Chapter 43: Wind and Snow Drive Travelers

rom the nearby villages, dressed in their finest attire and armed with bows and axes, rushed to Li's house. Their faces were beaming with excitement.Previously, while chopping wood together, Li Lao Si...Shoveling snow and pushing snow, this is a big job, luckily the Li family has many members.

Not only did she finish tidying up her own house quickly, but she also had time to help the elderly neighbors next door.

Jia'an Jiaxi’s little hand was red from the cold, and she ran back from next door. As soon as she entered the house, she shouted loudly.

"Milk, Third Uncle said to cook some ginger soup at home. Old Zhao next door and his family have all caught a cold, with fever and cough."

"You guys, stay away from Fuk Niao'er, don't let her catch a cold!"

Li Laotai reached out to separate the two mischievous grandsons, keeping them away from Jia Yin.

Then she called the daughters-in-law to boil ginger soup, and even cruelly, put two scoops of red sugar from home.

Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru are both kind-hearted, so they took their dishes to the neighbors.

Several elderly men were huddled around a man sitting on the kang, their faces grim.

I forgot to move firewood into the house yesterday, and the fire went out at night. I was planning to start the stove again this morning.

Unexpectedly, a heavy snowstorm hit. The doors and windows were sealed shut, trapping everyone inside. There was no way out but to endure the cold.

Fortunately, Li Lao San brought the children with him, otherwise they would have probably died together.

At this time, they held steaming ginger water with red sugar, taking large gulps.

Inside and outside the house were all members of Li's family. Zhao Yuru and Tao Hongying were burning the kang and cooking porridge, while Li Lao San was leading the boys onto the roof to shovel snow and clean the yard. They only felt alive after doing this, and their eyes turned red.

"Old Qu died in a pitiful way, but he did do one good thing: he left us a big courtyard. It gave such good people a place to settle down, and we all benefited from it."

When the village head arrived in a hurry, the Li family had already been busy almost to the end. He was touched, but in front of his old brothers, he couldn't help but feel smug.

"Well, how do you like the place I found for you Right next to Li's family, these guys will definitely look after you."

"Yes, yes, you're the smart one, you're the cunning one."

The old men were delighted, happily bickering and their chills seemed to have improved greatly.

Just then, Zhao Yuru and Tao Hongying brought over some porridge. Everyone slurped it down quickly.

That sweet-looking bowl made the village chief's mouth water, and he followed suit by eating a bowl too.

"Third daughter-in-law, fourth daughter-in-law, you two have really had to endure so much. With everything done at home, you still come over to take care of these elders."

"Don't be so polite, we're neighbors, it's only natural to help each other out."

Tao Hongying waved her hand and smiled, “Before I always had to go out to the kitchen and couldn’t come over to help. Now that I have some free time, we will definitely visit each other often.”

"Well, well, if everyone in the village were like your family, I wouldn't have to worry anymore."

The village chief was very pleased and praised them a few times, causing Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru to blush and hastily make excuses to go home.

The heavy snow seemed to have made an agreement, each time the villagers finished clearing the snow, another snowfall would come.

As a result, the villagers were very busy this month, and their mouths were still full of complaints against heaven.

A light snowfall signifies a bountiful year. While snow is generally a good thing, too much of it can be overwhelming.

The elderly gathered together, beginning to worry about next year's planting season, wondering if there would be favorable weather conditions.

Children, however, were the most carefree. They spent one hour each morning learning at Li's house, and then it was time for them to play.

Building snowmen and having snowball fights, you can have a blast.

And the big river outside the village had also frozen solid, and ice sleds could be taken out.

You could almost hear the mischievous shouts of the boys as you passed by...

After falling into the river previously, Jia Xi and Jia An were a bit afraid of the big river.

But in the end, I couldn't resist my friends' urging. In just a few days, I threw away my fear...

Jiayin envied those who could play freely in the house, but alas, she could only try her best to crawl besides nibbling on her toes.

The only little bit of fun was sneaking and eating with grandma at night.

