Lu Qiqi found the pancakes that Madam Lu had kept warm in the pot in the kitchen, and she quickly finished off the two pancakes.

After taking a big gulp of spiritual spring water, Lu Qiqi quickly tidied herself up and went out. She was going to help out at the noodle shop today.

As soon as Lu Qiqi entered the town gate of Qingshui Town, she saw a group of people walking towards the West Market.

Following the flow of people, Lu Qiqi walked all the way to the West Market and saw a store with a long queue.

Lu Qiqi recalled that this shop was a cloth store.

Then I thought about how the temperature suddenly dropped last night, and winter arrived overnight. People who didn't prepare thick clothes and quilts will definitely have to buy these things to get through the winter.

The cloth shop wasn't far from Lu Qiqi's noodle shop, and Lu Qiqi arrived at her shop in no time.

On Wednesday, he wore the new clothes that Li had made for him, and he looked much more energetic.

Zhou San, who had just handed a bamboo plaque to a guest, saw Lu Qiqi arrive and happily called out, "Sister Lu is here."

Lu Qiqi smiled and nodded at him, then walked behind the cashier to check the accounts made on Wednesday.

Lu Qiqi intended to entrust Zhou San with full responsibility for managing the noodle shop's accounts, since she wouldn't be there every day.

Once she had a good grasp of things by Wednesday, Lu Qiqi felt that she would start planning to open a breeding farm or something.

After all, she still felt that raising livestock was a quick way to make money, and she wouldn't have to worry about people eyeing her recipes.

While Lu Qiqi was checking the ledgers, Lu Dazhuang and Lu Changhu at the dock were running into obstacles everywhere. They finally found work, but the pay was less than what they received on the first day.

For the same job, one person lost twenty coins for no reason, which means that one person could only earn sixty coins for carrying a heavy load all day.

With no other option, Lu Dazhuang and Lu Changhu, who were in a position to earn money, dared not be picky anymore and could only work honestly.

After finishing a day's work, Lu Dazhuang and Lu Changhu received 120 coins as wages.

No one wanted to buy meat anymore, fearing they wouldn't be able to find work the next day.

The wind was biting cold on the way back. Lu Changhu pulled his coat tighter, wrapping himself tightly in layers of thin clothing, and cursed inwardly, 'This life is unbearable!'

Fortunately, his mother, Jin, was a shrewd woman. Hundreds of refugees died along the way to Luzhou Prefecture.

If Jin saw a dead body lying on the road, she would have Lu Changhu and Lu Dazhuang search the body to see if there was anything valuable.

Those who flee famine are usually from poor families and have nothing of value on them. If you can find a penny or two on them, it's because you were incredibly lucky that day.

In the end, seeing that they couldn't find anything, Jin ordered Lu Dazhuang and Lu Changhu to strip the dead man of his clothes and put them on him.

Previously, Lu Changhu had felt it was unlucky, but now that he was wearing one dead man's clothes after another, he felt that he should have taken more clothes off during his escape.

That way he won't have to suffer from the cold at night and will have a blanket to cover himself with.

After checking Wednesday's accounts and pointing out a few minor issues, Lu Qiqi returned to the veterans' village.

The cold wind stung her face, so Lu Qiqi quickly took out a mask from her spatial storage and put it on to avoid getting her face hurt by the wind.

Lu Qiqi walked back to the veterans' village, passing by a pond.

She saw four or five soldiers who had retreated from the battlefield sitting on the edge of the field, looking solemnly at the crops they had planted.

"How are we going to get through this winter?!"

"Yes, we were just about to have a harvest, and now Bai Shuang's attack has wiped it all out. They're all dead!"

Lu Qiqi heard two crippled veterans shouting hysterically.

"I still have some government-issued pension money. I'll ask my brothers to chip in later and get through this crisis."

The veteran, who had just been crying and shouting, immediately stopped and said, "Old Zhang, your pension probably isn't much left, is it?"

"Yes, when Brother Ge passed away last time, you even gave him money for his funeral. You should save your little bit of compensation for the future!"

Zhang Weiguo said calmly, "If we can't get through this crisis, there will be other crises to come. If my brothers starve to death, will I be able to get by with this little bit of money?"

"No need for further discussion, it's decided!" Zhang Weiguo declared decisively.

Lu Qiqi stood behind them. The group was preoccupied with their own thoughts and didn't notice Lu Qiqi or realize that someone was standing behind them.

Lu Qiqi took off her mask and greeted the veterans, "Hello, uncles!"

Zhang Weiguo and several veterans turned to look at Lu Qiqi. Zhang Weiguo was the first to react and said with a smile, "Hello, Miss Lu."

Zhang Weiguo had a deep impression of Lu Qiqi, simply because Lu Qiqi rode a tall horse and told a little girl who was even younger than her that they were heroes.

This alone is enough for Zhang Weiguo to remember for a lifetime.

After listening to the conversation of these veterans, Lu Qiqi knew that they had relied on these crops to get through the winter, but now a frost overnight had frozen all the crops to death.

With no harvest and no other skills available, these veterans had no other options.

Lu Qiqi's heart tightened as she thought about how these elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people would not survive without food for the winter.

After all, these veterans risked their lives for the people on the battlefield, and they shouldn't have to live a miserable old age, struggling to make ends meet.

Lu Qiqi asked, "Uncle Zhang, is the weather in Luzhou Prefecture always this abnormal?"

Zhang Weiguo was taken aback by Lu Qiqi's question, and it left him momentarily speechless.

Zhang Weiguo thought for a moment and said, "This has never happened before. Our soil doesn't freeze in winter."

"We can plant two crops of corn a year, but this year it suddenly got cold overnight for some reason, and the frost even froze the crops to death."

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