CHAPTER 301: 301. EERIE

Everyone looked at Xiaoxiao’s little arms and legs with a strange gaze, so slender that it gave them the illusion they could be easily snapped.

So unexpected, even if these men combined their strength, they probably wouldn’t be as strong as the village chief’s daughter.

Hua Qiang and the others: "..."

"Uncle Hua Qiang, I will also protect Grandpa." With that, Xiaosi took out a small dagger from his body, its blade shining coldly in the sunlight, looking very sharp.

"Alright, stop wasting time, hurry up and go, I need to speed up on my side too." Old man Hua waved his hand dismissively at the men who still hadn’t fully recovered from their surprise.

Hua Qiang and Hua Rong exchanged a glance and ultimately chose to compromise, mainly because they couldn’t go against the village chief.

Moreover, Xiaoxiao’s display reassured them a lot, and the girl’s hands were equipped with a small crossbow personally made by her father, her combat power was quite decent too; as long as she was careful to protect herself, it should be fine.

Even Xiaosi, despite his youth, was no small child; he looked like a teenager. This kid was undefeated among the children in the village, his skills weren’t practiced for nothing, and combined with the mighty strength inherited from the village chief’s family, sometimes even they couldn’t beat him.

Thinking this way eased some of their concerns, and they could only follow the village chief’s instructions to take people to wait outside the town.

However, they still couldn’t help but remind the village chief to be more careful during their departure, finally leaving under old man Hua’s annoyed gaze.

"Grandpa, what’s next?" Xiaoxiao asked, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the elder.

Just now, from the way Grandpa spoke, she knew he had something in mind, it was most likely related to supplies, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone through so much hassle to send people outside the town.

As for her foolishly grinning brother beside her, Xiaoxiao didn’t consider him a problem, this boy had a heart as broad as the sky.

One could even say he was wise beyond his years, in any case, as long as there was food, nothing else mattered.

"Let’s go, I’ll take you to a friend of mine to purchase some goods." Old man Hua glanced at Xiaosi, speaking softly.

"Buying goods... Grandpa, it’s amazing you can still find friends at this time?... Grandfather, when did you get in touch? Haven’t we always been together? Xiaosi doesn’t know anything!" Xiaosi suddenly perked up, his chatterbox nature resurfacing, asking one question after another.

Fortunately, he was not foolish enough to raise his voice, otherwise, a slap on the head would be inevitable.

The response to Xiaosi was a glaring look, old man Hua’s hand itching, tempted to give a good rap on his grandson’s head.

"What, should I report everything to you first? I think you’re asking for trouble."

Old man Hua puffed his beard and glared, raising his hand, scaring Xiaosi into quickly hiding behind his sister, knowing full well that with his sister around, Grandpa wouldn’t really hit him.

"No way, Grandpa, I’m just a bit curious, please don’t be angry, we still have to continue our journey." Xiaosi, as always, was quick to yield when needed, immediately speaking in a fawning manner.

"Curiosity is not a good habit, it must be corrected," old man Hua coldly snorted; if it weren’t his grandson, he wouldn’t have bothered advising.

"I’ll correct it, definitely..." Nodding repeatedly was the only answer, though he still dared not come out from behind his sister.

"Don’t think about brushing it off, you must remember," thinking about the purpose of taking his grandson out, old man Hua’s expression grew more serious, taking this opportunity to give the boy a good scolding, to prevent him from not knowing the heights of the sky and thus causing trouble in the future.

"Mm-hmm," Xiaosi nodded once more, seriously listening though, being a child at heart, he clearly didn’t have it completely sink in, as he leisurely divided his attention to observe passersby.

Seeing this, old man Hua found himself unable to say much more, realizing that some things need to be experienced to leave a deep impression and genuinely teach lessons; saying too much would not be very useful.

"Let’s go," he said, holding one hand each of the children, walking towards a spot he had already scoped out earlier.

The old man and the two youngsters walked along the road just so, not drawing too much attention, and in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Xiaoxiao and her brother followed their grandfather to the back of a shop now reduced to ruins.

"Xiaosi, stand here and don’t move, Grandpa has something to say to your sister."

Having been scolded by Grandpa not long ago, this time Xiaosi was indeed very obedient, nodding quickly and standing quietly in the corner, expressing his intention not to wander around.

Old man Hua didn’t go very far, maintaining a distance of just over two Zhang between himself and Xiaosi.

"Grandpa, just say what you want," Xiaoxiao spoke first, not waiting for her grandfather to start.

"As expected of my clever granddaughter," old man Hua immediately smiled, the way his eyes crinkled with laughter made Xiaosi, on the side, involuntarily pout.

The disparity in Grandpa’s treatment was too obvious, alas! No wonder he was just an unlikable brat.

Thinking this in his heart, his ears honestly perked up, wanting to hear exactly what Grandpa had to say.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he strained his ears, he only saw grandpa talking and his sister nodding, hearing nothing else.

"Grandpa, do we just need salt, sugar, do we need seasonings? Shouldn’t we take out some grains too? Plus, I have lots of medicinal materials in my space?" Xiaoxiao reminded.

When hoarding medicines, she had intentionally remembered several commonly used formulas, and the herbs for these formulas were also grown in her space, so Xiaoxiao was really not short on medicine.

Old man Hua pondered for a moment; these were indeed necessities, especially medicinal materials. Even a small cold could be fatal.

And grain, this time’s opportunity to go out was rare; who knew when the next one would come? They really needed to bring out more stuff; how others in the village felt wasn’t something old man Hua cared about.

Then he nodded towards his obedient granddaughter, "Alright, do as you said, take out two thousand catties of crude salt, a few jars of sauce and vinegar, two hundred catties of sugar, three thousand catties of grain, and as for the medicinal materials, take them as you see fit," old man Hua stated after some thought.

Three thousand catties of grain didn’t seem much, considering Hua Village was one of the larger villages, but bear in mind that other than arrivals afterwards, the village temporarily wasn’t short on grain, three thousand catties was enough.

However, with this quantity, the three of them wouldn’t be able to manage to take it back, which brought up a significant problem that old man Hua suddenly realized.

Had I known earlier, I’d have asked them to take Xiaosi along, but... he couldn’t rest assured.

"Grandpa, there’s another issue. With just the three of us, it’ll be exceedingly difficult to carry out so much. Later, Grandpa will make a show, and after returning, take Xiaosi to fetch Uncle Hua Qiang and the others, you wait in your space," grandpa added reflectively.

Realizing his planning was incomplete, he should have asked Hua Qiang and the others to wait nearby earlier; now he’d have to go the extra mile to find them again.

"Got it, Grandpa," Xiaoxiao nodded, recognizing this was indeed the most stable approach.

In Xiaosi’s eyes, he only saw Grandpa hurriedly walking into a small alley beside the shop after talking with his sister a few words. When he moved beside his sister, it wasn’t long before grandpa came out.

The difference was that he went in with a serious face, and came out looking relaxed, with the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.

Xiaosi knew Grandpa must have solved the matter, and he couldn’t help but feel happy too.

"Grandpa, did you get it?" Xiaosi couldn’t resist asking.

This time, old man Hua didn’t retort his grandson but nodded gently.