Seeing that water was still dripping from the ends of her hair, soaking her clothes, Xiao Feng took a towel and twisted Wan Jinlan's hair with a natural look. Wan Jinlan yawned. She was worried that something happened to him last night and did not sleep well.
I used to sleep outdoors and never slept well most of the time.
Today, now that he had a place to shelter from the wind and rain, Wan Jinlan felt particularly sleepy.
"Although the bandit problem in Xiaping Village has been resolved, there's no guarantee that Deputy Captain Gao won't vent his anger on them. And then there's us. The refugees are too weak and lack fighting power, and the original horse bandits are difficult to control..."
Wan Jinlan talked about whatever came to her mind, always feeling that there were many things to do. The most important thing in her mind was firearms. If this thing could be mass-produced, it would definitely be invincible. It was a pity that the old man named Lu who claimed to be Xiao Feng's uncle was nowhere to be found now. As for firearms, she could only think about it.
Xiao Feng wrung her hair dry and saw that she looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes. Her once fair and delicate face had become rough, and there was a red scar left by a knife on the exposed skin at the back of her neck.
He picked the man up and walked towards the stone bed covered with new fur.
Wan Jinlan was startled out of his sleep, "What are you doing?"
Xiao Feng put her on the stone bed and said, "Go to sleep."
Wan Jinlan stared at him. She was originally very sleepy, but now he made her sleepy.
Xiao Feng stroked her hair. Wan Jinlan looked up at his once fair face, which had become much darker now, with a layer of dark stubble on his chin. Because he had to apply black paint every day, his face was no longer the one she liked before. But compared to his former handsome face, he now looked more stable.
Seeing him slowly lower his head, Wan Jinlan's heart was pounding.
Then, his head fell on the side of her neck, his arms pressed on her, and the hot breath sprayed on her neck.
Xiao Feng didn't know how to express what was on his mind.
He knew exactly how many scars she had sustained during these days. He wanted to say that he would never let her suffer with him again in the future, but when he said it, he felt it was meaningless. He could not give her a future as stable and wealthy as in the past, but he promised that he would do his best to do it.
After a while, Xiaohua said outside: "Sister, the hot water is ready."
Wan Jinlan patted his back gently, his tone somewhat gentle: "Go take a shower quickly, your body is smelly."
Xiao Feng raised his head, rubbed his forehead, patted her gently, and said, "Go to sleep."
Wan Jinlan raised his voice: "Xiaohua, go back to sleep."
Xiaohua responded and walked back to find her brother on her short legs.
Wan Jinlan tossed and turned for a long time, and finally fell into a deep sleep. She didn't even know when Xiao Feng got on the stone bed and slept next to her at night.
When I woke up in the morning, the stove in the room was burning brightly and the temperature was just right. Xiaohua was sitting quietly by the stove, warming herself by the fire. The aroma of minced meat porridge was wafting from the stove.
"Sister, are you awake?" Xiaohua saw Wan Jinlan get up and hurriedly poured hot water into the wooden basin that was already filled with cold water.
After Wan Jinlan washed up, he rubbed her head and asked, "Why did you come so early today? Have you seen Brother Song?"
Wan Jinlan brought the porridge down with a cloth and served two more bowls. After taking the first bite, he knew it was from Xiao Feng's handiwork.
When she was in the palace, she had eaten several meals he cooked, and the minced meat porridge tasted like this. It couldn't be said to be delicious, but it wasn't bad either.
Xiaohua blew the porridge and said, "The boss took people to the town and asked Xiaohua to take care of my sister."
Wan Jinlan nodded, "Sister, can you give Xiaohua a good name?"
Xiaohua tilted her head, "Does my brother have one too?"
Wan Jinlan remembered the name of Xiaohua's brother Tie Niu and nodded.
Since their surname was Fan, Wan Jinlan gave them two simple names: Xiaohua was named Fan Jing and Tieniu was named Fan Rui.
Jing means beautiful as flowers and jade; Rui means wise and insightful.
After drinking the porridge, Wan Jinlan also drank the warm medicine on the side, and then began to sort out the origins of all the people in the mountain stronghold, including refugees, former horse bandits, women and children.
The courtyard was filled with a strong smell of medicine, and three large iron pots were filled with medicinal juice. Even those who looked healthy had to drink a bowl of medicine to ward off the cold.
Xia Feng was leading his men to set a trap at the foot of the mountain village. Everyone in the village was busy, some were moving stones, some were digging holes, and it looked like the work was in full swing.
Long after dark, Xiao Feng and his men brought back a batch of cold-resistant clothing and medicinal herbs, and also brought back nearly twenty carts of food and grass.
"Why are you back so late?" It only takes more than an hour to get to the nearest town, Gu'a, and he spent the whole day there.
Qingyuan County has four subordinate towns, and each town has a varying number of villages. Compared with the densely populated Central Plains, Liangzhou is considered to be sparsely populated.
Xiao Feng took off his dark cloak and took out the small cloth bag filled with bottles and jars he had brought back.
There were scar removers, facial creams, body washes, eyebrow powders, and lip balms. These were all brought to her, naturally.
Xiao Feng sat down at the table and drank a cup of hot tea. "The price of grain in Gu'a Town has tripled. Each person can only buy one dou of rice. The medicine hall is also running low on herbs. I took people to the town and inquired about some news. There are still a large number of refugees who have been resettled outside the dilapidated temple in Xiaping Village. That's why I came back late."
The chicken soup had been simmering on the stove for a whole day. The meat was tender and the soup was golden. Wan Jinlan placed the bottles and jars on the wooden table in front of the window, washed his hands, and then served him the soup.
"Liangzhou has now blocked the entry route. The number of refugees is increasing. A village with a large number of cold infections has been blocked. It's not far from us, in An County, next to Qingyuan County."
The two ate meat patties, drank chicken soup, and talked about the situation outside.
"Yu Liang came here today and wanted to talk to me, but when he saw that I was a woman, he went back."
Xiao Feng paused, "If he comes again tomorrow, I guess he won't be here yet. Let him talk to you directly."
"What are you going to do?"
Xiao Feng swallowed a mouthful of soup and said, "Take advantage of this opportunity to gather refugees, store up food and fodder, and investigate the Deputy Captain Gao that the Second Commander mentioned."
The reason why this group of horse bandits could occupy Gu'a Town for many years, robbing villagers, killing and looting, and still live in peace, was naturally because they had someone behind them. A long-term and stable relationship can only be based on interests.
The two men had long known from the bandits that they would hand over 50% of the looted property in every operation.
As for how this 50% was determined, the people at the top will naturally not be easily fooled.
In the past, when bandits attacked a village, the people would report the case to the government, and the authorities would send people down to count what was looted and how many people died.
With this statistics, it is impossible for the horse bandits to steal the money even if they want to.
Thinking of this, Wan Jinlan was stunned. "Deputy Captain Gao has been dealing with the bandits for many years. Even if Deputy Captain Gao is the son of the boss, if the boss doesn't keep accounts, what about the second in command?"
If he had the account book, Lieutenant Gao could solve the problem directly!
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