57 The Meeting of Two Beans
The mountain path was difficult to walk on. Everyone in Hu Family Village set off early in the morning. When they arrived at Yongding County, nearly eight hours had pa.s.sed.
Everyone had long lost the mood to speak. They were all tired and sweating, their hands and feet weak.
Village Chief Hu was also extremely tired.
“Village Chief, is the food placed in the county office? Are we going over to get it now?” Hu San wiped his sweat.
Another villager said, “If we pack the food and go back slowly, there’s no need to spend the night at the county office.”
The last time he spent the night outside, it was really cold.
Village Chief Hu waved his hand. “There’s no hurry. Let’s find a tea stall to sit at first. There are probably still many people in the county office. Let’s go after resting.”
The villagers were all a little anxious, but they were indeed a little tired. If they proceeded to transport the grain at this time, they probably would not have much strength left.
Seeing that everyone was so tired, Little Ah Yu tugged at Old Madam w.a.n.g’s sleeve. “Grandma, can I give them some water to drink?”
She saw that everyone was very tired. They would not be tired after drinking the water.
When Old Madam w.a.n.g saw the other villagers looking over, she hurriedly said with a smile, “Then listen to the village chief and drink some tea.”
Then, without batting an eyelid, she carried Little Ah Yu down from the cart and said to the others, “You guys go to the tea stall to drink tea first. I’ll bring Ah Yu to visit a relative. See you at the county office later.”
“Aren’t you going to drink tea?”
“No.”
Old Madam w.a.n.g carried Little Ah Yu and walked towards the county office. Little Ah Yu struggled to get down.
“Grandma, I’ll walk by myself. It’s too tiring for you to carry me.” She felt tired just by walking. Grandma must be even more tired carrying her.
“Ah Yu, you’re so obedient. You even know how to dote on Grandma. I’ll hold your hand and walk with you.” Old Madam w.a.n.g held Little Ah Yu’s hand. Seeing that there was no one around, she said to her softly, “Ah Yu, listen to Grandma. Don’t talk about the water in front of others in the future.”
Little Ah Yu was about to say that she did not mention the water, but thinking back, she seemed to have mentioned it just now.
Oh no, she had forgotten.
She wanted to cover her mouth, but one of her hands was held by Grandma and she was holding a small flower basket with the other. She could not free her hand.
She pursed her lips in anxiety.
“Ah Yu forgot. Ah Yu is so stupid,” she complained to herself.
Seeing her like this, Old Madam w.a.n.g said in amus.e.m.e.nt, “Our Ah Yu is not stupid. You’re just too kind. It’s good to be kind, but you can’t give everything you have. That’s not good.”
“But our family gives everything we have.” Little Ah Yu only remembered that there was a huge snake at home, so Grandpa and Grandma distributed it to the other villagers.
Later on, there was a lot of food at home, and Grandma distributed it to the villagers.
Little Ah Yu felt that as long as it was something she had, she could share it with others.
Old Madam w.a.n.g: “…” That seemed to be the case.
It seemed that they had indeed been too generous recently. This was not good. It was easy to lead Little Ah Yu astray.
Old Madam w.a.n.g decided to throw the blame away. “That’s because your grandfather is too stupid. He can’t protect things. Don’t learn from your grandfather, Ah Yu needs to be a smart child.”
Little Ah Yu seemed to understand, but she felt that the most powerful person in their family was Grandma. In any case, she would listen to whatever Grandma said.
“Yes, yes, yes! Ah Yu knows how to be a smart child!”
At this moment, Old man w.a.n.g, who was working in Hu Family Village, suddenly sneezed.
He rubbed his nose and muttered, “Don’t tell me the old woman is scolding me outside again?”
As Old Madam w.a.n.g and Little Ah Yu spoke, the two of them had already walked out of the county office. Indeed, they saw many villagers collecting food outside.
They were all villages that had suffered in the snow disaster this time. It was said that some of them had even suffered after winter broke. As soon as the snow melted, it flowed through those villages and drowned some of the villages in the low-lying areas.
