An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

The journey was smooth, both by horse and by car, and although it wasn't rushed, it was actually much faster than the trek two years ago. I barely had time to count the familiar crooked old willow trees along the road before they passed me by and became distant shadows.

After enduring the freezing snow of winter and the rainy season of spring, the official road must have been repaired. It looks flat and wide, and the wheels only make slight squeaking sounds when rolling over the compacted loess road.

The servants at the post stations along the way would first pay their respects to the clothes and then to the owner of the person.

Xu Zize's four carriages were lined up in a row. Seeing the twenty or so guards riding tall horses behind them, a servant came out trotting to lead the way and opened the best and most expensive rooms for them.

When the time is right, they will stay in the best inn along the way. The two of them will stay in the best top-grade single rooms and enjoy the best service.

Although the followers did not have single rooms to stay in, they did not have to sleep in a large dormitory. At least they would be arranged with medium-sized guest rooms.

Not to mention the food, Jingyi's cooking skills were not put to good use along the way. The inn provided hot rice, hot porridge, and hot noodles in the morning and evening, and each table ordered a few local specialties.

Occasionally, Xu Zize would provide cover and let Jing Chunxi bring out some food prepared in the space for everyone.

As for the steamed buns and dry rations, they were basically used to solve lunch. When the caravan stopped to rest under the shade of trees beside the official road, Qingfeng or Xiaoman would always follow their master's instructions and go to the designated carriage to get food.

The two teams were mixed together, and no one knew which side was doing the shopping, so few people had any questions. It was just that the buns always had eighteen twists and turns in the folds, and the sesame filling was always seven-tenths sweet and three-tenths fragrant, so it was inevitable that people would talk about it.

One day at noon, while resting on a hilltop, Jingyi, Chuntao, Hongfen, and Xiaoman happened to be sitting together, and they started chatting: "Qingfeng and his friends are really capable. They can buy the same steamed buns every day, and even use the same fillings."

Jingyi opened the red bean paste bun in his hand, and found that the dark red filling contained exactly the right amount of candied tangerine peel shreds.

"That's right. If it weren't so hot, I would have suspected that they were packed from the kitchen of our Qingshan Villa." Chuntao picked up the bun wrapper with the tip of a silver hairpin and suddenly lowered her voice: "Look at this dough. Chef Liu from the villa likes to add egg white when kneading the dough. This glossy luster..."

"But that doesn't make sense! Could it be that some big boss has opened a branch in every county? The filling tastes the same, the size is the same, and even the folds on the package are almost the same. I counted them twice and they're almost the same."

Xiaoman suddenly pressed half a bun on the table, and the texture of the bamboo steamer immediately appeared on the dough - fine lines running horizontally and vertically, exactly the same as the one she had eaten in Yushan County three days ago.

This remark immediately resonated with everyone. They all thought Xiaoman was smart and it was no surprise that the buns from the same store were similar.

Chuntao even recalled the steamed buns the village had made for her before she left. She'd secretly made a crescent-shaped mark on the bottom of her own buns, and now she saw a similar mark on the bun in her hand. She thought it might really be the case, that perhaps one of the bun cooks had the same peculiar taste as her.

As more and more people said it, the same words were later heard by Jing Chunxi and Xu Zize.

Jing Chunxi was used to this sort of thing, so she was quite calm. She felt like she was just doing what she had to do, since no one would discover her secret anyway. Xu Zize, however, lost his temper, and his hand dropped the teacup with a little more force, causing the preserved fruit on the plate to bounce. "Starting tomorrow, all food will be bought from the inn or outside shops. I'll have Qingfeng and Luying take care of it. Xi'er, you must not buy food from outsiders anymore, not even for dinner."

He was very serious when he spoke, his brows were furrowed so tightly that they could kill a mosquito, and his fingers unconsciously stroked the peace amulet on his waist - that was a little movement he made when he was nervous.

After thinking about it, he added, "Don't use the things in the space unless it's absolutely necessary. We've suffered a lot during our exile, so there's no need to give them good food and drink."

Xu Zize thought that he could still eat white flour buns during his exile, and Jing Chunxi might have even eaten black flour buns. After thinking about it, he looked at her with pity.

"Okay, Brother Xiaokang," Jing Chunxi replied decisively, her almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents as she arranged the sunflower seeds Xu Zize had cracked for her into a small smiley face. Their actions in the car were completely unconcerned, and she stuffed a red fruit into Xu Zize's mouth.

"That's a good deal for both of us." She also stuffed a pear in her mouth, the pear flesh making a crisp sound between her teeth, and then she looked at him slyly, with a cunning look of success hidden in the shadow cast by her eyelashes.

"Be obedient and be careful. Don't let Brother Xiaokang worry." Xu Zize grabbed the red fruit in his mouth and took a bite. It was sweeter than any other fruit he had ever eaten. The flesh also had the chill of well water. It was clearly the taste that could only be found in this space.

Along the way, we encountered no major problems, except for two carriage wheels that broke in the Liuling area, requiring us to stop overnight for repairs and replacements. We also encountered heavy rain in Changde, forcing us to stop for two days.

Jing Yidu, the coachman, said that this trip was just like an outing and was smoother than the last time he came back from Lingnan.

Xu Zize and I ate and drank in the car. We ate a lot of snacks and pastries, and even secretly ate two pork elbows. They had a happy chat.

Jing Chunxi always liked to throw fruit cores out of the window when no one was paying attention, saying that she wanted to leave a mark for the passing squirrels; Xu Zize would flip through the county annals and travel notes he brought with him, and read out some strange stories from time to time to amuse her.

Unlike her last exile, the weather was inclement, with rain and snow. After more than ten days, Jing Chunxi felt she had gained weight. One day, while changing clothes, she was startled to realize her waistband was an inch wider. Fortunately, the clothes her mother had packed for the trip were very loose. She pinched the soft flesh on her belly, wanting to cry but unable to. Two years ago, she had walked for more than two months, and even in the later part of the journey, where she didn't suffer much and ate happily, she had only lost weight, not gained weight.

"No, starting tomorrow, I'm going to go out for a run." Feeling a layer of oil on his belly, Jing Chunxi couldn't stand it anymore, and threw a pine nut candy far away, but it hit the wall of the car and rolled back to his feet.

"Okay, I'll accompany you. Brother Xiaokang also needs to practice his leg strength." Xu Zize was also very straightforward. He picked up the pine nut candy and threw it out of the window.

In the past, he would have ridden horses all the way, but since he had to accompany Jing Chunxi, he rode less this time. Suddenly, he missed the sound of the wind whistling in his ears as he galloped. He suggested, "Let's run early in the morning and ride in the evening so we don't get sunburned." He still preferred Jing Chunxi's clean and fair complexion.

"My two masters, Tan Township is just ahead!" Uncle Kuaijiao is always very considerate. He will proactively report which section of the road he will take today, whether the road is difficult, and where he will pass tomorrow when they have dinner together.

At this moment, he was pointing at the smoke rising from the distance. The smoke column rose crookedly into the clear sky, like someone dipped in indigo and casually drew a stroke on rice paper.

"It's so fast. We will enter the Lingnan area soon. Pass the order down and tell everyone to have a good rest tonight. We will catch up tomorrow and stay in Leiyang tomorrow night." Xu Zize looked at the vague mountain shadows at the end of the official road. That was the outline of Nanling Mountains.

After the last long journey, he was basically familiar with the road conditions ahead, and he couldn't help but cheer everyone up: "When we get to Leiyang, we will rest for one more night and relax."