Migrants, migrants, people who have been displaced.

They were all refugees, mostly because of the rain that had lasted for more than two months.

Fields were flooded and houses were destroyed.

Having nothing, they were forced to flee to the deep mountains to become refugees in order to avoid paying taxes in the autumn.

We've only been together for two months, and we don't know each other very well; we're just a bunch of rabble.

Without fields or the means to cultivate them, they could only rely on cutting firewood in the mountains to exchange for food, and occasionally they could dig up some wild vegetables and pick some wild fruits to fill their stomachs.

I just drifted along like this, sometimes eating a meal and sometimes not, and I always felt insecure.

They were afraid that the soldiers would discover them and arrest them for forced labor.

They were also afraid of encountering bandits and being captured as food.

Everyone lives numbly, filled with constant anxiety.

At that moment, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, they would risk their lives.

For example, two kilograms of rice.

Everyone rushed to drag the four big trees, afraid that if they were too slow, they wouldn't be able to exchange firewood for rice.

Li Chang'an weighed the basket of rice on the ground; it was a bit heavy. There were more than fifty portions, each weighing one jin (500 grams), which was fifty jin in total. He still had to carry it home.

He thought for a moment, then spoke to Xiong Er.

"Um, that guy."

When Xiong Er saw him waving, he quickly spoke up.

"Grandpa, just call me Xiong Er."

Upon hearing the name, Li Chang'an paused for a moment, looking at the thin Xiong Er, who seemed completely out of place with the bear from Bear Ridge.

They're so strong.

"Xiong Er, come and help me carry this basket of rice."

"Hey, I'm here."

Xiong Er dropped the big tree, and someone immediately caught it. He looked smugly at the villagers who hadn't managed to grab it, his expression full of pride.

Li Chang'an carried Er Ya on his back and led the way, with Xiong Er carrying rice beside him, and a large group of villagers following behind.

Er Ya, perched on her brother-in-law's back with her arms wrapped around Li Chang'an's neck, looked particularly proud as the other children looked at her with envy.

Hmph, this amazing person is my brother-in-law!

Her family used to be poor, and she was often bullied by the villagers. They said that her father had died, her mother had run away, and there were only three sisters in her family, not a single man. They said that her family line would end.

He never took her with him to gather firewood, and he would bully her, beat her, and steal her things.

Now she has a brother-in-law, there's a man in her house, and her brother-in-law is more capable than all the men in your family.

No, it's all the men in the village combined. They're not as powerful as my brother-in-law. Let's see who dares to bully her or steal her things from now on.

Hmph, you're bullying me? I'll tell my brother-in-law not to give your family any more rice.

Xiong Er followed behind Li Chang'an, carrying a bag of rice, feeling that his status was different.

Hmph, while you guys are dragging big trees, I'm carrying loads of rice.

I got to speak to the son-in-law before you guys did.

Li Chang'an had no idea that Er Ya and Xiong Er were having so much on their minds, and led them all the way back to the thatched hut.

When Er Ya saw the house, she jumped off his back and called out, "Sister, sister, I brought my brother-in-law back!"

As Li Chang'an entered the room, he saw her holding Daya's hand, vividly describing to her what had happened that day.

He was gesturing and dancing with great excitement.

Daya is a person who can't sit still. While taking care of the little one at home, she tidied up the house.

A large bed was made of dry grass on the ground for Li Chang'an to stay in.

My husband is tall and big, so naturally I need to make the spread out bigger so that he can stretch out comfortably.

When she saw Li Chang'an come in, she lowered her head and didn't dare to look at him. Her face immediately turned red, and the blush extended all the way to her neck.

Li Chang'an smiled, took a wooden bowl, and went outside. This was for dividing the rice.

The villagers placed firewood in front of them, craned their necks, and looked at Li Chang'an.

"Come on, everyone, let's exchange some rice first, then go home and get firewood to exchange more. Remember to bring jars to store the rice."

The first one to come up was Third Sister. She had only collected about half a load of tree branches all morning and placed them in front of Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an pretended to weigh it, but he didn't know how many kilograms it was.

One load is 100 jin, and he estimated that it should be 50 or 60 jin.

Let's round it up and call it a load.

“I don’t have a scale here, but this bowl of rice is considered a pound, and your firewood is considered a load.”

"Here, have two bowls of rice."

It's rare to be carefree in life.

He accepted it without really understanding what was going on, and gave it away without really understanding what was going on; he couldn't be bothered to care about a pound or two of rice.

He had more food in his backpack than he could eat, and he wouldn't feel like he was losing out even if he had to exchange a load of firewood for a load of rice.

Not to mention the ratio of 100 jin of firewood to only 2 jin of rice, Li Chang'an didn't care and even felt he had made a profit.

He didn't care, but the villagers did.

They could see the bowl of rice clearly and estimated that it weighed at least one and a half pounds.

There was only about half a load of firewood.

Wow, this is a huge profit!

It's more than double what I mentioned before.

Both sides felt they had come out on top.

The transaction proceeded smoothly.

The twenty people finished exchanging firewood in no time, and then scattered in a rush to go home and get the rest of their firewood to exchange for more, afraid that such a good opportunity would be gone soon.

Xiong Er stayed behind last, intending to cut down those trees as well.

Li Chang'an stopped him, took out a jar from his home, and filled it with rice.

"There's no rush to cut down the trees, and no need to go home to get firewood to exchange for them; I have enough here."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Er was somewhat at a loss, standing there in a daze, looking a little aggrieved.

"No, I didn't do anything, sir. What did I do wrong? Tell me, you can't lie to me. You switched with all of them, why didn't you switch with me?"

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