CHAPTER 107: CHAPTER 105 TOGETHER

The people of Chen Family Village are very happy today, with smoke rising from every household’s chimney one after another.

Old Mrs. Chen walked through the village, feeling warm inside as she watched the smoke.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen such a scene. In the years of war, even in dreams, we would dream of lighting fires and cooking, feeding everyone until they were full, which was a difficult thing to achieve for them.

Even though the court had distributed rice, people still saved and dared not eat freely, fearing that they would have nothing for the next meal and had to plan for the future.

Now, everyone is willing to eat rice.

Old Mrs. Chen wiped her damp eyes, murmuring without knowing what she was saying, basically saying good things, asking the deceased not to worry, and wishing she could complain to the heavens a bit, to show how well they are living now.

"Ma’am, come eat at our place! We made rice today."

"Ma’am, we also have wild boar meat at home."

"No need, Miss Chen is cooking," Old Mrs. Chen shook her hand to refuse, looking at her shadow on the ground, feeling as imposing as Little General Song patrolling the camp.

"Ma’am, checking which family hasn’t cooked yet?"

Chen Yongyi’s wife leaned against the door with a full face of smiles: "Don’t worry, I saw even Hei Dan’s mother is stewing wild boar meat."

The Chen Family Village now had a livelihood, and no one feared they’d be unable to get by in the future.

"Ma’am," someone called out to her, "We’ve made our meal; take some back, don’t let Liangchen tire herself out, she should rest after a busy day."

Old Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes; did they think she wanted her granddaughter to rest? Her granddaughter wasn’t interested in rice and eggs, insisting on fiddling in the kitchen herself.

"You don’t understand." Old Mrs. Chen left with a mysterious air, followed by sounds of envy.

"Miss Chen is filial."

Hearing this made Old Mrs. Chen feel delighted, deliberately slowing her pace, eagerly listening to every word.

Old Mrs. Chen returned home full of joy, but as soon as she poked her head into the kitchen, most of her good mood vanished, wishing she could pinch her granddaughter’s ear and chase her out of the kitchen.

Look at this, what is this mess, making art out of rice.

The rice, cooking oil, dried meat, everything available at home had been taken out by Miss Chen. Isn’t she planning to eat next time?

Rice was rolled into cakes, fried to a golden hue in the pan, the aroma... wafting eight miles away.

Something was being steamed on the small stove, hidden beneath a cloud of steam, with the rich scent of meat teasing the nose.

The granddaughter was still kneading dough, humming a tune while she worked.

Outside the kitchen, a line of little kids squatted, their eyes glowing green, saliva ready to spill any second.

Old Mrs. Chen looked at Hei Dan: "Your mother made wild boar meat."

Hei Dan swallowed and said confidently, "Sister Chen also made wild boar meat; it’s steamed with rice and glutinous rice."

Hei Dan mimicked holding something in his hands, burying his face into them to take a deep sniff, showing a look of satisfaction.

"Grandmother," Hei Dan called Old Mrs. Chen just like Chen Zigeng did, "You smell it, isn’t it different? Sister’s cooking is unique."

Before Old Mrs. Chen could speak, the row of children imitated Hei Dan’s gesture, taking deep breaths of the aroma. Even Chen Zigeng was tempted, mimicking Hei Dan’s action.

"Ah." Old Mrs. Chen sighed; if her granddaughter were to claim the mountain, most would probably come to join her willingly.

The food was set on the table, with steaming rice-meat and a bowl of noodle drenched in gravy.

Old Mrs. Chen first invited Xu Tingzhen over and sat herself near Mr. Xu, casting her sights on the foods on the table, especially the large bowl of noodles in front of her, even her eyes glazed over.

The fragrant crispy rice cakes, steamed river fish, sweet mushroom soup, all looked delicious.

The utensils were still untouched when the children’s families sent over their own prepared meals, filling up the table and turning it into a communal feast.

Xie Liangchen finally brought over a clay pot filled with rice wine and eggs, just about to call everyone to eat when the sound of Chen Yongsheng came from outside.

"General Song is here."

Old Mrs. Chen was both surprised and delighted, hurrying to greet outside, but found her granddaughter and grandson had already run ahead of her.

When Song Xian arrived at Chen Family Village, Chen Yongsheng had just eaten and was ready to find Chen Yongyi to talk, planning for whether the village had enough rice and firewood before the heavy snow came. Miss Chen had said the money from selling herbal medicine was to be used to buy wool; this year’s cold came early, and winter wouldn’t be easy to pass.

As Chen Yongsheng pondered, he saw Song Xian riding to the village entrance and immediately went to greet him.

Song Xian, leaving the government office, actually had many tasks to handle, but unknowingly, he rode out of town, finding himself arriving at Chen Family Village.

As he approached the village entrance, Song Xian instructed Chang An: "Go buy some rice and cloth to bring along."

Song Xian entered the village with the items, with Chen Yongsheng summoning the villagers to welcome him.

This being Song Xian’s first time in Chen Family Village, the villagers were still in awe. After several visits, while they still did not dare approach and speak with General Song, there was a relaxed smile on their faces.

With such relief, the atmosphere turned lively.

"General just came from the office?" Chen Yongsheng asked, "Have you eaten yet?"

Song Xian wasn’t fond of speaking, so Chang An replied: "Our master was still worrying about the people in the village. He came right after speaking with Mr. Li at the office."

This meant he hadn’t eaten yet. Chen Yongsheng dared not invite Song Xian into his home with their plain tea and simple meal, feeling it wasn’t suitable for entertaining General Song. The only household in Chen Family Village that could present something decent was the Ma’am’s, because Miss Chen was there, and she always managed everything well.

Having made up his mind, Chen Yongsheng instructed Chen Yongyi to report to Old Mrs. Chen while he led Song Xian forward.

Seeing the familiar path to Miss Xie’s home, Chang An breathed a sigh of relief. With Song Min captured and the National Guardian General frustrated, this was undoubtedly good news for his master, but his master wouldn’t be very happy. The matters and people of the Song Family were stagnant like dead water to his master.

The master simply didn’t need to prove himself by punishing the Song Family. In terms of politics, the master could naturally manage everything smoothly.

But beyond politics?

Chang An observed Chen Family Village, whether perilous or arduous, after matters were resolved satisfactorily, Chen Family Village would always gather bustling together.

What the master lacked around him was this kind of liveliness.

At this moment, Chang An thought that if the master could always live in Chen Family Village, it wouldn’t be bad.

As Chang An was pondering, Old Mrs. Chen, Xie Liangchen, and Chen Zigeng, along with a group of children, approached.

Old Mrs. Chen smiled and stepped forward saying, "General Song is here, please come in and sit, just now the Official Medicine Bureau’s officer brought us a document, asking for eighteen kinds of medicine from our village!"

Old Mrs. Chen, full of joy, shared the good news with Song Xian.

Song Xian’s expression softened. Although there was no smile on his face, compared to usual, there was less coldness.

Entering the house, Old Mrs. Chen pointed to the table full of food: "Just ready, General Song, please have some with us!"

The food was still steaming.

Song Xian was about to refuse but noticed Xie Liangchen moving a stool to the center of the long table, her mouth curving into a smile as she invited Song Xian to sit.

Before his mind registered, Song Xian stepped forward and walked over.