Due to heavy snow blocking the mountains, the progress was slow and it took five days to leave Xinzhou.

Yang Xi had been admiring herself for the past five days. She had not been able to find a village to stay in for the night and had been sleeping in the wilderness or caves at night. She didn’t even dare to touch her face now, as it hurt and itched.

After leaving Xinzhou, the Zhou family found the nearest town to rest. During these five days, not to mention the women and children, even the men could not bear it.

They rented a small courtyard in an inn in the town, and Zhou Yu and the Wu family decided to stay there for a few more days, as the women and children of both families could not bear the journey.

Yang Xi endured the discomfort on his face and cleaned the house with Zhou Xiaomei. The rented courtyard had six rooms, three rooms for each of the two families.

Zhou Yu went out for a while and came back with pen, ink, and paper, all of which were the cheapest. He wanted to recite the Three Character Classic and Thousand Character Classic from memory.

When Yang Xi finished cleaning the room, Zhou Yu hadn’t finished writing yet, “For Hunter Wang?”

Zhou Yu wrote back, “Well, Hunter Wang is very responsible, this is what he deserves.”

Yang Xi sat down to rest for a while. Ancient books were very expensive, and not everyone could afford enlightenment books. After sitting and reading for a while, she couldn’t help thinking that it was fortunate that she was a reincarnation from ancient times to modern times, otherwise, she would have to learn to read again when she came to ancient times.

About a quarter of an hour later, Yang Xi heard noises outside and guessed that little brother Zhou had come back from buying firewood. The separate courtyard was convenient as it had a small kitchen that could be used. Unfortunately, the Zhou family had to eat vegetarian food and could not eat meat to replenish their bodies.

At noon, Yang Xi made noodles, eggs, and mixed sauce noodles. The sauce was bought from the inn, and a jar cost thirty cents, which was enough to last for two months.

Unfortunately, the tofu was sold out, so if they wanted to eat it they had to wait until tomorrow morning.

The Zhou family had three rooms. Yang Xi and her husband and their son lived in one room, Ye Shi lived in one room with Zhou Xiaomei, and Zhou Xiaodi, Third Yang, and Li Zheng lived in the last room. Li Zheng’s original name was Li Shanzi, but Third Yang changed his name.

After lunch, Yang Xi patted her son for a nap. He was still quite energetic. Zhou Yu continued to write. She came out with copper coins and silver coins, “I’m going to the clothes shop.”

Zhou Yu was worried about his wife, as the road was slippery and snowy, so he stood up while moving her wrists. “I’ll go with you.”

Yang Xi originally intended to take her younger sister with her, “Have you finished writing?”

Zhou Yu: “Almost.”

Yang Xi would never refuse Zhou Yu’s company, “Okay, you come with me.”

The couple asked their younger sister to look after Ziheng and went to the street.

There are many shops in the town. Yang Xi saw many things along the way. “This place is not a transportation hub, but there are many shops. This shows that Pingzhou is well governed.”

Zhou Yu, “The local officials in Pingzhou are good, and it’s safe here.”

This was also the reason why he was in a hurry to leave Xinzhou. Pingzhou never tolerated bandits.

The couple arrived at the clothes shop, but there was no one inside. There were not many wealthy families at that time, and the peak of business was at the end of the year.

Yang Xi bought some cotton cloth, and some blue and dark cloth, all of which were cheap cloth. They were not pure refugees. The further south they went, the more they relied on clothes. Their clothes were so tattered that they couldn’t even enter the city gate.

Unfortunately, after searching around, they couldn’t find any cotton. The shopkeeper said, “There hasn’t been much cotton in recent years. We ran out of stock half a month ago. Would you like to see some fur, Madam?”

Yang Xi wanted to make a cape, but it was too high-profile. “It’s too expensive. Thank you, shopkeeper.”

The shopkeeper had already counted the money, “A total of one hundred and forty coins.”

Yang Xi stared at the cloth, then looked at the needle and thread she had bought, and then she took out the copper coins, thinking that they were so expensive.

After leaving the shop, the two did not spend much time strolling around. They bought some snacks for their family and quickly returned to the inn.

