Zhao Xing'er was washing clothes with the soap Jiang Yimian had given her. She watched as a lot of foam appeared on the clothes with just a gentle rub, and the dirty spots disappeared quickly with the foam after a few rubs. She was so surprised that her eyes widened, and she praised repeatedly, "Hey, Yimian, this soap is great! It lathers up much better than soap pods and it cleans much better."
To use soap pods for washing clothes, they must not only be broken into small pieces, but also scrubbed to produce lather.
Moreover, its stain removal ability is not very strong, and it cannot clean many dirty spots on clothes.
The others watched from the sidelines, their eyes filled with surprise.
So much so that none of them noticed Zhao Da walking over until Jiang Yimian greeted him, at which point they realized the person who had been standing to the side for so long.
Zhao Da wasn't wearing his usual clothes today, but rather a dark blue constable's uniform issued by the yamen, which startled everyone at first glance.
Liu Dayong simply praised, "Brother Zhao looks really smart in that outfit."
Just looking at his clothes exudes a powerful aura, not to mention the sword at his waist.
Gou Sheng and Wang Xiaohei were also attracted by the police officers' smart uniforms, and quickly went over to look them up and down, their eyes full of envy.
"Brother Zhao's clothes are really nice. Bad guys would probably be scared away as soon as they see them."
As Gou Sheng spoke, he gestured to Wang Xiao Hei.
The two men, one playing a constable and the other a person being arrested, simply made everyone laugh.
Zhao Da scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, glanced at Gou Sheng and Wang Xiaohei, and then joked, "If you want to become constables in the yamen, you'd better train your bodies and eat more. With your small frame, you'll probably collapse from exhaustion before you even catch the criminals."
Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.
Gou Sheng and Wang Xiaohei were immediately dissatisfied. They puffed out their chests, raised their heads, and bent their arms, ready to show off their muscles.
Before he could finish his boastful remarks, he caught sight of Zhao Da's large frame, glanced at him enviously, and quickly put his hand down.
Life in Xiaowadi was pretty good. The two of them had grown quite a bit taller and stronger recently, but when they stood next to Zhao Da, the contrast was quite stark; they looked rather thin.
Seeing the man who had been so proud and arrogant just moments before suddenly become dejected, Old Liu quickly smiled and changed the subject, "Brother Zhao, please sit down. What brings you here today? Where's Zhang Li? That kid hasn't sent back a single word since he left on the second day of the Lunar New Year."
Zhao Da quickly explained, "Grandpa, don't be angry. There's been a lot of work at the yamen lately, and everyone's been incredibly busy. Zhang Li has been patrolling other towns for the past few days, and I reckon it'll be quite a while before he comes back."
He only has free time today, and he probably has other things to do tomorrow.
Old Liu finally responded. He wasn't angry, but Zhang Li had lived in this small depression for several months, and everyone had developed feelings for each other. Gou Sheng and the other kids talked about him every day, which made him miss the young man quite a bit.
Seeing that the other party wasn't really angry, Zhao Da quickly explained the purpose of his visit: "Last time I told you, sir, that you didn't want to settle in other villages, you only wanted to register your household registration."
Upon hearing that it was about household registration, everyone immediately put down what they were doing and looked at Zhao Da.
Old Liu hurriedly asked, "Well, did the adults agree? Or do we have to go to another village?"
Having lived in the small depression for almost a year, they had long since grown accustomed to its tranquility and really didn't want to go to other villages to live under someone else's roof.
They had also visited Xinghua Village. Most of the houses had been burned down, and because of the bandits, it was impossible for anyone to live there.
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhao Da stopped being mysterious and said with a smile, "The magistrate has agreed and allows you to live on the mountain indefinitely, only registering your household in the village. I'm here today to take you to register."
When the adults heard that the families didn't want to stay in other villages, they immediately agreed, since it wasn't a big deal.
Everyone else would love to live in other villages, but only these few households in the small depression insist on living on the mountain, disregarding the dangers of the forest.
Upon hearing the adults' agreement, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the worry in their eyes gradually faded, replaced by irrepressible joy.
Jiang Yimian quickly asked, "Which village are we registered in?"
Since the county magistrate has allowed them to live on the mountain and only register their household in the village, the village should not be too far from this mountain. I wonder which village it is.
Several nearby villages were robbed by bandits, and they are probably not doing well now.
Zhao Da just smiled and said, "That village is very close to here, just down the mountain. It's called Qingshi Village. Moreover, this village wasn't robbed by bandits. The houses in the village are all intact, and the crops in the fields haven't been ruined. They're doing quite well, much better than the other villages."
If they hadn't registered the people in each village in the town, they wouldn't have discovered that there was such a village that hadn't been ravaged by bandits.
I heard that this village is surrounded by mountains, and the only road in and out of the village was blocked by the villagers long ago. To find this village, you have to go deep into the mountains and take a detour, which is how I escaped this disaster.
Jiang Yimian was taken aback. She was unfamiliar with this village and had no related memories.
The others were similar; they seemed to have never heard of this village.
Old Liu slapped his forehead and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, there's a village in that mountain valley over there. I've heard people mention it before, but I haven't heard of it for many years. I had almost forgotten about it."
Many years ago, a young man from the village married a girl from Qingshi Village. Because that village was quite far from Xinghua Village, even though it was only separated by a mountain, going to the other village required taking a detour if you didn't go deep into the mountains and instead took a mountain road. As a result, they didn't have much contact afterward.
Zhao Da nodded quickly, "That's the village."
He was surprised when he heard about it. There were many villages on the other side of the mountain, but this village was spared because there was no other way to get in.
Jiang Yimian experienced for the first time the benefits of underdeveloped transportation. For example, Xinghua Village was right by the roadside, with several roads nearby. Because caravans frequently passed through, it was easily accessible in all directions, which led to it being occupied by bandits from the very beginning.
After figuring out the situation in Qingshi Village, Zhao Da led a few people to the village to register their household registration.
Because the mountain path was difficult to traverse, only Jiang Yimian, Gou Sheng, Liu Dayong, and Zhao Dashu followed Zhao Da down the mountain.
The group walked along the forest path, and because they were unfamiliar with the route, they had to look around for a way, and it took them almost an hour to get down the mountain.
Jiang Yimian was visiting for the first time, and she could see the neat rows of houses at the foot of the mountain from afar.
The continuous mountain range was so vast that Jiang Yimian often went to places near caves and lotus ponds, so much so that she was unaware that there was a village in this mountain valley.
Although most of them are thatched huts, they have a lively, homey atmosphere that makes people feel comfortable just by looking at them from afar.
At the foot of the mountain, there were several houses lined up neatly, but they were all dilapidated, with several large holes in the roofs, indicating that they had been abandoned for a long time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