Li Laotai didn't know where she found a small silver spoon, scraping apple puree and feeding it to Jia Yin just right.

Unfortunately, she was also afraid that Jia Yin's stomach wouldn't be able to handle it. Every time, she only let her have three or four spoonfuls, the rest still had to be Jia Yin herself holding the apple and savoring the taste...

This dreadful infancy, when will it ever end

Jiayin was holding her little feet in her hands, gnawing on them while continuing to worry.

Tao Hongying came in from outside and seeing her daughter like this, she couldn't help but laugh. She said to her mother-in-law,

"Mother, look at our Fu Niu'er. She's just like a little adult, sighing already!"

Grandma Li was just tacking on a new insole, and as she poked at her scalp with a needle, she proudly replied, "My daughter Funiu is so smart. She's probably thinking about something big."

Tao Hongying unbuttoned her blouse and nursed her daughter, Jia Yin. Jia Yin was already used to it and had long since lost any sense of shame or discomfort. She drank happily, gulping down the milk in large mouthfuls.

Tao Hongying now has the job of cooking, which brings money into the family and makes their lives more comfortable. Most importantly, Jia Yin is considerate and knows how to care for her mother.

At night, after a full meal before bed, she wouldn't look for her all night and could sleep soundly. As a result, her breast milk is even better than before.

Seeing her daughter seemingly gain some weight and grow taller, Tao Hongying was delighted and couldn't help but think about the men she had met outside.

"Mother, calculating the days, the fourth son will be back soon."

"Indeed," Lao Li glanced at the window subconsciously and replied.

"It's almost the twelfth lunar month, they have been gone for twenty days now, I guess they are on their way back."

Jia Yin was picking at her food, her mind churning with worry. Her father's latest escort job was bound to be a difficult one, what with the recent storms and blizzards.

But she was still confident that her father would return safely. After all, her father's archery skills were exceptional, and he possessed immense strength, more than enough to protect himself.

Not to mention the thoughtfulness of my family, let alone the fact that on this very moment, a convoy from the Wuwei Escort Bureau is braving wind and snow on the road a hundred miles away.

Last night, it had just snowed, and the snow was still very fluffy. The carriage drove over it, and it wasn't too difficult.

But heavy snow covered the road conditions, and there were frequent instances of cargo wagons falling into deep pits.

When that happens, everyone has to work together to get the carriage out.

This is the most troublesome thing on the road as a鏢師.

First, carriages are prone to overturning, requiring cargo to be reloaded.

The second is that the carriage is heavy, and it takes a lot of manpower to carry it out, which weakens the protection of the convoy.

If bandits or horse thieves were to appear, it would be easy for them to exploit weaknesses and it would be extremely dangerous.

But that was all in the past. Nowadays, no one at the鏢局 worries anymore because this trip has two new recruits!

This escort mission had high pay and low risk, so everyone wanted to join, leading to some competition.

But Liu, the head of the escort team, informed the chief and insisted on bringing two outsiders. The others were not pleased.

To everyone's surprise, these two people gave countless surprises on the road.

For example, at times like this, a carriage accidentally veered off the track. Its right rear wheel fell into a deep pit. The reddish-brown horse pulling it snorted white vapor with its strained nose, and despite several attempts, it couldn't pull the carriage out. It was so frustrated that it only stomped its hooves.

Ahead, a boy of about ten ran towards them through the wind and snow, shouting to the coachman, "Uncle Xu, did a wheel fall into a pit"

"Yeah, Jia Yi, I was a bit sleepy and didn't watch the road properly. I drifted a little and just happened to drive straight in."

The man rushing in his carriage held a whip and was very distressed.

"Don't be afraid, wait for me a moment." Jia Yi smiled and replied, turning to look at the back of the car, then said.

"Uncle Xu, I'll shout one, two, three, and you kick the horse. If we both put our strength into it, we can get out.". You just need to find more laborers. After all, there are over twenty courtyards. This isn't a small job."Hearing him say this, everyone felt reassured.After breakfast, some people from Big Banyan T...