The people in the village seem quite poor.
Under the bright moonlight, it was clear to see that all the houses were relatively low, and very few were made of brick.
When strangers arrived, the village's local dogs would occasionally run out and bark a few times.
They were all chased away by Old Qin.
"We're here, we're here, right here." Old Qin pointed to a small, old house with three thatched roofs beside a dirt slope and smiled, "This is my home, and only my old lady lives here."
Li Xing'an expressed surprise, "Grandpa Qin, isn't your eldest son the village chief?" How is the house also this low?
Xue Family was pleased, "Oh, your son is the village chief?"
Old Qin nodded, "Yes, he's the village chief. Look, that's my eldest son's house. He has three sons and four daughters, seven children in total."
Old Qin looked proud.
In ancient agricultural times, being able to raise children was indeed a skill.
Everyone followed his pointing direction to look, feeling even more disheartened.
It was a small courtyard with five rooms, living in the front and back yards of Old Qin's residence. The height of the house was the same as Old Qin's home.
Five rooms, with seven children plus adults, was not spacious.
Even this, being the home of a village official, shows how poor this village is.
Xue Family immediately complained with a sigh.
Returning home safely, Old Qin was very happy, leaning on his walking stick as he approached to knock on the door, "Old woman, open the door, old woman, we have guests."
The door quickly opened, and a skinny old woman in her sixties came out, complaining, "Old man, why are you back so late? Did you find the piglet? Oh, what happened to your leg?"
"I wasn't careful and twisted my foot, falling into a ditch," Old Qin said, embarrassed. "Luckily, these two young benefactors saved me, pulling me up from the ditch and escorting me home."
Old Qin pointed to Li Yuzhu and Li Xing'an and smiled, "Quick, bring something to entertain our benefactors."
Two benefactors?
This is clearly... a group of benefactors!
Mrs. Qin was troubled, she couldn't afford to entertain them.
Li Yuzhu noticed Mrs. Qin's difficulty and brought forward a wild rabbit, "Grandma, we found a rabbit and would like to borrow your pot to stew it."
Mrs. Qin's worry turned to joy.
So the benefactors came bearing food supplies, that's great.
It's not that she didn't want to offer food to the benefactors, she really didn't have any to give!
This was the sparse period in February where every household had no stored grain, and the wild vegetables in the barren lands around the village had long been dug up. Now, to gather wild vegetables, one had to go five or six miles up into the mountains.
"Borrow a pot? We have one, we have one, come on in." Mrs. Qin opened the main door wide, smiling as she welcomed everyone inside.
An oil lamp burned on the small table in the room, illuminating the ten-step-square main room.
Everywhere was dilapidated, just a bit cleaner than a cattle shed.
Seeing a house like this, everyone sighed inside.
How to rest?
Old Qin leaned on his walking stick and entered the house, inviting everyone to sit wherever they liked.
But after looking around the room, everyone realized they couldn't just sit wherever they liked.
The main room only had three worn-out stools and a narrow bench.
No other places to sit.
Xue Family was quick-eyed, snatching up a stool to sit on first, and afraid of what people might say, she took her daughter Li Guoguo from Li Xingmao's hands to hold.
Since she was holding a child, surely she couldn't be denied a seat?
The other two stools naturally went to Prince Luling and the Princess Consort.
Li Yuwen and Li Yu En grabbed the long bench to sit on.
The little nephew Li Jing, being smart, shouted, "I want to sit with my aunts."
He squeezed onto the bench as well.