The Fortunate Lady and Her Mountain Man

Chapter 167: Chapter 167: All Are Masters

Ji Huan had been very troubled lately, and it was a trend that was only getting worse.

Anyone with a vagrant camped out at their front door day after day would be just as worried as she was.

Whenever she and Dabao sat in their warm room, drinking hot soup and eating fragrant dishes, she couldn’t help but think of the man outside chewing on grass roots.

Besides the vexation, she even felt a pang of guilt, like the saying: "The rich feast while the poor freeze to death on the streets."

And yet, her family’s life was barely what you could call ’getting by’.

What could she do? She couldn’t bring herself to drive him away.

Besides, she now felt a subtle sense of guilt toward the vagrant.

After all, she had wrongly accused him and then, without knowing the whole story, given him a piece of her mind.

Ever since she had taken the initiative to give the vagrant a bowl of water and two steamed buns, Ji Huan had been bringing him food and drink at a fixed time every day for several days straight, as a way of making amends.

But there had to be an end to this atonement.

Unable to think of a better solution, Ji Huan had no choice but to go see the village chief.

"Village Chief, for refugees like him who are fleeing disaster, shouldn’t the court have some sort of resettlement measures in place?"

After the success of the disaster relief efforts, and on top of that, receiving another commendation from the County Magistrate, the village chief’s prestige in the village had been growing daily. However, his old habits were also flaring up.

As long as there wasn’t a major crisis, he wouldn’t get involved. He was fully embracing his role as a mascot, a true master of passing the buck.

"There are, yes, but... refugees can have their household registration transferred here, though only after a full three years."

"Three years? But him... how is he supposed to survive that long?"

The village chief raised a hand to stroke his beard. "Usually, they first find a place to stay, then reclaim wasteland. The reclaimed land is exempt from taxes. Also, they might have some savings on them..."

Who would end up a refugee if they had savings? Not everyone had the luck of Tian Jiao and her mother, who found silver on the road when they were fleeing the famine.

As for reclaiming wasteland, the vagrant was already in such a state—survival itself was a problem, let alone reclaiming any land.

"Village Chief, there must be some other way, right?"

"You see, here’s a man who’s right under my nose every time I come and go. If I don’t give him something to eat, my conscience bothers me."

"But giving him food all the time isn’t a long-term solution either."

"We’re not related in any way. I’m willing to lend a hand occasionally, but I can’t be expected to support him forever."

"I’m already struggling to raise Dabao. I don’t have the time or money to raise another person."

The village chief, still mindful of Ji Huan’s contributions during the disaster relief, thought for a long time and actually came up with an idea.

"How about I find some people and we chase him back to the village entrance?"

Ji Huan: "..."

"What, not a good idea?"

"It’s great. It’s just, uh, too much trouble. Never mind, Village Chief. I’m fine now, you can get back to your work."

Leaving the village chief’s house, Ji Huan let out a deep sigh.

’I knew he was unreliable, but I didn’t think he’d be *this* unreliable.’

What problem would chasing him to the village entrance solve? He’d be out of her sight, yes, but for the vagrant... it wouldn’t be good at all.

She’d come full circle, and nothing had changed.

Although Ji Huan grumbled inwardly, she still set aside some food for the vagrant every day.

Then she discovered that feeding an extra mouth really made a difference. Her family’s food supply was dwindling rapidly, when it should have lasted for quite a while...

But her grievances didn’t stop there.

It was already the end of the third month. Spring had barely peeked out before retreating again. After just a few sunny days, snow actually started to fall once more in the Northern Pass.

When she woke up, it was like grains of salt. By the time she finished breakfast, it had turned into small snowflakes, and it looked like it was only going to get heavier.

Ji Huan stood at the entrance of the main hall, watching the lead-gray sky and the increasingly dense curtain of snow, feeling uneasy.

She paced back and forth in the hall, causing Dabao, who was practicing his writing, to look up at her several times.

Ji Huan suddenly stopped, said a word to Dabao, and ran toward the backyard.

The moment she opened the gate, a blast of cold air hit her in the face.

