The village chief waved his pipe, signaling the villagers to shut up. Then he tapped his prosthetic arm and called over Uncle Zhao and the other lame men.
He then said to the wounded soldiers, “Brothers, you may not know this, but these old brothers and I are also wounded soldiers who have retired. Back then, when we were guarding the border, we killed quite a few barbarians.”
"So, we understand all too well the bitterness in your hearts right now, after all, we've all been through the same thing. But I want to tell you, a real man can be killed by barbarians, but we can't be scared to death by the slightest difficulty! That would be too shameful!"
"So what if I'm missing an arm or a leg? As long as I put in the effort, I might not be any worse off than someone with all their arms and legs! Look at us, how comfortable are we now?! You're younger than us, you have a longer road ahead of you, you're sure to have a bright future."
"The Marquis trusts our village and sent you here, which we welcome. But we're all men, so let's be clear from the start: our village doesn't support lazy or useless people. If you want to stay, you'll have to work from now on!"
"See these foundations? They're for you! The autumn harvest is coming soon, and there'll be plenty of work to do in the village. You'll have to put in a lot of effort to build your houses. Whether you end up lying on a scorching hot kang (heated brick bed) or shivering in a makeshift shack in winter is up to you!"
"And another thing, after the houses are built, we also need to build workshops. This is a lucrative business that the Marquis has specially arranged for you to make a fortune in the future. You also need to put in the effort, otherwise, if we leave it to these lads in our village, don't blame them for being jealous and stealing your treasure trove!"
"In short, work, work! As long as you work, you'll have enough to eat, wear, and sleep well. Don't worry about the villagers laughing at you for being missing limbs. Everyone's too busy making money to care about that, understand?"
The wounded soldiers stared at the old man waving his pipe, paused for a moment, and then shouted in unison, "We understand! We understand!"
These words were like a spark, igniting their eyes and making them even more invigorated than before.
The village chief laughed heartily and praised, "That's more like it! We're men, we should have that spirit."
Finally, he turned to the Marquis and said, "My lord, these young brothers are still injured and haven't fully recovered. They can't stay in the thatched hut. Why don't they stay in the village for now?"
The Marquis nodded, "The few seriously injured ones will need to recuperate for a few more days. Arrange them in my courtyard for now, and leave the rest to your fellow villagers."
The village chief quickly called out to the villagers, "Bring your brothers into the village. Each family should contribute one room, and five brothers should be enough. It will take about a month to build the houses here! The village will provide the food for these brothers, and when your wives cook, please add an extra handful of vegetables."
"Also, everyone keep your eyes peeled. If these brothers' injuries don't heal properly, hurry up and find Doctor Zhang, you know? They're all unfortunate people. If we lend a hand now, we'll be supporting each other through thick and thin from now on!"
"Understood, village chief, don't worry."
"Let's go, hurry into the village."
"Young man, come to my house, I'll cook you white rice for dinner!"
The villagers responded enthusiastically and rushed forward to surround the carriage as it headed into the village.
The village chief lagged behind and whispered to the lord, "My lord, there aren't many jobs in the village. Everyone can build these houses. But these young men have just lost their hands and feet, and they're afraid of becoming useless. If we give them more jobs, they'll feel useful and won't want to go down the path of death."
"Moreover, they feel at ease living in houses they built themselves. Once they start working in the workshops after a while and earn enough to support themselves, they won't think about it anymore."
The Marquis understood the reasoning perfectly well, and of course he wouldn't misunderstand that the village chief was mistreating the wounded soldiers.
His heart was filled with gratitude. He cupped his hands in gratitude again and said sincerely, "Uncle, when I think of entrusting wounded soldiers to you, you are the first person I think of. I hope you will take care of me in the future."
This trust is a great honor for the village chief.
The old man immediately straightened his back and pounded his chest loudly.
"Don't worry, my lord. These lads will be lively and energetic in the future. Who knows, by this time next year, they'll be thinking about getting married again. Then, we'll have to build new houses in this second village!"
The two talked all the way back to the village, just as Jiayin returned from Doctor Zhang's place with Shuiling, carrying a new medical book in her arms.
Upon seeing her godfather, Jiayin ran over to him, pleading pitifully, "Godfather, boohoo, you've ruined Fu Niu'er! Poor Fu Niu'er, she's going to be worked to death by Grandpa Zhang!"
She waved the medical book in her hand, "Look, look! It's such a thick book! Grandpa Zhang wants me to memorize it in one day. He'll check it tomorrow, and if I recite a prescription wrong, he'll hit my hand!"
The Marquis frowned with heartache. Such a thick medical book would take him half a month to read. This old man was really forcing things to grow too fast!
"I guess I didn't explain things clearly last time. I'll talk to Doctor Zhang again tonight, and this time I definitely won't let him make you memorize things like that!" The Marquis ruffled the little girl's hair, and whether it was just his imagination or not, he felt that the child looked thinner from exhaustion...
Upon hearing this, Jiayin felt she had made a mountain out of a molehill. After thinking for a moment, she waved her little fist and said, "Forget it, Godfather, let's not settle scores with Grandpa Zhang! Fu Niu'er is very capable; she can definitely defeat Grandpa Zhang and make him look at her with new eyes. When I graduate, I'll give him a tough challenge too!"
After he said this, both the Marquis and the village chief laughed.
The village chief patted the chubby girl on the back and praised her, "Good, our Fu Niu'er is really ambitious! From now on, if anyone in the village has any problems, they won't need to ask that strange old doctor Zhang anymore. Let our Fu Niu'er take care of it, and she'll definitely cure them."
"No, no!" Jiayin waved her hands frantically. "I haven't memorized the prescription yet. Grandpa Village Chief can't rely on me. What if the medicine kills someone?!"
The village chief and the lord burst into laughter; this chubby girl was just adorable!
As they talked and laughed, the group entered the village.
Each family was busy tidying up their house and settling the wounded soldiers assigned to their home.
Although everyone is doing well these days, no one makes extra quilts to prepare for guests, so the sudden addition of five people caught them off guard.
Fortunately, it's summer now, so there's no need to worry about keeping warm.
A fire can warm the kang (heated brick bed), then a mattress can be laid out, and you can sleep on it. At night, you can just pull an outer garment over your stomach.
The women were busy tidying up the house and heating the kang (a traditional heated brick bed), and then they went to cook.
The men helped fetch water and then sat with the wounded soldiers under the eaves, chatting idly.
The mischievous boys were curious about the wounded soldiers, but too shy to approach them. They hid behind the adults and quietly listened to the commotion.
The Li family also wanted to send some wounded soldiers to help take care of them, but the villagers disagreed and snatched them all away in the blink of an eye.
Grandma Li didn't insist. She thought she would make more dough and steam some meat buns the next day to share with the wounded soldiers so they could have a good time.
Just then, Sister Qiong arrived at the door in a hurry!
My darlings, it's another 4 PM update. With our little monsters starting school, I'm exhausted, so the update is a bit late. Please vote for this post, give it a like or a five-star rating, and let me know how much you want more updates! Love you all~~
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