Upon hearing about buying people, Jiang Zhi exchanged a glance with Er Rui, who was sitting next to her.

This confirms what the two had discussed at home.

We really need to buy players!

Since the murder at Qingquan Bay and the near-ambush on the mountain, Jiang Zhi has felt a severe shortage of manpower.

Of course, I'm not referring to migrant workers who do the work, but to people who truly belong to themselves.

No wonder that in an era of underdeveloped productivity, having many children was considered a blessing.

It is only when a large group of blood relatives are huddled together that one feels safe.

This time, we escaped disaster thanks to wild boars, but we can't rely on them forever.

Peppa was just lucky; if she had been wandering around elsewhere and hadn't noticed... the consequences would have been unimaginable.

During the day, Qingquan Bay is guarded by Xiaoman, Tiantao, Wuyang, Xu Genqing, and Sister Shi. In the past, only Xiaoman kept watch at night, but now Wuyang has been added to the list.

Normally, with Zhang Juntou and Song Tingzhang exchanging greetings on the ground, no one would cause trouble.

However, in any situation... there's always the possibility of something going wrong.

If you encounter someone who intends to attack you, then there's no way to defend against it.

The buying and selling of people is not uncommon here, but it is not something that ordinary people can accept.

Xiao Tian has been raised by the Xu family for so many years without being sold, except for the fact that Er Rui's father protects him.

Another reason is that it is a matter of custom that people cannot be sold casually.

Everyone knows that selling oneself into slavery means becoming someone else's property.

People may scold or beat you, but life and death are in the hands of fate. You must not be a slave unless you have no other choice.

The Tian Gui couple had endured so much at home for so many years, but when Tian Tao was about to be sold, they immediately severed ties with their family and left home.

Selling family members was a topic of discussion. Being a slave was considered miserable, and anyone who sold a relative was considered utterly heartless and would be condemned by others.

Although Jiang Zhi and Er Rui had considered buying people, one was a modern person and the other was a peasant. They still needed to mentally prepare themselves before buying people. Now, with other people persuading them, they could accept it.

In the past, we didn't have the capacity to feed more people, but now it's different; we can easily support another ten or eight people.

After delivering the goods at the pharmacy, Jiang Zhi and Er Rui left the office, while Pi Shi was still waiting outside, watching the tender corn.

"Let's go to Xiang Dejin's place and deliver this grain!"

Before going to the county government office and the brokerage firm, Jiang Zhi went to find Xiang Dejin first. She didn't understand these things, and neither did Er Rui, so she wanted to find someone who did to ask.

Upon arriving at Xiang Dejin's house, they were surprised to find that Dejin's wife, Suqing, was pregnant, around the same time as Qiaoyun.

Seeing the tender corn that Jiang Zhi brought, the young woman beamed with joy: "Auntie, you saved my life! I haven't been able to eat anything these days, and I just wanted something new and exciting."

Jiang Zhi laughed and said, "You're so lucky to be pregnant now. You can get all kinds of fruits and seeds. As long as you want to eat them, Xiang Dejin can always find them!"

It's June now, and various fruits in Bavaria are ripening one after another, from mulberries to peaches, pears, plums, apricots, and loquats—a wide variety of fruits.

Dejin's wife lives in the county town, where it's convenient to buy things.

Jiang Zhi had a reason for saying that. Qiaoyun was picky about food during her pregnancy. Although she ate wild fruits from the mountain to satisfy her cravings, she still thought about eating hibiscus every day.

Crabapple, also known as sand apple or linqin, is commonly called "little apple." It's not very common in Bajun, but Qiaoyun remembers it because of its sweet, sour, and crisp taste.

However, the hibiscus flowers are autumn fruits, and the blossoms have only just fallen, so it's still a long way from being ready to eat. Since peaches and plums can be bought in town, Jiang Zhi wanted to see if she could buy some other fruits to take back.

When Dejin's wife learned that Qiaoyun was also pregnant, she immediately said, "Dejin just found a basket of sand apricots today. I heard they are a variety from another place. They are thick, soft and tender. Auntie will take them with her when she goes back, so that my sister-in-law can have a taste."

