Beside the bonfire in the evening, while the afterglow of the setting sun could still soothe the war-torn land, Lin Hai quietly built a platform with a few stones. Yes, he wanted to ensure that each of his sworn brothers could see him clearly.

Lin Hai stood on the platform. He stood straight, just like the captain on the reviewing platform back then, standing there silently.

After being tormented by various thoughts and confusions for several days, and the situation was getting worse, his sworn brothers discovered him and gradually surrounded him. They knew that today was the day when a "statement" would be born.

Lin Hai stared at his sworn brothers in silence. This was the first time he'd ever looked at them so seriously. Strip away the halo of a battle-hardened veteran, the relationship of sworn brothers, the debt of gratitude he'd once owed them for saving many of their lives at the wounded camp, and Lin Hai suddenly realized they were just ordinary people.

No, that's not right. They are not even as good as ordinary people.

They have no family;

They have no property;

A considerable number of them have gone through the painful experience of amputation, some even more than once;

They even lost their hometown. In order to downplay the dishonorable defeat of the massacre in Qinghe County, the empire refused to rebuild Qinghe County on the original site. Instead, it built a new county town next to the original site, and the name of the new town was changed to Xinhe County.

However, Xinhe County is not Qinghe County, and the former Qinghe County has been thrown into history.

Simply put, they have nothing but themselves.

Lin Hai then realized that he had made a mistake, a mistake of bringing his past life experience into this world. That is, Lin Hai thought that migrating for a living was like going to a strange city to work, which was a reasonable thing that did not need too much explanation.

Only now did he understand how much sacrifice and courage this group of wounded soldiers had taken to support each other and walk, despite his mindless urging, from the central plains, which was considered the center of the world, to the mountainous areas in the southwest, over an entire winter.

This is to fulfill the promise made to the old captain, but it is more of a trust in Lin Hai.

As Lin Hai's gaze kept moving back and forth among the crowd, the crowd gradually quieted down. Everyone raised their heads and looked at him following Lin Hai's gaze - the person who said he would give everyone an explanation.

"Brothers," Lin Hai said, pausing before glancing across the room. "I know what you're all worried about. I also know that I've only made it this far thanks to your trust and support."

"Here, before I express my thoughts, I want to ask my brothers, if you don't come to the southwest, what do you want?"

silence.

No one expected Lin Hai to ask such a question. No one even expected Lin Hai to ask a question. In the past, a lieutenant would simply issue orders from the parade platform, rarely explaining why. Asking for what everyone wanted was out of the question; that was the military. Of course, they weren't in the military anymore, but the wounded soldiers, accustomed to military life, still hadn't gotten used to Lin Hai's way of speaking.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting a bit awkward, Lin Hai quickly waved his hands behind his back twice. Wang Liang, who was standing beside him, quickly responded, "What else do you want? A blacksmith shop, preferably with some money to buy some pig iron, a house to build, a wife to marry, and preferably a few big fat boys." Wang Liang turned around and looked at the crowd, "I don't believe no one wants these."

The atmosphere gradually became lively, and Lu You continued, "I don't want a blacksmith shop. What's the point of that? I need some capital, a carrying pole, and preferably a donkey, so that it will be easier to sell goods. As for a wife, I go from street to street, and I know very well which family has a beautiful widow."

As soon as Lu You finished speaking, the whole room burst into laughter.

"Nineteenth brother, tell me the truth, was it because you were chased by the widow's in-laws that you had nowhere to hide that you followed the captain to the army?"

"Hahahahahaha, Forty-two, don't tell me. Even if they don't know that you squatted at the widow's door every day, I don't know. It's a pity that she despised you because you were the youngest son and wouldn't give you any land. It's useless for you to squat there from morning till night."

"Huh~~ I didn't expect that you, Forty-Two, would have such a thing."

"I should have had a good talk with your father, Old Man Zhang, earlier. Maybe I could have come to your house and talked to him, and even told him to come down to you, hahahahahahahaha"

"That's what I was told. I heard from Old Man Zhang years ago that their land wasn't enough to support their entire family, with three sons. Old Man Zhang wanted to divide the family property and asked Forty-Two to go to the city and find work, but he refused to go and stayed home. So there's such a thing."

Forty-two, also known as Zhang Zaijiang (he didn't like people calling him by that name, because his father's name was Zhang Jiang, his eldest brother was Zhang Dajiang, and his second brother was Zhang Erjiang, so his name could easily be laughed at. People who knew him simply called him Forty-two according to his ranking in the sworn brotherhood) blushed and was about to argue, but then he thought that even if others didn't know, Lu You, who walked the streets every day and provided gossip to various villages, couldn't be unaware of his affairs. There was no point in arguing, and besides, he just fell in love with the widow who was almost ten years older than him. Wasn't it because she was older and more caring... How could there be anything wrong with that?

"Alright, alright," Wang Liang came to smooth things over, "Don't just talk about Forty-Two anymore. At worst, we can find an older widow for Forty-Two after we've settled down."

"Why can't you find him a proper wife? Why does she have to be a widow, and older at that?"

"That's because I need to find myself a proper wife. Young widows are what Lu You likes, so doesn't the 42nd one just happen to have older widows left? Besides, he likes them, so it's perfect."

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