When Qin Yao had all the soap materials ready, the convoy led by Liu Bo and Liu Fei set off again towards the provincial capital, carrying a thousand finished book boxes.

Apart from the accounting work in the factory, everything else was handled by other people. Only occasionally did they ask her for decisions, so Qin Yao rarely had any free time.

After Carpenter Liu formed a team of craftsmen, he felt much more relaxed. He no longer had to do everything himself and finally experienced the feeling of being a boss.

When Qin Yao and Awang were cutting the freshly-baked soap together, the village chief came over leisurely with his hands behind his back and reminded her that she should go to the county town to complete the procedures for the stationery factory.

Qin Yao slapped her head and said, "Thanks for your reminder, otherwise I would have almost forgotten it!"

The village chief smiled kindly, "So when do you think we should go?"

"Tomorrow?" Qin Yao asked tentatively. She had plenty of time.

The village chief nodded and said, "Then let's go together tomorrow morning. You go ahead and do your work. I'll be home."

He raised his hand to signal Qin Yao not to see him off, then stood up and left.

But Qin Yao still followed him to the dam at the door of his home before returning.

The door was not closed when someone was at home. As soon as she entered the house, two strangers followed her into the yard.

It was a father and daughter. After entering the house, the older one found the axe in the yard and started chopping the wood that had not been chopped yet.

The younger one found a broom by the door, picked it up and started sweeping the yard.

What's going on?

Qin Yao was a little confused because she didn't feel any threat from the two men and didn't kick them out immediately.

Awang was also startled, and then he realized that someone had snatched his job. He frowned quickly, put down the cotton thread he was using for cutting, and was about to grab the two, the big and the small.

Qin Yao raised her hand to block it, signaling him not to be anxious and to take a look first. It was quite new and it was the first time she had seen it.

Awang was anxious and said seriously: "This is my job!"

Okay, Qin Yao put her hand down. Awang rushed over immediately, grabbed the axe raised by the father, snatched it away, and threw the man in front of Qin Yao.

A cry of pain rang out, and the younger one hurriedly threw away the broom and rushed over, kneeling in front of Qin Yao to explain:

"Madam, please spare us! Madam, please spare us! My father and I just want to help you work for a living. Madam, please spare us!"

Perhaps they didn't expect that there was a ruthless person like Awang in the small farmyard, and they caught the father and daughter off guard.

Obviously, this trick of theirs had worked before. When they saw that they had done the work, they would give them some food even if they were unhappy.

The older one seemed unable to speak, making anxious "ah ah" sounds and repeatedly bowing to Qin Yao and Awang to express his apologies.

Qin Yao crossed her arms and asked inquiringly: "From your accent, you are refugees from the next door?"

The father and daughter nodded. Seeing that Qin Yao didn't seem to want to drive them away, the little girl asked again, "Madam, we can help you with a lot of work. Do you have any work for us to do? Just some food will do."

The girl looked seven or eight years old, but from her mature tone, Qin Yao guessed that she should be ten years old. She looked young because she didn't eat well and was malnourished.

One should always be softer towards girls and signal the father and daughter to get up first.

"Awang, go get one of the steamed buns left over from this morning." Qin Yao was kind-hearted, but not much. One steamed bun was enough for the father and daughter to share.

Awang brought the steamed buns, looked at the father and daughter with a sense of crisis, and then continued to do what he had not finished.

Qin Yao brought stools for the two of them to sit on.

The large white flour buns were still hot. The father and daughter finished them in just a few bites. After filling their stomachs, they felt much better.

The father and daughter didn't dare to sit down. They bowed to thank Qin Yao and wanted to help her with the work.

"No hurry, I want to ask you something. Sit down and rest for a while. You look like you came from the mountain behind our village?"

The father and daughter nodded and Xuxu sat down on the bench. The girl said, "My father can't speak. Madam, you can ask me if you have any questions. My name is Xiaohua, you can just call me Huaer."

Qin Yao asked them why they didn't go home after getting the food to return home, but instead came to their small mountain village to beg for food.

Huaer said that the court had distributed grain to them and advised them to return home to prepare for the next wheat planting. The seeds were provided by the court, and once they could get through it, the crisis would be resolved next year.

But only a small number of people went back, because there are still three months before the wheat planting time, and many people would not be able to survive if they went back, so they boldly came here to find work.

"My mother and two younger brothers have already taken the food back home. We still have more than half a year to go, and this amount of food is not enough to make it through. So my father and I stayed here to find food for ourselves. This way we can save them a few mouths to eat. It would be even better if we could find a job and save some money."

Huaer, like an adult, recounted the story with a helpless smile.

Qin Yao asked: "How many people like you are left here?"

"The remaining half?" Hua'er was not very sure. Anyway, every family from their hometown had left the young and strong ones behind.

Everyone wants to find some work to support themselves and go back in winter.

Qin Yao frowned, "Do you have any companions nearby?"

Hua'er fell silent for a moment, and the father and daughter lowered their heads guiltily.

The two of them were just here to lead the charge. If the village had enough space to accommodate them, they would go back and tell other fellow villagers to come together.

The silence between the father and daughter had already given Qin Yao the answer, and their expressions had obviously turned cold.

But what could she say to them?

Compared to those who have no moral bottom line and do all kinds of bad things, the father and daughter just want to survive by relying on their own labor.

Even if it's a bit shameless, but you can't survive anymore, so who cares about you?

Seeing that Qin Yao didn't speak for a long time, the father and daughter stood up awkwardly and bowed again to thank her for the white flour buns.

Turn around and prepare to leave.

"Does anyone in your place know how to settle accounts?"

Hua Er turned around in surprise, "Yes! Uncle Qian is the accountant of our restaurant, he knows how to do the accounting!"

"Will the road be repaired?"

Huaer's father nodded quickly, anxious to express himself, his hands dancing rapidly. Huaer was so anxious that he called his father to slow down and even helped translate:

"Ma'am, my father said they can build bridges and roads. If anyone in the village wants to build a house, they can do it too. My father is a bricklayer, and the houses he builds are very solid!"

Huaer had a pleading look on her face, as if to say "Madam, please choose us, please choose us". Her thin and yellow face had a pair of bright almond-shaped eyes, which looked very pitiful.

Qin Yao remained calm, pointed at the river at the foot of Beishan Mountain, and said:

"See that river at the foot of the mountain? Call your people over and wait for me there."

The father and daughter were overjoyed and immediately ran up the mountain, ready to call down their fellow villagers.

Qin Yao watched them go into the mountain, told Awang to keep an eye on the house and not let anyone in, and then set off to chase the village chief who had just left.

She had originally thought that the village was seriously short of manpower, so she decided to put off the road construction until after the autumn harvest. But now it seems that it would not be a bad idea to do it earlier.

It would be a waste if you don’t use the labor that comes to your doorstep.