At the foot of the mountain.

About 300 meters away from Uncle Jiu’s house, Qiao Jiuru was carrying her luggage and holding Xiaobao, while Su Huaiyuan carried luggage in both hands.

Zhou Wanwan and Su Ze were each holding Dabao and another set of luggage, and along with Uncle Jiu — who was also carrying some rice and flour — they all stood in front of a small mud-and-thatch house with two and a half rooms.

“This place is where I used to live. Don’t be fooled by the mud walls and thatch — it’s warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The roof is tiled, but it’s covered with thatch so outsiders can’t tell.”

“Go in and take a look. The place has already been cleaned up. The kang bed inside was recently repaired by Lianshan and the others a few days ago — it’s very sturdy, you can sleep there without worry.”

“The half room on the side is both the kitchen and the bathing area. A little farther away is the latrine. You can settle in here for now. If you find anything inconvenient, just tell me — I’ll get Lianshan and the others to fix it up for you.”

Uncle Jiu proudly introduced the hidden merits of his old house to them.

It might look shabby and worn from the outside, but inside, it was surprisingly decent.

Even before they went inside, Qiao Jiuru and her family were already very satisfied just hearing Uncle Jiu’s description.

After all, being able to live in a house like this, compared to the other families who had been relocated, was already very fortunate. How could they even dare to ask for anything more?!

“Uncle Jiu, this house is too nice for us — will it make us stand out too much?”

Qiao Jiuru didn’t feel the conditions were bad at all; in fact, she thought they were almost too good.

Even if the western side let in wind, she wasn’t worried — after all, she had stockpiled a lot of supplies, enough for the whole family to get through the winter without issue.

“No, no, it won’t stand out. This is already one of the worst houses in the village. Of course, the other relocated families here are living in even worse places, but we still make sure none of them are left cold or hungry.”

Uncle Jiu proudly shook his head.

Within a hundred-mile radius, their Baigou Village and the nearby villages didn’t just have better conditions than the towns — they were even better than the county center.

In these villages, almost every household lived in at least half-brick, half-tile houses. Full mud houses like this were usually only left for elderly people living alone.

“Uncle Jiu, thank you so much.”

“Dabao, Xiaobao, say thank you to Grandpa Jiu.”

Qiao Jiuru sincerely thanked Uncle Jiu.

She pulled her family along to bow deeply to him, and even taught the two little ones to express their thanks.

“Tha-thank you, great-grandpa.”

“Great-grandpa, tha-thank you!”

Dabao and Xiaobao had already recovered about seventy percent of their strength after their fevers subsided and having some millet porridge and eggs.

They obediently followed Grandma’s lead, in their soft baby voices, to thank Uncle Jiu.

Grandpa and Grandma had said that saying “thank you” was polite when someone helped you.

Yes — polite.

The two little ones understood that the great-grandpa who had given them millet porridge and eggs earlier was a very good person.

Uncle Jiu had already been utterly charmed by the two children when they were at his house earlier — in such a short time, the two little ones had completely won him over.

“Xiaoru, we’re all family here, no need to be so formal. Your grandfather was practically half a member of Baigou Village back in the day. You all are just coming back to your roots, that’s all.”

“All right, I’ll leave you to settle in. I won’t bother you any further. Later, when no one’s around, I’ll bring you some chicken soup. Oh, and Lianshan asked me to tell you — you can rest another day tomorrow and start work the day after.”

Uncle Jiu, after bringing them to the house and passing along Lianshan’s message, left with his hands clasped behind his back.

Qiao Jiuru, Su Huaiyuan, Su Ze, and Zhou Wanwan stood together, taking in the sight of the little house. All the tension and anxiety they’d carried over the past days finally settled — the family could finally breathe easy.

“Xiao Ze, you and Xiao Wan will take this room. Your father and I will take Dabao and Xiaobao and stay in the room closer to the kitchen.”

Qiao Jiuru quickly assigned the two rooms without hesitation — she immediately wanted her two grandsons close to her side.

“Mom, you and Dad are older and not as strong. Let us take care of Dabao and Xiaobao — they can sleep with us.”

Su Ze couldn’t agree — his parents were aging and would soon have to work the fields; they couldn’t be expected to help with the kids too.

“That’s right, Mom — we can handle Dabao and Xiaobao,” Zhou Wanwan added.

Times were different now, and as the younger, stronger couple, they couldn’t let the elders take on more burdens.

“Just listen to your mother — it’s settled. If we can’t handle it, we’ll hand them back over to you,” Su Huaiyuan said, knowing exactly what his wife was thinking.

When the son and daughter-in-law spoke up, he stepped in to finalize the decision.

Su Ze and Zhou Wanwan exchanged glances. With their parents so firm, they could only go along for now.

Thankfully, the two little boys were well-behaved and easy to care for — they probably wouldn’t disturb their grandparents’ rest.

Inside, both rooms were indeed cleaned up well.

Qiao Jiuru handed Dabao and Xiaobao over to Su Huaiyuan to watch and then directed Su Ze to start a fire and boil water, while she and Zhou Wanwan went inside to make the beds.

They hadn’t just brought quilts; they also had a thin mattress.

They laid that down, spread the quilts on top, and once the fire was going, it would all be warm enough.

Su Ze quickly got the fire going, first boiling water in a small iron pot they’d brought, then filling the kettle with hot water, and finally putting some rice in to make porridge.

He also threw a few sweet potatoes into the stove.

Tonight, the family’s dinner would be a bowl of plain porridge and sweet potatoes.