After having a pleasant dinner with the Lin family, Lin Amo prepared the empty room at home for Wu Qingyuan to live in at Lin Laogen’s order, and even went to find a relatively new mattress and quilt for him to lie on.

After finishing the work, these teenagers ran to the kitchen to boil some hot water for him and greeted him with a smile. Then they quickly ran back to their room with another basin of water to take care of the comatose and sleeping Zhou-ger. The small figure was running around like a spinning top.

When Wu Qingyuan finished washing and lay on the mattress, he could still see the opposite room. Under the light of the oil lamp, the shadow of the boy sewing clothes with needles and threads was reflected in the window.

“Lin Amo…”

Staring at the reflection in the window, he remembered the two brothers of the Lin family fooling Lin Laogen, the young man sticking out his tongue slyly; he smiled and whispered something before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Wu Qingyuan has always been a light sleeper. As soon as the sun was shining, there was a faint sound of footsteps opening the door and getting up in the yard. He woke up, packed up his sleeping mattress, put on his clothes, and got up.

Outside the door, except for the room of the old lady of the Lin family, there were three other families. All the people in the second and third families of the Lin family had already gotten up and started to work. Those who cooked, those who fetched water, and even children helped the family with chores. 

This situation was not uncommon in Liushu Village. The children of poor families were taught to be in charge of their chores early, and they were already half adults at the age of ten. Both men and women had to help with work.

“Brother Wu, did you sleep well last night? What were you planning on doing since you woke up so early? Go back and sleep for a while. I’ll call you when breakfast is ready…”

Seeing Wu Qingyuan walking out of the room, Lin Laogen shouted while fetching water; his words were all the mindset of a simple countryman.

The second family’s wife stood next to him, also nodded and smiled at him, very honestly.

“Sleep well, Uncle Lin, let me fetch water for you…”

Wu Qingyuan liked this strong and simple atmosphere very much. He said hello to the Lin family in a good mood and walked forward. While helping Lin Laogen fetch water, he talked about going to town.

Although he had inquired about a lot of information here at Grandpa Zhou’s place, it would be better if he were more familiar with the place. The information in the village was too blocked, and the county seat was too far away, so only the town was the most suitable.

However, the main purpose of his going to the town was to exchange for some bits and pieces of silver. Now he only has a dozen copper coins on him. Whether it was to find someone to inquire about Zhou Fuxi’s news or to settle down in this place, they all needed money.

“Going to the town? Okay, then you could go with my Lin-ger later. Amo was going to the town to get medicine for Zhou-ger. I was worried that he would not be safe by himself, so you could go together. I would go to the next village to ask you first. I remember that there was an old man in his 70s in the next village, and the information is similar to what you said.”

Lin Laogen nodded cheerfully; he had a good impression of Wu Qingyuan. He was reassured since he knew from dinner last night that Wu Qingyuan could cure Lin-ger’s face. His view of Wu Qingyuan was that he was even more pleasing to the eye and kinder. As long as he thought that his son could become better-looking, he could even laugh in his dreams.

The two agreed in the yard to go to the town. After Wu Qingyuan washed up, he was invited to the table by the enthusiastic Lin Laogen to have breakfast together before he and Amo went out together.

In fact, according to the rules here, it was not suitable for a man and a ger to be left alone together, and they would be the talk of the village if they were seen by others.

But this rule didn’t exist for Lin Amo. Things like sex scandals don’t happen to an ugly guy.

At the entrance of the village, they met other villagers who were also going to the town together and saw the two of them walking side by side.

“Amo is also going to town today. Come and help Auntie pick up a basket. Hey, this guy is… Amo, is he a relative?”

Several aunts also came along, saying hello while keeping their intention of knowing about Wu Qinyuan to themselves.

Qingyuan’s thoughts were confirmed.

Their small village was not as prosperous as the town. Except for the villagers in the village and the relatives of the ones who married in, there were no strangers who came here. Occasionally, a stranger who had never been seen before came, and it was quite rare, so of course, they paid close attention to it.

The people of the Xia Kingdom were generally broad and tall. Many men in the village were taller and stronger than him, but there were not many who were also as handsome at the same time.

Especially since the temperament of Wu Qingyuan was different from that of the countrymen in the village, it looked as if he came from a rich family, and so the aunts were very curious.

“Brother Wu is not my relative. He came here to look for his relatives. He is staying at my house for the time being…”

They were all fellow villagers and had nothing to hide. Lin Amo explained patiently and said a few words, and his words explained Wu Qingyuan’s origin clearly.

