Upon hearing this, Su Hua couldn't help but ask curiously, "During the reign of Emperor Yu, didn't the imperial court make any arrangements for wounded and discharged soldiers?"

Tangshan Prefecture was located in a remote area, and Shanghe Village was an even more remote mountain valley below Tangshan Prefecture, far from the capital and the military camp. Therefore, the people here knew very little about what was happening in the military camp, and she was no exception.

All she knew was that in the China before she transmigrated, there were a series of resettlement measures for retired soldiers, such as job placement, support, and a retirement pension to help them find employment, so they didn't have to worry about food and clothing at all.

Seeing her curiosity, Xiao Jinhan explained patiently, "When soldiers are wounded and discharged, the court will give them a salary based on their rank and years of service."

However, because the number of wounded and retired soldiers throughout the country was quite large each year, this pay was not high.

If wounded soldiers still had families in their hometowns, most would choose to return to their hometowns to farm. However, some soldiers remained, already alone, and after being wounded and discharged, they had nowhere to go.

Su Hua nodded in realization, "I see. Then I'll trouble Zichen to write a letter with them. These most lovable people, Zaozhuang wants them."

Xiao Jinhan raised an eyebrow, "The most adorable person?"

“Yes, those who protect their country with their own blood and flesh are the most lovable people.” Su Hua nodded.

She had only planned to ask Xiao Jinhan if she needed a few skilled men, but she was pleasantly surprised to be able to hire wounded and retired soldiers.

The soldiers exuded a strong aura of malevolence, which was sufficient to deal with ordinary demons and monsters.

Xiao Jinhan was somewhat surprised to see the girl's smiling face. Most people would run away as if they had encountered something dirty when they heard about a disabled person, but she showed no disgust at all, only joy.

He looked down at her right leg, which was covered in silver needles; in fact, it had always been like this from the beginning.

She never looked down on him because he was a cripple.

Half an hour later, Su Hua took out the silver needles and invited Xiao Jinhan and Yu Feng to go back to the courtyard for dinner.

Knowing that her youngest daughter loved lotus root tips, Su Bai led the villagers to work in Zaozhuang in the afternoon and had someone pick a basket of the freshest ones from the lake. They weighed about fourteen or fifteen pounds, and each one was white and had a unique fragrance.

Besides the lotus root tips, the villagers also discovered a large termite nest while clearing the jujube grove. These termites were the culprits that had caused so many jujube trees to suffer. After destroying the termite nest, Su Bai brought back a large cluster of termite mushrooms from the nest.

Her little girl had told her that the long-legged mushrooms on termite mounds were not only edible, but also tasted amazing, even better than the oyster mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms in their family's spicy hot pot.

Especially the chicken stew with matsutake mushrooms, the aroma is so enticing.

The sky was getting dark.

In the center of the main room of the Su family, on an old wooden table, there was a large bowl of bright red pan-fried venison, two plates of roasted snake meat, two large bowls of braised shrimp and crab, a plate of spicy and sour lotus root tips, a pot of chicken soup with matsutake mushrooms, and two or three stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

In the very center of the wooden table was a bowl full of snow-white rice and about thirty cornbread buns.

Beside it, there was also a pot of apricot wine.

The eleven members of the Su family, plus Xiao Jinhan, Elder Xue, and Yu Feng, filled the table completely.

Compared to the fish and meat on the table, lotus root tips have become the new favorite among everyone, and more than half of them were eaten up in no time.

Lotus root tips are at their most tender in April. Simply slice them diagonally, add some pickled peppers and vinegar, and stir-fry them together for a refreshing and palate-cleansing dish. With each bite, you can hear a crisp, crackling sound.

Su Hua took a bite of braised shrimp and a bite of spicy and sour lotus root tips, her eyes narrowing into slits with delight. This carefree life was so much better than the grueling 996 work schedule of her previous life!

"Hua'er is truly amazing. I only knew how to eat lotus root before, but I didn't know that the little tips on the lotus root are even more delicious when stir-fried." Su Sanhu swallowed a piece of lotus root tip with his chopsticks, and the joy on his face was hard to ignore.

Su Hua couldn't help but find it amusing. "Third Brother, is there something happy happening today? You're so happy just from eating lotus root tips?"

Su Sanhu grinned, his handsome face full of pride, "Of course I'm happy! Hua'er, you don't know, today at the school gate, all the customers who came to buy spicy hot pot were talking about your heroic deeds at the Hundred Flowers Banquet!"

First in guessing flower riddles, first in painting, first in playing the piano.

The painting attracted a large swarm of butterflies, and the music made all the young masters and ladies, young and old, shed tears.

Everyone says they've never seen a woman as formidable as Hua'er!

Su Erhu added with a smile, "Even young masters and ladies from the city come to our hot pot stall specifically because of your reputation."

Our stall used to do good business, but it's never been like today.

We sold out of all the skewers shortly after we arrived.

The line stretched for one or two alleys, with people all complaining that we needed more food the next day, saying it simply wasn't enough.

Think back to how those people looked at Hua'er back then, and look at them now, the two brothers' backs are as straight as two green bamboos.

"Heroic deeds at the Hundred Flowers Banquet?" Upon hearing this, Madam Su Bai, no longer caring about drinking the chicken soup, immediately rolled up her sleeve and wiped her mouth.

The slanted eyes gleamed. "What riddles? What flower painting? And what is 'singing celery'? Tell me quickly."

Hua'er mentioned the Hundred Flowers Banquet to her when she came back last night, and even showed her a large box of jewelry she won at the banquet. But after learning that the jewelry was only meant to be displayed, she didn't take it to heart.

Compared to Zaozhuang, the local specialties are like something you can only look at but not eat.

But she had no idea that Yingtoumian and Zaozhuang would also have to solve riddles, draw flowers, and even fluff celery... Celery is such a small stalk, and they had to fluff it like cotton. Wasn't that just making things difficult for them?

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