Chapter 58
The military medical department was overcrowded, and the Qi family discovered that all the people placed there were refugees.
The old military doctor Yao looked at the condition of Qi Yingshan's left leg and said with regret, "You came too late. If you had come when your leg was just broken, I would be 80% to 90% sure that I could cure your leg and not leave you with any disability. But I can see that your family took good care of you after your leg was broken." Compared to the various shapes of many people's legs after breaking, his leg was really well-rounded.
In the past, he would have been helpless in dealing with accidents like broken arms and legs. He could only clean the wounds, sprinkle some medicine powder on them, and wrap them up. As for whether the broken limbs would heal well, he could only leave it to fate.
But last time, Chief Secretary Yao accidentally passed by the military camp and happened to see him treating a soldier who had broken his arm. He casually gave him some advice, asking him to clean the wound, apply medicine, and then put a splint on the injured person.
He thought about it and it made sense, so he tried it. When he removed the splint, the soldier's hand grew back neatly.
"Yes," Qi Yingshan said calmly. He lowered his eyes, hiding the sadness within. He feared his leg would remain like this for the rest of his life.
On the contrary, the other members of the Qi family were extremely upset because they had too high hopes and were also too disappointed.
"Old doctor, is there really no way? He's still so young. If you can't cure him, how will he live if he becomes lame?"
"Yes, old doctor, think of a way. He hasn't married yet."
The old doctor was so frustrated by their pestering that he could only ponder, "Actually, there's another way. That's to break the leg again, then re-set and re-bandage it, but the results aren't guaranteed." Thanks to Chief Yao's unintentional advice, he had come up with this method by analogy. He'd even experimented with two or three sheep himself. He'd actually figured out something, like how to break a bone and where to hit it. There was a method to it, requiring skill and determination, not blind slapping.
Hearing this, the Qi family was speechless for a moment.
Instead, Qi Yingshan showed unprecedented resolve. "I'll treat it!" He thought, "I'll treat it!" He wasn't afraid of suffering just to be able to walk normally again. The worst-case scenario was that things would remain the same.
"Don't be anxious. Even if you have made up your mind to have the broken bones treated, I still have to make some preparations here." After saying this, the old doctor asked them to go back first, and he would notify them to come over when he was ready.
********
When it was confirmed that the first and second branches of the Yao family would move to Yichun together, Kang Xiaodong and his men began to prepare for departure.
The Yao family had money from selling land and property, so the two hundred taels Yao Chunnuan gave them were useless. Kang Xiaodong simply used the money to buy a twelve-seater carriage, eliminating the need for horses.
Horses were a crucial strategic resource, and a regular horse cost tens or even hundreds of taels. The two hundred taels she gave could only buy four or five horses at best, which was not nearly enough. But each member of their team could ride one, buy a carriage, and put it on and they could use it.
The Yao family totaled twenty-three people, with fourteen on Uncle Yao's side and nine on Father Yao's side. This necessitated a significant number of carriages. Furthermore, these twelve carriages also had to carry some luggage. Given the carriages' limited capacity, the two families also sold some of their food, leaving them with only six hundred kilograms of the finest grain.
With these twelve carriages, even if they missed their place to stay and had to sleep in the wilderness, they could sleep in the carriages, with two or three people sleeping in each carriage, which was completely possible.
Before leaving, Uncle Yao, as the current village chief of Jinniu Village, recommended a cousin from the same room as the next village chief and gave him some advice. Now their family is working hard to win the position of village chief.
When the Yao family relocated, the ones who were most reluctant to leave were the married girls. Before leaving, they all returned to their parents' homes to say goodbye, and then privately received a sum of money from their parents' homes to protect themselves.
The Yao family's wives all knew about this and didn't object. The two branches of the Yao family sold land, property, and grain, bringing in a total of around 1,000 taels. After all, they were their own flesh and blood, so the parents-in-law only took a little over 100 taels and distributed them to the sisters-in-law, which was quite reasonable.
On the morning of their departure, twelve brand-new carriages lined up in a row, a truly impressive sight, at least to the villagers of Jinniu Village. Knowing they were leaving that day, the villagers came early to see if they could be of any help, or at least to see them off.
The Yao family and the soldiers were busy loading the luggage onto the carriages. In reality, the Yao family didn't have to do much; Kang Xiaodong and his men did all the heavy lifting. The neat, efficient work of these handsome young men made the village women envious. They thought, "What a wonderful young man! If he weren't so far away, they would definitely take one for their daughters or nieces."
