Chapter 67
67 Difficulty
Ruyi and Ji Xiang were the first to rush to the forest. They had already unloaded the mule cart and were waiting there. When they saw Li Yu and the others, they hurriedly went up to help unload the cart and took out grass to feed the livestock.
Ruyi said to Zhou Jia, “Young Master, I remember that there’s a ditch in the forest. I’ll go see if there’s still water. I’ll get some to feed the livestock.”
Zhou Jia took a look and felt that there should be no more water in his heart. He waved his hand reluctantly. “Go! Zhao Cai, go with Ruyi.”
“Yes.” Zhao Cai carried the bucket and Ruyi towards the ditch. When the two of them reached the ditch, they were stunned. Zhao Cai sighed and saw that the dry ditch was filled with rotten fish and dead prawns.
Auntie He took out a small red clay stove and carried a teapot out of the wooden barrel. She poured some water into the pot and prepared to boil it for noodles. Li Qing and Xiao An carried a bundle of branches that they had picked up and helped Auntie He light the fire.
When the water boiled, Li Yu took out the noodles and put them into the pot. Auntie He looked at the noodles in Li Yu’s hand and smiled at Zhou Jia happily. “Young Madam is smart. Young Master, you’ll be lucky in the future.”
Zhou Jia smiled proudly. “If she wasn’t, would I have chosen her?”
Li Qing retorted loudly, “Hmph! My sister was tricked by Sir.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Qing with a sinister smile. “Ah Qing, write ten scripts a day.”
Li Qing looked at Zhou Jia disdainfully. “Sir, return my sister to me. I’ll write twenty small scripts a day.”
Uncle Zhou held his bowl of noodles and watched the two of them bicker. He laughed out loud. “Young Master, to think you even dare to provoke your brother-in-law.”
Zhou Jia smiled awkwardly. “I’m his teacher. If he doesn’t listen to me, I’ll hit his hand!”
Li Yu glanced at the two childish people and said to Chuan Zhou and Chuan Guo, “Why aren’t you two coming to eat? Why are you standing there?”
Chuan Zhou and Chuan Guo looked at the noodles in Li Yu’s bowl and swallowed their saliva when they smelled the fragrance. They shook their heads and refused with difficulty. “Sister Xiaoyu, Mother said that food is precious. We can’t eat your food.”
Li Yu laughed. “Eat! I’ll talk to your mother when she comes later.” The two children still couldn’t resist the temptation of the food and started eating.
After a while, Zhao Cai and Ruyi returned with empty buckets. Zhao Cai looked at the empty buckets in frustration. “Young Master, there’s no water in that ditch. It’s filled with rotten fish and dead prawns.”
“Forget it. I expected this. I just didn’t give up. Go eat first!”
At this moment, Li Mei’s family finally arrived. Li Mei looked at Li Yu and her heart palpitated. “Yu’er, I didn’t expect there to be locusts along the way. How do you think such a small thing can fly so far?”
“Aunt, there’s no other way!”
Auntie He looked at Li Mei. “In-law, you must be tired. Have a bowl of noodles first.”
Li Mei sighed at Auntie He. “Sigh! I’ve been watching the locusts along the way. I’m really tired and worried.”
Auntie He smiled and comforted her. “Don’t be afraid. Heaven will always find a way out.”
Everyone arrived one after another and put down their luggage. They sat on the ground and took out dry food and biscuits to eat. After a moment of rest, they continued to travel with heavy footsteps and finally arrived at Chongyun Town before nightfall.
Along the way, they saw that there was no one in town. Zhou Jia brought everyone straight to the foot of the mountain.
There was flat ground at the foot of the mountain. There were already people sleeping on straw mats and mats.
The village chief asked the people of West Mountain Village to push the carts and barrows around. After packing up, everyone felt so tired that they didn’t even have the energy to eat. They spread the mats on the ground and placed mattresses on them. The children fell asleep with dry food in their hands.
