Although Wen Songtao didn't say it, he was amazed by his granddaughter's abilities. Who would have thought that a child raised outside would be so smart and learn it after only a few visits?

The old man secretly admired his granddaughter, thinking she was a real talent. He also felt that she inherited her intelligence from their family, and the more he thought about it, the more pleased he became.

This old man doesn't even consider that the Gu family isn't bad either. Their son studied abroad, Gu Zhengkai also studied abroad, their youngest son went to university, and Gu Zhengfeng graduated from a proper military academy.

If Jiang Qiao knew that the old man still had this idea, she would definitely think that the old man was too big-minded. How could he think that the Wen family was good in everything? The Gu family is not bad either, okay?

Presumably after seeing the scenery outside, the old lady felt much more relaxed and stopped sighing.

"Why do I feel like people here have it a little easier?"

Wen Songtao smiled and said, "That's right. Don't you think about why people who ventured to the Northeast were willing to come here? It's because this place has vast land and sparse population. With more land, there's enough food to eat. Unlike our place, where there are too many people and too little land—"

The old man didn't say anything more. If it weren't for the cold weather, he would have thought this was a good place to retire.

Ignoring the old lady's many sentiments, Jiang Qiao took the two elderly people to the village to inquire if anyone was selling old hens, as someone in her family was in postpartum confinement.

The woman from the countryside was a very honest person. "Oh my, I can tell you're from the city. Well, you can't buy old hens in the city, can you? Luckily you've come to our countryside. Come in and sit down. We're not in a hurry. Speaking of old hens, we have some too. I just don't know how many you want. If you want a lot, I'll have to look around."

As Jiang Qiao walked, she looked around at the family. To be honest, the yard was quite tidy, and you could tell at a glance that the family members were hardworking.

The house was sparsely furnished, but it was quite clean. Compared to the other houses she had visited before, this one was much better, mainly because it was clean and tidy.

However, upon seeing the items on the kang (a heated brick bed), Jiang Qiao's heart stirred. The mattress was made of animal hide, indicating that this family was most likely hunters; otherwise, such items on the kang would be quite rare.

Jiang Qiao saw it, and Wen Songtao saw it too. Seeing his granddaughter smiling, the old man shook his head with a smile. This girl's little thoughts are running wild again.

"Auntie, don't bother, how many do you have at home?"

"We only have one at home, it doesn't look like that's enough, does it?"

Zhou Yaru nodded. "Comrade, we'd like to buy three to five. We need to make sure the baby finishes postpartum confinement so we have enough milk and the baby won't suffer. Are there any nursing homes around here?"

The woman nodded. "Old comrade, may I ask if you are military family members? I see you are driving military vehicles."

Zhou Yaru nodded with a smile, "That's right. My daughter and son-in-law are both in the military. They had no one to take care of them when they had children. My mother-in-law passed away early, so my husband and I had no choice. We came from the south, so even if we wanted to bring chickens over, they would probably be rotten by now."

Upon hearing that they were family members of military personnel, the woman became even more enthusiastic than before. She quickly got water for Jiang Qiao and the others and even washed and brought in the melons she had grown at home.

They probably knew Jiang Qiao and the others' identities, and their initial wariness had subsided.

"Let me tell you, the people in the army are really good to us. When we were short of food in the spring, they gave us their own rations to help us. Even my second son's illness was cured by Dr. Wen. If you need anything else, I will definitely help you if I can."

Wen Songtao and the others exchanged a smile. They hadn't expected to run into the family members of the patients their daughter had treated, but none of the three mentioned it.

Wen Songtao deliberately brought up the situation of this year's crops, saying, "It's a little better than last year. It's alright here, but I heard that it's not good in other places. Some places are plagued by insects, and some are suffering from drought. We farmers are afraid of encountering such situations. If God doesn't give us food, there's really nothing we can do."

The woman went out to prepare things, and Jiang Qiao and the others felt it inappropriate to stay in her house any longer, so they followed her out.

Jiang Qiao whispered a few words in the woman's ear, and Wen Songtao saw the woman happily run out to make arrangements.

The old man was puzzled. "Girl, what did you just say? Why is that woman so happy?"

There were quite a few children wandering around the car, since you don't often see cars like this in the village.

Jiang Qiao naturally paid attention to her words. She whispered something to the old man, and the old man smiled broadly upon hearing it. He hadn't expected this little girl to be so clever.

He tapped his granddaughter's forehead and said, "You silly girl, you can even fool people about this."

The couple were not short of money, and Jiang Qiao was even less short of money. Come here, why not take this cheap and good stuff?

Jiang Qiao brought two stools for the elderly couple to sit on at the door to cool off, while she strolled around the neighborhood.

They hadn't even been wandering around for a few minutes when the middle-aged woman who had run out rushed back and whispered something to Jiang Qiao.

Seeing his granddaughter nodding repeatedly, Wen Songtao had a pretty good idea of ​​what they wanted; the villagers probably had what they needed.

Zhou Yaru was a little confused. "Why do I feel like you guys are underground workers?"

The old man gave a wry smile, then sighed. His wife's thinking was a bit out of touch with the outside world. Well, he had probably worried too much and taken too good care of her. She simply didn't understand the ways of the world.

"What do you think? If we came so openly and blatantly, wouldn't we get reported? To put it nicely, we're just trying to make sure the baby has some soup to drink so that the milk can come in."

If we take this to a less literal level, putting aside everything else, given our status, it would be tantamount to speculation and profiteering.

The old lady had never done anything like this before, and when she heard what the old man said, she was really startled. "Is it that serious?"

Wen Songtao sighed, "I told you to go out and chat with those old men and women, but you wouldn't listen. You don't know anything about what's going on outside."

Zhou Yaru also felt wronged. "What am I supposed to talk to them about? All they think about all day is how to cook cornmeal into fancy dishes? I don't know how to do that, how can I talk to them about it? Even if I did, I couldn't have a proper conversation with them. If I actually talked to them about it, wouldn't that just make them hate me even more?"

Wen Songtao sighed again, "It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. You can listen from the side. Remember, you can't tell anyone about anything at home from now on, except for me, Jiang Qiao, and my son-in-law."

"You can't even tell your son?"

Wen Songtao was at his wits' end with this old woman. He hadn't seen her being so dim-witted when she was young, but now that she was old, she seemed to have no energy left.

“Tell your sons, ‘You still have a wife, right? Do you think your two sons are the kind of people who can keep a secret? If you’re not afraid, then tell them. Don’t say I didn’t warn you later.”

"Son-in-laws and grandsons are different; you can't go wrong by listening to me."