep there."
This meant that the four of them would have to spend the night separately. Yun Chen looked around warily.
Inside the tent were two low couches, one large and one small, with patched thin quilts piled on top. There were also some daily necessities, and it looked like only the boy and the old woman lived here.
In the center of the tent was a stove and a pot. There was no weapon in the entire place, the only relatively lethal thing being a pair of fire tongs.
Yun Chen briefly let down his guard, exchanged glances with Huo Gannian and the other two, and then said:
"You bastards, it's a good deal! Go!"
The young man took Huo Gannian and the other two to a smaller tent nearby.
The three of them lay together. Although they couldn't straighten their legs, they were at least sheltered from the wind and snow. Compared to the snowy stable that was leaking wind from all sides, this place was like a palace.
Buyan's teeth finally stopped chattering. He said to Ye Yan, "You stay on guard for half the night, and I'll stay on guard for the rest of the night." Then he fell down and fell into a deep sleep.
Ye Yan asked Huo Gannian to go to sleep quickly, but Huo Gannian was not very reassured. Although he lay down, he kept listening to the noise next door.
In the next tent, the old lady brushed off the snow on Yun Chen, pulled her to the fire, and brought her a bowl of fragrant hot wine.
After settling Huo Gannian and the other two, the young man came back, took out beef jerky from a small wooden box, and stuffed it into Yun Chen's hand with a smile.
Yun Chen was not used to being treated so warmly by the people of Luojiang. The old grandmother saw her concerns and said with a smile:
"Thank you for the gold, but it's too much. No matter how much milk wine we give you, it won't be enough. I'll just give you some back if you come as a guest."
Yun Chen finally understood that the young man happily took the gold home, but his grandmother felt unworthy of it, so she asked the young man to go out and find the four of them, and invited them to stay overnight in her house as a reward.
The old lady gestured for Yun Chen to drink, "Drink it while it's hot, it will warm you up."
Yun Chen took a sip from the wine bowl. A spicy taste rushed to his head, but after it passed, he felt warm and sweet.
After drinking half a bowl, Yun Chen felt a little dizzy. It was really a strong liquor.
Seeing that Yun Chen didn't dare to drink, the boy threw himself into the old grandmother's arms like a spoiled child, mumbling a lot of complaints. The old grandmother laughed and said to Yun Chen:
"This is my grandson Doji. He's complaining that I made the wine too strong and you can't drink it."
After the old lady finished speaking, Doji took the kumis jug beside her and wanted to replace it with kumis for Yunchen, but she refused.
Under normal circumstances, she would never get drunk when she was on important business.
But now, looking at the harmless grandfather and grandson, thinking that Huo Gannian and the other two were right next door, and recalling the appearance of the Northern Expedition soldiers before their death, Yun Chen simply raised her head and drank the whole bowl of wine, which was so spicy that she frowned.
"I'm from the Nan Kingdom. Why... why dare you invite me into your tent? The Nan Kingdom and Luojiang are at war."
In just a blink of an eye, Yun Chen's speech became a little unsteady.
The old grandmother took out a half-sewn sheepskin jacket, put it on Doji to compare the size, and then, under the dim oil lamp, she squinted her eyes and began to sew stitch by stitch.
She sighed softly, "It's a war. Your son fights my son. No matter how you fight, they are all God's children. No one can defeat God's land and grassland, and no one can take them away."
Yun Chen was drunk, and with red eyes, he nodded:
"You're absolutely right. No one wins. On the battlefield... there are no winners."
The old grandmother could understand what Yun Chen said, but the young Doji could not.
Every time she said something, Doji would pester the old lady to translate it again.
Apparently, when he went to look for Yun Chen and the others just now, Doji had learned the word "be a guest" on the spot.
The old grandmother held Doji's little head in her hands and rested her head on Doji's forehead.
The grandfather and grandson talked for a while, and there was warmth and smiles in their eyes when they looked at each other.
Yun Chen looked at this scene and felt an indescribable complex and uncomfortable feeling in his heart. He was envious, lonely, and wanted to cry for no reason.
Seeing that Yun Chen was drunk, the old grandmother helped her lie down, humming a song she couldn't understand, covering her with a quilt and touching her head.
Yun Chen was lying drowsy, and at the end of her sight, Doji's dark, freckled little face was squatting in front of her, baring his white teeth and smiling at her foolishly, as if making fun of her poor alcohol tolerance.
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