Xiao Yunfei watched County Magistrate Zheng leave, then turned and asked the armored man.
"Sir, let's get in the car and go now, shall we?"
In a place like Ningguta, the armored men are the soldiers who directly supervise and manage these prisoners. It is best not to offend them, otherwise it will be very troublesome.
But don't act too humble, as it will be troublesome if people think you are easy to bully.
So just do your job impartially.
The armored man looked up at Xiao Yunfei. He had never seen a prisoner coming by car before.
He had just seen the county magistrate riding in a van and was very envious, so now he also had the chance to ride in one.
He didn't shirk and asked directly.
"Where do I sit?"
"Adults sit in the front. There are more of us, so let the children squeeze in at the back."
Soon, Xiao Yunfei drove away from the county government office with his family and the armored man.
The armored man sat in the passenger seat, and everything in the car seemed new to him.
This was his first time to ride in a car to assign housing to prisoners, and it felt really good.
Xiao Yunfei was responsible for driving, and the armored man was responsible for giving directions.
The farther away from the county government office, the more desolate the place becomes, with weeds and big trees everywhere.
We drove for a long time before we saw people. There was a group of people using very primitive tools to cultivate the land.
All of them were hunched over and skinny.
Said the armored man.
"Starting tomorrow, you will have to cultivate the land every day like them. Women and children are not required to do so. Someone will be watching you work. Don't even think about slacking off. Everyone has a fixed workload. If you don't finish it, you won't get your share of the next quarter's grain. If you work harder, you'll get more grain."
Su Miaomiao grasped the key point immediately and asked quickly.
“What does it mean that the workload is fixed?”
"We have different tasks for you to do in spring, summer, autumn and winter here. This summer, the requirement is that an adult male must reclaim three acres of land. Since you came late, you only need to reclaim two acres this summer."
Su Miaomiao's eyes lit up.
A fixed amount of work is much better than a fixed amount of work time every day.
This way they can use modern agricultural machinery to complete the work faster and don't have to spend every day in the fields.
She asked again.
"Sir, if we finish all the work ahead of time, we won't have to work in the fields anymore?"
"Yes, as long as you complete the assigned tasks, you don't have to work in the fields until autumn arrives and new tasks are assigned. No one will bother you. But most people will continue to work even if they have finished their work. After all, everyone wants to get more food."
The armored man paused for a moment, but couldn't help but remind him.
"But few people can finish the work ahead of time. Your children are still so young. Even if your whole family works together, we may not be able to finish the work even if we get up early and work late."
Su Miaomiao couldn't help but frown and asked.
"Then according to what the adults said, if we don't finish the work, we won't get any food for the autumn. How will we survive in the autumn?"
"Then you'll have to figure it out on your own. If you're popular, you can ask others to help you with the work. But you have to understand that this isn't a place for you to enjoy yourself."
The armored man sighed and continued.
"In Ningguta, the winter is so cold it can freeze you to death, and the mosquitoes in the summer can eat you alive. If you want to survive, you have to work hard."
"Every morning you have to get up at the crowing of the cock and go to the fields with everyone else to work. Before you complete the task, someone will be watching you. Not even a minute less will do."
"If there's not enough food at home, we have to find another way. We can work with everyone during the day and then cultivate some land at night. Next year, we can grow some food ourselves. If we really have nothing to eat, we can dig wild vegetables, pick mushrooms, or go hunting in the mountains."
"Also, don't even think about running away. This is surrounded by deep mountains and old forests. Running out will only lead to death. Oh, and I guess you wouldn't run away now even for your relatives in the Nine Clans."
As the armored man was talking, they passed by a village.
There are two rows of low thatched houses on each side of the road.
Said the armored man.
"This village is where the group of people you saw just now live. If you don't want to stay here, you have to keep going forward. After passing two more villages, you will reach where you live."
Speaking of the house, the armored man spoke to himself.
"You're lucky to have met me. You should know that, right? I have the final say in allocating houses. I'll give you whatever I want. Even if I have to move you to a cave, there's nothing you can do about it."
"But I'm not a bad person. I don't want to make things difficult for you. I see there are a lot of you, so I'm going to give you a big house to live in."
This was obviously to make them owe him a favor.
After hearing this, Su Miaomiao immediately held it up and said.
"Thank you for your help, sir. We will always remember your kindness to us and will repay you double once we have established ourselves here. Also, we are new here and don't know the rules here. Sometimes we are inconsiderate, so we hope you can give us some more advice."
The armored man felt that Su Miaomiao was quite sensible and he was very satisfied. He raised the corners of his mouth and said.
"Ningguta is a small society. We are different from other places. When you come to Ningguta, you must abide by the rules here. As long as you are obedient, we will not use force against you. Also, get along well with everyone, especially since you are new here, it is best not to offend anyone."
After driving for a while, they finally arrived at the village that the armored man mentioned.
"We're here. This is the village. Drive forward and remember to turn right at the intersection."
"Isn't this village I assigned you to quite good? There's a river in front of it, perfect for fishing, and a mountain behind it, perfect for hunting and picking wild vegetables and mushrooms. Plus, this village is quite large, and the prisoners get along better than in other villages. Most importantly, the head of your village is my younger brother, Cui Fangzheng, and I'm Cui Fangyuan. I've assigned you here so my brother can look after you a little bit."
Li Zheng has the same meaning as the modern village head, but although the Li Zhengs in Ningguta are called Li Zhengs, they are still different from those in other places.
They are also armored men. When the prisoners are obedient, they are no different from ordinary village heads. They only need to supervise the prisoners normally and lead them to work. But if the prisoners are disobedient, they can use more severe or even rough methods to make the prisoners obey orders.
Cui Fangyuan's words sounded nice, but he actually had his own plans.
There is also competition and comparison among the villages. The village that is better governed will be proud when it goes to the higher-level meetings.
He could see that Xiao Yunfei's family was obviously different from other prisoners. Great generals like Xiao Yunfei and some people with special skills or extensive knowledge were highly sought after by all the villages. Such highly sought-after people naturally had to be placed under the care of their own family members.
I don’t know if there are any other benefits, but it would be good if I could ride in the van a few more times.
"Okay, okay, here we are. This is the house. It's yours!"
Su Miaomiao looked in the direction Cui Fangyuan pointed, and her heart finally settled down.
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