Compared with Wu Qingyuan, his explanation as a native of the village was naturally more convincing. The aunties did not doubt his identity at all; instead, they were quite interested in him and his travels from outside, and kept asking him questions. “I heard that it is very busy and bustling in other places.” “What kind of lives do they lead?” “Are all the people out there like them?” ”I heard from the caravan passing by that the people outside are not the same as they are here. Is that true?”

It was not that the aunties were too gossipy, but they were curious. Most of the men in the village have never been too far away from their village, let alone the women and gers in the village. Someone from outside was there, and when they heard that he came from far away, from the sea, they couldn’t help but ask, as they too yearned for the outside world.

Wu Qingyuan didn’t know much about other places here, but he had a lot of knowledge from modern times, and he could fool these aunties who didn’t know anything by making up a little bit; most of the lies were based on his travels as the background; he didn’t even mention the outside world.

He was cautious, but in fact, the group of aunties did not doubt it, and they were all attracted by what he said about the outside world. Even Lin Amo looked at him with admiration, thinking that he had been to so many places and knew so much. That stuff was awesome!

Wu Qingyuan was also thick-skinned and continued to make up stories without any guilt. From time to time, he looked at Lin Amo’s adoring eyes, and he couldn’t help but show a smile on his handsome face.

The curiosity and gossiping ability of the aunts in the village were very strong. It took two hours to walk from Liushu Village to the town. During this time, they could ask countless questions without even taking a sip of water.

Even if Wu Qingyuan was technically fooling them again, he was not afraid of being questioned by these aunts. When the aunts learned that he was not married yet, and he was going to settle down in a village near Shiqiao Town, their eyes lit up, and they immediately began to work together. They persuaded him to be rooted in their Liushu village, and then the aunt’s and their relatives’ daughters and ger who have not married yet came next: Brother, do you want to think about it and prepare to arrange a marriage?

No one could blame them for being too anxious. It was because Wu Qingyuan’s condition looked very good, even if he came from far, far away– and he might be poor, but that didn’t matter. Based on the conversation just now, with their keen eyes, this was a good man who would love his wife. It didn’t matter if he was a little poor; no one in the village was not poor, and the husband and wife would work together for a few years and have everything!

“Thank you, aunties– I do want to settle down in Liushu Village, but I want to find my relatives and then consider other things…”

He really can’t let them go any further; Wu Qingyuan could only refuse clearly. These aunts’ fighting ability was too great.

After hearing this, the aunts finally became sensible and ended the topic with some regret, but before they got to town, the aunts continued on another subject in good spirits, curious about the relatives he was looking for and who they could be.

Although Wu Qingyuan was a little helpless, he still answered patiently. This was different from the gossip just now. Although these aunts didn’t know much, they were very well informed about the surrounding villages, and maybe they could talk about some useful information.

“Big brother, did you remember wrong? We have a lot of people here who fled the famine and migrated here, but that was 12 years ago. The floods and famines caused many people to starve to death. Our village had good luck here; there was no disaster, but many refugees came here at that time. We all remember it clearly, and there was no such disaster for decades.” After chatting, one of the aunts frowned and muttered.

“Yes, Brother Wu, we have escaped from the famine once in 12 years. The Zhou-ger you saw yesterday was the one who came to our village at that time. I remember it all. Look, did you remember something wrong?”

Lin Amo also nodded. He didn’t think about it carefully yesterday, but now the aunt in front of him brought it up, and he was puzzled.

Yes, he just heard Wu Qingyuan say that people were surprised at the age of 70. He didn’t pay attention to the information about fleeing from the famine. There had been a major event of people fleeing from the famine 12 years ago. Indeed, something was wrong.

“Yes, yes, that Zhou-ger was the one who escaped from the famine– you should go and ask that Zhou-ger.”

An aunt suggested kindly.

But as soon as she finished speaking, she was slapped with a joke by the person next to him, “What would he inquire about? Are you confused? Zhou-ger was only five years old at the time. What does he remember? I do know that several people escaped to Jianghe Village- you could ask…”

“Bah! Pah, why can’t he remember? I remember things clearly from when I was five years old!”

Several aunts suddenly changed the subject and argued.

Wu Qingyuan didn’t pay attention to the aunts’ quarrel, and his heart also became suspicious. If he had followed the words of the few aunties and Lin Amo, he might have made a mistake. The time of the disaster was different, and Zhou Fuxi’s age would also be different!