When a king comes to the village and has lunch at the village chief's house, under normal circumstances, the village chief will definitely be very happy and treat him hospitably. There is no doubt about it.
What's more, the villagers are simple and honest, and they will entertain guests from far away, let alone the monarch.
Village Chief Shi's behavior was somewhat strange.
As for Tao Xingde, perhaps he didn't expect that the king would actually eat in the village, so he couldn't help but panicked, and said quickly: "Your Majesty, what is your status? How can you sit and eat with the common people? In the eyes of a humble minister, Let’s go back to the city first.”
Xiao Yuan was so thoughtful. When he heard this, he glanced at Tao Xingde, then smiled at the village chief and said, "Is this king's request too much?"
"No, no, no, the king has defeated the villain, and being able to entertain the king is a blessing that the villain has cultivated over many lifetimes." The village chief explained hurriedly.
As he said that, he glanced at Tao Xingde subconsciously.
Then, he had no choice but to say: "Then, please, Your Majesty, I'm afraid the house is humble and simple."
"No, the village chief is so polite." Xiao Yuan smiled again.
Seeing that he was about to be a guest at the village chief's house, Tao Xingde frowned secretly, but said on his face: "Your Majesty, in that case, I will ask you to prepare some wine and food. After all, there are the best ingredients in the village, and it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. ."
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yuan refused directly: "No, just a simple meal. Whatever the people eat on weekdays, we will eat today."
"This..." Tao Xingde swallowed. Seeing that Xiao Yuan had made up his mind, he couldn't say anything else. He could only respond, and then looked at Jun Cheng.
Later, the group came to the village chief's home.
As soon as he entered the door, the village chief nodded to Xiao Yuan and smiled dryly, and then shouted into the house: "Old woman, old woman, a distinguished guest is here, go and prepare..."
The village chief is actually not very old, he looks to be in his thirties, but it is normal for local people to call their wife "old lady".
Not long after, a village woman came out. She was dressed in coarse linen clothes with visible patches. She seemed to be busy with housework and had an apron tied around her waist.
After coming out, he was obviously a little embarrassed when he saw Xiao Yuan and others. He hurriedly wiped his hands on his apron and then said: "Oh, are there guests?"
"You woman, you are so rude. You haven't seen the king or the governor before long." Village Chief Shi reminded.
"Ah?" The woman didn't expect that the monarch would come here. She was startled at first, and then she knelt down.
Seeing this, Xiao Yuan stepped forward to stop her, and said in a calm voice: "Madam, there is no need to be polite. It is us who are disturbing you when you come here this time."
"This, this." The woman was immediately at a loss.
Village Chief Shi winked at her and told her to get out quickly, then he said with a dry smile: "Your Majesty is really embarrassing the common people. What kind of lady is she? She is just a rough woman."
Xiao Yuan smiled, and the village chief quickly extended his hand after the woman left: "Your Majesty, please rest in the house for a while, and I will go get some tea."
"Village Chief Shi, don't be too polite. Let's be more casual." Xiao Yuan nodded, and then took a look at the environment here.
Ordinary houses are not brick and stone houses, and the yards are surrounded by fences. It stands to reason that if the people's livelihood is really rich, a village chief's family will have some livestock such as chickens and ducks, but Xiao Yuan did not see these. .
In the kitchen.
The woman looked anxiously and looked at the village chief and said, "What should we do? What should we do to entertain the king at home?"
"Is there nothing left?" the village chief asked anxiously.
"There are still some wild vegetables, but the rice jar has bottomed out. You should think of something quickly," the woman said.
"This, this, alas!" The village chief took two anxious steps back and forth and said, "First, take out everything you can do, and then I will think of a solution."
"Okay, then hurry up. If the king comes to his home and cannot entertain him wholeheartedly, it will be a sin on the people." The woman said.
After the explanation was finished, the village chief also prepared the tea.
A few people were sitting in the courtyard at a wooden table. When the tea was served, the village chief smiled dryly and said, "Your Majesty, don't dislike some crude tea."
"Whatever you say, this is good." Xiao Yuan remained calm and invited everyone to drink tea.
The village chief stood aside for a moment and then said tentatively: "Your Majesty, sit down for a moment. The woman is preparing lunch. I will go out to get some drinks and will be back soon."
What he said was actually that he wanted to go out and find a way to borrow some food.
Xiao Yuan thought about it for a moment, then said with a smile: "No, we don't want to drink. Village Chief Shi should be busy first."
"This." The village chief did not dare to say anything more and could only look at Tao Xingde for help.
When the latter saw this, he immediately said: "Your Majesty..."
But at the beginning of his words, Xiao Yuan raised his hand to interrupt him.
Tao Xingde could only swallow back what he wanted to say.
Time passed slowly. After drinking tea, Xiao Yuan sat bored and strolled out of the village chief's house. Seeing the smoke starting to rise from the houses in various places in the village, he subconsciously said: "Shijia Village is peaceful. "
Liang Yuan was beside him and couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, why do I always feel that although Village Chief Shi is honest, he is a little weird."
Hearing this, Xiao Yuan shook his head slightly and said, "He's not weird, it's just that he doesn't have anything to entertain guests at home, so he's a little short of money."
"Then, Your Majesty..." Liang Yuan was puzzled.
Xiao Yuandao: "Tao Xingde said in the memorial that the people in Lianzhou were prosperous and every household had a surplus of food. So far, what we have seen on the surface is that this is indeed the case. In this case, the village chief should not be unable to afford food. "
While he was talking about this, he also inadvertently discovered that a six or seven-year-old boy was sitting by the earthen wall not far away. He was stuffing something into his mouth with his dirty little hands and chewing hard.
The child was dressed in coarse clothes with many patches. He looked dark and thin, but his eyes were extremely bright.
Seeing this, Xiao Yuan couldn't help but walked over, squatted down in front of the little boy, and asked with a smile: "Kid, it's noon now, aren't you going home for dinner?"
"Daddy said, we have distinguished guests today, let me play by myself." The little boy said in a milky voice, and while speaking, his eyes were full of curiosity about Xiao Yuan.
"Dad? Where do you live?" Xiao Yuan asked again.
"That's my home." The little boy pointed to the village chief's house.
Xiao Yuan followed the instructions, frowned slightly, and then looked at the thing he had just eaten in the boy's hand.
"What's this?"
"Is this one?" The little boy held something like a plant root in his hand, "This is a loess root."
"Can this be eaten?"
The little boy nodded with an innocent look on his face: "You can eat it. Dad said, if you are hungry, go dig the loess roots in the field. You will not be hungry after eating them. Ergouzi and I often eat them."
