Chapter 62

Qingshan Village is the northernmost village in the territory of the Dingbei Marquis, located over three hundred miles from Hongyuan City, nestled in a small mountain hollow. It has a total of twenty-two households and ninety-eight people, most of whom are elderly, women, and children, with fewer than thirty able-bodied adults.

Most of the houses in the village are made of mud walls and thatched roofs, with the only brick house being the former lord's residence! After several days of heavy snow, the small village had become indistinguishable from the surrounding landscape, making it hard to see the village from a distance.

At this moment, in a dilapidated mud house at the eastern end of the village, an old woman with tattered clothes was bent over the stove, carefully sprinkling black flour into a pot of boiling water, as if counting the grains, with great caution.

Beside the stove, a malnourished little girl, about five or six years old, was staring intently at the pot, constantly licking her lips.

The old woman had only put half of the black flour into the pot before slowly putting the rest into a bag beside her, not letting a single grain fall.

"Nie, bear with it a little longer! Your brother is sick, we need to feed him first!" The old woman glanced at the little girl, feeling a pang of sorrow.

"I'm not hungry, feed my brother first!" Nie nodded her small head, her eyes reluctantly leaving the pot before turning to walk out the door.

After a short while, the water in the pot became slightly thicker. The old woman picked up a chipped bowl, scooped a spoonful of the black porridge, and carefully walked to the bed inside.

A boy lay unconscious on the bed, his face flushed...

"Grandma! Grandpa Fu is here!" Just as the old woman was about to help the boy up, Nie's voice came from the door.

"Brother Fu!" The old woman quickly put the bowl down by the bed and turned around to see an old man with a hunched back and a wrinkled face already entering the room.

"Sister-in-law, we need to take Tie Dan to see a doctor, or it will be too late..." The old man glanced at the bed, his expression worried!

"Ah!" The old woman sighed, shaking her head sadly. "I know, but where do we have the money? And with this weather... We'll wait for Tie Dan's father to come back!"

Mentioning Tie Dan's father, the two old people's worried expressions deepened. Brother Fu said, "Shi Wa and the others have been in the mountains for several days and haven't returned! With the heavy snow and low temperatures, the roads must be even more difficult. I'm really worried... They are the only able-bodied men in our village..."

"Brother Fu, don't say that. Shi Wa and the others grew up in the mountains, how could anything happen to them..." The old woman said this, but the worry in her eyes grew even more.

"It's all because of Young Master Jiangling! If it weren't for his increased taxes, we wouldn't be in this situation..." At this moment, Nie's innocent child's voice suddenly rang out.

"Shut up!" The old woman glared at her, hissing.

Nie shrank back, tightly biting her lip, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

"Sister-in-law, Nie is just a child, she doesn't understand. Don't scold her!" Brother Fu consoled, squatting beside Nie and asking softly, "Nie, who told you that?"

"Liu Yuan, who moved away, said that..." Nie sobbed softly.

"Don't listen to him. He's not from our village and doesn't know many things!" Brother Fu gently patted Nie's head.

"Nie, Grandma has told you, one must have a conscience... In the past, the old marquis always reduced taxes, especially during the great drought ten years ago. Without the old marquis, Grandma, your father, and many people in the village would have starved to death. How could there be you..." The old woman's expression finally softened, but her tone remained stern.

"For the first two years after the old marquis left, Young Master Jiangling didn't increase taxes. It was only this year that he had no choice, and the taxes didn't exceed the empire's limit... If another noble came, they wouldn't care about our lives..."

The old woman said a lot, only to realize that the little girl had a puzzled and confused look on her face. She couldn't help but sigh, "I'm getting senile. Nie is so young, how could she understand these things!"

"Alright! Remember, don't say bad things about the Jiang family!" The old woman said finally.

"Okay! I'll go see if Father has come back!" Nie nodded, seemingly understanding, and ran out the door.

Watching Nie run out, the old woman shook her head. "Young Master Jiangling must have failed... A few days ago, people from Hongyuan City came to verify the identity plates in the village... It's just a pity for Mei, in such heavy snow and cold weather..."

Brother Fu also fell silent for a moment before taking out a small cloth bag and placing it on the stove. "Sister-in-law, here are two pounds of white flour. Give it to Tie Dan to help him recover!"

"No!" The old woman firmly refused, taking a few quick steps and pushing the bag back to Brother Fu. "Your family doesn't have much food either, and your daughter-in-law is about to give birth..."

"This time, the village is in such a mess, it's all my fault. If I hadn't listened to the scammer and told everyone to exchange white flour for black flour, it wouldn't have happened..." Brother Fu's face was full of regret.

"You had good intentions. Exchanging white flour for twice as much black flour would have helped us survive the winter. Who would have thought we'd be scammed... No one blames you..."

