With the money backing them, every household started figuring out how to qualify, hoping to send as many people as possible! Those who were qualified immediately registered with Chen Sheng. What if someone snatched a spot from such a great opportunity?!
What do you think we should do with the sorghum in the field? Hey, who can't harvest sorghum? The kids in the family can all help with the work; it's not like they can't do without their husbands. It just means we'll have to harvest for a few more days! Besides, even if we harvest the sorghum, how much money can we make? It's nowhere near as much as the patrol team's pay.
Zhao Yinhua and Liu Meixiang exchanged bewildered glances. Such a fool?! Paying the patrol team for the sake of the whole village? Doesn't that cost at least an ounce of silver a day? More than thirty ounces a month? Are they out of their minds?
The melon-loving woman who had just argued with her glanced smugly in this direction! "Hmph, those two shorty-looking guys in your family! This is going to be great, enough to make Zhao Yinhua's heart ache for half a month! If the patrol team existed for even longer, she'd be heartbroken to death! On the other hand, they have two men in their family who meet the requirements! If they could both join the team, that would be a considerable income!"
Sweet Melon Mom felt like she had won completely! In a great mood, she urged her husband and brother-in-law to go to the village head to register!
At this moment, Chen Sheng felt both gratified and helpless. In just a short while, a dense crowd of people had signed up.
As the village head, his father was also a village head, and he had worked as a shop assistant in a general store for several years, so he was literate to some extent; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to succeed to the position! He was quite adept at keeping track of village census numbers and grain collection. Although his handwriting wasn't great, it didn't matter, as long as it was legible!
"Alright, everyone go back and think about it. If not everyone from your family is here, go back and let them know. If anyone else wants to sign up, they can come to my house. However, not everyone who signs up can join the patrol team; we still need to screen them."
Glancing at the list, Chen Sheng said, "Some of them are indeed strong and burly, but there are also those who are just filling in or are incredibly lazy. These people are unacceptable! He knows the villagers very well, so the task of selecting team members naturally falls to him!"
The patrol team was there to guard against bandits, so Chen Sheng took it very seriously. He made sure to examine each member in terms of both moral character and physical fitness...
By the time Qin San Niang received the final list, it had been streamlined to thirty-two people. Including Gu Qingshan and the three Lu brothers, there were a total of thirty-six people, which would be just right if they were divided into three patrol teams.
The Lu brothers were quite happy to learn that they would be assigned to the patrol team by their mother. They were even more delighted to hear that they would get paid. They didn't have much money left at home, and they had just arrived here and needed to build houses and buy land. They would have to spend money everywhere, so it would be great if they could earn some money!
Old Man Lu and Old Woman Chen were a little embarrassed to accept the wages, because Da Wa's family was their benefactor; their grandson's tuition was paid by them!
Fortunately, Zhang was a reasonable person. She told her parents-in-law that since the other party had offered to pay them wages and they were short of money, they might as well accept it generously. As for the favor? It couldn't be repaid all at once. They would settle down here and repay it slowly in the future!
In truth, Zhang was thinking more deeply. She felt it was best to keep the debt of gratitude in her heart; constantly refusing it would only create distance. Besides, her family was genuinely short of money right now, and if things improved in the future, she could better repay the debt of gratitude.
The third daughter-in-law, Mo, felt for the first time that her sister-in-law was someone she could get along with, and hurriedly nodded in agreement.
Old Mrs. Chen felt uneasy whenever she saw her third daughter-in-law. She was the one who advised everyone to go shopping, she was the one who persuaded Shao'er to inquire about Song'er's whereabouts, and she was also the one who was closest to Lu Zhaodi... Her third daughter-in-law was just a clueless person, and now she had to keep a close eye on her...
Recently, Mo felt like she was being watched. No matter where she went, her family always made sure she wasn't alone. Her mother-in-law would assign her a lot of chores that she could never finish doing all day! It was worse than killing her to not be able to find opportunities to go out and socialize with people like her.
If Old Mrs. Chen knew what she was thinking, she would definitely say, "Can you do any other work? If there were other options, I wouldn't even bother hiring her for odd jobs!"
Lu Laosan was also given a private talk by his father, who told him to keep a good order around his wife.
Lu Laosan lowered his head, realizing he had truly shot himself in the foot. He hadn't realized Mo Shi was so gossipy before, but he had seen through his wife's true colors along the way. Their relationship was now lukewarm. If it weren't for the fact that the Lu family didn't have a tradition of divorcing wives, Laosan would have kicked her out just for Mo Shi's arguing with her parents-in-law, stealing grain, and bullying her nephew.
Upon hearing that Gu Qingshan had organized a patrol team, He Yingyuan brought Luo Huan over. Facing Gu Qingshan's questioning gaze, he didn't beat around the bush, "Luo Huan comes from the Luo Clan and is proficient in the use of hidden weapons and formations. I believe he can be of help to you!"
"Luo Men? Could it be...?" Gu Qingshan had naturally heard of Luo Men's reputation; they were a notorious secret society!
Decades ago, Luo Men was a renowned figure in the martial arts world, but overnight he announced his retirement and was never heard from again. Who would have thought Luo Huan was a descendant of Luo Men? This is like a godsend! I knew it; Luo Huan didn't seem like an ordinary person!
The reason he pushed Luo Huan forward was twofold. First, he wanted to test Luo Huan's strength, as his future path would be difficult, unlike his previous life's trajectory. He wondered if Luo Huan still possessed the same power. Second, this matter involved bandits, something he had never encountered in his previous life. If something went wrong, it might affect his future plans.
Upon hearing Gu Qingshan's praise, Luo Huan simply smiled faintly, "Mr. Gu is too kind. I will do my best."
With Luo Huan's addition, the patrol team smoothly devised several dangerous scenarios. Gu Qingshan also knew how to set up dangerous situations, but Luo Huan's methods were clearly more skillful, more lethal, and most importantly, better concealed—almost every step was a killing move!
He couldn't help but pat Luo Huan on the shoulder. Well, at this moment, he actually felt a little sorry for those bandits...
The patrol team members all knew the location of these traps. After witnessing their power, they were all excited and wished the bandits would come that very night! So much so that Chen Sheng, the village head who came on a routine inspection, suspected that they had been bewitched by Gu Qingshan!
He was puzzled. These men, though strong, were still terrified of bandits. How come they were all acting like they were on steroids after only two days, as if they couldn't wait for the bandits to come?
How strange!
However, he wasn't going to say anything discouraging. It's a good thing for young people to have ideals! Why would he want to dampen their spirits?!
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