Jiang Zhi smiled and agreed.

After exchanging a few words, Dejin's wife knew that Aunt Jiang was not one to wander around aimlessly, and that she must have something to say since she had just had an accident not long ago.

So he asked, "Auntie, what's the matter? Dejin is on duty today and won't be back at noon. If it's urgent, I'll send someone to let him know so he can come back."

Jiang Zhi didn't stand on ceremony and said that she had something to discuss with Xiang Dejin.

Soon, Xiang Dejin returned.

Upon seeing Jiang Zhi, Xiang Dejin immediately inquired about Xiaoman's injuries and the situation in the village.

Last time Xu Gensheng came to the city to look for Pi, he also came to Xiang Dejin to look for Du Baolin.

At the time, Xu Gensheng was instructed by Jiang Zhi not to exaggerate Xiaoman's injuries, so Xiang Dejin only knew that something had happened at the pharmacy.

Upon seeing Aunt Jiang, Xiang Dejin naturally inquired about her in detail, and Jiang Zhi recounted in detail how Xiaoman almost lost her life.

Even though he knew Xiaoman had recovered, Xiang Dejin was still terrified: "Are you really sure that person sent her to silence her?"

Although he had been in the county government for more than a year and had experienced many things, the fact that this poisonous father wanted to kill his own son was truly unbelievable.

Jiang Zhi said, "We still don't know what exactly happened, but when that person attacked Xiaoman, he said, 'He should have died eighteen years ago!' Xiaotian is half a year older than Xiaoman, so he must have mistaken her for someone else."

"Moreover, as you know, when Master Du heard that Xiaoman was injured and that Xiaotian, who was being fostered by my family, had joined the army, he immediately drove away the Xu family and refused to acknowledge them. He also moved away. This is because he has a guilty conscience!"

Xiang Dejin knew about Xiaotian's situation, but when he heard that Master Du had moved, he quickly said, "I have already asked around. Master Du's wife and daughter live in Qingliu Lane because his daughter, Du Jinying, oh! that is, Du Yunyan, whom you mentioned, needs to go back to her hometown for her marriage."

Although the house is rented, several shops have been set up there, and the property deeds are still in Du Jinying's name.

This was arranged by that lady; I'm afraid even Master Du doesn't know about it.

Master Du used the "golden cicada shedding its shell" trick, but Xiang Dejin was no pushover either.

At the time, there was no evidence, but over the past few days he has been asking around and has learned the name of the young lady who was to be married. He also found Du Jinying's household deed in the archives of the government office.

Jiang Zhi asked in surprise, "Du Jinying, Du Yunyan, Xu Xiaolan, Xu Yuxian?"

How cunning! To hide, they used the name both openly and covertly; if you hadn't found out their real name, you definitely wouldn't have been able to find them.

Xiang Dejin said, "I found out about that name by accident. Who would have thought that the Du family would use their daughter's name to purchase these shops? What are you planning to do with them, Auntie?"

Smashed? Copied?

Find some excuse to ruin these shops' business and lure Master Du out again.

Jiang Zhi quickly shook her head: "No, it concerns those shops, let's just pretend we don't know. Let them stay open, we can sell them when she wants to!"

Jiang Zhi was pleasantly surprised to find these shops.

Du Baolin ran fast, probably not expecting that there were still traces left in Pingchuan County. He could find Xu Xiaolan and her daughter by following this shop.

Jiang Zhi needs to preserve this clue as a gift for Nie Fantian, so that the family will have something to talk about when they get together and avoid awkward silences.

The male lead should be happy and satisfied with how considerate she is!

This is only one aspect of the preparation; Jiang Zhi must grasp both aspects firmly.

Domestic power struggles weren't her forte; her priority was to protect herself and avoid being bitten by that mad dog, Xu Xiaolan.

That means buying people!

Xiang Dejin supported, "Auntie has plenty of money now, so she needs to buy a few servants."

My sister-in-law is pregnant and needs to be well taken care of so she can have more children for Errui and his brother.