After the separation, the family had a lot of fish and meat every day, and the best was furious

Chapter 293 People on the Road

"That's great. Let's follow our original planned route, taking the official road first, and then we can reach the next town tonight."

"Okay! Let's go now."

The official road was relatively flat, but there had been snow on the mountaintops these days, and the road was muddy, which increased the hindrance to the carriage.

After walking for a whole morning, the sun came out at noon and it became a little warmer, so Lin Ting and his men stopped to eat some dry food and the horses rested for a while.

On the roadside, they planned to roast the dry food. Because there were three other drivers, Lin Ting brought more dry food.

"Ma'am, please sit down. I'll take care of things like starting a fire."

Shen Qingzhou and Wan Weiran went to collect firewood together. The three coachmen unloaded the carriage and took the horses to eat grass and drink water.

Soon the two of them picked up the firewood, and Shen Qingzhou took a tinder and started the fire.

"It's really cold today, even colder than a snowstorm."

Wan Weiran rubbed his hands, put them on his mouth and blew on them, wishing that Shen Qingzhou would immediately make the fire bigger.

"The snow on the mountain hasn't melted yet, and the cold wind is blowing straight at us. Of course, it's even colder than a blizzard."

Lin Ting heard that they had started a fire at the foot of a mountain. There was a mountain next to it to block the direct impact of the cold wind.

"Okay, everyone, sit down! I'll get some food."

Shen Qingzhou found a few cakes from the loaded carriage and also found a package of oil paper. What was wrapped inside was something Shen Qingzhou had never seen before. He took it down and opened it, and found that it was actually a slaughtered chicken.

Didn't his mother kill this chicken before dawn, saying it was for them to eat today? Now it appeared on their carriage, this...

A mother worries about her children even when they are far away. Yang Xiuxiu's love for them is heavy.

He took out the chicken and roasted it. It was a fresh chicken and couldn't be kept for too long even though it was cold.

Seeing Shen Qingzhou holding a chicken in his hand, Wan Weiran looked at the two of them in confusion. They were going on a long journey, so they wouldn't be bringing such fresh food with them, right?

"Shen Qingzhou, where did you get this chicken? You didn't bring this kind of food, did you?"

When Lin Ting saw the chicken, he immediately recognized it: "Shen Qingzhou, isn't this..."

"This is what Mom put there. She must have been afraid that we wouldn't want it, so she secretly put it under the dry food. Whenever we eat the dry food, we will find the chicken."

Yang Xiuxiu just wanted to give all the good things to Lin Ting and Shen Qingzhou, which made Lin Ting feel warm in his heart.

"There's a fire, so let's grill this chicken. I also brought barbecue seasoning in the car, I'll go get it."

After a few people prepared some, Lin heard that they still had pickles, and there was also chicken today. Since they were on the road, this kind of food was considered very rich.

"We're grilling anyway, so why not grill a few pieces of bacon too? We can all replenish our energy."

It took them an hour to walk from Wenzhu County to the official road. Now it was almost noon and everyone was very hungry.

Lin Ting heard that they were baking pancakes and roasting chicken and bacon over the fire. They were about five meters away from the official road, but they could still smell the fragrance from far away.

Coupled with the barbecue seasoning made by the Wushan workshop and because he was hungry, Wan Weiran was drooling.

"Isn't this okay yet?"

Wan Weiran's expression looked like he had never eaten anything delicious before.

"No, wait a little longer. If you're hungry, eat the cake first."

Shen Qingzhou turned the roast chicken on the tree branch. He wanted to roast it better so that Lin Ting could eat it more to her taste.

Several people were drooling over the roast chicken in Shen Qingzhou's hand, and two more carriages came from the official road. When they saw Lin Ting and them, the carriages stopped.

Then, an elderly man in a gray brocade robe got off the carriage in front. He looked to be about sixty years old.

A woman also got off the carriage behind him. She should be his wife. The old woman was holding Buddhist beads in her hand.

Looking at the way these two people are dressed, it is obvious that they are not ordinary people.

Lin Ting had seen many different kinds of people and was good at judging people. Although these two people were a bit old, they were either rich or noble.

There were maids in their carriages, and even their coachmen were probably guards.

After parking the carriage, the man dressed as a master said something to the guards, and the guards ran over and bowed to Lin Ting and the others.

"Gentlemen, could you lend us some fire? It's really cold out here in the wilderness."

They're not doing anything, just borrowing a fire. We're now in the next town, and it'll be around evening before we get there.

"Please!"

Upon hearing that it was okay, the guards smiled, thanked Lin Ting and went to talk to their master.

Behind them were two guards who went to collect firewood, and then they also came towards the foot of the mountain where Lin Ting and the others were.

Finally they started a fire and roasted the dry food they brought with them, a few large, dry cakes.

After the two sat down, the male host also came to talk to Shen Qingzhou and the others to express his gratitude for lending them the fire.

"Thank you for lending us the fire, sir. My last name is Cui. It's freezing cold out here, so I'd like to know what the names of these two gentlemen and this young lady are."

Shen Qingzhou stood up and nodded slightly to the old man opposite him: "My surname is Shen, and this is my wife, Lin."

Wan Weiran stood up by himself, holding a hot pancake in one hand. He threw it from his left hand to his right hand. When his right hand couldn't bear it anymore, he threw it back to his left hand. He threw it back and forth like this, and he didn't look like a nobleman at all.

"My last name is Wan!"

The visitor only told their surname, and Shen Qingzhou only told him their surname.

Cui Taihe looked at these young people, who had prepared so many things, and the coachman. It was just after the Chinese New Year, and it was rare to see people on the road. He guessed that these people were going on a long journey.

"You look like scholars, are you planning to go to the capital to take the exam?"

Seeing that the other party didn't look like a bad person, Shen Qingzhou nodded: "Yes!"

Cui Taihe stroked his beard and understood.

"It will take another half a month to get from here to the capital, but judging by the current road conditions, it will take at least twenty days, assuming there is no snow ahead.

If there's heavy snow, it might take even longer, but it's right for you to arrive in the capital early. I heard this year's imperial examination will be held around mid-February."

Lin Ting looked up at Mr. Cui who came to talk to them. The capital only said that the imperial examination would be held around February. Even they had not received any specific information about Qu Yuanxun's imperial examination. The person in front of him actually knew that it would be held in mid-February.

This person must be no ordinary person. This is Lin Ting’s intuition. She can never make a mistake when judging people.

When Lin Ting looked at Cui Taihe, Cui Taihe also looked at her, then turned his gaze to the roasted chicken on their fire, and finally looked at Shen Qingzhou again.

"Then you guys take a rest. I'm going to warm myself by the fire as well."

The roasted chicken and roasted bacon over there smelled so good that Cui Taihe started drooling when he smelled them.

He was afraid of losing his composure, so he left quickly. It was ridiculous for him to lose his composure over food at such an old age.