Heavenly Blessed Baby: Fleeing Famine, Busy to Prosper!-Chapter 127: The Horses Might Freeze to Death
Yi Meng snapped back to reality and hurried to check on Qi Manman, afraid the child might be scared.
But Qi Manman was not scared at all. Instead, she burst into laughter. "Mom, that was fun! Do it again, do it again!"
In an instant, both Yi Meng and Mrs. Qi’s faces darkened.
This child is too mischievous!
"Um, I’ll take the child to the carriage first."
Mrs. Qi couldn’t bring herself to scold her fourth daughter-in-law at the moment.
If the one in her arms was a grandson instead of a granddaughter, Mrs. Qi was convinced she’d have spanked the boy’s bottom by now.
Yi Meng felt torn between laughter and tears.
Anyway, the matter of the ginseng was settled.
No matter whether her daughter said she saw many or not, the ginseng in hand definitely needed to be brought to the city and sold for silver.
When Yi Meng returned to the front, Qi Ercai and the others had returned as well.
Seeing that the main decision-makers were all present, Qi Ercai said, "There’s no more room in the city to stay, so if we want to spend the night in the city, we’ll have to stay at an inn. I figure we’ll be lucky to get a spot by sunset, so why don’t we stay outside the city overnight and queue up early tomorrow morning when the gates open? What do you all think?"
Everyone looked at Qi Quanjin.
Such decisions are best left to Qi the Fourth!
Qi Quanjin thought for a moment, "Okay then, we still have quite a bit of water on the carriage, so lasting one night won’t be an issue."
"I just asked the guards at the gate, and they said we can find a place to stay overnight near the city wall, though there will be patrolling soldiers in the evening, who will inevitably check our documents, so we have to prepare them in advance."
Qi Ercai lowered his voice and said, "There are quite a few people around who aren’t very honest. I’ve heard from queueing folks that many families have lost silver, and there are even missing children. We must be vigilant tonight and not let anyone take advantage of us."
Hearing this, everyone’s faces darkened a bit.
Qi Quanjin nodded, "This is serious. We’ll split into two teams and rotate every two hours tonight."
"By the way, do we have enough firewood?"
Yi Meng suddenly asked.
Everyone glanced at the carriage where the firewood was kept. There was still half a cart left.
After learning yesterday that they could enter the city today, nobody bothered collecting firewood along the way. What’s left might only be enough to keep one bonfire going overnight.
Qi Quanjin gestured toward Qi Dalang.
When Qi Dalang ran over, Qi Quanjin said, "Dalang, go with your third, fifth, and sixth uncles to gather firewood."
"Alright!"
Qi Dalang had no objections.
Qi Sangui didn’t say anything, just quietly went to get the axe and rope for cutting and bundling firewood.
Yi Meng suddenly recalled her daughter talking about ginseng, hesitated for a moment, then spoke, "I’ll take Manbao with me!"
With these words, everyone’s eyes fell on Yi Meng.
Qi Quanjin asked, "Wife, in this cold weather, why take Manbao along?"
"Yeah, fourth sister-in-law, they can handle collecting firewood themselves."
Qi Ercai chimed in.
Yi Meng pursed her lips, thought seriously for a moment, and finally chose to speak the truth, "I just talked to Manbao about selling ginseng, and the child said she saw quite a bit along the way here. I was thinking of going to check it out, and if there’s really some around, even one more would be helpful for our upcoming settlement."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
It wasn’t that they weren’t excited, but they started reflecting on how even a child and a woman had more usefulness than them individually.
Yin Cheng, overhearing this, said, "No need to rush with the ginseng yet. It’s getting late now, and going there and back might be unsafe, especially if it gets windy, which would be troublesome."
"Let’s sell the ginseng we have and see how much we’re short. If it’s enough, great. If not, we can send more people together when it’s safe."
Yin Cheng’s proposal was unanimously agreed upon.
Yi Meng thought it over and realized her idea was somewhat impulsive, so she no longer insisted.
Qi Quanyin and Qi Quanli didn’t have much resistance to the idea of going to gather firewood, so they prepared their gear and followed their third brother in the direction they came from.
The woods near the city are quite a distance away, and going there and back would take quite some time; they needed to hurry.
Unexpectedly, as they passed the side of the carriage, they heard Qi Manman’s sweet voice talking to Mrs. Qi.
"Grandma, it’s so cold! When Manbao holds you later, you won’t feel cold!"
Mrs. Qi’s voice followed, "You cheeky girl, your dad will have to make more bonfires for you tonight. You might end up kicking off the covers from the heat."
"I won’t, I won’t. It’s really cold. We need a ring of fires, or else the horses will freeze to death!"
Qi Manman’s little voice made everyone’s heart melt with affection.
Qi Quanli couldn’t help himself and asked through the carriage, "Manbao, your uncle is going to gather firewood. I’ll get lots of wood for you, alright?"
"Alright!"
Qi Manman immediately poked her head out of the carriage, giggling at Qi Quanli, "Uncle, get lots of wood, okay? Otherwise, the horses will freeze and won’t be able to pull the carriage for Manbao."
Qi Quanli laughed heartily in response, not taking it too seriously.
It was Qi Zheng who wanted to see his granddaughter. Upon hearing this, he felt a twinge in his heart and quickly sped up his pace, "Manbao, tell grandpa, when will the horses freeze to death?"
Qi Manman shook her head and seriously refuted her grandpa, "Grandpa, with uncle gathering wood, the horses won’t freeze!"
"Oh!"
Qi Zheng was successfully flustered by his granddaughter, but he still asked, "But if we don’t have wood, when will the horses freeze?"
"Tonight!"
Qi Manman sat back in the carriage, scratching her head. "It’s so cold tonight! I want to sleep holding grandma, and mom, then we won’t be cold."
Qi Zheng was too concerned to feel jealous and quickly called out to his sons and grandsons behind him, "Ercai, stay here. Fourth, take Erlang, Sanlang, and the others to gather wood!"
After Qi Zheng’s shout, the other three families hurriedly called for their men to follow.
Although they didn’t know why Qi Zheng suddenly wanted to increase the number of people gathering wood, the urgency surely meant something was up.
So the wood-gathering team expanded swiftly.
Qi Zheng instructed Qi Quanjin, "Fourth, hurry up and don’t waste too much time. Come back as soon as it’s dark, don’t dawdle outside, understand?"
"Dad, don’t worry!"
Qi Quanjin didn’t hear what his daughter said, but looking at his dad’s face, he knew something must be wrong.
Even without his father’s reminder, he’d hurry back with the team.
The area near the city walls is so chaotic, he wouldn’t feel at ease without the men of the family keeping watch.
"Dad, keep a close eye on the kids at home, and the belongings. If someone has their eye on them, let them. Don’t force a confrontation."
Qi Quanjin reversed the reminder, telling his dad to watch out.
