Ning Wei smiled, then gestured to Mei Nan, the eldest, to go ahead.
Mei Nan and Uncle Meng were around the same age, making it easy for them to get along.
After a few pleasantries, as the group stood at the entrance of the general store, passersby couldn't help but glance at them.
Uncle Meng quickly ushered them inside, "Come in and sit in the courtyard."
They entered in single file, and it turned out that the general store had been converted from Uncle Meng's own home.
Entering through another door from the general store led to a spacious courtyard.
There was a grape trellis in the courtyard, but it wasn't grape season, so leafless vines covered the structure.
Beneath it was a table with a tea set, surrounded by several wooden stools.
Ning Wei and the others handed their belongings to Aunt Meng, and then everyone sat down in the courtyard.
Aunt Meng busied herself pouring them water, clearly showing that the couple genuinely welcomed them.
"I've tidied up two rooms for you. The little girl will sleep in the one on the right, and the little boy in the one on the left. The rooms are a bit simple, I hope you don't mind," Aunt Meng said kindly to them.
Hearing the terms "little girl" and "little boy," Ning Wei and the group felt warmth in their hearts.
After experiencing so many stations, Aunt Meng was one of the few who treated them this way.
"Not at all, this is already wonderful. I love this grape trellis the most," Zhu Yilian said sweetly, linking arms with Aunt Meng in a girlish manner.
Uncle Meng and Aunt Meng's son and daughter lived out of town and only returned during holidays, so the elderly couple was usually very lonely. This was also why they had converted the front room into a general store.
They didn't expect to sell much; just being able to chat with people who passed by helped them pass the day.
After a brief chat, Aunt Meng went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Originally, it was just the two of them eating, and one dish would have sufficed. But with eight more people today, serving too little would have been impolite.
Furthermore, their rice cooker wasn't large enough. Fortunately, they had a vat made of wooden planks, specifically for steaming rice. It was large enough to feed ten people, and they could even have rice soup, serving a dual purpose without needing an extra soup.
Uncle Meng and Aunt Meng were diligent people; they also had a vegetable patch behind the courtyard where they grew several types of vegetables. The couple couldn't eat it all, so they would pick some tender ones daily and dry them in the sun. Come winter, they would have a richer variety of vegetables.
While Aunt Meng quietly went to work in the kitchen, Ning Wei and the others couldn't just sit in the courtyard waiting to be served.
Except for Ning Wei, Mei Nan, and Li Ye, everyone else went to help in the kitchen.
Aunt Meng's mouth curved upwards as she watched them enter the kitchen, even though she verbally told them not to bother. Her happy mood was evident.
These were good children, unlike Yu Jiansheng, who was lazy and gluttonous. Aunt Meng liked them even more.
With Ning Wei and the others helping, the meal was exceptionally abundant, with meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruits – comparable to a New Year's feast.
Because there were so many people, Uncle Meng specially brought out a long table that hadn't been used in a while from the house. They even borrowed a few stools from the neighbors.
Mei Nan, being close in age to Uncle Meng, hit it off immediately, as if they were old friends. They even had a small drink at noon and seemed very jovial.
After the meal, Tang Tang and the others voluntarily cleared the table and washed the dishes, leaving no room for Aunt Meng to intervene.
Aunt Meng smiled and said, "I never thought I'd have a day where I could finish eating and rest."
Uncle Meng quickly retorted, "Do you mean you've been washing dishes every day? Don't forget my contribution."
Everyone chuckled at their banter. The courtyard hadn't been this lively in a long time.
After lunch, Uncle Meng and Mei Nan carried the low table and tea set to the front of the general store. The two middle-aged men had endless topics to discuss, clearly enjoying each other's company.
Aunt Meng usually took a nap at noon, so she rubbed her waist and went inside.
Since Ning Wei and the others had nothing to do, they all went into the rooms to sleep.
As Aunt Meng had said, the rooms, while not exactly dilapidated, were simply furnished with a bed, a table, and two large wardrobes.
To make them feel comfortable, all the stored items had been removed from the rooms.
In Ning Wei's room, the window opened to a lush green vegetable patch, with a chicken coop nearby.
Aunt Meng and her husband were diligent and tidy; even with the window open, the smell of chicken manure was not discernible.
Ning Wei and the sisters rearranged the bed against the wall to be in front of the window. The group of sisters lay side by side on the bed, enjoying the gentle breeze as they slowly drifted off to sleep, slumbering soundly.
They slept until mid-afternoon. Li Ye and Song Zhi were already in the courtyard, drinking tea and helping prepare dinner.
Song Zhi was also very eloquent and managed to keep Aunt Meng smiling, adding more lines around her eyes.
Li Ye was not good with words, or rather, he disdained speaking to anyone other than Ning Wei.
Even if he just sat there without saying a word, Aunt Meng wouldn't deliberately try to annoy him.
This was the advantage of being handsome; even a middle-aged woman like Aunt Meng still had an appreciation for beauty.
Aunt Meng would occasionally look at Li Ye, her smile undisguised.
Song Zhi felt rather helpless beside her. He wasn't *that* much uglier than Li Ye, yet handsome people always seemed to get preferential treatment.
Ning Wei and her sisters were no longer prone to laziness. After all, they were staying at someone else's home. Although they paid rent, they felt it was improper to expect to be waited on hand and foot.
One by one, the group emerged from the rooms, and soon the courtyard was filled with laughter and cheerful chatter.
Fewer people came to buy things in the afternoon, and Uncle Meng and Mei Nan also returned from outside.
The courtyard became quite lively, prompting neighbors to stand on stools and peer over the wall.
"I thought it was your relatives visiting. Isn't that the female master who dealt with the zombie incident at Fatty Fish's house that day?"
Uncle Meng replied with a smile, "Master Ning Wei and her group will be staying here for a few days, so I specially invited them to our home."
Everyone knew that Yu Jiansheng had let Ning Wei and her companions stay at Fatty Fish's house. Now that they had appeared at Uncle Meng's, it was easy to speculate whether Yu Jiansheng had betrayed them and kicked them out.
Although Uncle Meng didn't want to "clean up Yu Jiansheng's mess," he even less wanted people to think Ning Wei and her group had been expelled.
Having lived in this town for so many years, he was well aware of how gossipy people could be.
Even though Ning Wei and her group wouldn't be staying here forever, Uncle Meng didn't want them to suffer from gossip.
The neighbor's eyes darted, and they immediately guessed something. However, since Uncle Meng had made an excuse, they couldn't expose him on the spot.