Chapter 4

Cheng Duo followed Village Head Li back home directly. It was unclear whether it was because Cheng Duo gave a gift or because he immediately demonstrated his high combat power, but the Li family treated him quite politely.

Especially Li Da Zhuang and Li Er Niu, Uncle Li's two sons. They had personally witnessed how Cheng Duo dealt with people and experienced his terrifying aura when he confronted them. Of course, they were illiterate and couldn't describe that feeling, but they just felt that Cheng Duo was frightening.

As a result, even if Cheng Duo didn't have a stern expression, they didn't dare to approach him.

If the main labor force in the household behaved like this, the others dared not make any reckless moves. Even the youngest child in the family, Mao Dan, Li Er Niu's three-year-old son, would cry in fear at the sight of Cheng Duo.

Standing in the yard, Cheng Duo, who was curiously looking around, froze for a moment and then turned to leave. Hearing Li Er Niu's wife rushing over to comfort the child from behind, Cheng Duo felt a bit frustrated.

He didn't want to scare the little brat, but he didn't know how to restrain himself.

In fact, Cheng Duo didn't dislike children. Before the apocalypse, he would play with his relatives' children. However, after the apocalypse, he rarely saw children anymore. Even if they were born, they couldn't be raised. Moreover, a crying child could easily annoy the neighbors, so there were fewer and fewer people having children…

The pressure of survival in the apocalypse was immense, and tempers were relatively short. Small matters could easily escalate. Despite the strict regulations in the base, incidents of injury and murder were still frequent.

Because the family he encountered earlier had the old and young, Cheng Duo always consciously controlled his temper when he was outside, avoiding disputes with others to prevent retaliation…

Thinking of that family, Cheng Duo couldn't help but have an aggressive look on his face. It scared Li Da Zhuang, who came to call for help, to the point where his legs went weak, and he clung to the door frame. He almost thought that Cheng Duo couldn't hold back and was about to go on a killing spree.

But Cheng Duo was the first to notice him. "What's the matter?"

Li Da Zhuang opened his mouth and stuttered, "H-h-hot… the hot water is ready. We don't have any newly made clothes at home. C-c-can you change, change into my younger brother's clothes?"

Li Da Zhuang was a sturdy man, and his younger brother, Li Er Niu, was half a head taller than him, but still couldn't match Cheng Duo. He didn't know how Cheng Duo grew so tall and strong, with terrifying strength.

Cheng Duo nodded. He was afraid that if he didn't agree, the person in front of him would immediately kneel down and beg for mercy. "Lead the way."

The request for a bath was Cheng Duo's own idea. He had been wandering in the mountains for almost half a month and had found a small water pool by the bamboo forest, which was enough for drinking and washing up but not for bathing. So for this half month, Cheng Duo hadn't changed his clothes and had only wiped himself with damp cloth.

Although he discovered that most of the villagers seemed to be in similar conditions after coming down from the mountain, Cheng Duo still preferred cleanliness when conditions allowed.

While taking a bath, Cheng Duo also washed his hair, feeling much lighter all of a sudden. He tossed the dirty clothes aside and planned to wash them after finishing the meal.

For dinner, Cheng Duo brought a stewed wild chicken with a large pot of radishes, cabbage, and other vegetables. There was also a bowl of scrambled eggs, a bowl of stir-fried soybeans as a side dish, and the staple food was a blackish loaf-like thing.

Village Head Li revealed a mouthful of black teeth in embarrassment and said, "The village has limited conditions. Please forgive us for any inconvenience."

If Cheng Duo hadn't seen Village Head Li's wife bringing food to the neighboring table, he might have thought that he was being stingy. But he saw it, so he knew that Third Uncle Li was telling the truth. This family had already shown their utmost sincerity in welcoming him.

Third Aunt had stewed a wild chicken, and he could confidently say that most of that chicken was in their pot. Unlike the neighboring table, they didn't have scrambled eggs or soybeans for drinking, only a stack of dark pickled vegetables. There wasn't even the staple food, which was a loaf-like thing.

Cheng Duo knew that they were eating the leftover soybean dregs after extracting oil, which were made into soybean dregs cakes. He had eaten that in the cave as his last meal. It was prohibited to keep them, but if stored for too long, they would become hard and had a strong bean odor, plus they lacked nutritional value.

Thinking of the women and children in the neighboring room, Cheng Duo picked up his chopsticks and scooped up more than half a bowl of meat, along with several black loaves, then handed them to Li Da Zhuang, casually instructing, "Take them next door and give it to them."

"Oh." Li Da Zhuang didn't dare refuse and quickly took the bowl before leaving the table.

Uncle Li and Li Er Niu were momentarily stunned, then Uncle Li nodded, and a faint smile appeared on his wrinkled face. A person who was soft-hearted toward women and children couldn't be all bad.

Under Uncle Li's signal, Li Er Niu gave his bowl to Cheng Duo and went back to the kitchen to get another one.

As Cheng Duo ate his food, he asked Uncle Li, "I saw another man in your family earlier. Why isn't he here eating?"

Uncle Li pondered for a moment, "Are you referring to Da Zhuang's wife? He's not a man, he's a 'gèr.'"

This time, Cheng Duo was bewildered, "gèr?"

Uncle Li realized that Cheng Duo genuinely didn't know and assumed he hadn't been informed during his time at the temple, so he carefully explained the difference between a 'gèr' and a man. In simple terms, a 'gèr' was physically smaller than a man and not as strong, but they had a mole on their brow, and most importantly, 'gèrs' could give birth to children.

Cheng Duo was petrified.

