As the old woman spoke, she brewed tea for the elderly Temple Keeper and even brought out some mountain produce she had gathered to entertain him. They chatted over tea as they waited for the family to return.
Villagers here generally set off for town early in the morning and returned in the afternoon. It was about that time now.
Sure enough, before long, footsteps sounded, and all four family members who had gone into town returned: a husband and wife with two boys, one older and one younger. The couple and the older boy carried things, while the youngest swung a wooden stick back and forth.
The old woman and the Temple Keeper immediately went out to greet them. Naturally, after exchanging pleasantries, they all returned indoors to ask questions and chat.
The weather was cold, so the whole family and their guest, the elderly Temple Keeper, gathered in the kitchen. The fire in the stove had not gone out, making it noticeably warmer than anywhere else in the house.
Yi Shuyuan listened to their conversation while observing the family and looking over the things they had brought back from town.
Besides scarce goods such as sugar and salt, there were a few things country folk would find novel, as well as some red paper. They would ask someone nearby who could read and write, such as the elderly Temple Keeper, to write Spring Festival couplets and the character for "fortune" on it.
Gradually, their conversation drew Yi Shuyuan's attention.
"So your relative lives alone outside the town, not inside it?"
"He lives close to the county town, but yes, outside it. It's a dilapidated ancestral house. He planted a few trees himself and put up a fence, and he calls himself Mr. Thatched Cottage or something. For years,