Not everyone had that capability, so it was better to be cautious.
Everyone naturally understood.
Cheng Hao then nodded and signaled for everyone to get back to their tasks.
Su Miaomiao placed the large string of snakes and birds in her hands by the entrance of the temple, drawing curious onlookers. The children of Shan Ao Village naturally didn't dare to approach, only watching from a distance with great curiosity.
The children in the Cheng family's caravan were already quite familiar with Su Miaomiao. Cheng Xiaotian, leading a group of little ones, ran over, excitedly calling her "Little Sister-in-law!"
Su Miaomiao quickly stopped them. "Hey, hey, hey, don't get too close! Be careful the snakes bite you! Snakes are frozen stiff in the winter, not necessarily dead. What if they're just frozen stiff? It's warmer here by the door, and if they thaw out, they might give you a bite, and that wouldn't be fun!"
As she spoke.
Cheng Hao had already quickly grabbed Cheng Xiaotian and the little ones behind him, bringing them to an abrupt halt.
With his other hand, he protected them, and the children were perfectly fine.
They were no longer afraid of the two of them. What was there to be afraid of from people they saw every day?
Besides, this elder brother and sister-in-law were very kind to people!
The children all liked them.
Su Miaomiao rummaged in her pockets for bird eggs and distributed them to the younger ones. "Take these, take these. Don't get too close to these snakes. Ask your mothers to roast these bird eggs for you, they're delicious! Just remember to leave a few for us!"
She was also like a child herself.
The children naturally felt close to her and, upon hearing her words, laughed and thanked their sister-in-law.
They would have left her bird eggs even if she hadn't said so; they wouldn't eat all the good things themselves.
What's more.
She was the one who gave them the bird eggs.
The children usually didn't have many snacks, and anything good made them excited. Seeing the bird eggs, they were overjoyed and happily ran to Cai Shi with the bird eggs in their hands.
Only Cheng Xiaotian was very curious about the snakes and was reluctant to leave. He pestered Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao, asking, "Where did you find so many snakes?"
Boys of that age were the most curious about such things.
They could be quite persistent.
The young couple was very patient with children and never found them bothersome.
After all, Su Miaomiao herself was quite lively and not much more settled than a child. Cheng Hao's temperament had been polished by Su Miaomiao's antics to be incredibly patient.
Naturally, he wouldn't be bothered by a child's curiosity and smiled as he said, "Your sister-in-law has always been lucky. She's the kind of person who can find treasures when she goes out, so finding a few frozen snakes is not surprising. The heavy snow these past few days has been too sudden and unusual. It's not just us humans who were caught unprepared; these animals were too."
Caught off guard.
There were naturally casualties.
Cheng Xiaotian stood at a distance, not daring to approach the snakes, but he poked at them with a small stick.
He also listened to Cheng Hao's words, nodding repeatedly. Then, he looked at Su Miaomiao with admiration, and then at Cheng Hao. "Big Brother and Sister-in-law, you know so much! You're so amazing. I wish I could be like you!"
Su Miaomiao, with her hands tucked in her pockets, listened to her childhood sweetheart praise her, her eyes narrowing and nodding frequently. She agreed wholeheartedly, appearing extremely shameless.
Suddenly hearing the little brat lamenting their greatness, she immediately opened her eyes and looked at Cheng Xiaotian with her big cat-like eyes, then grinned and said, "Don't worry. When you're our age, you might know even more."
They had eaten more rice than him, so how could they not know more than him?
Cheng Xiaotian was amused by her words. The child had a proper appearance, and when he smiled, he bore some resemblance to Cheng Hao when he was young. He was quite cute.
Cheng Hao treated him, as well as Cheng Xiaoxi, Xiao Wuzi, and Xiao Liuzi, like his younger brothers. He was affectionate yet maintained a certain authority.
He had the demeanor of an elder brother.
"Your sister-in-law is preparing to teach you to identify herbs, and she's also asked me to teach you martial arts. If you want to learn something, just follow along. Even when escaping, you must not abandon the aspiration to learn skills. Learning more things is always good."
Cheng Hao educated him a couple of sentences.
Cheng Xiaotian listened to everything. He was both happy and conflicted. Then, he waved his small fists and said, "I want to learn everything!!"
Su Miaomiao immediately burst into laughter. She chuckled and said, "Exactly, exactly! Why make a choice? Since you have ambitions, you should grasp both! Don't let go of either!"
Cheng Hao also smiled and asked him, "Can you handle learning everything?"
But he greatly admired his eager heart for learning.
Cheng Xiaotian patted his small chest and said, "Of course! I'm not afraid of hardship! When I was studying in the city before, our family's finances weren't enough for a good school, so I was lodged at a school run by someone's clan! It was far from my home! I had to get up very early to go to school every day, but I never felt it was hard! The teacher who taught me also said, 'One must endure the bitterest hardships to enjoy the sweetest fruits!'"
This child was surprisingly ambitious. He even said that he had promised his mother and Aunt Xishi that he would become a great general and reclaim their home! Therefore, he wanted to learn martial arts!
And knowledge like herbs was also very important! He felt that his little sister-in-law, Su Miaomiao, was a bit unrestrained and childish in her personality, but she knew a lot of things!
He also greatly admired her!
Cheng Xiaotian was quite honest. He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and said, "I used to think my little sister-in-law was even more childish than us kids, but later I realized it was my mistake. Little Sister-in-law is the truly capable one! I will never forget how you remained calm and composed when you encountered a wolf pack!"
So he sincerely apologized.
Su Miaomiao smiled and said that she didn't take it to heart at all. She never really cared what others thought of her.
She just wanted to live comfortably and freely. The opinions of unimportant people had nothing to do with her.
They would not affect her life at all.
The only people she cared about in this world were her two grandmothers and Cheng Hao.
Among them, Cheng Hao was the most important.
Even their parents were people they could do without.
After all, they had brought shadows to them during their childhood.
Cheng Hao was also slightly surprised by Cheng Xiaotian's words, and the smile in his eyes deepened. "You are indeed a good child. Some adults may live to be old and still be unwilling to admit their mistakes, but the fact that you can honestly face your mistakes already makes you stronger than many people."
He praised him as being commendable.
He also expressed his willingness to teach him well, and how much he could learn depended on his own fortune.
Su Miaomiao also smiled at him and said, "You should grasp both, but our teaching is separate. You can learn martial arts from your elder brother Cheng Hao during the day, and come to my lessons in the afternoon. As for the classes you miss, I can make them up for you in the evening. Consider it me valuing your talent!"
She said that she would teach not only herbs and some first aid knowledge but also other interesting knowledge points, so he was welcome to learn if he was interested.
Cheng Xiaotian was also very honest. Hearing Su Miaomiao's offer to give him extra tutoring, he immediately, before the young couple could react, knelt down and kowtowed twice, calling them master and mistress, startling the couple into quickly helping him up.
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao then exchanged a look, both amused and speechless.
They had originally just wanted to teach them some skills during their free time to improve the caravan, but with Cheng Xiaotian calling them master and mistress, they really had to take it seriously.