“Alright, Mother, you speak wisely. I’ll open the door for them now.”
Daniu, after listening to his mother’s words, immediately lit an oil lamp and went to open the door.
As he opened the door, he saw a handsome young man holding a strange umbrella standing outside his house.
“Young master, please call your companions in. I’ll open the courtyard gate right away and let them in,” Daniu said to Yin Chen with a simple smile.
“Thank you!” Yin Chen replied politely.
Afterward, Yin Chen held the umbrella for Daniu as they walked to the courtyard entrance, watching him open the gate.
Once Daniu opened the courtyard gate, Yin Chen immediately instructed Yin Yi and Yin Er to drive the carriages over.
Daniu looked at their fine carriages and, fearing that bandits might enter the village that night and steal them, asked them to drive the carriages into the courtyard. Fortunately, Daniu’s courtyard was large enough to accommodate their two carriages with plenty of space to spare.
Then, Daniu invited everyone inside, arranged rooms for them, and told them to change out of their wet clothes.
As soon as they changed and emerged from the rooms, a group of strikingly handsome men and women left Daniu, the old woman, and the young woman stunned.
Following that, the old woman and the young woman immediately brought them ginger tea.
“You must have been caught in the rain. I was afraid you’d catch a cold, so I brewed some ginger tea. Here, I’ll pour it all out onto the table. Drink it while it’s hot,” the old woman said with a beaming smile.
“Elderly one, thank you,” Leng Ruo Li replied with a faint smile.
The group glanced around the house. Although this villager’s home wasn’t wealthy, every corner inside was kept very clean and tidy. It was evident that the people in this household were diligent, which immediately earned their favor.
To not disappoint the old woman’s kindness, they all picked up the ginger tea from the table and slowly drank it.
Seeing them finish the ginger tea, the old woman smiled again and said, “You haven’t had dinner yet, have you? I’ll have my daughter-in-law make something for you.”
“There’s no need to trouble yourself, elderly one. We have dry rations with us,” Leng Ruo Li said, waving her hand in refusal as she looked at their impoverished home.
“Ah, you are guests in our home. How can we let guests eat dry rations? We don’t have delicacies, but we do have vegetable soup and rice porridge,” the old woman said, pursing her lips with a smile.
“I’ve already instructed my daughter-in-law to cook for you. Please sit and wait for a moment.”
“Then we’ll trouble you,” Leng Ruo Li said with a cordial smile.
After the group sat in the house for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the old woman’s daughter-in-law brought them a large basin of rice porridge, a plate of vegetables, and a portion of peanuts. She looked at them and said with a smile, “Have I kept you waiting? I’ve finished simmering the rice porridge. Please come over and eat.”
“It’s alright, thank you, sister-in-law!” they replied politely.
Subsequently, Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mohan looked at the rice porridge and vegetables on the table, and both frowned slightly.
How poor are these farmers!
There wasn’t a single grain of rice visible in the rice porridge, not a drop of oil in the vegetables, and the peanuts were likely grown by them, as their appearance was somewhat better.
“I hope you don’t mind. This is all we have in our home tonight,” the young woman said sheepishly.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Have you eaten dinner too? Why don’t you eat a little with us?” Leng Ruo Li suggested.
“No, no, we’ve all eaten. Please, you eat yourselves,” the young woman said, shaking her head.
Just then, a little boy, about six or seven years old, darted out from a room in the corner.
“Mommy, I’m hungry. I want some rice porridge.” The little boy’s stomach rumbled upon seeing the food on the table.
“Zhuangzhuang, didn’t you have dinner tonight?” the young woman chided.
“Mom, I only had one bowl of rice porridge, but I’m hungry again now,” the boy named Zhuangzhuang said, rubbing his eyes and crying.
Hearing this, the young woman immediately gently covered the little boy’s mouth and took him back into the room.
Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mohan, who were drinking rice porridge, had heard the mother and son’s conversation and stopped their chopsticks.
So they hadn’t eaten dinner at all.
The old woman and Daniu on the side, seeing them stop their chopsticks, quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Please continue eating, everyone. Go to bed early after you finish. Don’t mind him (the little boy). We’ve all already eaten dinner,” the old woman said with a chuckle.
“Elderly one, Brother Daniu, we can’t finish all this rice porridge. Why don’t you both come and eat some with us?” Leng Ruo Li said.
“No need, no need, we’ve truly already eaten. We ate dinner just before you arrived,” the old woman refused.
Leng Ruo Li and Chu Ming Xuan immediately stood up and pulled the old woman and Daniu to sit by the table.
Then, Leng Ruo Li also pulled the mother and son from the room to sit by the table. She then walked into their kitchen and saw that the rice bin was completely empty, and there were only a few broken bowls by the stove, with no vegetables or meat.
Looking at the scene in the kitchen, her heart felt heavy. This family was truly destitute. The rice they used to cook the porridge was likely the last of their provisions.
Sigh…
Glancing at their kitchen, Leng Ruo Li couldn’t help but heave a sigh.
Therefore, she decided to take out the provisions from her system space and leave them for this farming family.
After returning to the table, Leng Ruo Li leaned in and whispered a few words into Jun Mohan’s ear.
Jun Mohan listened and nodded slightly.
“Yin Chen, go and get the flatbread and beef jerky we brought and put them on this table. Let Brother Daniu’s family, young and old, eat with us,” Jun Mohan quietly instructed.
Seeing Yin Chen stand up, Leng Ruo Li also said, “Yin Chen, I’ll go out with you to the carriage to get some things.”
As she spoke, Jun Mohan glanced at Leng Ruo Li. Leng Ruo Li winked at him twice, and Jun Mohan knew what she intended to do.
She probably wanted to take out the provisions from her Qiankun bag and give them to this farming family.
Later, Leng Ruo Li and Yin Chen returned from the carriage within a few minutes, carrying several large bags into the house.
The farming family was stunned for a moment upon seeing the items Leng Ruo Li and Yin Chen brought in and placed on the table.
“Elderly one, Brother Daniu, sister-in-law, we’ve been traveling for a long time and haven’t brought much food. Please take this rice, flour, oil, and beef jerky to eat for now,” Leng Ruo Li said with a smile.
She had gone to the carriage where she and Jun Mohan were seated earlier to cover up her actions and take out the food from her system space to give to this farming family.
“Young lady, how can that be? This is the food you’ll eat on your journey. If you give it all to us, what will you eat tomorrow? There are still several li to the town from our village. What will you eat then?” the old woman’s family refused outright.