There was already a long line outside, from the entrance of the granary on the side of the county office to two streets away.
At this speed, they would probably not be able to receive the food in two days.
This was the first time Little Ah Yu had seen so many people. She stuck her head out and asked curiously, “Grandma, what are they doing?”
“They’re collecting food. Only with food and seeds can they go back to their farms,” Old Madam w.a.n.g said.
When Little Ah Yu heard about the grain seeds, she immediately remembered something she had forgotten.
“Grandma, Grandma,” Little Ah Yu shouted. “Can you give me some grain seeds? I want to farm too.”
Old Madam w.a.n.g did not stop walking and asked casually, “Why do you want grain seeds? Farming is too difficult. Just let your father and the others do it.”
“If I plant them with the elf, the seeds will grow into very good-looking food. Ah Yu is very good at farming!” Little Ah Yu emphasized. “Ah Yu showed it to you before.”
Old Madam w.a.n.g stopped in her tracks. She understood that Little Ah Yu wanted to plant the grain in that invisible place.
She asked, “Ah Yu, will farming there be very tiring?”
“I’m not tired. It’s fun,” Little Ah Yu replied honestly.
All the work was done with her mind. It was not tiring at all.
[That’s because you drank the water.] Meatball complained softly.
If she did not drink the water, she would be tired after doing these things for a long time.
“Alright, I’ll give you some when the time comes.” Old Madam w.a.n.g thought that if the child found it fun, she could give some to her to play with.
If it was tiring, then forget it. In any case, her family knew how to farm, and with that magical water, there would always be enough.
There was no need to let the child suffer. She didn’t want to crush Little Ah Yu’s small body.
They skirted the crowd at the side door and went to another door. There was a concierge guarding it.
Seeing the grandfather and granddaughter approaching, the gatekeeper hurriedly said, “Hey, this is the entrance of the county office. Don’t walk forward!”
“Little brother, we’re here to look for Lord Zhang. Please inform him,” Old Madam w.a.n.g said gently.
The gatekeeper saw that the other party was an old woman from the countryside. The child she brought up was quite good-looking, but their clothes were made of coa.r.s.e cloth. They were probably not from a rich family.
He waved his hand like he was chasing away flies. “Go, go, go. Is Lord Zhang someone you can see just because you want to? Go away, don’t block the way here!”
Old Madam w.a.n.g’s hand that was about to take out the jade pendant paused before she slowly retracted it and looked meaningfully at the gatekeeper.
Without saying anything, she circled around and left.
Before long, Old Madam w.a.n.g said to Little Ah Yu, “Ah Yu, you have to remember not to be such a person in the future. It’s taboo to judge a book by its cover.”
Little Ah Yu touched her head. “Grandma, what’s a taboo?”
“It’s-” Old Madam w.a.n.g originally wanted to take the opportunity to teach Little Ah Yu some principles of life. When she turned her head and walked, she did not notice and suddenly b.u.mped into a person walking out of the county office.
It was a young man dressed in luxurious clothes. There was a small jade crown on his head and a transparent jade pendant at his waist.
It was obvious that he was a young master from a rich family.
He accidentally b.u.mped into Old Madam w.a.n.g’s waist and took two steps back before sitting on the ground.
The jade pendant on his waist fell to the ground and shattered into two.
“Young Master, are you alright!” Two people immediately rushed over and pulled the young man up in a panic.
Little Ah Yu, on the other hand, went to look at Old Madam w.a.n.g. She was especially nervous. “Grandma, are you alright? Does it hurt? I’ll help you blow on it!”
One of the people who pulled the young man up walked over angrily. “Old woman, how can you walk like this? You actually dared to knock down the young master. Someone, arrest this evil woman!”
After saying that, two servants walked over. They held round wooden sticks in their hands, looking dignified and intimidating.
Little Ah Yu stretched out her two small hands and blocked in front of Old Madam w.a.n.g.
Her voice was milky and firm. “You’re not allowed to bully Grandma!”