Chapter 955

Pan Yun had only been watching, but as she watched longer, she sensed something was off, and stopped in her tracks.

Seeing Miao Zhen nearly collided with her, and also stopped.

Miao He landed on their backs, puzzled, and asked: "What's wrong?"

Pan Yun looked up at the sky, rubbed her stomach, and said: "I'm a bit hungry. Let's go to the village ahead, find a house to stop and cook, and ask for a bowl of water."

The group walked another fifteen minutes before seeing smoke from a chimney.

Turning off the main road onto a side path for a short stretch revealed a village.

Children ran out from the village, holding wooden sticks and wooden swords; seeing them, they waved their sticks and swords, blocking the way and shouting loudly: "Who are you? State your names!"

Miao He found them amusing, bowed, and smiled: "I am Miao He, traveling with my senior brother and sister—we seek only a bowl of water."

The children burst into laughter, their serious demeanor crumbling instantly; they stepped aside and ran to the cart: "Want water? Come drink at my house!"

"Come to my house, come to my house—my water's just been drawn from the well!"

Everyone crowded around Pan Yun and the others as they entered the village.

Along the way into the village, not a single adult or elder was to be seen—not even older children; only eight- or nine-year-olds led younger ones.

One boy, around eight years old, pushed open his wooden door, ran into the courtyard, scooped a spoonful of water, and handed it to Miao He.

Miao He pulled out a bamboo tube to catch the water and asked: "Where are your parents?"

The children grew alert, immediately clustering together and glaring at her: "Why are you asking about adults?"

Miao He said: "We'd like to borrow your kitchen to cook lunch."

The children frowned: "Lunch? It's still too early to eat."

"We only eat when the sun reaches that tree," one child said, pointing to the treetop on the west side—their marker for telling time.

Pan Yun looked up at the tree he pointed to, and realized they ate only two meals a day here.

Pan Yun pulled out a small sack of rice: "We'd like to steam some rice and cook a dish—we've been traveling and may not stop until dark, so we need a proper lunch."

The children stared at the small cloth sack in her hand, exchanged glances, then ran off; soon, the eight-year-old boy returned from his kitchen with a stove and a pot: "You can't enter our kitchen, but here—take this."

Pan Yun looked and smiled: "Perfect—I also have a pot and a stove, enough for us; we just lack firewood."

One child dragged a bundle of firewood in from outside the courtyard.

Pan Yun nodded to Miao He and Tao Yan Bai.

They untied the firewood, borrowed water from the village's water jar, used the boy's large pot to rinse the entire sack of rice, added water, and set it on the stove to boil.

Seeing Miao Zhen took out their own pot and placed it on another stove.

Their stove and pot were both smaller.

Pan Yun went outside, and with a trail of curious children, rummaged through the cart; soon she pulled out a strip of cured pork.

She said: "A dish still needs meat to taste good."

Everyone saw the meat in her hand and swallowed in unison.

Pan Yun pulled out twelve eggs as if by magic from another cloth bag: "But boiled meat in plain water is bland—let's add some eggs. Too bad we have no greens."

A girl immediately stepped forward: "I have bok choy at my house!"

Pan Yun's eyes lit up: "That's wonderful."

The girl sprinted toward her family's vegetable patch: "I'll go pick some for you!"

She returned with a large head of bok choy—truly enormous, bigger than Pan Yun's head.

She tore off the two outer leaves, broke the rest apart, washed them, didn't chop them, just tore them into chunks by hand; beside her, Seeing Miao Zhen had already sliced the cured pork into thin pieces.

Pan Yun glanced and said: "Too bad we have no ginger or garlic sprouts."

The children clustered around Seeing Miao Zhen watching the slicing, but their ears were alert; one said: "I have ginger at home! Er Yong, doesn't your family grow a lot of garlic?"

"Yes, but my grandma won't let anyone pull it—she scolds anyone who does."

"If you pull it, your grandma won't scold you—go get one quick, or the meat won't taste right."

Er Yong swallowed hard; seeing his friends run off, he followed.

Soon, ginger and garlic sprouts arrived.

The pot's water boiled; Pan Yun dropped in ginger slices, tossed in all the sliced pork, boiled for a long while until fragrance and oil rose; then she slowly poured in the eggs. After finishing, she said: "Oh no—we forgot the salt."

The eight-year-old boy immediately ran into the kitchen and returned with a pinch of salt, cupped in his palm; he walked to the pot and poured it in.

Pan Yun shook her head: "Not enough."

The boy looked troubled: "If I take more, my mother will know."

The other children who hadn't yet contributed raised their hands: "I have salt too!"

They each ran home, mimicked the boy's action, took a pinch in their palms—each only a small amount—and returned to the courtyard to pour it all into the pot together.

Pan Yun watched, smiling, and nodded: "That's enough."

She gently stirred the eggs in the pot and asked: "Won't your parents notice you taking salt?"

The children all patted their chests: "Just a pinch—we're sure if Mom finds out, she'll think we took it to dip fruit in, never guess we gave it to you."

Pan Yun nodded in satisfaction and asked: "Is salt hard to get?"

"Very hard—adults only buy us a small jar at a time."

Pan Yun: "Who are these 'adults'?"

"Adults are adults—they're our masters," one boy said. "When we grow up, we'll be adults' soldiers, tilling land for them."

Pan Yun: "Are your parents also tilling land for the adults?"

"Yes—my grandfather and great-grandfather tilled land for them too."

The aroma grew stronger; the rice in the large pot also released its fragrance. Miao He lifted the lid and stirred repeatedly; as the water reduced, he pulled out the firewood, letting the rice steam with residual embers.

Pan Yun kept watching the rice pot; when she saw this, she dropped in the garlic sprouts, then after a while, tossed in all the torn bok choy.

But the pot was too small—she couldn't fit it all in.

Pan Yun didn't press the matter. She flipped the dish once, waited for the bok choy to cook and release its water, then flipped it again to bring up the meat and eggs from the bottom, and sighed again: "Oh dear, we don't have any bowls or chopsticks."

The children bounced up excitedly, all talking at once: "We have some at my house! We have some at my house!"

Pan Yun smiled and asked them to help bring four sets of bowls and chopsticks, saying gently: "You've all contributed ingredients and effort, so this meal has your hard work in it. I wonder if you'd be willing to eat together with us?"

The children happily agreed and ran home to fetch bowls and chopsticks.

Pan Yun pushed the fire to one side and lifted the lid off the rice pot. Miao He served each of them a full bowl of plain white rice. Once everyone had their rice and gathered around the pot of food, no one reached for their chopsticks first; instead, they all looked at Pan Yun in unison.

Pan Yun smiled, picked up a chopstickful of vegetables, and nodded: "Mm, it's delicious. Everyone, dig in."

The children cheered and all started eating.

The older ones looked after the younger ones. Even the two-year-olds had meat and eggs placed in their bowls by their older brothers and sisters, and they ate with great gusto using their hands.