As the two old people were arguing over the two pounds of white flour, a team of horse-drawn carriages slowly approached the village.

At the front of the horse team, a handsome young man stopped at the village entrance.

"This is the marquis's territory, Qingshan Village. It's indeed quite dilapidated, all thatched roofs... I will be living here from now on!" The young man sighed and stepped into the village.

The surroundings were completely silent, with no one outside, making the village feel lifeless.

The young man frowned and headed straight for the lord's residence. He was the vanguard, and he needed to arrange a place to store the food first.

Just as he reached the door of the lord's residence, a small figure appeared in his line of sight.

"Huh?" The young man stopped, noticing a little girl of about five or six years old standing by the wall. In such cold weather, she was dressed very thinly, her clothes tattered, and she was shivering from the cold.

At that moment, the little girl was using her small hand to scoop snow into her mouth.

"In such cold weather, how can this child eat snow, doesn't she care about her life!" The young man took a step forward and knocked the snowball out of the little girl's hand.

"Ah!" The little girl was startled, looking up to see a tall figure standing in front of her, and she was so scared that she backed away, leaning against the wall.

"Little sister, don't be afraid!" The young man squatted down, showing a gentle smile, and asked softly, "In such cold weather, why are you out alone? Where are the adults?"

The little girl was very frightened, her hands tightly clasped in front of her chest, and she trembled as she said, "Grandma... is at home taking care of my brother!"

"Why are you eating snow? Aren't you cold?" The young man asked again.

"I... I'm hungry!"

"The harsh winter has just begun, and they're already out of food?" The young man's expression turned serious. If the little girl was already eating snow, the situation in the village must be dire.

Thinking about this, the young man took out a white flour pancake from his pocket and handed it to the little girl. "Eat this. In such cold weather, you can't eat snow, it will freeze you!"

The little girl's eyes immediately fixed on the white flour pancake, licking her lips, and slowly extended her small hand.

"Don't worry, it's a gift from big brother. Take it!" The young man smiled and placed the pancake in the little girl's hand.

"Thank you, big brother!" The little girl beamed, turning to run back to the eastern end of the village, shouting, "Grandma, Grandma, I got food for my brother!"

Her innocent voice echoed through the village, bringing a breath of life into the dead silence.

Seeing the little girl's happy face, the young man also smiled, turned, and pushed open the door of the lord's residence...

In the house at the eastern end of the village, the two old people heard Nie's shout and paused, their faces lighting up with joy. "Got food, could it be that Shi Wa and the others have returned!"

The two old people quickly pushed open the door and hurried out!

However, they only saw Nie's small figure running alone, with no one else around.

"Where are they? Shi Wa and the others didn't return?" The two old people's spirits sank.

"Grandma, look!" Nie shouted happily, raising her hand. But because she ran too fast, she slipped and fell. The two old people were very worried and quickly called out to her to be careful.

The little girl seemed to feel no pain, quickly getting up, and the hand holding the white flour pancake remained high, not touching the ground at all.

The old woman finally picked up Nie, gently rubbing her knee and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt! Grandma, look, the white flour pancake!" The little girl proudly showed the pancake to the old woman.

"Where... did you get this from?" The old woman's face darkened, asking in a low voice. She was afraid someone might have lured Nie away to sell her as a slave to another country.

"A big brother gave it to me, at the lord's residence!" Nie answered brightly.

"The lord's residence!" The two old people exchanged glances, thinking, "Could it be the new lord has arrived... Not possible, in such bad weather..."

"Let's go! We'll take a look!" Brother Fu said hesitantly.

"Okay!" The old woman nodded, glanced at Tie Dan, and led Nie and Brother Fu to the lord's residence.

At this moment, some doors opened one after another. Hearing Nie's shout, many people, like the old woman, thought the able-bodied men who went into the mountains had returned.

"Uncle Fu, Aunt Yun, did you hear Nie shout that she got food? Is it Shi Wa and the others?"

"It's been five days, they should be back. We're about to run out of food at home!"

"Where are they? Why can't we see anyone..."

As the questions echoed, the two old people stopped and explained, "It's not Shi Wa and the others. It seems the new lord has arrived. He gave Nie a white flour pancake at the lord's residence!"

"The new lord!" Everyone was surprised. In such heavy snow...

At that moment, the sound of rolling wheels was heard, and a large team of horse-drawn carriages slowly entered the village, drawing everyone's attention.

[Book ID: 3116420, Book Name: *The Great Appraiser*]

An apprentice in an antique shop unexpectedly obtained an appraisal system, giving him the ability to appraise everything in the world. From picking up bargains in antiques to becoming an expert, he eventually becomes a great collector.

A friend's book, a classic in the urban genre, highly recommended to fellow readers.

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