Jiang Zhi suddenly woke up, feeling her heart pounding: Who was that small team? Could it be the one where the male lead and Xiao Man met their demise?

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Zhi closed her eyes again: The version has changed now; Xiaoman is not dead, and it's no longer the original content.

Besides, what does it have to do with me? In the original book, I was a character who only appeared for three days before dying, and I'm long gone.

Before she could calm down, Errui rushed up from the bottom of the cliff: "Mother, Li Laoshi is coming from the village, and Zhang Shizhang has news for us!"

After the wounded soldiers left, the roads became slippery due to the frequent rain, and Jiang Zhi never went down the mountain again.

It's sunny today, so the mountain road is easier to walk on. I just don't know what that lazy Li Laoshi is up here for.

At this moment, below the cliff, Li Laoshi was eating a large bowl of meat soup that Xiaoman's grandmother had served him.

We finished the pig's head meat at noon. It was mostly made from mustard greens, but there were beans, dried bamboo shoots, dried mushrooms, and other dried goods. It tasted pretty good.

Li Laoshi ate the entire bowl of food, leaving not a drop of soup. He was so full that his eyes were glazed over. He took a few breaths and finally wiped the bottom of the bowl clean with soybean residue and mixed grain cakes before he was done.

He spent more than an hour climbing the mountain, just so he could have a full meal.

Working in the medical shed was hard work, and all we got was thin porridge; we hadn't had any oily food in a long time.

In the past, he would have been satisfied with that bowl of thin porridge, but while recuperating on the mountain with Xiang Dejin and the others, he had become quite greasy and was constantly thinking about the wild boar meat he hadn't finished.

Now, whenever Zhang Juntou needs to deliver a message up the mountain, he comes immediately.

Li Laoshi was eating, and no one else in the room urged him. After he wolfed down his food, Jiang Zhi asked, "Li Laoshi, does Squad Leader Zhang have something he wants you to tell him?"

Li Laoshi wiped his mouth, reluctantly pushed away the soup bowl, and said, "These past few days, a few families from Xujia Village have returned. Zhang Shizhang asked if you wanted to go down the mountain to meet them."

"If you don't want to go down the mountain, that's fine too. He'll leave you the homestead and land, and we'll redistribute them after the medical shed is dismantled."

The people of Xujia Village are back!

Jiang Zhi immediately perked up, ready to inquire about the details: "Li Laoshi, tell me everything that happened down the mountain. I've already asked Qiaoyun to boil two eggs for you to take with you when you leave!"

Upon hearing that there were eggs to eat, Li Laoshi, who had almost drunk himself to death, felt that his stomach was empty again. He swallowed and immediately told everyone he knew in detail.

The people who fled from Xujia Village have indeed returned, but when they left, there were more than twenty households in a large group, and now there are only two or three disheveled cats and dogs.

Five households returned, with five registered households, but each household had an incomplete population.

Every household was dressed in mourning clothes, and many elderly people and children in the family died on the way to escape the disaster.

When they returned to Xujia Village and saw their homes burned to the ground and completely destroyed by the refugees, they wept bitterly.

They found their old house, dug out the broken walls and tiles, and cobbled together a makeshift shack.

Li Laoshi spoke with spittle flying everywhere: "Zhang Juntou pitied them for coming back with nothing. In the freezing cold, they ate two meals in the medical tent first, and then they cooked for themselves when the shack was built."

Now things have gotten really complicated. They've started blaming the clinic, claiming it encroaches on the village's land and demanding the clinic build them houses as compensation, or they'll refuse to leave.

"During this time, although wounded soldiers left the medical shed, there were still dozens of people there."

Zhang Juntou wasn't about to tolerate these scoundrels. He ordered his men to carry out the villagers who were lying on the kang (heated brick bed) in the medical shed and throw them into the ditch..."

As he said this, his two rat-like eyes narrowed, and he grinned smugly: "I even kicked them a few times!"

"I have to eat and sleep in this makeshift clinic and even wash people's feet, and they just want to act like big shots? No way!"

"Oh, after all that, what are your opinions, Grandpa and Sister-in-law Jiang? I need to explain this to Commander Zhang when I get back."

Old Li is now doing odd jobs at the medical shed to make a living, and he thinks highly of himself, thinking that these Xu family villagers will come back expecting to eat and drink for him.

Bah! He won't agree.

Jiang Zhi frowned slightly: These families are no pushovers!

The medical tent will not be removed and replaced with a rest station until all the wounded have healed, which will take at least half a year. These families want to stay now, but they will probably suffer every day from now on.

In any case, I don't want to have much contact with the villagers, especially now...

So, he looked up at Xiaoman and asked, "Uncle Changgeng, what do you say?"

Beside him, Grandpa Xiaoman was puffing on his pipe. He couldn't bear to part with the tobacco Xiaoman bought, so he would burn a little bit every day and smell it.

Now that he heard that the people from Xujia Village had returned, his empty pipe no longer smelled good. He took off his pipe and tapped it on the table: "Since Zhang Juntou's medical tent is occupying our homestead and the fields are being cultivated by those refugees who didn't return home in time, then we're not in a hurry to go down the mountain. We'll wait until next spring to dismantle the medical tent."

He didn't mention the villagers of Xujia Village.

With land deeds and house deeds in hand, one can return to the village at any time to reclaim one's property.

Li Laoshi wanted to ask more, but Jiang Zhi said, "Li Laoshi, just tell Zhang Juntou that the road is difficult to travel now, so we won't go down the mountain. Let the medical shed use the land, just don't let anyone come up the mountain."

Li Laoshi blinked: "Alright, anyway, not all the outsiders have left the village yet, there are shacks everywhere, you can squeeze in and live there, there are also oak trees, enough to feed people."

Since they learned that grinding the seeds of the oak tree into powder and cooking them into a porridge would keep people from starving, most of the refugees dispersed, with only a small number remaining.

A tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives; those who stay all have their reasons for not wanting to return.

Seeing that he still hadn't grasped her meaning, Jiang Zhi wasn't afraid to spell it out: "What I mean is, you're not allowed to bring any villagers up here, not even their words."

Li Laoshi suddenly realized: "Sister Jiang doesn't want to see the villagers anymore!"

Seeing that he finally understood, Jiang Zhi snorted.

When she said this, Grandpa Xiaoman remained silent, indicating his agreement.

Xiaomanye supported using Qinggangzi (a type of medicinal herb) to save refugees, and even felt some sympathy for the "bandits" who wanted to steal his grain.

But now, he shows no intention of helping those of his own clan and lineage.

There's really no way to save them.

If you give away a bowl of leftover rice, strangers will appreciate your kindness, but acquaintances and relatives will only think that you gave too little or too poor a gift.

Li Laoshi still needed to go and give a reply, and once he had explained things clearly, he took the boiled eggs and went down the mountain.

He had already decided that he didn't want to go back to his hometown. Anyway, the medical shed was going to be converted into a post station, which would require people to run errands and do chores.

Now he feels that helping others is not bad, at least he won't have to worry about food or clothing, and he won't go hungry for nine meals in three days anymore.

Furthermore, Sister-in-law Jiang is skilled in gathering medicinal herbs and has access to the county magistrate. With such a strong backing, she's sure to become wealthy in the future.

Wealthy families always need to hire people, so I must make sure to handle things well for my future employer!

Jiang Zhi had no idea that Li Laoshi had already found a host for him; she was only thinking about the social circle of the original owner that she was about to face.

Sigh! Let's just drag it out as long as we can, and deal with everything after winter is over.