There was a moment of silence in the room. These men who had come from a long way looked at each other, seemingly unable to believe that such a good thing had happened to them. Could they get this money for free? One person began to make a sound, and then a low voice was heard.

Looking around, there were at least twenty or nearly thirty people here. Cao Xiangnan took out a silver note of one hundred taels from his pocket and said, "Here is one hundred taels, five taels for each person's travel expenses. I will never go back on my word. Those of you who want to leave can take the silver and leave. For those who stay, I will arrange work for each of you according to your situation, and you will also receive monthly wages in the future. The amount of the monthly wages will depend on your ability . The limit is six months. If you don't do well, I will ask you to leave!"

So it doesn't mean that if I keep you here today, you can stay in the future. Instead, whether you can stay depends entirely on your own efforts.

A man with a broken arm stepped out from the crowd. His face was so dark that his original features could not be seen clearly. His forehead was bony and his eyes were filled with determination. He said, "I, I am from Niujia Village, Niu Geng. I have no arms. Can I stay and work? My brother has no legs. Can he stay too?"

"Yes!" Cao Xiangnan said with a smile, "Do what you can within your ability. As long as you are willing to stay, willing to work, and not be lazy, I welcome you to stay."

"Okay, just because of your words, brothers, all stay!" said a big man at the back, and the men following him responded one after another. They said they would stay, and no one suggested going back to their hometown.

Many of them were from poor families with many brothers, and were pushed out to join the army because their parents didn't like them. Now they are injured and have to go back to their hometown. Their parents and brothers may not be happy to see them go back, not to mention whether they can return home alive without anyone to take care of them along the way. It's better for them to stay here with everyone. At least they won't starve to death if they have a meal. If they work hard, maybe they can really save some money and build a house and get married in Caojia Village.

"Okay! All of you brothers, stay here. With me, Wang Dahu, here you will have food to eat." Wang Dahu patted his chest and promised. The next second, his face changed and he warned with his eyes wide open, "But if anyone comes here and doesn't listen to Cao Xiaodong's family, or does things lazily, don't blame me for military punishment of you!"

"Yes!" They all responded in unison, "We will definitely follow Cao Xiaodong's arrangements."

Hearing what everyone said, Cao Xiangnan smiled.

The food in the kitchen was cooked, brown rice, a big pot of white radish and meat, fragrant, and a big plate of hot and sour pickles. The men found a place to sit down and started eating with big bowls, wolfing down the food. I guess they were hungry.

While they were eating, Cao Xiangnan discussed with Cao Gang how to accommodate these people.

It was winter now, and with so many people coming, they naturally had to consider their food, clothing, housing and transportation. Fortunately, they had prepared a lot of food for the winter, so they could share some of it first, and then see if the shops in the town could buy some more. They would spend the winter first, and they would definitely make sure that everyone had enough to eat, so the food problem could be solved.

As for housing, he had built dormitories for the workers in his workshop. Now that the work had stopped, no one lived there, and those who lived far away had gone home, so the empty houses could accommodate these people.

These people were all wearing thin clothes, and the weather was cold now, so they must buy everyone a set of clothes, and winter quilts were also indispensable. All the ready-made clothes and quilts in the garment workshop have been sold. Cao Xiangnan remembered that there were still some unprocessed materials left. After winter, the garment workshops stopped working and closed down.

"I will go to Li Mei and Wu Yueji to discuss it tomorrow morning. I think there will be some wool materials left when I see the garment workshop start to make a batch of clothes and quilts." As long as the garment workshop starts to work, clothes and quilts will be available soon, Cao Xiangnan said.

Originally, the brothers in the garment workshop said that they would start working in winter, but after repeated consideration, he rejected this idea. Now is not the right time. The goods cannot be transported to Nanyang City. Cao Xiangnan is worried that if there are too many places for the production of goods, the goods will be unsalable and will cause him to have difficulty in cash flow, which will be troublesome.

However, if it is needed now, Li Mei can first ask a few of the conveners to come back and start making a batch of clothes. If there are more by then, they can be transported to the town to sell before the snow stops before the New Year. There should

be no worries about not being able to sell them. His workshops are definitely short of people. In addition to Caojia Village, he also recruited some people from nearby villages. But if you have a group of your own people, some things will always be much more convenient, and you don't have to worry about the secrets leaking out. But now that several workshops have stopped working and there is no work to do, these people will be settled first, and the later work will be arranged separately.

"Well, okay." Cao Gang felt a sense of indebtedness to these wounded soldiers. As a general, he always had his helplessness in doing things. He never thought that he would have a chance to help these warriors today, and all this was thanks to Cao Xiangnan. He said sincerely in his heart, "Xiangnan, I have to thank you for today's matter."

