Chapter 219 Children Giving Gifts
The provincial examination will start between May 10th and 15th. It is more than 300 miles from Liujia Village to the provincial capital. According to the speed of the horse-drawn carriage, it will take four or five days if you don't want to walk too hard.
Taking into account the preparation time needed to arrive in the provincial capital, it is best to set off ten days in advance.
Now that the farm work at home is basically done, Qin Yao and Liu Ji began to prepare for the trip to the provincial capital.
After all, it was her first time traveling far away, so Qin Yao was still a little excited.
There was a ready-made carriage at home, and considering that we might have to sleep outdoors on the road, we also had to prepare a tent.
This kind of thing is most needed by traveling merchants. It is also sold in the county town, but the price is not cheap. An oilcloth tent costs eight hundred coins.
These eight hundred coins could only buy a small tent that was less than two or five meters long and less than one and a half meters wide.
But it is enough for two people to squeeze together, and if the weather conditions are good, they can even sleep in the carriage.
After buying the tent, Liu Ji looked at it several times, laughing from time to time, and no one knew what was going on in his mind.
Now that we have transportation and temporary shelter, we still have food and drink.
Dry food is best for traveling, and cooking on the road also wastes time. Qin Yao thought that if there are shops along the way, she will eat in the shop, and if there are no shops, she will eat some dry food to fill her stomach.
You have to be careful when drinking water, as people here don't have the habit of drinking boiled water. Qin Yao prepared two large gourds and a small stove.
The gourd is used to hold cold boiled water, and the stove is used to boil water. The hollow table on the carriage can just hold the stove, so in case you want to camp, you can still have something hot to eat.
As for the rest, such as flints, umbrellas, thick-soled shoes, etc., they are essential items for travel.
This time, I will have to wait until the results are announced before coming back. Calculating the time, it will take at least twenty days, and at most one month.
The temperature rises in May, so just bring a set of light and cool linen clothes, plus the clothes you wear when you set out, two sets of changes are enough.
After taking care of food, clothing, housing and transportation, Qin Yao packed up his weapons.
The sword hasn't been used for a long time, so it needs to be sharpened.
The bow and arrows should also be taken out and checked, and a few more arrows should be prepared to fill the quiver.
I won't bring the dagger with me. I'll leave it for Dalang to use for self-defense.
Everything is ready, just waiting to set off.
There were two knocks on the door, and Sanlang called out softly, "Mother, come out for a moment."
Qin Yao was wiping a knife. Upon hearing this, she put the knife back into the sheath, picked up a wooden hairpin from the table, casually tied up her freshly washed and dried hair, opened the door and walked out.
When she looked down, she saw Sanlang nervously clutching the two pockets on the corners of his clothes, and he raised his head and tried to smile at her, which he thought was a relaxed smile.
"What are you doing?" Qin Yao glanced towards the main room. The brothers and sisters who had just been urged to go back to their rooms to sleep were now gathered in the main room.
Liu Ji, who was reciting a book, was also dragged into the main hall by Erlang. He still had the book in his hand and the familiar Wenquxing protection headband on his forehead.
He raised his head and looked towards Qin Yao, and caught a glimpse of her wearing a loose white middle-length dress with her hair lazily tied up. Her eyes, which had been slightly lowered and staring at the book with the corner of her eye, suddenly widened.
Sanlang stretched out his little hand, took one of Qin Yao's fingers, and led her into the main room.
As soon as he completed the task of calling people, he immediately ran to his brother and sister's team. The four brothers and sisters lined up in a row, blocking something mysteriously.
"What's going on?" Qin Yao looked at Liu Ji suspiciously.
Liu Ji shook his head; he was also confused.
Si Niang coughed twice, "Cough cough!" to remind her father and mother to pay attention to the four of them.
Qin Yao and Liu Ji looked over together, bending slightly to see what the brothers and sisters were doing.
Dalang said, "Father, Aunt Yao, although you will be away for a month, you don't have to worry about things at home. We will take good care of the cows and feed the chickens. If there is any problem with the water mill, we will find Carpenter Liu. Erlang, Sanlang, Si Niang and I will take good care of ourselves."
After a lot of preparation, Dalang finally got to the point, "Well, we'll make something for you that you can use on the road."
After saying that, he immediately looked away, his ears turned red, and he looked very embarrassed. He didn't dare to meet Qin Yao and Liu Ji's surprised gazes.
Erlang patted Si Niang's hands behind her back. Si Niang took two steps forward and took out the two pairs of insoles that she had been hiding behind her back.
"Mother, this is yours, Father, this is yours."
She quickly gave the two pairs of insoles to her parents. Si Niang immediately hid behind her elder and second brothers and said proudly and shyly,
"Sister Jinhua taught me how to make them, but I didn't do them well."
Special reminder, "I also embroidered your names on it!"
Qin Yao and Liu Ji looked down at the insoles of the pair of shoes in their hands. If Si Niang hadn't told them to be insoles, they would not have been able to tell that they were insoles at all. Sure enough, they found a ball of embroidery thread of different colors in the center of the insole.
From Qin Yao's side, one can barely tell that it's a Yao.
Liu Ji's side was a complete tangled mess.
If Si Niang hadn't said it, they wouldn't have seen it at all and would have just thought it was a tangled thread.
Looking at the insole in her hand, and then at the four brothers and sisters in front of her who were reluctant but sensible enough not to make any demands, Qin Yao felt an inexplicable bitterness in her heart.
She suppressed the excitement in her heart and asked in surprise, "Where did you get the cloth for the insoles?"
Sanlang pointed at Erlang and said, "This is the pocket money that my second brother saved."
Si Niang added, "Big brother helped me do a little bit."
Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to make two pairs of insoles by herself.
Dalang also pointed at Sanlang and said, "This is the pattern I drew. I don't know if you like it or not."
"Dad likes it very much!"
In the silent night, Liu Ji roared, shaking the four brothers and sisters of Dalang.
When they realized it was their father's voice, they all breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little happy.
Liu Ji pressed the insoles, which looked like they were not insoles, tightly against his chest, with an expression of extreme satisfaction and emotion, "My son has really grown up!"
Qin Yao also smiled and said, "Thank you for your gift. I like it very much."
Si Niang giggled and felt very proud. She knew that her father and mother would definitely like it very much!
Sanlang went to fetch his parents' shoes and asked them to put them on immediately.
The atmosphere was so warm that Qin Yao certainly wouldn't break it.
Liu Ji, who said she liked the insoles but actually didn't want to try them on, let the four brothers and sisters help her put the insoles in her shoes.
Qin Yao raised her eyebrows at Liu Ji. Liu Ji forced a fatherly smile, put on his shoes and walked around twice.
"Dad, is it comfortable to wear?" Si Niang asked expectantly.
Liu Ji asked back: "Si Niang, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
Si Niang glared at her father and said, "Of course it's true!"
Liu Jixin said, the truth is that it is not comfortable to wear at all and it hurts my feet a bit.
But under Qin Yao's gentle gaze, he said: "Comfortable! Good to wear!"
The four brothers and sisters looked at Qin Yao again, received a big thumbs up, and smiled with satisfaction.
But as I laughed, my head drooped uncontrollably and I felt a little lost when I thought that my parents would be gone for a month.
Qin Yao and Liu Ji suddenly felt a strong sense of guilt.
The couple looked at each other, so how about... just leave?
(End of this chapter)