Everyone was startled by the sound, and their hearts, which had finally calmed down, jumped into their throats again.
Liu Xiaoyun quickly looked at Chen Tiezhu beside her and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was sitting in the chair unharmed.
It was Gou Sheng who reacted first, and hesitantly said, "It seems to be the sound coming from Brother Da Shu's house."
Jiang Yimian rushed over and saw that the person who should have been lying on the bed had fallen to the ground.
She frowned, and as soon as she walked over, she met the man's gaze. The man opened his lips as if to say something, but then closed his eyes again and fainted.
Jiang Yimian was speechless. Looking at the person on the ground, only one sentence came to her mind: I'm awake. I was faking it.
Zhao Dashu and the others also came in. Seeing that the man was still unconscious, they had no choice but to put him back on the bed. They asked in surprise, "Why did he fall down like that?"
Jiang Yimian examined the small, open wounds on the man's body and casually said, "He just woke up, then passed out again."
I thought it would be a long time before he woke up, but he woke up today and even reopened the wound that had finally healed.
Fortunately, she stitched up the large wound; otherwise, given the man's brute force today, it would probably have burst open.
Zhao Dashu was somewhat surprised and exclaimed in astonishment, "He's already awake after only a few days!"
He thought that with such severe injuries, a person wouldn't survive!
Gou Sheng was also full of surprise. Looking at the wound that was bleeding again, he gasped and silently walked out.
Jiang Yimian finished treating the man's wounds again and handed some wound medicine to Zhao Dashu, saying, "Remember to change this medicine for him every day."
Zhao Dashu quickly agreed, put away the medicine, and then followed Jiang Yimian out of the house.
The crowd was no longer as panicked as before. They were relieved to know that the injured person had fallen off the bed, and the tense atmosphere dissipated considerably.
Jiang Yimian then continued, "Uncle Dayong, you should continue to patrol the area around the small depression for the next few days. If you hear any news, come back and let me know. If you happen to encounter bandits, run away immediately and never confront them head-on."
Although she guessed the bandits wouldn't come up the mountain again, she still wanted to tell them this in advance, in case they fought back and lost their lives.
Liu Dayong simply responded.
Jiang Yimian then recounted the situation of the refugees coming down the mountain and the town before falling silent, only reaching out to gently rub the breasts that were nestled at her feet, acting coquettishly.
Her big, fluffy forehead felt wonderful to the touch. She simply praised her, saying, "Mimi was amazing today."
If it weren't for Mimi, Old Man Liu and his companions would have been injured.
Mimi just happily shook her head, snuggled up to Jiang Yimian for a while, and then darted into the woods to hunt for food.
Now that Mimi is older, she can hunt for food on her own and doesn't need to be fed. She spends almost all day running around outside and only goes back to her little nest to sleep at night.
Jiang Yimian glanced at Mimi a few times before looking away. Seeing the mix of happiness and nervousness on everyone's faces, she said, "Don't worry, those people from the village probably won't be coming back."
Even if they come back, they won't easily run into each other.
Although the fact that Xinghua Village had become a mountain stronghold wasn't exactly common knowledge, it's estimated that quite a few people in Qingshui County still knew about it.
Once the villagers arrive in Qingshui County, they will hear the news and will certainly not risk returning. They will likely follow the government's arrangements, either going to reclaim wasteland or settling in other villages.
The others breathed a sigh of relief.
They weren't afraid of the villagers, but after what happened with the Liu brothers, they were afraid that those people would come and disturb their peace again.
Thinking about it more carefully now, I realize that's unlikely.
Liu Dafei and his group returned early and were unaware of the situation in the village, but the others must already know about Xinghua Village and would certainly not risk returning unless they wanted to die.
Once everyone understood these things, they relaxed again.
Jiang Yimian then laid the maple leaves from her basket out to dry in a winnowing basket before distributing the bamboo tube full of walnut kernels to everyone.
Looking at the perfectly peeled walnuts, Zhao Xing'er exclaimed in surprise, "Yi Mian, did you peel these? There are so many, how long did it take you to peel them all!"
They had collected quite a few walnuts a few days ago, but they only cracked some for the children to eat each day. Their hands ached from cracking them for so long, let alone a whole bamboo tube of them.
It's not only time-consuming and laborious, but also hard on your hands.
Pecans have hard shells and are not easy to peel.
Wang Fengqin also looked at her with concern.
Jiang Yimian just smiled and said, "It was given to me by Daqiang. I heard that the children on the mountain specially peeled it to thank us."
Everyone was taken aback, feeling a mix of emotions, but mostly moved.
Although Wang Zhuzi and his group initially entered the deep mountains with the intention of robbing their food, this was due to their fleeing from war and famine, and not their true intention.
If they were also fleeing famine, they would either die or, like the other refugees, fight each other for the meager amount of food.
If you act too weakly, you'll only lose your life; it's all just about surviving.
Liu Xiaoyun's eyes reddened as she read this, and she felt incredibly fortunate to have met the Jiang family.
Seeing that everyone was somewhat silent, Jiang Yimian looked at the baskets that Old Liu and the others were carrying and said with a smile, "Grandpa, we're all home now, why don't you put down your baskets? Aren't they heavy?"
Only then did the group realize what was happening, and they hurriedly and awkwardly put down their baskets.
In my haste just now, I completely forgot that I was carrying a basket on my back.
Now that he's relaxed, Old Liu feels a pain in his back. He asks Liu Dayong to take the mushrooms and taro from his basket, and then sits on a stool to the side, massaging his back.
When Daya saw that her grandfather was in pain, she quickly ran over and started patting his lower back with her little fists.
Old Liu felt much better in his aching lower back, and immediately patted Daya's head with a smile, "Daya has grown up and knows how to care for her grandpa. That's amazing."
Daya was pleased with the praise, her face beaming with smiles, and she didn't stop applying pressure to her hands.
Zhao Xing'er was filled with joy. Since her daughter, Daya, started playing with Xiao Ye and the others, she seemed much more cheerful and energetic, unlike before when she would sit alone in a daze.
That evening, because Jiang Yimian had hunted a wolf, everyone stayed at the Jiang family's house for dinner.
Wang Fengqin prepared a large table of dishes, almost turning wolf meat into a variety of dishes, such as wolf meat and lotus root soup and stir-fried wolf leg, which satisfied everyone.
*
The next day, Zhao Dashu and his two companions went out early in the morning with baskets on their backs, planning to patrol the area near the cave while looking for something to eat.
Many wild vegetables have disappeared nowadays. If it weren't for the large amount of dried vegetables that several families used to dry, there would be far fewer vegetables on the table.
Liu Dayong and Gousheng went to patrol another hilltop.
Jiang Yimian and the children fed the chickens and rabbits before going to see the injured person.
The other person's small wound had already been dressed once, and if it hadn't been reopened yesterday, it should have scabbed over by now.
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