Gu Qingcheng saw that Zhang Dahu swallowed, and guessed he wanted to take the meat buns back to his family. She urged him, "Brother Dahu, eat first. We have more in the carriage. I'll bring some for your parents later."
"Thank you, Sister Qingcheng. You're too kind."
Zhang Dahu originally had some lingering thoughts about Gu Qingcheng, which was why he approached her, hoping she would see him in a different light. However, after being separated for a while and living like a beggar, seeing Gu Qingcheng's family looking so well-off, he had already extinguished those thoughts. Knowing he couldn't possibly reach her, how could he shamelessly cling to her? Seeing Gu Qingcheng's gentle treatment, Zhang Dahu was only moved, with no other thoughts. A person must know their own place.
Zhang Dahu's act of keeping his distance, on the contrary, made Gu Qingcheng want to care for him more.
Having not eaten such delicious meat buns in so long, Zhang Dahu finished two almost in three bites. Gu Qingcheng smiled understandingly.
After walking a few hundred meters, they arrived at the village entrance of Pukou Village, where a row of feng shui trees stood. Several thatched huts were erected nearby, and this was where Gu Village Chief's family lived. Gu Village Chief was warming himself by a fire in front of the hut. After more than a month apart, Gu Village Chief had aged considerably.
Gu Qingcheng quickly stepped forward and greeted him respectfully. Gu Village Chief exclaimed in surprise, "It's Qingcheng? You've changed so much, I almost didn't recognize you. Where are your parents?"
"They're talking with the villagers up ahead. I came to see you first." Gu Qingcheng took out two meat buns from the cloth bag she carried and handed them to Gu Village Chief. The buns were still warm, of course, as Qingcheng had taken them directly from the storage cabinet. With the cloth bag hiding them, no one could tell, and they assumed she had taken them out of the bag. Seeing Gu Village Chief reluctantly take a bite, Gu Qingcheng said with a smile, "Village Chief, we have more meat buns in our carriage. Please eat this first, and I'll bring some to share later."
Gu Village Chief was also very hungry. After eating two meat buns, though he didn't feel full, he immediately felt a surge of strength. Gu Qingcheng then sat with Zhang Dahu by the fire, warming themselves with the Village Chief.
"Village Chief, will our village spend the winter here, or continue south?"
"Of course, we have to go south. The people of Pukou Village won't take us in, and this dreadful weather is getting colder and colder. If we don't head south, we'll freeze to death sooner or later. Twenty-odd people in our village have already frozen to death. However, to go south, we need to be able to eat and stay warm. Our village lacks all the conditions now, so how can we set off so rashly? Perhaps we'll all freeze to death before we even leave the jurisdiction of Jinsha City."
Gu Qingcheng gasped. The death rate was too high! Upon inquiry, it turned out to be the old, weak, and very young villagers. Almost none of the villagers over sixty had survived, and neither had any children under three.
Gu Village Chief suddenly remembered something and said, "Qingcheng, the wicked deeds done by old Master Gu last time were unknown to the villagers. They didn't know that Gu Old Man's family sold you. They kept it so secret that they didn't mention it to anyone in the village. Although the villagers went to watch the excitement that day, those crowded at the front were from Pukou Village, as well as those rich and powerful masters. We were blocked far behind, dozens of meters away, and couldn't recognize the Lotus Maiden as you from afar. Later, when we saw the government officials arrest Gu Old Man's family, we were still puzzled. I went to negotiate with the officials, and they said Gu Old Man's family had sold you. That's when I understood why the whole village was detained by the officials and not allowed to move. It was to investigate if we were involved in this matter. Alas, this is my dereliction of duty as Village Chief. If I had known it was you, we would have protected you at all costs, and saved you from Old Master Gu even if it meant our lives. You are our villager, and we have this obligation."
Gu Qingcheng believed Gu Village Chief's explanation. She was disguised so ridiculously that day that not only could the villagers not recognize her, but she herself wouldn't have recognized herself in a mirror. Moreover, Gu Old Man knew it was a bad deed, and if it were exposed, he would be criticized by the villagers, so he kept it strictly under wraps. It was not strange that the people of Taoyuan Village were unaware. Gu Qingcheng felt relieved; she had wondered why Gu Village Chief hadn't come to help her, but now she understood.
She said cheerfully, "Village Chief, fortunately, my father managed to get help from Prince Xia, who saved me. The bad guys received their due punishment, and the matter is over. Prince Xia is a kind person and gave us a lot of supplies. Our family can't use it all, so we want to share some with the village."
Besides sympathizing with the villagers, Gu Qingcheng had also heard from Gu Village Chief that Taoyuan Village needed supplies to restart the southern escape route. Without supplies, they couldn't move. This was why she thought of donating supplies.
Gu Village Chief was greatly shocked. He said, "Qingcheng, at this time, food and drink are life-saving things. You earned them with your own ability, so keep them. There are too many people in the village, and no matter how much you give, it won't be enough to eat!"
Gu Qingcheng thought the Village Chief was truly kind. She said, "It's alright. Anyway, it was all given by the Prince, and our family can't possibly use it all, so we'll share it with the villagers. However, there's quite a lot of it. We'll go home to get it, and I'll have the carriage deliver it to the village entrance tonight. You can then have someone pick it up."
"Qingcheng, you are a good child. I haven't misjudged you!" Gu Village Chief sighed profoundly.
Gu Qingcheng suddenly remembered something else and decided to mention it. She said, "Village Chief, we also rescued the Lotus Child. His name is Mi Guo, and he lives with us now, having become part of our family. Could you issue him a household registration certificate and a travel permit?"
"No problem." Gu Village Chief immediately got to work. In a short while, a household registration and travel permit for Mi Guo to be a resident of Taoyuan Village were ready and handed to Gu Qingcheng. Although with the future natural disasters and great changes, no one would check people's origins anymore, for now, living in Jinsha City, having official documents ready could avoid unnecessary trouble.
Gu Qingcheng turned and went to the carriage waiting at the village entrance. She briefly inspected it, then put Mi Guo's household registration and travel permit into the storage cabinet with her own family's, ensuring they would never be lost. Then, she pretended to take out 10 meat buns from the carriage, but in reality, took them from the storage cabinet, and gave them to Gu Village Chief. She also gave 10 meat buns to Zhang Dahu.
Gu Chaobei and Hu Lanfang also managed to break free from the surrounding villagers and quickly stepped forward to greet Gu Village Chief. Gu Village Chief kept praising Qingcheng as a good child who thought of the entire village. Gu Chaobei and his wife heard something that didn't seem quite right, but they didn't ask.
After bidding farewell to the Village Chief, Gu Qingcheng was about to leave the village. Seeing that no one was nearby, she told them about her intention to give supplies to the village. Gu Chaobei and his wife, however, looked worried. They exchanged glances and said, "Will this expose our identities?"