The villagers were all warm and hospitable. Not only did they offer them water, they also invited them to eat—well, to have porridge.
They had no rice themselves, yet the leading household deliberately scooped porridge from the bottom of the pot and poured off some of the water, serving them three bowls of thick porridge.
Pan Yun saw that after filling those three bowls, nothing but watery gruel and scattered grains of rice would remain in their pot.
Moved, Pan Yun gulped down the porridge in great mouthfuls.
The villagers gathered around them and asked where they had come from.
Zhu Jianji answered honestly, "I am from the Capital City."
"People from the Capital City leave the passes to scrape out a living too?"
"There are refugees in the Capital City as well?"
At a loss, Zhu Jianji looked at Pan Yun and Xue Shao.
Having finished the porridge in his bowl, Xue Shao smoothly took over without showing a trace. "There are poor people in the Capital City too. His family has had a hard time, and he could no longer survive there. I am from Hedong."
"Hedong? What about you?"
Pan Yun said, "I'm from Jiangxi."
The moment Pan Yun spoke, some of the villagers immediately grew excited. "Miss, I thought your accent sounded familiar. Which part of Jiangxi are you from? I'm from Ji'an, Jiangxi."
Delighted, Pan Yun said, "That's not far from where I'm from. I'm from Guangxin Prefecture."
Pan Yun immediately received a fervent welcome. Still holding their bowls, Xue Shao and Zhu Jianji were squeezed aside, shoved again and again until, before long, they had been pushed all the way to the outermost edge.
Zhu Jianji looked at Pan Yun, surrounded at the very center, and was speechless for a long while. "Teacher did