There were many people crying and making a scene in the refugee camp; there were people wiping away tears outside every shack.

Jiang Zhi paid no attention to the commotion here. She had already signed contracts with several companies and felt that was enough.

It is a virtue for a person to know their own limitations; one's own family cannot support too many mouths.

Moreover, there is a local saying in Xujia Village: "Many people can beat each other to death, many dogs can sleep and bite each other." This is similar to the saying "three monks carry water together," but it is more vivid and apt.

Jiang Zhi believes that making good use of people is what truly matters.

Now we only need to take over a few households of refugees and that will be the end of it, which is what we promised Magistrate Zhang.

If the people being sold earlier were accompanied by tears and laughter, a mix of passion and sorrow, now there's little activity when it comes to resettling the displaced people.

Jiang Zhi had previously stated publicly that her village, Xujia Village, was a small mountain village located in a ravine, with no main streets or alleys, but only twenty households scattered around the fields.

The fields are also mountainous, requiring constant climbing up slopes and ridges; there is no flat land.

They carried their work on their backs and shoulders, and even the drinking water for each household had to be carried every day.

Let me make it clear from the start: with these conditions, we'll accept anyone willing to sign a contract and sell themselves into servitude, and let those who wish to settle here choose for themselves.

That's what they said, and the results were obvious.

These refugees mostly came from outside Ba County. Their hometown was a plain and a dam, which is why it became a strategic location fought over by military strategists, with constant warfare and people constantly displaced.

Upon hearing that the work required carrying loads on one's shoulders and back, and that even a handcart couldn't reach the edge of the field, he immediately shook his head.

After working so hard for so long, who would be willing to leave the plains near the county town and settle down in a poor and remote place?

Moreover, such an important matter as relocating and immigrating was entrusted to two women and a young man.

They say that a young man with no experience is unreliable, let alone a woman running the village. Who knows how dilapidated that village has become.

Settling down is not easy, and I can't risk my entire future.

The county magistrate of Pingchuan County is currently stationed in various villages; we just need to wait and things will get better.

Some people couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to find a place to settle down as soon as possible.

Since this lady is buying slaves, she must be from a wealthy family. They should try to find out from the locals whether she is rich or not.

When asked, the guards on duty here said they didn't know the name Xujia Village, because it was too small.

Some people know that it was two years ago when the village was wiped out.

Rumors are all half true and half false.

Although the village was not destroyed, the deaths and the fire were real.

Destroy the entire village!

These refugees were fleeing war and turmoil. Upon hearing that their village had been wiped out, they felt a chill run down their spines and immediately abandoned the idea.

Faced with this misunderstanding, Jiang Zhi offered no explanation, and neither did Er Rui.

The two waited to the side until the Ma Guan family, who had signed the contract, finished packing their belongings, said goodbye to their neighbors, and left.

In this era of difficult travel, and with everyone going their separate ways, this parting may be the last. Let's say a few more words and have a little more time together.

In this somber atmosphere, the talkative Mr. Pi remained talkative and, unusually, wandered around aimlessly.

Whenever someone comes to inquire, she frowns and says, "The land in our village is only the size of a palm, and when we work, we not only have to carry things on our backs, but we also risk falling into the ditch if we're not careful."

During the day, we had to weed and guard the rice seedlings; even at night, we were woken up to work, often dozing off while doing so. If we didn't work, we wouldn't get anything to eat. It was tough!

"Oh, you're asking about Aunt Jiang? Of course she wants to buy people."

Sigh, you don't know, she's planted her land all the way up the mountaintop, requiring people to climb the mountain to work, carrying things up and down the mountain every day.

It takes half a day to get there, and you can't even come back at night. There are wild boar demons on that mountain that specialize in stripping people of their clothes..."

Pi spoke with great distress, but the day before she went to the city, it was her turn to make mosquito coils at night. Her hands moved like windmills, and her eyes were wide open like copper bells. She didn't doze off at all!

But the refugees didn't know that. When they heard how hard it was, they all gave up. They had to work during the day and at night to have food to eat.

There's land planted on mountain peaks, and wild boar spirits... How can anyone survive in such a place? It's better to starve to death.

Seeing that he had frightened the refugees, Pi was secretly pleased, while in his heart he cursed that "Gao" magistrate to the bone.

Fortunately, I didn't invite him to dinner on the second day of the Lunar New Year; otherwise, it would have been a waste of his money.

Aunt Jiang didn't gain anything from her trip, and now she has to spend her own money to resettle the displaced people.

Pi had no objection to the people who bought Jiangzhi, but he had a big problem with the influx of migrants into the village.

But she knew she had no right to speak, and that saying too much would annoy Aunt Jiang, so she could only think of a way in secret.

When the refugees arrived, they needed to build houses and occupy land, but even more important was the mosquito coil workshop!

This mosquito coil workshop was built with compensation money from Xu's aunt, and it's also part of the Xu family fund. In the future, all the wives and aunts in the village who give birth can receive chickens and rice.

Tian Gui and his fellow outsiders, who shared the same surname, had been forcibly bound together by their behavior and words because they had worked together on building houses and receiving work points for a year.

But these migrants are different. They'll take up all the time and space for making mosquito coils. No way!

Jiang Zhi ignored Pi Shi's whispers with the others; judging from their expressions, they were talking badly. Whether to stay or leave was entirely up to the refugees to decide.

It doesn't matter if no one goes, as long as we can report back to Magistrate Zhang.

At this time, Errui was not idle either. He chatted with the officials and servants guarding the refugee camp and inquired about the refugees, so he learned a little about the people here.

He knew which bullies frequently harassed people and which weak families were often bullied, and he would tell his mother about it when he got home.

As the two were talking, Ma Guan arrived with his entire family: "Madam, my family is all ready!"

His family is large, and they have a lot of belongings; each person is carrying a large package.

Jiang Zhi said, "There's another family coming with us. If you have time, go and help them out!"

The couple who signed the ten-year contract, surnamed Huang, were still busy. The boy and girl who had previously signed the contract had already gone to help. Jiang Zhi asked Ma Guan to urge them again.

Ma Guan was about to go over when he saw that the couple had already arrived.

Besides themselves, they also brought another family, who said they were on good terms with each other and wanted to settle down in Xujia Village.

This family's situation is similar to the Huang family's, but the advantage is that their children are older and can work.

While fleeing famine, the young boy was starving every day.

When parents are young, they think that no matter how hard or tiring life is in Xujia Village, if others can live, they can live too. The most important thing is to survive.

Moreover, having acquaintances working for wealthy families means there will always be someone to look after you in the future.

It's perfectly normal to have this idea, Jiang Zhi expressed her support and immediately let the person stay. The family was also overjoyed and went to tidy up their shack.

At this time, Jiang Zhi was unaware that, thanks to Pi Shi's vigorous propaganda, a rumor had quietly spread through the refugee camp: "This village has a man-eating bear spirit, and we are taking the refugees there now to offer sacrifices to the bear."

Oh my god, that's terrifying! It's utterly inhumane!

So, as Jiang Zhi prepared to leave, no one came to inquire about the resettlement of the displaced people, and even when the clerk in charge angrily rebuked him, no one responded.

However, the man who sold people reappeared; it was the same man who wanted to sell his wife.

This time he brought three people with him: besides the timid woman, there were two little girls who were as thin as skin and bones.