The casual life of the flat space

"Old Eight, how did you spend last winter?" Bai Tieying asked.

"It's winter!" Lao Ba said with a sigh, "The older kids surrounded us younger ones in the middle and carried us here like that!"

"Some people died because they couldn't hold on!" Lao Shi interrupted.

"Old Five, Old Nine, Old Thirteen,... he died on the night of the 30th, and we only found out on the first day of the new year..." Old Eight choked up as he spoke.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about it anymore. Let's just remember it in our hearts!" The Eleventh Old Man put his arm around the Eighth Old Man's shoulders. The piece of sackcloth he was wearing fell to the ground, and he was suddenly "exposed". He hurriedly went to pick it up.

"Okay, I was wrong. I shouldn't have mentioned that." Bai Tieying apologized to the two children, and then changed the subject: "So are the seventeen children you just mentioned? Actually..."

"There are only ten left. The eldest and the third passed away two years ago, and the seventh and fifteenth died of illness." The tenth brother answered quickly.

"So the one who has the final say here is the second one?"

"There are also the fourth and sixteenth oldest. They are the oldest three." The tenth oldest replied.

"When do they usually come back?"

"The hour of Hai." Lao Ba replied.

"What? How old are they?"

"Fifteen, thirteen, and twelve." The tenth brother replied.

Listening to their answers, Bai Tieying closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"Old Eight, this is what I think now. I have the space, I will provide the materials, and there will be someone to guide you in building the kang, but you have to dig the cellar yourself. I will provide you with clothes and bedding, and I will provide you with food and shelter this winter, but you have to do the work when I have work to do.

If you still want to stay with me next spring, we can sign an employment agreement. If you don't want to work anymore, you can leave at any time, but you can't cause me any losses. If you don't want to stay with me, you can leave at any time. Clothes and bedding can be taken away if there are enough people left.

My home is the old Bai family at the innermost of Xianhe Village. If you are willing, please come as soon as possible, because the assistant teacher who is setting up the kang can't stay for a few days. "

"Tieying, this is Doctor Qu." Mu Qingqiu came back.

"Doctor Qu, how are you? Sorry for bothering you!"

Doctor Qu didn't say much. He went in and took Lao Liu's pulse, then came out and wrote a prescription. The herbal medicine he brought with him was exactly what he needed, so there was no need to add or subtract anything.

Mu Qingqiu handed the herbs to Lao Shi, and together with Bai Tieying, they sent Doctor Qu back.

Lao Shi poured out the dandelion water from the pottery jar and set it aside to dry. After re-washing the pottery jar, he fetched water and boiled the herbs. Then he spoke:

"Old Eight, what do you think of that young lady?"

"I think she's pretty awesome. She's not afraid of anyone older than her. By the way, here are the pine nuts and five cents she gave me for running errands."

"What did you do with her?"

"Old Ten!"

"Oh, I just asked casually, I forgot, I forgot."

"We earn this money by running errands with our mouths shut. If we break the rules, none of us will survive!"

"Oh, I know, I know, if I hadn't told you, would I have forgotten?"

"Well, do you remember what Sister Tieying said? I don't remember it all, like she was here sometimes and gone sometimes." Lao Ba asked.

"Remember, I'll tell the second brother and the others when they come back, don't worry!"

"Sister Tieying is the best person I've ever met who asked me to run errands. Although she can be very demanding at times, she will lower her head and talk to me!"

"Hey, who wouldn't bow their head when talking to you? Only Lao Liu!"

"Who said that? Old Twelve is not even as tall as me!"

"Tsk tsk, if you say so, then it is..." Old Eleven spread his hands, and the sack fell to the ground again. He simply stopped wearing it, got up and went into the shack to cover Old Six.

"Sister Tieying! Why are you back?" Lao Ba said in surprise when he looked up and saw Bai Tieying.

"Didn't I tell you that I'll take a look at your actual situation before deciding how to help you? Whether you go to my place or not is another matter, but at least I can treat you to a good meal today, especially Old Six, she's still sick, and she needs to eat something good."

"Thank you Sister Tieying!" Lao Ba said happily.

"You're welcome. Find a place to put it. Remember to wash your hands before eating and don't get sick again. This is one thousand coins. Even if you don't go to my place, it will last you for a while. I'll come to see you when I have time!"

Bai Tieying said "It's getting late" and left. Lao Shi looked at her and suddenly said, "She is different from other young ladies!"

Bai Tieying and Mu Qingqiu went to General Zhao again to get the information about Xin Sanbai. After coming back, they entered the space and gave it to Liu Yasi.

"Uncle Liu, please check if these people are familiar to us and if there will be any conflicts if they live with us. There will be more and more people, and I won't be able to handle them all. I don't want to do something bad with good intentions."

"Okay, wait for a while! Cook Yang, cook Yang, stew a chicken for Tieying!"

"No need, Uncle Liu, I have to go out to have dinner with my family later!" Bai Tieying hurriedly stopped him.

"That's perfect, isn't it? Let me tell you, everything else that Chef Yang cooks tastes like slop, except for this stewed chicken. Anyway, I just like his style!"

"Liu Yasi, you can't talk behind people's backs! You eat a lot of slop!" said Yang, the cook, as he came out of his yard.

"Let go...Will I be hungry if I don't eat? Besides, that's public food, why shouldn't I eat it? If there's someone else who can do better than you, can I use you?"

"Hey, what else did you say?"

"Go, go, stop wasting time! Go cook for the kids!"

"Sorry to trouble you, Grandpa Yang. Can I help you?" Bai Tieying asked with a smile.

"Okay, why not? We've all been thinking about the side dishes you cooked for us that morning!"

"That's fine. I have to wait a while anyway, so I might as well cook!"

"Qiu'er! It's a good opportunity for you to come and help me. I'll teach you how to rub straw sandals." said Grandpa Gao, who was sitting on the threshold of the yard and rubbing straw sandals.

Now everyone knows that Mu Qingqiu was almost burned to death by Bai Tieying, so every time he enters the space, he thinks about what to teach him.

Mu Qingqiu has a good temper and will do anything anyone asks him to do. The main reason is that he is curious about everything and is willing to do it, but how well he does it is another matter.

Bai Tieying and the cook Yang came out after cooking and saw that the basket... Oh no, are these shoes for elephants?

But we cannot discourage the child's enthusiasm for learning, so Bai Tieying praised him for doing a good job and said that if he practiced more, he would be able to weave baskets almost as well as she did.

When he heard that Bai Tieying could weave baskets, Grandpa Gao became excited and wanted to compete with Bai Tieying. Bai Tieying was so scared that she quickly said she was hungry and left the space with her food. After a long time, she remembered that she had forgotten Mu Qingqiu, so she entered the space again and grabbed Mu Qingqiu who was weaving the fourth "basket", and "ran out" amid everyone's laughter.