"Old Village Chief, are you really leaving?"
The Yao family members remained silent. His nephew next to him retorted, "You're asking nonsense, aren't you? You've already packed your bags, how could it be fake?"
"Don't make any noise. The old village chief and his men are going to enjoy themselves. Don't offend them so early in the morning."
Everyone nodded in agreement when they heard this. Isn't that just a way to enjoy life? It seemed Yao Annuan had truly become wealthy, otherwise why would he be willing to send twelve carriages and a team of soldiers to pick someone up? And those standing nearby saw that each carriage was covered in thick mattresses, which provided warmth and a comfortable ride. It was truly thoughtful.
As they spoke, the luggage had been loaded onto the car. The women and children boarded the car one after another. Grandfather Yao, along with several male members of the family, clasped their fists and said their final goodbyes to the villagers.
"I really miss you guys. Please come back often to visit our old neighbors when you have time."
"Yes, yes."
After all the Yao family members got on the carriage, Kang Xiaodong and his entire team turned into coachmen and drove the carriage in front.
Twelve carriages drove out of Jinniu Village in the morning mist, leaving the remaining people sighing in melancholy.
"This kind of trouble is what you call enjoyment?" Old Mrs. Wei said sourly.
Old Lady Wei smelled of pickled fish early in the morning, but others wouldn't indulge her habit. "If this isn't happiness, but suffering, then I'm willing to endure this kind of suffering for the rest of my life."
"Me too."
"Me too."
Old Mrs. Wei's face suddenly turned dark, and she turned around and walked back, cursing in her heart that the people of the Yao family would encounter bandits and horse thieves on the road, and then be burned, killed, raped and looted, and die.
Kang Xiaodong: You thought we were dead.
Yichun Military Recruiting Office
Meng Yi was humming a tune as he counted the fish he had caught today—no, the soldiers he had recruited. After finishing his count, he realized he was still a little way off his daily goal. He glanced at the deserted Yichun Camp Recruitment Office not far away and chuckled inwardly.
At this moment, one of his soldiers ran towards him and said, "General Meng, come quickly. I need your advice on something."
"What's the matter?" he said as he walked towards the soldier.
Soon, the soldier led him to the front and pointed at the pile of food on the stone bench and said, "General Meng, look, this female warrior wants to join our military settlement. She doesn't have any other requests. Her only request is that she be well fed."
The lump slowly turned around when it heard the sound, and then looked at him pitifully.
Meng Yi was delighted when he saw her. Wow, this girl is really worthy of being called a female warrior. "What's your name?"
"My name is Axia."
"Do you want to join our military settlement?"
A-Xia nodded obediently, "Yes. General, please accept me. I'm very capable. My only shortcoming is that I eat a little too much."
Hearing this, the soldiers beside the two men burst into laughter.
Meng Yi's face darkened, "Don't say such ambiguous words."
"Oh." A-Xia said, scratching her head. Did she say anything ambiguous? Okay, if she said yes, then yes. I don't understand.
The soldier leaned over to Meng Yi's ear and whispered something. Meng Yi looked at A-Xia in surprise, "Have you been to the recruiting office at the Yichun camp? They didn't accept you?"
"I've been there, but they confiscated my possessions." Axia looked disappointed.
"It's okay. If they won't take you in, we at the Yichun Military Colony will. Ali, take her back to the colony. First, go see Chief Steward Wu, and then ask Chief Secretary Yao if they want to take her in." Meng Yi remembered Chief Steward Wu mentioning that he wanted to find a suitable female bodyguard for Chief Secretary Yao. Chief Secretary Yao was a woman, after all, and as her belly grew, a male bodyguard wouldn't be as convenient as a female one. Furthermore, she had so many responsibilities and was so busy that she couldn't rest and recuperate. Her safety was paramount.
"promise!"
Meng Yi finally asked her curiously, "By the way, how much can you eat in one meal?"
A-Xia smiled shyly, "It's enough for five people."
Well, it was a bit much, but there were also quite a few big men in their army who could eat the amount of food three people could eat in one meal, so it wasn't unusual. But what Meng Yi didn't know was that this was still her conservative estimate.
Yichun Military Village Family New District Construction Office
Another batch of newly recruited soldiers and their families were sent here to work after being settled in. Members of the Qi family were also among them. The whole scene was full of people working and the atmosphere was bustling with activity.
