Hua Zi: "I'll be back later. Just now, a stranger was asking about Uncle Gao in the village. Chou Dan gave him directions, but he left without coming over."
Duofu casually remarked, "Could it be that he knew my uncle wasn't home, so he left?"
Hua Zi: "Chou Dan didn't say Uncle Gao wasn't home." He then repeated Chou Dan's exact words.
Duofu couldn't figure out why either, but he had a gut feeling that something was wrong: "I'll talk to Uncle Guojing and Aunt Guojing later."
Hua Zi delivered the message and then left.
When Yu Rujia returned, she heard Duofu relay what he had said.
Yu Rujia: "Duofu, how about you move to the room next to your aunt's to sleep later?"
Duofu shook off his unease, grinned, and was about to agree when he remembered what his uncle had said earlier.
Duofu: "Auntie, Uncle said that if we want to become stronger, we need to learn to sleep by ourselves. If we move to the room next to yours, will we still become stronger?"
Yu Rujia: "Of course you can. When you move into this room, you'll all sleep together, not with your aunt, so you'll become stronger."
Having received an affirmative answer, Duofu happily agreed, then turned and asked, "Auntie, you went to see Uncle today, did he say when he'd be back?"
Yu Rujia: "He won't be back for a few days. Uncle Guojing is busy making sauce all day and doesn't have time to talk to Aunt. Why don't you stay home and keep Aunt company for the next few days?"
Without a second thought, Duofu agreed to the request: "Okay, we'll stay with Auntie."
After sending the little guy away, Yu Rujia found Gao Guojing and told him about the textile factory and the strangers asking about their family.
Gao Guojing frowned: "Does Sister Rujia mean that those people are targeting our family?"
Yu Rujia: "That stranger neither appeared earlier nor later, but showed up the day after your brother captured the two spies. He asked about our whole family's situation, but didn't come to see us. I was really worried."
Gao Guojing glanced at the overflowing sauce bottles and said, "The sauces are almost ready. I'll stay home for the next few days and keep an eye on Duofu and the others."
Yu Rujia: "Well, for safety's sake, please tidy up the room next to mine later. You and Duofu will stay in this room starting tonight."
“Once you leave, we won’t have to worry about Duofu and the others not sleeping well at your brother’s place.”
Gao Guojing lived here for more than three months in total, and was very familiar with the two courtyards.
Gao Guojing: "Okay, I'll go over and tidy up after lunch. Should we notify the cowshed?"
Apart from Xia Yuanqiang and Xia Jingfan and Xia Jingsheng, who practiced the Taiyi Heart Sutra, everyone else in the cowshed had developed internal strength.
Xia Yuanqiang is too old, so let's skip it.
Xia Jingfan and Xia Jingsheng, as the younger generation of the Xia family, had practiced martial arts since childhood. Although they were not as strong as Xia Jingxing and the two Gao brothers who had developed internal strength, each of them could still take on several opponents.
Gao Guojing thought that with the Xia family members from the cowshed involved, the safety of Duofu and the others would be better guaranteed.
Yu Rujia: "I plan to inform the brigade leader about this matter. He should send militiamen to patrol and let them get involved. If the militia sees us, we won't be able to explain ourselves."
The people in the cowshed might be capable and reliable, but the militia are armed with real guns, and encountering them would be a real problem.
If we don't notify Captain Huang, and those people really come looking for us, they have weapons and could cause unpredictable damage if they attack the Xia family.
Gao Guojing had obviously thought of this as well, and said with a bitter face, "What if those people have weapons and the militia doesn't spot them? If they rush in, we might not be able to defend against them."
Yu Rujia: "Fifth Brother is capable. Go to the cowshed tonight and tell him to keep watch outside our house for the next few days. If anyone comes, he should make a sound to warn us."
"We specifically instructed him not to leave any trace in front of others, and to leave the rest to us and Captain Huang."
After arranging things for Gao Guojing and having lunch, Yu Rujia found Captain Huang, who was about to take a nap.
Yu Rujia: "Captain, I met with Shujing at the textile factory this morning. There are some things I'd like to report to you."
Captain Huang laughed and said, "How's the situation at the textile factory? How long until he'll be back? You can just tell me, there's no need to report it so seriously."
When Gao Shujing was left in Shangfen Brigade, it was said that everything should be prioritized for the sake of the commune.
Furthermore, even if Gao Shujing wasn't from the commune, he couldn't stop the higher-ups from sending him to provide support when the textile factory encountered such a situation. He could still distinguish between what was more important and what was less important.
Yu Rujia: "The textile factory has resumed some production. He will be back in a few days. The report I mentioned is about something else."
"The textile factory was so badly damaged because there were spies causing trouble. Shujing caught two spies while he was at the factory."
There are spies in the textile factory; anyone with a bit of sense can guess it. Captain Huang, having served as captain for many years, naturally knows this kind of information.
Captain Huang: "This is good news! Could it be that we haven't caught all the spies yet?"
Yu Rujia: "This is just our speculation. When I went to the textile factory, Shujing reminded me to be careful."
"When we came back, we heard Duofu say that a stranger was asking about Shujing and asked about our address and family. But he didn't come over and just left. This makes us suspicious."
Captain Huang, realizing the seriousness of the situation, became grave: "You mean, Shujing arrested their people, and they want revenge on Shujing, so they plan to target you?"
Yu Rujia: "We are not sure, but for safety's sake, I suggest that our team be more vigilant in the next few days, just in case."
Captain Huang said solemnly, "It is everyone's responsibility to capture spies. I will have Da Shan arrange for the militia to increase patrols and make sure those people don't sneak in."
That night, under the moonlight, Gao Guojing delivered a pile of sauces to the cowshed.
Xia Jingxing is always the most enthusiastic about food. He picked up a bottle of sauce, opened it, smelled it, and a look of intoxication appeared on his face: "It smells good. Guojing, your cooking skills are getting better and better."
Gao Guojing explained, "These are snail sauce, frog sauce, and mushroom sauce. You can bury these sauces in a cool, dark place, and they won't spoil for several months. You can dig them out and eat them whenever you want."
They brought ten jars of each of the three sauces, each jar weighing two jin (approximately 1 kg), for a total weight of sixty jin (approximately 30 kg), enough to last them a long time.
Xia Jingxing picked up a pair of chopsticks, dipped them in the sauce, and ate several more bites before reluctantly putting them down: "This flavor is strong enough. I won't have to worry about not having any side dishes to eat with rice anymore."
Gao Guojing had something on his mind, so he quickly changed the subject to business.
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