22: Chapter 22 The Child Is Here

During dinner, Liu Chunmei kept holding Nannan in her arms.

A basin of pheasant meat was stewed on the table, and a plate of eggs was also stir-fried.

Liu Chunmei didn't eat much herself and just fussed over Nannan.

"Nannan, this pheasant leg is the most delicious."

There were two legs on the pheasant in total; one had already been put into Nannan's bowl, and the other was in Liu Chunmei's hand, tearing off the meat to feed Nannan.

Liu Chunmei watched Nannan eating the chicken leg in big bites, her face full of happiness.

Mo Xiaochuan sat opposite and occasionally looked at Nannan as well.

He stretched out his chopsticks and clipped the eggs in the plate into Nannan's bowl.

"Little Nannan, eat more."

Nannan looked at the eggs in the bowl, then looked up at Mo Xiaochuan.

Mo Xiaochuan said:

"Little Nannan, my name is Mo Xiaochuan."

After hearing this, Nannan whispered:

"Brother Xiaochuan."

After hearing this, Liu Chunmei was even happier than Mo Xiaochuan.

"Xiaochuan, you must protect your younger sister in the future and not let anyone bully her."

Mo Xiaochuan nodded.

"I know, Mother."

Mo Shoutian glanced at his son a few times.

Nothing could be seen on Mo Xiaochuan's face, but it could be seen from his continuous picking of dishes for Nannan.

The son also quite liked this little girl.

After finishing dinner, Mo Xiaochuan returned to the room to continue to Cultivate.

Liu Chunmei held Nannan and went to the kitchen.

She held the child with one hand and cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks with the other, refusing to put the person down no matter what she did.

Mo Shoutian sat by the kang and watched for a while.

"Can't you just put her on the kang?"

"What do you know?"

Liu Chunmei didn't even turn her head back.

"She just arrived at a strange place and is scared."

Nannan lay on her shoulder, still grabbing her collar with her hand.

Mo Shoutian didn't speak again.

After Liu Chunmei cleaned up the kitchen, she boiled some hot water to wipe Nannan's hands and face, and only then carried her back to the room.

Perhaps because she had been traveling on the road these past few days, Nannan fell asleep not long after lying on the kang.

Liu Chunmei carefully helped Nannan cover the quilt well.

Looking at the sleeping little girl, Mo Shoutian took out the remaining seven or eight taels of silver and the bracelet from his arms and put them together on the kang table.

Liu Chunmei picked them up and counted.

"Only these are left?"

"Mn."

Mo Shoutian recounted the expenses of this journey.

Although Liu Chunmei felt distressed for the silver, she didn't say anything and put the bracelet and silver into the cabinet together.

After putting away the things and coming back, Liu Chunmei looked at Mo Shoutian and said:

"I have something to ask you."

Mo Shoutian was taking off his shoes. Hearing this, he raised his head and glanced at her.

"What is it?"

"You've been gone for more than twenty days, why didn't you know to find someone to send a message back?"

Mo Shoutian explained:

"At first I didn't think of going to Jiuzhou City."

"Then after you arrived at Jiuzhou City? Such a big city, couldn't you find a caravan coming to Qingshi Town?"

Mo Shoutian didn't answer.

This matter was indeed something he hadn't thought through comprehensively.

Liu Chunmei got more and more angry as she spoke.

Mo Shoutian finally said in a low voice:

"This matter is my fault. If I go out for so long in the future, I will definitely let someone send a letter back."

Hearing this, Liu Chunmei's expression softened a little.

Mo Shoutian moved closer to her side, reached out to hug her waist, and said:

"All right, stop Life Qi."

While speaking, he moved closer to Liu Chunmei.

As a couple of fifteen years, Liu Chunmei naturally knew what Mo Shoutian was going to do next.

She patted away his hand and pouted towards the side.

"The child is here."

After finishing, Liu Chunmei turned around, hugged Nannan in her arms, and pulled Nannan's quilt up a bit.

"Go to sleep quickly."

Mo Shoutian sighed softly and could only close his eyes in the end.

