Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 116 Qingyi Village

The girl A Duo chatted with Lu Zheng curiously as she walked.

Perhaps Lu Zheng's realm has been improved and his comprehension has increased.

As he listened, he was able to understand the obscure dialect that occasionally appeared in the girl's words and grasp the meaning.

From the girl's story, Lu Zheng learned about the relationship between these four people.

The middle-aged man was the girl's uncle, named Gu.

The other two boys were the man’s sons. The younger one was called Ali and the older one was called Aji.

These young boys and girls will only remove the "A" character in front of their names after they reach adulthood.

Outsiders call him by his single name to show respect.

If it is between relatives, you don’t have to address each other to show closeness.

The four of them went out today to purchase supplies.

Originally, this matter had nothing to do with the girl Aduo, but after she heard about it, she took the initiative to ask for help. Of course, her main reason was to go out to the market and have some fun outside.

Unable to persuade his niece, he had to take her out for a walk, and of course he also shared some of the supplies.

We are all kids who grew up in the mountains, and none of us was spoiled.

Some children, as young as three or four years old, can follow adults to the fields to help pull weeds.

A Duo was carrying a heavy basket on her back, but she didn't feel tired at all. She walked quickly and was able to keep up with the three people in front of her.

Lu Zheng wanted to help, but the baskets contained sacrificial items, and as an outsider, he didn't want to touch them.

Lu Zheng walked behind and couldn't help but whisper curiously: "Are you going to offer sacrifices to your ancestors?"

Before A Duo could answer, Gu tilted his head slightly and said in a deep voice, "Young man, the affairs of our clan are not something you, an outsider, should know. Don't ask about us."

Hearing this, Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "I am rude."

The young girl A Duo lowered her voice and explained, "Many of our tribesmen don't like to interact with outsiders. So once you enter the village, don't wander around, ask random questions, or say random things..."

"Okay." Lu Zheng nodded.

Ah Ji said with a smile: "A Duo, do you want to take him back to your house and keep an eye on him?"

A Duo glared and said, "It's not impossible. There are plenty of rooms at home anyway."

Gu heard this and said, "Let's go to my house. Aji, you take care of him."

"Ah? Oh..."

Aji didn't dare to object and could only respond.

The group walked hurriedly, and after climbing over a mountain, only a ray of sunset light remained in the sky.

At the foot of the mountain not far away, a village is looming.

Lu Zheng took a closer look and found that the layout of this mountain village was very different.

Most of the houses are built with bluestone, which is sturdy and durable.

But most of the stone houses do not occupy a large area, but have several floors, like small watchtowers.

This kind of building is unique and plays a certain role in resisting wild beasts and foreign enemies.

After observing for a while, Lu Zheng felt that this mountain village had existed for at least a hundred years.

By the time they arrived at the village, it was already dark.

In some houses, there was a faint flickering light of fire and the aroma of food wafted into the air.

As it was getting late, we didn't see any other members of the Qingyi tribe on the way into the village.

Lu Zheng followed Gu and the others to the outside of a room.

Gu looked at Aji and ordered, "Take him into the house to rest. We will go and send the things to the elders first!"

"Okay, Dad."

Aji put down the backpack and opened the door to invite Lu Zheng in.

Gu picked up Aji's backpack and left with Ali and Aduo.

Aji took Lu Zheng directly to the second floor and said, "Sit down, I'll pour you a glass of water!"

Aji went downstairs excitedly again.

Lu Zheng looked at the second floor. It was a small room, somewhat like a living room, with tables, chairs and benches.

After a while, Aji brought up two bowls of cold water, one for each person.

"Gudong Gudong..."

Aji picked up the big bowl and drank it all, sitting there with a comfortable expression.

Their village is far away from the outside market.

The four of them set out before dawn today and just returned now, but Aji was exhausted.

Lu Zheng took a sip of water and asked, "Is your mother not at home?"

Upon hearing this, Aji said awkwardly, "Four years ago, my mother fell ill and passed away."

"Sorry." Lu Zheng apologized.

Ah Ji waved his hands and said, "It's okay! My mother has gone to enjoy happiness in the afterlife. She must be living a better life than us!"

There was a hint of color in his eyes, and he did not feel sad about the death of his loved ones.

It seemed as if he really knew that his mother was enjoying happiness in the afterlife.

Aji paused and continued, "Wait a minute, let's go to Aduo's house for dinner! We agreed on this yesterday. Aduo's mother cooks delicious meals. We bought some extra meat today. There's meat!"

Aji was not very good at speaking outside language, so he was talking and gesturing there, trying to make Lu Zheng understand what he meant.

Lu Zheng naturally understood and nodded in response with a smile.

"I heard that you, the scholars, also have great abilities?" Aji asked.

Aji knew a little about the outside world and was very curious about it.

Lu Zheng said, "Yes." "Do you have it?" Aji asked curiously.

"Learn some self-defense skills." Lu Zheng said.