"Why do brothers say these polite words?" Cao Xiangnan glanced at Cao Gang, then looked at Liu Baishu, and smiled, "I also want to thank you for finding so many good workers to come here. Don't say thank you or not. Brothers should work together and make money together."

If there are few people, you can make a little money, and if there are many people, you can make a lot of money.

The arrival of this group of people is not a bad thing. A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Even if these people are missing a hand or a broken hand, those who can survive to this day are definitely not inferior to ordinary people. What he lacks most now is people. Having people means having people to help him make money.

Behind every successful boss there must be tens of thousands of employees who have fought for him. It is impossible to make hundreds of millions of dollars with the power of one person. Cao Xiangnan never asks for a lot of money. All he wants is to live a good life.

Liu Baishu smiled. It is okay for them to fight, but few people can live a good life. Cao Xiangnan is the opposite of them. This person can start from nothing and make his life better and better step by step.

This Caojia Village may be their hope.

"Brother Cao Gang, let's talk about the rest tomorrow." Seeing that it was getting late, the group of people finished two large pots of food in the blink of an eye. Cao Xiangnan stretched out his hand and rubbed his eyebrows. He did not forget how much Wang Dahu and his friends could eat, not to mention that there was another group coming now. He still had to go back and think carefully about how to accommodate these people and spend this winter.

"Let's take everyone to live there first." So many people can't live in such a house, not to mention that Sun Bailian is still pregnant and has children at home, so there are still some inconveniences. Since there is a place to live, take them there to live.

"Okay." Cao Gang nodded and responded.

Fortunately, the houses built later took the winter cold into consideration and were equipped with fireplaces. Once the fireplace was heated, the house would be warm. In winter, if the doors and windows were closed, it would not be too cold inside. It

was snowing outside at night, but fortunately it was not heavy. After walking in the snow, I was frozen stiff when I got home.

"Husband, where have you been? How come you are so frozen?" Qi Wanfeng had been waiting for his husband at home and had not fallen asleep. When he heard the door open, he walked out. Seeing that his husband's lips were purple from the cold, he quickly pulled his husband to sit in front of the fireplace, poured hot water into the bowl, put it in his husband's hand, and urged, "Drink it quickly."

His teeth were trembling, Cao Xiangnan took the bowl, blew on it twice, and poured the scalding water into his mouth. Seeing Wanfeng covering his hand with her hand, he quickly said, "Don't, my hand is cold."

"My hands are warm, I'll warm you up." Holding his husband's hand, Qi Wanfeng felt so distressed, "Aren't you going to see Bai Shu and Da Hu? Are you going outside to blow the cold wind?" He asked, looking at his husband with anger.

"Yes, I went to see Bai Shu and Da Hu." Seeing Wan Feng glaring at him, Cao Xiangnan couldn't help but smile bitterly and explained, "They also brought a few brothers with them and took them to live in the house over there in the workshop."

So this wasn't just a walk back and forth in the cold wind, it was just too cold that day.

Afraid that Wan Feng would worry, Cao Xiangnan didn't say anything specific about the people he brought, only saying that they were a few brothers. But Wan Feng would definitely know when he met them later, so he'd talk about it then.

After sitting in front of the fire for a while, he warmed up all over.

The two held hands together, but his hands were so cold that Wan Feng refused to let go even when he was told to. Cao Xiangnan lowered his head and kissed the hand he was holding. After her husband kissed her hand, Qi Wanfeng's eyes widened and her face turned red. She wanted to take back her book, but her husband held her hand and she couldn't pull it out. "Okay, okay, your hands are warm now, you can let go." He said.

"Well, I still want to hold it, I don't want to let go." Just now I told you not to hold it, but you insisted on holding it. Now you want to let go, but I don't want to let go. Cao Xiangnan had a wicked smile on his face. Seeing the person in front of him staring at him, he exerted force on his hands, pulled the person into his arms, and hugged the person into his arms.

Qi Wanfeng didn't struggle to break away, and nestled in her husband's arms honestly.

The whistling sound of the wind outside could not blow into the room. The two people were huddled together under the firelight, their shadows intertwined, indistinguishable from each other.

That night, a group of men who had a place to stay were curiously studying the burning stove. Once the stove was lit, the whole house was warm, which was much better than when they were in the army.

They were not worried that they would be frozen into a corpse after dawn and never wake up again.

The voices in the night, they were talking about this new place, and they were looking forward to it in their hearts. As the night deepened, the voices in the house stopped.