Li Yu led everyone to set up the tent and found Zhou Jia to arrange for night duty. Zhou Jia shook his head and said, “Feel free to rest. You can leave the night duty to the men!”
Liu Changmin also persuaded Li Yu, “Xiaoyu, go rest. Uncle and Ji Xiang will take turns to keep watch.”
Seeing this, Li Yu could only nod in agreement. She went back into the tent and fell asleep. She only woke up at midnight. Li Yu crawled out of the tent and said to Ruyi, “Ruyi, go rest.”
“Yes, Miss Li.” Ruyi bowed and went back to rest.
Li Yu walked around and saw Chen Yaohui and a man on duty at the other end. There were also two people dressed as merchants carrying bags and walking up the mountain.
Li Yu stood there and watched the two of them for a while. She couldn’t see any abnormal movements from the two of them, so she went to the place where the livestock was tied up to investigate. She returned to the fire and watched as the moths and locusts kept pouncing at the fire. They were burning and emitting a burnt scent.
Li Yu stood there quietly and looked up at the stars in the sky. An inexplicable melancholy surged in her heart.
Zhou Jia came out of the tent and saw Li Yu standing there quietly. She looked up at the starry sky as if she was alone in the world. Zhou Jia quickly walked forward and held Li Yu’s hand. He asked gently, “Xiaoyu, what’s wrong?”
Li Yu turned around and looked at Zhou Jia’s worried gaze. She smiled and pointed at the stars in the sky. “Look, the night sky is so beautiful.”
“I’ll watch it with you.” Zhou Jia held Li Yu’s hand and sat down, letting her lean on his shoulder. The two of them snuggled up and sat there quietly, looking up at the bright starry sky.
The sun had just risen in the sky when the villagers got up and started packing their luggage. After eating some biscuits and dry food, they started on their way. Zhou Jia said to the villagers, “Everyone, don’t be anxious later. You must walk to the left. Let’s go!”
Everyone agreed loudly before Ruyi led the way and drove the mule cart away. Li Yu followed behind. When they first came up the mountain, the mountain path was rugged but wide, making it easy for everyone to move along. Slowly, the mountain path became narrower and steeper. The livestock stopped and the people on the cart had no choice but to get out of the car and walk in front of the livestock while the others pushed the cart behind.
Li Yu was strong, so she did not find it difficult to push the mule cart. Ruyi carried the food, and the mule cart stopped moving. The two children, Chuan Zhou, and Chuan Guo, could not help either.
Zhou Jia followed behind and saw that Ruyi’s mule cart was stopping and about to reverse. Zhou Jia pulled the hoe hard to stabilize the mule and shouted to Li Yu, who was pushing the cart behind, “Xiaoyu, quickly go and help Ruyi.”
When Li Yu heard this, she rushed forward and stopped the retreating mule cart. She pushed the mule cart hard and trudged up the mountain.
When the village chief saw that Li Yu and the others’ car was not moving forward, he shouted at the villagers behind, “Hurry up and help push it.”
More than ten families who had bought food from Li Yu’s house looked up and saw them. They hurriedly put down the burden on their shoulders and rushed to the front to help Li Yu and the others push the cart forward.
When they reached the narrowest point, the mountain path was just wide enough for a mule cart to pass through. On the right was a bottomless gully. The timid villagers carefully walked close to the cliff on the left, not even having the courage to look at the gully.
Everyone set off at dawn and walked for more than four hours before reaching the top of the mountain. They rested in a relatively flat place and fed the livestock with grass and water. Everyone ate some dry food and rested for a moment before starting to descend the mountain.
It was difficult to go up the mountain, and the road down was even more difficult. The cart behind was too heavy and the livestock could not stop. The handcart would rush forward and press down on the livestock. Zhou Jia got everyone to tie a rope to the cart and pulled the rope behind to slow the handcart down. They slowly walked down the mountain. When the sun set, everyone finally went down the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, Zhou Jia realized that the flat ground at the foot of the mountain was already occupied by two groups of people. He could only lead everyone towards the forest in front.