"Oh..." Aji was about to ask something else when he heard someone calling him outside. It was his father's voice.

He quickly stuck his head out of the small stone window and looked down.

When Gu saw Aji, he said a few words to him in his native language.

Lu Zheng understood what was said. The gist of it was that they were going to Aduo's house for dinner, and asked Aji to look after Lu Zheng and not let him run around. The meal would be brought to them later.

Aji responded, then retracted his head and explained to Lu Zheng.

"Dad asked us to rest here and he will bring the food over later."

"I understand." Lu Zheng said with a smile.

He didn't mind anything, but he felt that the Qingyi people here seemed to be somewhat resistant to outsiders.

Lu Zheng looked at Aji and asked, "Don't you want to live outside?"

Aji tilted his head, thought hard, and spoke word by word, "It's nice out there, but it's chaotic and dangerous! It's safe here. The gods and ancestors will protect us from invasion by enemies and demons."

Aji does yearn for life outside, but relatively speaking, he feels that it is better to stay in the village, where he has a greater sense of belonging and security.

Compared to going out to live with foreigners, Aji would rather stay in the mountain village and live with his own people.

"Safety……"

Lu Zheng thought that this mountain village did seem safe.

"So, do you have enough food to eat every year when you live here?" Lu Zheng asked.

When he passed by the fields outside the village before, although he didn't observe them carefully, he could see that the Qingyi people's farming skills were a little behind.

These people were not good at growing crops, not as good as the villages he had visited.

Even in those villages, the grain grown each year may not be enough to feed a family, and they have to rely on the weather for food.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but care about the living standards of these Qingyi people.

"That's enough!" Ah Ji nodded heavily. "No one in our village has ever been hungry!"

"Hmm?" Lu Zheng couldn't help but feel curious. "Where did you get so much food?"

"The village will distribute food!" Aji replied.

"Hmm? Where does the food come from?" Lu Zheng became more and more curious.

Ah Ji wanted to say something, but felt that he couldn't say anything too much, so he just said, "At least there's no shortage of food!"

Lu Zheng fell silent upon hearing this, his mind turning.

The village will distribute food? That food shouldn't be grown in the fields.

So it was bought from outside?
If you buy from outside, you need money.

Lu Zheng thought of Han Zigu's attitude when he saw the silver, which showed that Gu was indeed not short of money.

If that’s the case, where does the money come from?

Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly and a gleam flashed in his eyes. He suddenly felt that this village was hiding some secret.

Is this a bandit village? Or is it because the village contains treasures left by our ancestors? Or is there some other reason?

Thoughts flashed through Lu Zheng's mind, making him more and more curious about this mountain village.

Ah Ji said, "This is something that happened in our village. I shouldn't tell you this. Don't ask me about it... I can only tell you this much."

"Okay." Lu Zheng nodded.

Seeing Aji say this, Lu Zheng knew that the other party would not say anything else.

Maybe because he had talked too much just now, or maybe it was difficult to communicate with Lu Zheng, Aji stopped talking and sat quietly by the window, staring outside.

After a while, footsteps were heard from below.

Ah Ji couldn't help but say happily, "It's Ah Duo, our meal is here, but I'm starving!"

Sure enough, A Duo quickly went upstairs carrying a big bamboo basket.

She took out three large bowls from the bamboo basket, two of which were filled with juicy food, including several thick slices of meat.

The other large bowl was filled with egg drop soup, sprinkled with some chopped green onions, which looked very appetizing.

It must be said that the Qingyi people here don’t seem to like outsiders very much.

But the food given to Lu Zheng was not bad, and there was no discrimination, which was already a very good reception.

"Hey, it's time for your dinner. I have to go back and eat too!"

A Duo set the table and left in a hurry.

Ah Ji looked at the food and swallowed his saliva. He said to Lu Zheng, "Come on, let's have a bowl each!"

He picked up a big bowl and stuffed it into Lu Zheng's hands.

"Thank you." Lu Zheng quickly reached out to take the dishes and chopsticks.

Seeing Lu Zheng bringing the meal, Aji was no longer polite. He picked up his own bowl of food and started eating happily. He looked like he was eating very fast and seemed to be very hungry.

After taking a few big bites, Aji found that Lu Zheng was holding the chopsticks without moving and had not started eating yet.

He swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty and said vaguely: "What's wrong? Don't you like it?"

Lu Zheng couldn't help but smile and explained, "I don't have such a big appetite. It's too much to finish. Wait until you eat some, and I'll give you some more!"

Lu Zheng really didn't have much of an appetite right now, and it was really hard to finish such a full bowl of food.

Ah Ji shook his head when he heard this. "You can't even finish this little bit of food? Adults always say that eating well helps you grow strong and have the energy to work..."

Seeing that Lu Zheng didn't have much of an appetite, Aji began to doubt whether Lu Zheng was really capable.

But he didn't have time to think about these things now, and just buried his head in eating.

(End of this chapter)