The most urgent task for the military settlements at the moment is to build more and more houses in the military dependents' area. Almost all the manpower is being sent here.
The leaders who were responsible for arranging the work started shouting at them when they saw them.
"Those who know carpentry skills should come and report to me."
"Those who know how to plaster walls and build houses, come here."
"meeting……"
…
After a large number of people were diverted, the number of people suddenly shrank by half.
Among the remaining people, someone boldly asked, "Sir, what if I don't know anything?"
"What? You don't know anything? Can you chop wood, break stones, or make clay? If you can't, then learn. If you don't want to learn and just want to be lazy, then I'll ask you to get out of here! Military settlements don't support lazy people!"
As soon as these words came out, the guys working there burst into laughter, hahahaha...
Are these people crazy? The newly arrived military families couldn't understand why they could still laugh so happily even though the person in charge was scolding them.
"Humph, what are you laughing at? This is the military housing built for you, so everyone should pay attention to it!"
Unfortunately, no one was afraid of him and they were laughing while working. They did the hardest and most tiring work but never complained because they knew that they were building their own house and home for themselves and their families.
When Yao Chunnuan was invited over by Wu's men, she was inspecting a finished kang. Building a kang wasn't difficult; the challenge lay in the process of creating one. Yao Chunnuan first proposed the concept and then provided the underlying principles. After dozens of experiments and modifications, the craftsmen finally created the kang.
After Yao Chunnuan took a look and confirmed that the ventilation and warmth retention were both good, he asked the recorder to record the merit points that these craftsmen deserved before going to see Manager Wu.
Along the way, she had already learned why Manager Wu asked her to come over, so she was not surprised to see a large group of people as soon as she entered the gate.
This person was tall and strong, with masculine features, and was about 1.8 meters tall, which was extremely rare in ancient times. She was also very big, about one and a half times the size of a normal man.
She sat there, with her long arms and legs, but she habitually hunched her back, trying to make herself smaller.
"Your name is Axia, right?"
"Yes." She looked at Yao Chunnuan eagerly. She knew that whether she could join the military settlement and whether she could have enough to eat in the future was all decided by the woman in front of her.
"I'm very strong and can protect you." She said courageously.
Yao Chunnuan smiled, "Then you can practice with my guards, okay?"
Axia nodded.
Xiao Jieming would naturally not go against her wishes.
So the two began to fight. Xiao Jieming had spent a lot of time among the soldiers of the General's Mansion, and his skills were quite impressive. But A-Xia was incredibly strong, and her lower body was incredibly stable, like a rock. No matter how many tricks Xiao Jieming used, he couldn't defeat her for a while.
Yao Chunnuan watched for a while and nodded secretly. This Axia could be a meat shield, and although she looked strong, she was also very agile and was more than capable of being a guard.
"Stop it, that's enough."
As soon as the two stopped, Axia's stomach growled, her face turned red, and she lowered her head.
Yao Chunnuan did not make fun of her, but asked someone to go to the big kitchen to get food, and specifically asked someone to bring more rice, steamed buns and other staple foods.
Axia's eyes lit up when she heard that.
A quarter of an hour later, Yao Chunnuan fell silent as he looked at the empty large bowls stacked on top of each other.
"Master, I haven't had a full meal for a long time." Axia said in a low voice.
Although capable, she was even more of a glutton. In her hometown, she was known for her gluttony, to the point that no one dared marry her. This winter's harvest was poor, and the family had little food. She tried to eat less, but still earned the cold shoulder from her sister-in-law. Two weeks ago, her parents told her they couldn't support her anymore and kicked her out. She didn't blame them; after all, supporting her was a real struggle.
"Are you full now? If not, should I ask them to bring you two more trays of steamed buns?"
Axia touched her stomach, which was already 80% full, and looked at the kitchen reluctantly before shaking her head with difficulty. Being 80% full was already good enough, and she didn't want to scare the new owner.
Yao Chunnuan smiled, "I know you're not full, but forget it this time. You must have been hungry recently, so don't eat too much all at once. But from now on, you can eat as much as you want, don't worry."
"But if I eat as much as I want, I can really eat a lot." Axia said seriously.
Yao Chunnuan smiled, "Don't worry, just follow me from now on. If I can't keep you fed in the Yichun military settlement, then I'm too incompetent."
Axia's eyes lit up, "Okay, I will follow you from now on, and I will definitely protect you well." He looked serious.
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