The people of Houxi Village didn't appear at the outpost until three quarters past chén (9-11 AM). Their previous excitement had already faded. Everyone felt exhausted and desperately wanted to lie down and rest their feet!
Su Minghui saw that there were already people inside the dilapidated building. Fortunately, the place was large, with a big hall. It seemed to be the main hall of the outpost.
As Su Minghui and his group approached, they realized they were the heroes who had subdued the rioters. They quickly stepped forward to greet them. "Greetings, esteemed heroes. I am Su Minghui, the village chief of Houxi Village. I didn't expect to meet you again."
Xu Fu cupped his fists in return, "Village Chief Su, it's an honor."
"The honor is all mine! We are truly grateful that you subdued those rioters. Otherwise, we would have faced a fierce battle last night! You left in such a hurry, and when we were clearing supplies, we found an injured ox. We were planning to slaughter it and share the meat for everyone to enjoy! But now that we've met you again, it seems we are destined to meet. I'll immediately instruct them to slaughter the ox. Please wait a moment." After quickly stating his intentions, Su Minghui, without waiting for Xu Fu's nod, bustled off to give the order to slaughter the ox.
Xu Fu: ...Did this person just leave? He left! After all that talking, he didn't even mention how much meat we'd get?
The people of Houxi Village began to unload their belongings onto the open ground in front of the outpost.
Su Muqing was still groggy from sleep. Lin Rongrong had also been unable to hold on any longer in the middle of the night. She finally climbed onto the ox cart, leaned against the grain sacks, and fell asleep to the swaying rhythm of the cart!
Upon learning that they would be resting here for the day, everyone became busy, preparing to claim good resting spots.
Su Cuiping and Su Muqing were no less eager. They quickly selected two spacious spots that were not exposed to the sun, ensuring they wouldn't be too hot even at noon.
The two of them took the straw mats and woven mats from the ox cart and laid them out. Then, they woke up Lin Rongrong, who was resting, and carried the drooling infant, still fast asleep, to the prepared sleeping area.
It was still early, and the weather was cool. Su Cuiping decided to place her mat together with Su Muqing's. The three girls, along with the little infant, snuggled together to catch up on their sleep.
Now was the time to sleep! When the meat distribution began, it would surely be noisy. Su Muqing dared not sleep too long, fearing she'd be too late to get a good piece of meat. She used her consciousness to communicate with 217 in her space, asking 217 to wake her up in an hour.
Meanwhile, at the back of the outpost's courtyard, several strong men carried the ox onto a large stone slab. The village had its own butcher, who carried his tools even during their escape, useful for both fighting and processing prey.
At this moment, the butcher's cleaver flew through the air. White blade in, red blade out. He expertly dismembered the ox, skinned it, and removed its entrails.
Perhaps thinking of the meat they would soon enjoy, the butcher's hands moved like an electric motor. He finished processing the ox at an astonishing speed, taking almost half the usual time. How hungry must they have been for meat?
It wasn't just the butcher; even those who had complained of fatigue earlier had no desire to sleep anymore. Nearly half of the villagers stood by, watching.
They formed layers upon layers, completely surrounding the scene of the slaughter. It was unclear whether they were afraid the butcher would steal some meat or if the meat might fly away!
Once the ox was processed, Su Minghui instructed the butcher to cut off two good portions and then presented them to Xu Fu and his group.
Seeing the village chief give large pieces of meat to outsiders, some people felt displeased. Their village had so many people, and this amount of meat was barely enough for them. Why were they giving it to others?
Su Minghui ignored the shallow thoughts of those individuals and sincerely handed the meat to Xu Fu, expressing his gratitude repeatedly. He stated that without Xu Fu and his group, the people of Houxi Village would not have had the fortune to taste beef today.
This was beef! Almost no one in Houxi Village had ever eaten beef. Oxen were used for plowing fields and were protected by the laws of the Great Yu Dynasty. Private slaughter was forbidden unless the ox was old or injured and had been reported to the authorities.
Farming families would never eat a single bite of their oxen once slaughtered; they would sell it and use the money to buy another ox, as their livelihood depended on them.
But who would have thought that these people, who had toiled in the fields for most of their lives, would be able to eat beef during a drought when they couldn't even get enough to eat? The world was truly becoming increasingly topsy-turvy and surreal.
Seeing Su Minghui's sincerity, Xu Fu accepted the beef without much ceremony. He too hadn't eaten meat in a long time.
Moreover, the young master might be awakening soon. Perhaps if the young master ate some meat upon waking, his recovery would be faster!
Returning to his group, Su Minghui directed the butcher to cut the beef into chunks of about half a kilogram each. Then, he had each family send a representative to line up and collect their share.
Being from the same village, everyone knew each other. Some people harbored other intentions, wishing for the women who had joined later to collect a separate share. However, Su Minghui completely ignored these thoughts.
Seeing their ulterior motives exposed, aside from their worry about not getting enough meat, they felt no particular embarrassment.
After all, throughout this escape, they had often done things they shouldn't have, losing face along the way. Now, being gossiped about for a piece of meat was not a big deal!
As long as they could survive, what was face worth?
When Su Muqing went to collect her meat, Su Minghui also gave her a better cut.
After taking the meat back, Su Muqing quietly washed it with water from her space. She had just seen some people take their meat without washing it, bloody as it was! They immediately threw it into the pot to cook!
The sight gave her goosebumps! After washing the meat, Su Muqing placed it in a porcelain bowl and stored it carefully, preparing to eat it for lunch.
Other families, upon receiving their meat, didn't bother with the fact that it was still early morning. Since there wasn't much water, they were too lazy to wash it. They simply cut it, threw it into the pot, and added a little salt.
Some even took it out before it was fully cooked and started eating it. Fights over who got a bigger piece and who got a smaller piece were common occurrences!
The myriad aspects of life were once again unfolding before their eyes.
After catching up on some sleep, Su Muqing felt more refreshed and was preparing to find a place to take care of personal matters when she saw the women from that strange group again.
Seeing them for the third time in a single day, she had to admit that their connection was truly extraordinary!