A surge of hot tears rushed to Gu Jiu's eyes.
In her previous life, she had no siblings, and her parents were too busy with work to spend time with her. She had never experienced the warmth of family.
But the Xie family gave her that.
In this lonely world, among people with no blood relation, she felt warmth and the love of an older brother and a mother.
Mrs. Gao hurriedly put down the straw sandals she was weaving and came over to hug Gu Jiu. "Oh, silly child, why are you crying? Don't cry, we don't have a daughter, and since we have you now, we cherish you so much. If we don't treat you well, what if you leave us? I'm just being a bit sly to keep you here, but you're not allowed to cry. Our precious Jiu has such pretty eyes, it wouldn't look good if you cry like a sad kitten."
Gu Jiu laughed through her tears, nuzzling into Mrs. Gao's embrace like a little kitten. "Mother, I'll definitely be filial to you in the future. I'll earn a lot of money to spend on you, Brother, Sister-in-law, and my nephews."
"Good, good, mother believes you. Mother will wait for you to earn money to support her. Go try on the sandals now, tell Third Xie if they're uncomfortable so he can adjust them for you."
"Okay." Gu Jiu responded, taking the straw sandals from Third Xie and trying them on.
Third Xie was very skilled, and the sandals had no stray strands or rough edges. They were surprisingly soft and light, nothing like Gu Jiu had expected.
Gu Jiu thanked Third Xie, and then remembered the toothbrush she had wanted. "Third Brother, could you make me a cup, like the kind for drinking water?"
During their time together, Gu Jiu had noticed that Third Xie was a master craftsman. Even while fleeing, he hadn't forgotten to bring his tools.
He was always working, either making little trinkets for Xie Sanyou and Xie Siyu or carving wooden hairpins for Mrs. Gao and his wife. He was incredibly diligent.
"Sure, what style do you want?"
"Just a plain one will do, as long as it can hold water."
Third Xie agreed and went to find suitable materials.
As dusk approached, the women who had gone to gather wild vegetables returned.
After dinner, the villagers began preparing for the night.
The men gathered the grass they had cut in the afternoon, bringing it back to spread on the ground. It had dried in the sun all day, so it made a good bedding.
Then the elderly, weak, and women and children were placed in the middle, while mugwort was burned to repel mosquitoes. The able-bodied men stayed on the outer perimeter, and a circle of calx powder was scattered around the edge.
Gu Jiu specifically instructed them not to bring any torches too close to the calx powder, as it becomes toxic when heated.
The Xie brothers once again prepared a spot for Mrs. Gao first, and just like the previous night, she and Gu Jiu shared a blanket.
That night, the blacksmith Lu and a villager named Zhou Hu stood guard. The Oldest Xie also reminded them to keep a close watch on the people from Dahu Village, in case they tried anything.
Gu Jiu retreated into her spiritual space to check on her medicinal herbs and study some more traditional Chinese medicine with the system before going to sleep.
In the middle of the night, a scream woke her up.
When she sat up, she saw that many villagers had also woken and were looking towards Dahu Village in the distance.
They could hear shouts coming from over there, "Snakes! Snakes everywhere! Over here too, and over there!"
Someone shouted back, "What are you screaming about? Just kill them if there are snakes, we can even make a snake soup!"
"Have you seen how vividly colored they are? Who knows if they're venomous, you'll be the one dying if you eat them!"
It's not clear if the snakes were driven over to Dahu Village by the calx powder scattered on this side, but at least there weren't any snakes here. The villagers found amusement in Dahu's misfortune for a while before going back to sleep.
The next day, when Gu Jiu woke up, she heard laughter and chatter. Looking over, she saw Fifth Xie leading a group of teenagers and children practicing martial arts not too far away.
Among them were the four young Xie members, the teenage Xie Changsheng, and children like Xie Baozi from the Xie Daji household.
They all looked quite capable, and Fifth Xie was teaching them earnestly.
Mrs. Gao was sewing nearby, though it was unclear how long she had been awake.
When she saw Gu Jiu sitting up, she patted her head and said, "You're awake? Go back to sleep for a bit if you're not fully rested yet. Your sisters-in-law haven't finished making breakfast."
Gu Jiu rubbed her eyes. "No, I'm awake now."
She pointed at the practicing youth. "What are they doing?"
"The Oldest Xie said that after the flood, the world will become chaotic. Once we leave the forest, there will surely be many refugees on the road. With more refugees, the roads won't be safe. He wants the children to learn some skills to protect themselves and their families."
Gu Jiu nodded in agreement. Even if not for self-defense, exercising was still beneficial.
"Xie Zhan is really foresighted," she couldn't help but praise.
Mrs. Gao smiled proudly. "Our Oldest Xie has been smarter than others since he was young."
She patted Gu Jiu again. "Our precious Jiu is smart too, just like the Oldest."
Gu Jiu raised her chin. "Of course! We're both really smart."
Mrs. Gao laughed wholeheartedly.
The weather was still good today, so the villagers didn't plan on leaving just yet.
The angelica sheets dried yesterday were left out to sun the other side as well.
With nothing pressing to do, the villagers went to dig up wild vegetables after breakfast. Mrs. Zhang led Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Sun to gather as well.
The Oldest Xie went to chat with the village elders, while Second Xie was teaching the children arithmetic.
Mrs. Gao cared a lot about the children's education, so the children in her family all had some schooling to varying degrees. Second Xie wasn't good at writing, but he was excellent with numbers, having worked as an accountant in his father-in-law's escort agency before.
Third Xie was as diligent as ever with his handicrafts, working on the cup Gu Jiu had requested. Since there was no bamboo in the forest, he used a piece of wood, hollowing out the center to create the cup.
He worked quickly, having nearly finished it the previous day. Today, he just needed to smooth out the inside and outside of the cup.
With nothing to do, Gu Jiu squatted beside him and chatted as he worked.
"Third Brother is so skilled. When we catch a wild boar, could you also make us some toothbrushes? Then we'll each have one and can brush our teeth."
Upon hearing this, Third Xie immediately stopped and asked with great interest, "What do toothbrushes look like?"
Gu Jiu used a stick to draw in the dirt as she explained, "First, make the handle, then attach boar bristles here. Something like this, though I don't know exactly how to make it."
After studying her drawing for a moment, Third Xie seemed to understand. "Got it, that's easy, I can make them."
Gu Jiu then asked, "Third Brother, do you know how to weave baskets? I want a basket to carry all the medicinal herbs I've been gathering in the forest since I have nowhere to put them."
Xie Daji, who hadn't been paying close attention to his lesson, couldn't resist interjecting when he overheard about catching boars for toothbrushes. He proudly declared, "Third Uncle makes the best baskets! All the baskets, winnows, and pack baskets in our house were made by him. People from the town even come to our house specifically to buy them."
Second Xie rapped him on the wrist with a small stick. "Look at you showing off instead of focusing. You're the first to interrupt when you can't solve a problem yourself."
Xie Daji pouted. "This problem is too hard. Second Uncle is just making it difficult on purpose. Problems like this are impossible to solve."
Curious, Gu Jiu went over to take a look. Written on the ground were the words: "There is an unknown number of objects. If counted by threes, there are two remaining. If counted by fives, there are three remaining. If counted by sevens, there are two remaining. What is the number of objects?"
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