Old Zhao and his men acted quickly because the scrap materials near the county town were piled up there. Although many of them were squeezed and deformed, they still collected some that they thought could be used.

Si Cheng looked at the pile of uneven and crooked building materials in front of him and pondered where to start.

Old Zhao and his men smiled apologetically at Si Cheng and his group, "These are the more intact and less damaged sections of the area. We did find a steel shop in town, but it was covered by a lot of rubble, so we couldn't dig it up."

They also noticed a small section of exposed rebar at the steel shop, which they tried to remove, but they could only clear up to the shop sign before they couldn't remove any more.

“If it’s just about setting up a rest area for you guys, then these materials should be enough. However, I’ll only help you put the frame up; you’ll have to do the rest yourselves.” Although Si Cheng was a good swimmer himself, since Old Zhao and the others were able to probe the bottom of the lake, it meant that there were people here who knew how to swim, so there was no need for him to do it all himself.

"We are already very grateful. As long as you help us drive the piles, you have already done us a great favor." Old Zhao knew that in this situation where they had no relatives or friends, the fact that the other person was still able to help them meant that they already owed him a favor.

Si Cheng summoned Hou Yunyang and asked him to draw down the design that Old Zhao and the others wanted to build. Once it was finalized, he would then lay the stakes according to the shape.

The news that Village Chief Si was going to help the refugees by the lake with pile driving in the lake somehow spread in the vicinity. On the day the work started, many people gathered by the lake to wait and see if the strongman who was rumored to be a miracle worker in several villages was really that amazing.

When Si Cheng and his group arrived at the village entrance, they found it packed with people, so much so that even they couldn't get through.

"What are they doing? Do they think this is a show?" Yun Tao felt a little angry. His group wasn't meant to be amusement for everyone, so why were they so enthusiastic?

"Brother, let's change the time and come over. It doesn't matter which day it is." Yun Xun tugged at Si Cheng's sleeve, disagreeing with going over now.

“Yes, let’s come back another day. I don’t believe that all these people have enough food to stay here every day.” Zhao Dongwei chimed in.

No one else spoke, but they all looked at Si Cheng, waiting for him to make a decision.

"No need to reschedule. Today is fine as it is. It's a good opportunity for our village to show some strength and deter those with ill intentions from causing trouble here."

Although Si Cheng was initially displeased, he thought that revealing some of his strength now would have a deterrent effect, considering the chaos that was about to unfold.

When Hou Yunhai and the others heard this, they realized that it was appropriate to show some strength at this time. Otherwise, relying solely on the few crossbows on the wall might make some people think nothing of them. In the future, they could also let everyone come to the village entrance to practice archery.

"Then let's be a little more high-profile?" Yun Tao was the quickest to react.

"Don't go too far." Hou Yunhai and his ilk don't know their limits; things could get messy later.

"Don't worry, leave the rest to us." Zhao Dongwei and Yun Tao and the other young men lined up in front.

"Make way, what are you doing? Everyone's crowding in here. Do you want to help with something?" Yun Tao, without anyone noticing, picked up a blade of grass from the ground and put it in his mouth. The grass swayed as he spoke.

"Get out of here, everyone. Go do what you're supposed to do. Do you think food will fall from the sky if you walk this far?" Yun Heng chimed in with a sarcastic remark.

The lakeside, which was originally packed with people, unconsciously opened up a passageway because of their arrival.

Old Zhao, who had been waiting by the lake early, and his men rushed over anxiously.

They hadn't expected these people to have so much free time, arriving so early to keep watch. They were genuinely worried that Pinghe Village would be unhappy, and it would be terrible if they didn't help them.

"Everyone, let's all disperse. There's nothing to see here. Instead of wasting time here, we'd be better off going up the mountain to find some food, otherwise things will get harder as we go on."

However, the onlookers did not leave; they simply stood there quietly waiting, their eyes scanning the group from Pinghe Village, trying to discern which one was Village Chief Si.

However, after a long period of hard work and exercise, the villagers of Pinghe Village all have muscle lines like the fitness instructors before the disaster, making it impossible to tell who is different in strength.

It was Old Zhao who finally solved the mystery for them. He walked up to one of the young men and apologized to him first.

"Village Chief Si, I don't know where these people got the news from, but they gathered here so early. If you feel it's inconvenient, we can come back at another time."

This caused a stir among the crowd, and discussions immediately arose.

"This is Village Chief Si. Are the rumors exaggerated? He doesn't look any different."

"Yeah, he looks like a pretty boy, and his muscles are no different from the guys next to him."

"We'll find out soon enough whether the rumors are true or not. Although they may be a bit exaggerated, they should still have some ability."

"Maybe they deliberately leaked the information to keep us from easily approaching their village." Some people started speculating about a conspiracy.

"It's not impossible that you haven't noticed that it's precisely because of these rumors that those people don't dare to come here and cause trouble easily."

“That’s unlikely. If it were as you say, they wouldn’t have agreed to help Old Zhao and his men with the pile driving this time. Wouldn’t that be exposed immediately?” Some people disagreed with this statement, and others immediately refuted it.

"They didn't expect us to have so many people guarding this place. And look at how many young men they've brought out this time, who knows if they're planning to drive that stake into the water together?"

These people seemed to be speaking on purpose; they didn't lower their voices, and Sicheng and the others heard them.

Yun Tao almost impulsively rushed up to find one of them, but Yun Xun next to him held him back.

"Why bother arguing with them? Let's let the facts speak for themselves and prove them wrong with our actions. That's the right way to do it."

"But what they said was infuriating. Even if what they said is true, we didn't steal or rob, so how dare they criticize us?" Yun Tao still felt indignant.

"It's not worth it. They're just envious and jealous. We'll dazzle them in a bit." Although Wu Yong was also a little angry, he thought about their reaction later and felt that he would get his revenge sooner or later.