He thought he had transmigrated, but he didn't expect to transmigrate into such a bizarre and fantastical world where men could give birth to children. Hopefully, there weren't any demons or monsters lurking around.

Fortunately, Cheng Duo subtly probed Uncle Li and discovered that aside from 'gèrs', this world was similar to a typical ancient society, which put his mind at ease.

Uncle Li poured Cheng Duo a bowl of good wine that he was reluctant to drink himself, but Cheng Duo took a sip and found the wine lackluster. It had turned sour from being stored for too long, and the ancient sealing methods weren't very effective.

So Cheng Duo focused on eating his food while Uncle Li and his two sons drank the wine, which made it convenient for Cheng Duo to gather information.

However, Cheng Duo noticed that Uncle Li seemed to have something he wanted to hide from him because whenever Li Da Zhuang or Li Er Niu tried to say something, Uncle Li would divert the conversation.

Cheng Duo was not in a hurry. After all, he had no money or power. His only reliance was his physical strength. Even if Master Li had malicious intentions and wanted to sell him as a laborer, it would depend on who had the ability to take over.

Cheng Duo wasn't afraid of the iron chains of this world. In the low-productivity ancient times, the more impurities there were in wrought iron, the lower its hardness and ductility. For someone like him, a power-based esper, breaking free was a piece of cake.

After finishing his meal, Cheng Duo noticed that his dirty clothes had been washed clean and hung up to dry. When Third Aunt saw him staring at the clothes, she explained cautiously, "I washed them three times, but there are still some stains that couldn't be removed."

Deep down, she was very curious about Cheng Duo's clothes. She didn't know what kind of fabric they were made of, especially that outer garment that made a "crackling" sound when he moved. What surprised her the most was the garment's cut and stitching, precise and impeccable. Only the best embroiderer in the world could create something like that.

Third Aunt was just an ordinary peasant woman. The farthest she had ever been was Twenty-Li Slope, half a day's journey away from Yang Village. She hadn't even been to the county seat.

Therefore, although Cheng Duo's clothes seemed strange to her, she thought it might be a popular style from another place. Besides, she believed that before Cheng Duo's family was flooded, he must have been from a wealthy household.

Cheng Duo had a certain grace and spoke differently from the villagers. Occasionally, he used words she didn't understand, but they sounded refined.

She couldn't imagine what kind of family background would allow someone to study both literature and martial arts. They were worried sick about finding someone to educate their grandson. Tie Dan was already eight years old and still hadn't made up his mind, all because they were poor!

On the other hand, the mended stitches on Cheng Duo's clothes seemed familiar to Third Aunt. She felt like she had seen them somewhere, but she didn't dare ask. She was afraid that Cheng Duo would get upset and lay hands on her.

Actually, Third Aunt's way of thinking wasn't strange in ancient times. Respect for the elderly and love for the young were mostly empty talk in a situation where even basic needs couldn't be fulfilled. When it came to their own elderly relatives, under the constraints of affection, family rules, and gossip from relatives and neighbors, things were still fine. There were plenty of instances of blind filial piety in ancient times. However, once they stepped out of this category, many people saw the elderly as just "old geezers."

But Cheng Duo was different. Although he had experienced the apocalypse, the foundation of his education was deeply ingrained in him. In the face of elderly people who didn't resort to strong-arm tactics or rely on their age to assert dominance, he still possessed basic respect.

He even felt a bit awkward because an unfamiliar elder had washed his clothes for him.

His stepmother in the pre-apocalyptic era wouldn't wash his clothes for him. Either he washed them himself or used a washing machine. As for after the apocalypse… no one would bother washing clothes stained with zombie fluids. They would simply throw them away and get new ones, which was safer and more convenient.

So when Third Aunt looked fearful, Cheng Duo didn't know what to say to her.

Village Head Li finished drinking and went for a nap. Li Da Zhuang and Er Niu were going to work in the fields. Cheng Duo thought for a moment and decided to go out with them to take a look around the village.

By the end of the drinking session, Village Head Li had loosened his tongue and agreed to discuss matters with the village elders. Since that was the case, Cheng Duo needed to assess the environment since it would be his future home.

Cheng Duo followed Li Da Zhuang and his brother to the intersection, preparing to part ways. Suddenly, they heard a woman in the village loudly cursing. Cheng Duo couldn't understand what she was saying, but the voice was sharp and piercing, somewhat familiar.

Li Da Zhuang stopped someone to inquire about the situation, "Uncle Sha, what is Aunt Guihua cursing about this time?"

Uncle Sha glanced cautiously at Cheng Duo, then leaned in and whispered to Li Da Zhuang, "I heard their cow couldn't be saved. Li Mancang is planning to slaughter it overnight and take it to Twenty-Li Slope to sell tomorrow… So Wu Guihua is dissatisfied and is cursing that outsider."

Not everyone in Yang Village is unreasonable. Li Changsheng himself made it clear that their cow went mad first, and Cheng Duo only managed to bring it down. Besides, Doctor Wang also diagnosed it, saying that Li's cow couldn't make it because it had eaten some poisonous wolf grass. No wonder they called him an outsider.

Uncle Sha thought his voice was very low, but he didn't realize that Cheng Duo could hear him clearly. After parting ways with Da Zhuang, he purposely approached Wu Guihua and gave her a glaring look, watching her suddenly pale like a chicken being strangled by its neck. He felt much better in his heart.

Don't think that just because he couldn't understand, he didn't know how offensive Wu Guihua's curses were. It was one thing to curse his biased dead father, but cursing his mother was not acceptable!