Chapter 105
Cheng Dali had just returned to his room when Liu Zhi came in with a basin of hot water.
"Grandpa, you go soak your feet first, the water is boiling, and we can take a bath later."
Cheng Darui's daily life was taken care of by Liu Zhi, from serving tea and water to making his bed and folding his quilt. Even Cheng Darui's clothes were washed by her, taking care of every detail to the point where Cheng Darui felt embarrassed. Cheng Darui wasn't a person who would stretch out his hands for food or open his mouth for meals, but having this lively little girl attend to him made him feel... quite good, honestly.
"This world isn't completely meaningless, is it?" Cheng Dairen put his feet in the water basin, and the fatigue from the past few days of rushing around finally dissipated a bit. He thought of something and asked, "Liu Zhi, do you think they're uniting to deal with us because I've always thought my relationships with people were pretty good?"
"Probably they can't afford to eat."
"If I can't even afford a meal, who can I reason with?"
Cheng Dali said in a bad mood, stretching out his hand to grab the towel, Liu Qi had already picked up the towel and was squatting at his feet.
"Good grief... How humiliating! Hurry and let Liu Zhi get up, he can't take this."
Cheng Darui never understood this era, marrying a chicken to follow the chicken and marrying a dog to follow the dog. In an era where concubines can be given away at will, Cheng Darui's actions are simply a model for men.
The long winter days were leisurely and boring, in the weather where you could freeze your fingers by stretching out your hand, nothing could be done. Cheng Dalai wanted to do something, but he could only wait for next spring. He had no choice but to huddle with everyone else in the mountain stronghold to spend the winter.
Every day, with Liu Zhi in the house, teasing Tongzi was not very interesting. Occasionally, Cheng Dali would also go out hunting with Qin Man to pass the time.
It was originally out of interest, but after experiencing it personally, I realized that this is not a good thing.
Heavy snow sealed the mountain, with drifts reaching as high as several people. Caves, tree trunks and cliffs were all hidden under the thick layer of snow. One misstep could be fatal.
Luckily, there was Qin Man to guide the way, so nothing dangerous happened.
"Qin Man, what can I do?" Cheng Dairen wrapped in a large gown, holding a long spear in his hand.
"Don't make trouble."
Cheng Dali
"Be careful, Master, don't startle the mountain bear in the tree hole. We can hunt some hares and wild rabbits today."
"Is it good to fight?"
"Not good at fighting."
The two continued walking into the mountains, where heavy snow covered everything in a vast expanse of white. However, from time to time, deep pits would appear on the snowy ground, with even the black soil inside turned over and exposed.
"Qin Man, take a closer look at this, what kind of animal dug this?" Cheng Dairen exclaimed. In this chaotic world, if some strange creature really appeared, it wouldn't be considered unusual: three-headed dogs, centaurs and the like.
Person
"Uh...alright." Cheng Dairen said somewhat awkwardly: "Who dug these? Aren't they afraid of freezing their hands stiff?"
Qin Man stopped in his tracks, pointing to the snowy forest in front of him: "Master, don't just look at the snow-covered mountains, actually under the thick layer of snow, there are still many plants growing that can be used to fill our stomachs. I've dug them up before, but of course, we don't need to now."
"Carrot?"
"Grassroots."
Cheng Dalai puckered up, just walking along, when suddenly two women emerged from the snow pile in front of him. They looked like a mother-daughter pair, with the mother probably around thirty years old but looking older, and the girl only seven or eight years old, both wrapped in black hemp robes, with black mud on their faces.
"What are you people...?" Cheng Dairen's eyes lit up, could it be some new occupation: "Witch?"
"Digging wild herbs." Qin Man pulled out a piece of flatbread from his bosom and stuffed it into the girl's hand: "Which mountain stronghold are you folks from?"
The two of them didn't answer, scrambling to eat the frozen pancake. The woman didn't let go of a single ice crystal, and right in front of Cheng Dairen, she lifted her robe and rummaged around for the crumbs that had fallen into her collar.
"This..."
Cheng Dali was about to say something when Qin Man patted his arm and led him away.
The two did not continue hunting and returned to the mountain stronghold. Cheng Da Lei was in a gloomy mood, that girl's eyes kept appearing in his mind.
Cheng Dali arrived at the dungeon.
"Great, great!"
"Little, little!"
"Haha, I'm big again! I've always been big, and I'll always be big!"
Before entering, I heard a loud noise. Cheng Dalai walked in and found that Xiaobailang and Gaofei Bao were gambling on the color of cards across the railing in the middle of the cell.
Among them, Xiao Bai Lang was the most excited, as if he had completely forgotten that Gao Fei Bao had once wanted to harm them.
"Hah, you guys are having a blast, count me in."
Jian Cheng Da Lei walked in, and two groups of talented individuals left the fence and returned to their respective cells, staring at Cheng Da Lei with wide eyes.
"I've got some good news for everyone. I've decided to release a few of you first, and the rest will stay locked up, let's see how you behave. Among you several people, who wants to come out first?"
A group of people gathered together, whispering to each other. Suddenly, one person stood up and said: "You with the surname Cheng, don't pretend to be a good person, I won't yield to you. Whoever leaves, I won't leave either. I'll fight it out with you to the end."
Others clenched their fists and sighed, their expressions clearly saying: This should have been said by me, how did he get to say it first.
Cheng Dalai felt inexplicable: When did mountain bandits become so hard-boned?
The two groups of people from Apricot Flower Ridge and Flying Tiger Fort surprisingly didn't have a single person who wanted to leave, everyone's expression was excited, saying things like they would rather die in prison than leave the cell.
Cheng Dalai initially thought it was because of the mountain bandits' arrogance, but later realized that wasn't the case, these people really didn't want to leave.
"No way, we have to walk eight today, you two discuss and see which ones go." said Cheng Dalai.
"Old Li, you can go."
"Brother, I have an 80-year-old mother at home and an 8-year-old child, just let me stay here for a couple of days."
"Don't worry, you go ahead with an easy mind, from now on I'll take care of your elderly mother, raise your children and... your wife..."
Such conversations in prison cells are all mixed up, making it seem like being locked up here is the greatest good fortune, and being released would be a dead end.
At this time, someone brought food to the cell, and Cheng Dalai also came out. His mind was still foggy, and he couldn't figure out what had happened.
As soon as he came out of the dungeon, Liu Bei was stopped by Liu Bei. Liu Bei took Cheng Da Lei to the mouth of the Toad Hill at Toad Hill. This is the commanding height of Toad Hill, from which the entire Qingniu Mountain can be seen in sight.
"Brother Liu, what's up? It's time for dinner."
"Great master, come and see..." Liu Beixin pointed with one hand, like a general deploying troops on the battlefield.
Cheng Dali took a step forward and stood beside Liu Bei, gazing into the distance.
"The mountains are like ice walls, the forests are like snow carvings, the sky and earth are majestic, but it's just that. Cheng Dairen looked at him with a gaze that only heroes under the heavens could understand: 'Such magnificent scenery is not appreciated by ordinary people. Brother Liu has great mountains and rivers in his heart.'"
"What did you say?" Liu Bei looked at Cheng Da and said, "I'm telling you to take a look, the entire Qingniu Mountain is so big, but only Hamao Village has smoke from cooking..."
