It was early in the morning, just after daybreak. Zhao Guizhi had just turned over when she heard a noise in the yard. She half-climbed up and listened carefully, but it seemed that the noise suddenly disappeared.

The old couple usually get up early, so Yan Zhengdao woke up when he heard something happening over there. "Why aren't you getting up yet?"

Zhao Guizhi pointed to the yard and said, "I seemed to hear some noise in the yard just now."

"What's that noise?" Yan Zhengdao also listened carefully, but he couldn't hear anything except the sound of birds.

"If I want to know what it is, I will just tell you. Why are you asking such nonsense?" Zhao Guizhi said as she got up from the kang, opened the window and took a look into the yard. Then she turned around with a smile on her face and put on her coat.

"It has to be our Xiaobei, squatting in the yard early in the morning."

Yan Zhengdao also put on his clothes and slowly moved to the window to look out: "It looks quite decent."

Zhao Guizhi rolled her eyes: "That's definitely better than you. As for our family, the second child is just like you. He doesn't do anything all day. If he didn't have a good mouth, he would definitely be single."

Yan Zhengdao was not angry when being told this. After all, no matter which one they were, they were all his children. He felt that they all had their own abilities and prospects. In his eyes, although they were not the best among men, they were not worse than anyone else.

Zhao Guizhi went out to make breakfast, and soon Lin Ge'er came to help. Because Xiao Ge'er mentioned the plague, he had to stop working on the roof which was halfway repaired.

Not knowing when this matter would be over, he had already moved most of the food in his home here.

While the two of them were making breakfast, Yan Zhenbei, who had just finished doing horse stance and boxing, had sneaked into the courtyard and was lying on the window of the east room, knocking rhythmically several times.

"Qing'er, it's time to get up and read early."

When Yan Zhenshen went to the county town to bring Xiaobei back, he also said that Lu Chengxue could go with him. After all, the Yan family now has a bigger yard and several more rooms, so even if more people come, there is no need to worry about not having enough space.

But the two men of the Lu family, the older one has to stay in the government office, and the younger one has to manage the guards, so they are all very busy. If Lu Chengxue returns to Anning Village, there will be no one to take care of the house.

However, she did not come back, but let Qing'er live with Yan Zhenbei. No matter what, the two children were engaged, so Qing'er was considered half a member of the Yan family.

If a plague really breaks out, the county town is not as safe as the village. To put it bluntly, it is also for the good of the children.

If her little girl wasn't too young, she would have wanted to let the Yan family take her back with them.

Yan Zhenshen stood on the second floor and looked down, and saw Yan Zhenbei taking Qing'er to go for morning reading after washing up. After a while, the sound of the two children talking to each other could be heard from the yard.

After breakfast, Yan Zhenbei continued to read, but Qingger didn't have to study hard. He took Xiaobao and Yan Sanmei to the old house to feed the chickens and ducks.

Brother Lin has a vegetable garden at home. Now is the season when vegetables grow wildly, especially leeks. There are so many crops that they can never be eaten up.

Chu Xiao didn't want to waste food, so he took Yan Zhenshen to pick the vegetables. As for Lin Ge'er, he stayed at home to help Zhao Guizhi sort out the things in the warehouse.

It rained heavily and the humidity was too high a few days ago. I was worried that some things would get moldy if not stored properly, so I took advantage of the strong sun to take them out and dry them in the sun.

It doesn’t look like much, but if you really start working on it it will take more than a day to get everything sorted out.

Zhao Guizhi had been packing for three days, and even with the help of others, she still felt sore in her back and waist. She patted her shoulders and said happily, "When I see all this food, I feel relieved."

Yan Zhengdao also nodded beside him, "That's right. This is the first time in my life that I feel like a landlord. There is no way I can eat all the food in this warehouse."

The old couple were so happy that they spent a few days wandering around the food stored at home and almost forgot about everything else.

But who would have thought that only four or five days later, the gong would be struck in the village, and then seven or eight yamen runners would enter the village and question every household.

The Yan family was far from the village, and it was almost noon when the bailiffs arrived.

Xiao Yuer was crawling around the yard and the gate was not closed, but the bailiff still knocked on the door politely.

Hearing the knock on the door, the little guy raised his head and slapped the wolf cub on the head: "Cub, bite."

The wolf cub immediately stood up, bent his waist and bared his teeth, frightening the two yamen runners so much that they quickly stepped back and asked loudly, "Yan Zhengdao, Yan Zhenshen, are you home?"

Yan Zhenshen was sitting in the main room watching the children, but he did not stand up as quickly as his Xiaoyuer who ordered the wolf cub to commit the crime.

When he walked out quickly, he saw two yamen runners with sweat all over their faces and heads, but they were fully armed and had their mouths and noses covered tightly with cloth towels.

The two men did not enter the room, nor did they allow Yan Zhenshen to get close. They questioned him from several steps away.

"Have any relatives from other places come to your house in recent days?"

Yan Zhenshen shook his head: "No, there is only a widow and his son in the village, and my fourth son who was brought back from the county town and the youngest brother of Lu Zhubu's family."

"Gu Wanlin, right?" The yamen runners had already known about this from the village chief. As for the little grandson of Lu Zhubu, when he came over, Lu Zhubu even greeted them in advance.

"Yes." Yan Zhenshen nodded.

"Have you been out of town in the past half month?"

"No."

The yamen runner made another note on the notebook: "Did you go fishing in the main river outside the city?"

Yan Zhenshen still shook his head. He knew very well where the thing came from, so how could he possibly go and fish it out? Moreover, instead of wasting time on those rotten woods, it would be better to go for a walk in the mountains. Even catching a few rabbits would be much more valuable than those things.

“Is anyone in your family showing symptoms of fever?”

After receiving another denial, the bailiff nodded and said, "Okay, don't come into contact with outsiders for the time being. Try to stay away from them as much as possible."

"Is there an epidemic?" Yan Zhenshen knew that it would be difficult for him to go out in the future, so he couldn't help but ask a few questions.

Many of the county yamen runners now know the Yan family, so they would not hide it if asked. "Recently, many outsiders have come from other counties to seek refuge with their relatives. They started to have fevers a few days after they arrived. Before the doctors here could cure them, others over there were infected."

The yamen runner sighed as he spoke: "To be honest, there is indeed an epidemic. From our county seat to the south, three cities have been sealed off. I'm afraid that our Anning Town will also have to seal off its gates in a few days."

Yan Zhenshen frowned slightly: "Is it serious?"

"Very serious."

The two yamen runners looked at each other. If it weren't for their parents, wives and children at home, they wouldn't want to go back after this trip.

"Thank you for letting me know." Yan Zhenshen watched the two men leave before he walked forward and closed the door. When he turned around, he was faced with the worried faces of the entire family.

Although I was prepared, it still felt a little hard to accept when it really happened.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like