After eating breakfast the next day, Mo Shoutian told Liu Chunmei and went out the door.

After lying down last night, he had already roughly thought about the people he wanted to find.

A heavy crossbow cannot be used just by having strength; what is important is coordination, and having too few people definitely won't work.

But to really gather a dozen or so people is not that easy.

Mo Shoutian first went to Mo Dashan's house at the west end of the village.

The courtyard door of Mo Dashan's house was open, and a few chickens were wandering around everywhere in the courtyard.

Mo Xiaoshan squatted at the doorway eating a flatbread, still holding a bowl of porridge in his hand.

Seeing Mo Shoutian enter the courtyard, Mo Xiaoshan quickly swallowed the flatbread in his mouth.

"Brother Shoutian, have you eaten?"

"I have."

Mo Shoutian glanced into the courtyard.

"Where is your brother?"

"He's at the pigsty in the back. I don't know when last night a piece of the wall was arched down, and he is cursing there."

Just as the words were finished, Mo Dashan walked out from the pigsty behind the house, his trouser legs stained with a lot of mud.

"You didn't come to help, and you still have the nerve to sit here and eat?"

Mo Xiaoshan held the bowl and moved aside a bit.

"Didn't I just start eating?"

Mo Dashan was too lazy to talk to him anymore, and turned to look at Mo Shoutian.

"Brother Shoutian, is there something you need me for?"

"Tonight, you two brothers come to my house for a drink."

As soon as Mo Xiaoshan heard there was wine, he immediately perked up.

"Then we'll definitely go."

But Mo Dashan asked an extra question:

"Why did you suddenly think of calling the two of us brothers for a drink?"

Mo Shoutian smiled and said:

"You kid has the most schemes; you'll know when you arrive tonight."

When he came out of the courtyard, he could still hear Mo Dashan cursing his younger brother behind, telling him to hurry over to repair the pigsty after eating.

These two brothers usually quarreled often, but when something really happened, the two brothers never hesitated.

A few years ago, the two brothers were hunting on the mountain and ran into a wild boar weighing several hundred catties.

The eldest was seriously injured by the wild boar, and the second fought desperately to drive the wild boar away.

On the way back, they encountered heavy snow sealing the mountains. Under normal circumstances, encountering such a thing is ominous; even if he survived, the eldest might end up with a disability.

But the second brother desperately carried the eldest on his back, walking for days in the mountains sealed by heavy snow, and stubbornly carried the person down.

Because they came down in time, not only was the eldest's life saved, but his injuries also didn't leave any root causes for illness.

This was what Mo Shoutian needed.

Being able to carry a seriously injured adult down the mountain under the condition of heavy snow sealing the mountains relied on more than just strength.

After coming out of Mo Dashan's house, he went to Mo Changlin's house.

The person he originally wanted to find was Mo Qingshi.

Mo Qingshi was just about to go out to carry water. Hearing Mo Shoutian asking him to go over for a drink tonight, he asked:

"Is there some good news?"

Mo Shoutian replied:

"You'll know when you come over tonight."

Just as he finished speaking, Mo Qingshi's father, Mo Changlin, walked out from the courtyard.

The old man draped an old sheepskin jacket over his body and was still holding half a bowl of hot water in his hand.

"Are you looking for Qingshi to enter the mountain?"

Mo Shoutian said:

"Uncle Changlin, I'm just calling him to go to my house for a drink tonight."

"What kind of wine requires calling people over early in the morning?"

Mo Changlin had lived for more than fifty years, and when he was young, he was also a famous hunter in the village. He was not someone who could be fooled away with a few words.

Mo Shoutian didn't state it clearly and only said:

"It has some relation to the back mountain."

After hearing this, Mo Changlin directly put the bowl on the windowsill.

"If Qingshi goes, I'll go too."

Mo Qingshi frowned.

"Father, Brother Shoutian is calling me."

"My ears are not deaf yet."

Mo Changlin glared at his son.

"How many times have you walked through those places in the back mountain?"

"If something really happens, you won't even find the way back."

Mo Qingshi wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Mo Changlin raising his hand.

"I will go with you tonight."