"There's no use worrying about these things now. You're still in front of our village, so we should be even more worried." Si Cheng looked at the supplies that had been crossed out, especially the clothes, which had been almost all replaced, and even the military boots were gone.

"Our village set off as soon as we received the information, but it was too late. Now the boots that everyone wanted to exchange for are completely gone." Liu Jun was heartbroken when he saw that the military boots he had been hoping to exchange for were completely gone.

"There might be another chance next time. Didn't they say they've already found the location of the warehouse? We should be able to exchange it again soon." Si Cheng told him everything he knew.

"I wonder if they'll have boots next time I come."

"There should be. It's said that they've broken up all the supplies, and each warehouse stores different things. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many different kinds of things when you open this warehouse."

“If that’s the case, then it’s fine. But next time we should make an appointment with them in advance, otherwise the whole village will be going barefoot.” Liu Jun lifted up his shoes to show Si Cheng. “Shoes like mine have been patched up again and again, and I can’t bear to throw them away. This damn road is really hard on shoes, so I’m basically barefoot at home and don’t dare to wear shoes anymore.”

Si Cheng glanced at his shoes; the repair stitches were almost torn, and his toes were nearly exposed. Then he looked at his own half-new boots. Yun Qi had ordered dozens of pairs of boots like these according to his size, not to mention other shoes. He would have enough to wear for the rest of his life, even if he never resumed production.

"Let's exchange whatever we have first and then figure things out later. When the next batch comes out, everyone in the surrounding area will have already exchanged for boots, so there will definitely be some left over. As soon as our villages receive the news, we'll rush over." Si Cheng didn't want to wear shoes himself while the villagers went barefoot, so he was determined to get a batch of boots or shoes for the villagers.

"It really is you!" Suddenly, someone stood in front of Si Cheng, blocking their way. Hearing this exclamation, he recognized Ma Tao, whom he had met twice on the road before.

"Hello, our village is also here to exchange supplies. What about you?"

"I'm still just getting by here. I just came out to rest for a bit. It's not your village's turn yet, is it?" There's a reason why Ma Tao is so enthusiastic towards Si Cheng. After returning, he heard that Pinghe Village would be his future place of residence, so he definitely needs to build good relationships with his future fellow villagers first.

"We just arrived not long ago, and we just got our number tags. We're about to find a place to rest for a bit." Si Cheng waved the number tag and list in his hand.

When Ma Tao saw the numbers on their number plates, he thought, "That means we'll have to wait a long time. We might not even finish exchanging them in the villages ahead of us today."

"Waiting for a while is fine. What I'm most afraid of is that in the end we won't get anything in return, and the villagers will have made a wasted trip."

It's so easy to talk to smart people. Ma Tao immediately chimed in, "No, there's a certain amount inside. We won't exchange it all at once. There's still a lot that hasn't arrived in more distant places. We'll rely on exchanging grain with various villages to get through this difficult time. We won't be so focused on exchanging it with just one place."

"Then why are some things crossed out here?" Liu Jun couldn't help but ask as he listened from the side.

"You'll find out when the time comes. Someone inside will explain it to you." Ma Tao stopped there and said no more. "I have to go in and change shifts now. See you later." He said the last two words specifically to Si Cheng.

After everyone had gone, Si Cheng said to Liu Jun, "Go back and clean out your things properly. Replace everything that can be replaced. Even if some things are not needed, if you still have enough food at home, try not to bring the food you brought back with you."

Although Liu Jun still didn't quite understand, he knew that Si Cheng wouldn't say these things for no reason. He planned to go back and check the list carefully to see if there was anything he hadn't liked before, and he could exchange some of it this time.

"Brother Cheng, is everything done?" Yunqi brought him some freshly boiled water, as he hadn't had a proper rest on the way here.

"Alright, here's the list. Let everyone check what needs to be redeemed later. Keep track of what you need to know. The items that are crossed out will basically be gone." Si Cheng handed the list directly to Yun Qi, telling her to go and discuss it with the others first.

"They even have vitamin tablets! I wonder if they're expired." Everyone found it unbelievable that there were health supplements on the list.

"All these clothes are gone, what are we going to do? Are we going to continue living in these rags? We don't even dare to pull the clothes too hard now, for fear of tearing them." Seeing that the clothing section had also been crossed out, everyone quickly searched for fabric. "Luckily, there's still some left. I don't know if the villages ahead will have finished replacing them."

"If all else fails, we'll exchange some cotton for it and try to turn it into cloth."

The thought that the items on the list are constantly decreasing and may even disappear is making everyone anxious. Some people are even looking at items they didn't originally plan to redeem, wondering if these things will be useful in the future.

Whatever they were thinking or had any plans, they were all eventually thrown into disarray.

"When it's time to go to our village, we should exchange all the grain we have for whatever we have. As for those we didn't get, we can reserve some with them later, or we can keep some grain for ourselves." Si Cheng gathered everyone together after they finished eating.

"What if we reserve the grain and then they renege on their promise?" someone expressed their concern.

"If you're not comfortable with that, you can exchange everything back this time. If you don't get anything, you can bring more to exchange next time. Of course, the premise is that you must keep enough reserve food at home, otherwise you'll have nowhere to cry when you're short of food." Si Cheng also urged everyone to exchange rationally and not to empty their food reserves, because going hungry later is no joke.

"Don't worry, food is definitely the top priority for everyone right now. Look at those refugees, nobody's stupid."

Si Cheng knew that most families had elderly people looking after them, and even those without elderly people followed the lead of the rest of the village. Besides, he had a good idea of ​​the village's harvest in recent years, and exchanging this grain wouldn't be a big loss. Otherwise, the village elders wouldn't have let them go out with such large bags of grain.

The waiting time always felt very long. Everyone looked at the endless ruins, sat quietly at their village's meeting point, and silently counted how many villages they would pass through and how much longer it would take before it was their turn.

Perhaps understanding everyone's eagerness, the places where supplies were exchanged were prepared to stay up all night, with oil lamps lit up around the area.