At night, the family of three lay on the warm kang. Ziheng couldn’t fall asleep after his nap. The little guy held his father with one hand and his mother with the other. He was used to sleeping between his father and mother. Only in this way could he feel at ease.

Zhou Yu wanted to hug his wife even more. He didn’t have the heart to do it before, but now he didn’t feel any urgency. He wanted to hug his wife. He had never gotten along well with his wife since he went back to ancient times.

Zhou Yu was waiting for his son to fall asleep, but the little guy kept fidgeting. “Go to sleep now.”

Ziheng closed his eyes and opened them again after a while. The little guy spoke, “Dad, are we safe?”

Yang Xi felt sad when she heard this, “Safe.”

Ziheng was happy for a short while but then he became sad again. He missed his grandfather who was all alone in the capital.

Yang Xi couldn’t bear it any longer and fell asleep for a short while. She didn’t even know when her son fell asleep.

The next day, Hunter Wang and his son left, and Zhou Yu personally saw them off.

Hunter Wang saw the handwritten Three Character Classic and grinned. “Thank you. If there’s a chance in the future, come by and visit.”

Zhou Yu thought it would be difficult to come back, but he said, “The world is not peaceful, Brother Wang, be careful.”

After spending time together, Hunter Wang knew that Zhou Yu had skills. “I’ve noted it down. That’s enough, no need to see me off.”

Zhou Yu waited until Hunter Wang’s sled was far off before he stood up and returned to the inn.

When Zhou Yu returned to the yard and didn’t see Zhou Xiaodi and Third Yang, he couldn’t help but frown, “Where did they go?”

Wu Shan was chopping firewood in the yard. “Third Yang said they were going out for a walk.”

Zhou Yu went over to help, but Wu Shan dodged with the axe, and continued, “I’m not saying anything, but Third Yang is not a quiet guy.”

Zhou Yu: “Big brother also noticed it.”

Wu Shan snorted, “This kid is not buying a servant, I think he is training Li Zheng. This morning I saw him teaching Li Zheng how to read.”

Zhou Yu picked up the chopped firewood and said, “He has hatred in his heart.”

Wu Shan didn’t know Third Yang’s background, so he wasn’t curious. He didn’t care about his status. He was just an ordinary farmer. “Just keep an eye on him.”

Although Third Yang had never caused any trouble and had put in a lot of effort along the way, he was still worried and felt that Zhou Yu would be the most suitable person to tie a rope for Third Yang.

Zhou Yu asked, “Where are your third and fourth boys?”

Wu Shan froze while chopping wood. “Okay, Third Yang is still trying to trick my son.”

Zhou Yu laughed. The boy from the Wu family was tall and strong. He had noticed that Third Yang had been staring at the Wu brothers more than once.

Yang Xi and Li Shi were making shoes, and Li Shi said, “You are so skillful.”

Yang Xi smiled, “Practice makes perfect.”

Li Shi couldn’t make shoes properly. “For Brother Zhou, being able to marry you is a blessing he earned in his previous life.”

She admired Yang Shi very much for not abandoning her when her family went through a crisis and for taking good care of her mother-in-law and child even when she was pregnant.

Yang Xi’s lips curled up. Zhou Yu was indeed blessed. “Brother Wu married my sister-in-law. Brother’s blessing is also enviable.”

Li Shi felt relieved after hearing this. “At that time, there were so many matchmakers from all over the place, but I only chose him.”

Yang Xi, “My sister-in-law has a good eye for choosing a responsible man like my brother.”

Li Shi thought, that being literate was different, look at how pleasant Yang Shi’s words were.

At this time, the waiter of the inn came to the yard. As soon as he came in, he said, “The King of Jiang has sent people to the town to distribute steamed buns today. Each person with a household registration can get two. If you want to go, go to Fuquan Restaurant to get them.”

After saying this, the waiter went to inform the other customers that times were tough these days and no one would object to two steamed buns.

Yang Xi came out and looked at Zhou Yu. There was no kindness without reason in this world.

(End of this chapter)

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