Shielding her eyes with her hand, Ji Huan ran against the wind to where the vagrant was and shouted at him:

"Hey! The snow’s going to get heavy! Do you want to take shelter under the eaves of my house?"

The vagrant was still a man, after all, and a mysterious one at that. It would be inappropriate to let him into her courtyard.

Fortunately, when the house was built, she had eaves installed over the front and back gates to provide shelter from the rain. It was better than being completely exposed to the elements.

Ji Huan shouted a few more times. Thinking he might really be a fool, she didn’t wait for a response and simply bent down to drag him.

However, the weight of a grown man was not something she could easily move.

Even using all her strength, she could only budge him a little.

’I can’t just drag him all the way there, can I?’

Even if the vagrant didn’t object, she didn’t have the strength.

Ji Huan ran back into the courtyard, grabbed Dabao, and hurried over to the Hu Family’s house.

Hu Liang was still out at his stall and hadn’t returned. The one at home today was Hu Dacheng.

Granny Xie had taken her medicine and fallen asleep. Because of the cold, Xiao’an and Hua hadn’t gotten off the heated brick bed yet.

Ji Huan called Hu Dacheng over to help, and before leaving, she grabbed an old cotton quilt from the Hu Family’s shed where they kept discarded items.

The Hu Family had been a little better off financially lately, so they had simply replaced two of their old quilts with new ones. This one was so matted and hardened that it couldn’t be re-fluffed, so it was naturally discarded.

Knowing Widow Xie’s frugal nature, for her to be willing to throw away this old quilt, one could only imagine how worn out it must be.

But the vagrant probably wouldn’t be picky. Having a quilt at all was a good thing.

Hu Dacheng followed her home and carried a few long, thin pieces of wood out of the backyard storage shed. Ji Huan, meanwhile, carried a large bundle of useless straw mats. These were all leftovers from when the house was built, and they were finally coming in handy.

Considering the vagrant could only lie prone and not stand, Ji Huan had Hu Dacheng cut the long logs into shorter pieces, which would be easier to work with.

The two of them worked without stopping. They went to the vagrant’s spot and tinkered for the better part of the day, breaking a sweat, but they finally managed to build a simple shelter.

With the vagrant’s prone position as the center, they erected four wooden posts in four directions. The roof and all four sides were covered with layers of straw mats. While it might not be very warm, it could at least block the wind and snow.

Ji Huan lifted the straw mat at the entrance, then unfolded the old quilt and covered the vagrant with it.

"You’re really something, you know? All this commotion and you can’t even lift your head. Whatever. I just hope you don’t freeze to death."

Hu Dacheng started pestering her with questions.

All useless questions like, "Sister Wan, why is the beggar here?" and "Sister Wan, why are you building a shelter for him?"

Ji Huan, afraid that Xiao’an and Hua would wake up at any moment, gave him a couple of vague answers and quickly urged him to go home.

After Hu Dacheng left, Ji Huan also went back inside.

At lunchtime, she set aside a portion for the vagrant as usual and delivered it.

Just like before, she would put the bowl down and leave, collecting it the next time she brought food.

Every time, the bowl was empty.

He was willing to eat the food she brought, but he wouldn’t say a word to her, nor would he even look up at her.

Just like that, Ji Huan had been feeding him for so long, but to this day, she still didn’t know what he looked like.

Sometimes, when she thought about it, it all felt absurd.

When night fell, Ji Huan tossed and turned on the heated brick bed.

One moment she was wondering how much longer the snow would last, and the next, she was wondering if the shelter and the quilt were any good...

When she pushed the door open in the morning, she was relieved to find no snow accumulated on the ground.

It looked like the snow must have stopped in the middle of the night.

The vagrant was also safe and sound.

Ji Huan placed a bowl of steaming dough-drop soup in front of him and said irritably to the culprit who was always causing her to lose sleep, "Eat up, Your Lordship!"

One after another, all of them were lords to be served.

Dabao, Dahuang, and now this vagrant.

She was practically becoming a housemaid.

She had no idea how her perfectly fine life had ended up in such a miserable state.

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