In the Sishui Hall, Qiaoyun was playing tangrams with her two children when she saw Peiqi open the door but not come in; she just stood by the door humming.
"Peppa, what are you doing?" Qiaoyun got up and went to the door to look, and saw a stranger standing outside.
"Who are you?" Qiaoyun looked at him a few more times, and the more she looked, the more familiar he seemed.
The young man dropped his bag and grabbed Qiaoyun: "Sister, big sister, it's me, Heiniu! Don't you recognize me?"
"Are you Black Bull? Are you my little brother?" Qiaoyun asked excitedly, pulling her brother to look at him closely.
She was sixteen when she got married, and her younger brother was only ten. Ten years have passed, and the dark-skinned, skinny boy who was not even as tall as her chest has grown into a young man who looks completely different.
Now that Qiaoyun's younger brother has come looking for her, everyone knows why they haven't been in contact for the past ten years.
During the chaos of war, refugees passed through Xujia Village, while bandits occupied the mountains where Qiaoyun's mother lived.
Taking advantage of the government's loss of control, these bandits seized control of the villagers in the mountain village, cutting them off from the outside world. It wasn't that their family had abandoned her, their older sister.
This time, Black Bull overheard the caravan helping people find their relatives and learned that his sister's family was inquiring about her family. So he risked sneaking into the old forest and came out of the desolate mountains.
Although life was hard at home, her parents and four siblings were all still alive and well. Except for Qiaoyun, who married into Xujia Village, the other siblings all got married in the village.
Qiaoyun felt relieved to know that everyone was safe.
Jiang Zhi saw that Hei Niu was honest and kind, and wanted him to stay in Xujia Village. However, Hei Niu only stayed for a few days. He knew that his older sister was doing well and wanted to go back, saying that his newlywed wife was still waiting for him at home.
Jiang Zhi, realizing she couldn't keep him, told him the truth: Hei Niu had explained the number of bandits and their details, and the Pingchuan County government had already arranged for the bandit suppression, needing him to act as an inside agent.
The bandits from Qiaoyun's maternal home were actually refugees who had fled from outside. There were about twenty of them hiding in the mountains, taking the elderly, women, and children from several surrounding mountain villages hostage. They used a combination of deception and intimidation to force these villagers to hand over money and grain. Even the caravans dared not say a word.
"Don't worry, these people won't survive if they're caught!"
When Heiniu heard that he was to act as an inside agent for the government troops, Xiaoman explained to him in detail how to do it, and he immediately agreed.
Over the years, those bandits have ruled the mountain strongholds, and these young men have long wanted to fight them. However, they have held back because they have heard about the chaos of war and the lack of government intervention, and they dare not let their families be in danger.
In the summer of the tenth year of war, Zhang, the patrol inspector of Pingchuan County, led his troops to suppress bandits deep in the mountains. He killed 23 bandits, rescued more than 10 kidnapped women, and seized more than 100 pieces of gold and silver jewelry.
Qiaoyun's parents and other siblings came to Xujia Village to see her.
Qiaoyun's family are all mountain dwellers, and it's not easy for them to come out.
They painstakingly carried out a large jar of mountain honey for the children, along with bear bile, deer antler, musk, bamboo fungus they had secretly collected over the years, and homemade tea.
In addition, the snacks that Qiaoyun used to love were all local products from the mountains.
The whole family stayed in Xujia Village for half a month before heading back. Knowing that life in the mountain village was not good, Jiang Zhi told them to take some grain, oil, and cloth back with them, and to come back for more if needed in the future, and to keep in touch frequently.
Hei Niu was very envious when he saw the school in Xujia Village. He said that those refugees took advantage of the fact that the mountain people were illiterate. They held up big red papers and said that the soldiers outside would kill anyone they saw, which frightened the mountain people so much that they dared not resist.
When the caravans traded goods with them, the mountain people were often cheated, and they couldn't explain themselves even when they were in the right.
Jiang Zhi told them to send their children out to study, so that after a year or two they wouldn't be deceived.
However, Qiaoyun's nephews and nieces are all too young to attend school.
The days that followed passed like flowing water. Bridges and roads were built, and the foster children grew up and left year by year, while new children joined them.
Qingquan School was expanded three times, and not only children from Xujia Village attended school there, but children from other villages also came to study there.
Because there was a nursery, it was turned into a boarding school, with several women from the village taking care of the children's food and lodging.
The teacher was not just Xia Xiucai; Tian Xiaoquan and Xia Yuan passed the preliminary examination and went to study at the county school.
Stone Monkey and another child started their studies too late, and neither of them passed the preliminary examination. They were too old to continue studying, so they simply stayed at the school to teach.
While studying and preparing for exams, she also taught one-year school children, instructing them in simple arithmetic and literacy.
Another scholar from Pingchuan County came here to teach and received a monthly salary.
Stone Monkey got married to Da Xiang. Although Madam Tan didn't like that the Shi family had two silly older sisters and a silly aunt, Stone Monkey himself didn't care, so he agreed to the marriage.
After Sister Shi and Wu Yang got married, she became pregnant and gave birth to a child the following year. She then became pregnant again and gave birth to twins. She had children one after another, and almost had a difficult labor during childbirth.
Fortunately, Xujia Village has a tradition of consulting doctors, and Wu Yang was willing to spend money on medical treatment, which saved his life. However, he became extremely thin and has only now recovered with great difficulty.
So the stone monkey went to Tian Gui and asked for a folk remedy to help his elder sister avoid pregnancy and not have any more children.
The two older sisters never married, and the stone monkey said he would take care of them in their old age.
He didn't want his mentally challenged sisters to suffer the pain of childbirth anymore, so he only told them to raise pigs and save money.
The morning glory and the fragrant iris also got married.
The two men were originally from the same hometown. Their parents had met when they signed the indenture, and they were both from the same place in Pingchuan County where they were resettled as refugees.
Jiang Zhi gave the two of them a holiday to go home. Qian Niu and He Xiang had saved their monthly allowances, and Jiang Zhi also gave them a settlement allowance. The two sets of parents then held a wedding ceremony for the two of them at home, which was considered a grand wedding.
Once the wedding was over, the two returned to work in Xujia Village.
Jiang Zhi didn't know how wealthy families here managed their servants—whether they treated them as emotionless tools or as private property.
Although the parents were forced to sell their child, Qianniu and Hexiang still felt affection for each other.
The two had been with her for years, working diligently and obediently. She treated them like her own children, so Jiang Zhi, referencing the treatment of maids and servants in "Dream of the Red Chamber," suggested that they return to her home to get married.
As the mosquito coil workshop in Xujia Village gradually expanded, Xu Gensheng and his colleagues spent their days processing the herbs sent from various villages, and they even bought two more oxen to grind the herbs.
Jiang Zhi not only ordered willow trees to be planted along the official road, but also paulownia trees to be planted all over the burned mountains, and even paulownia trees to be planted in the villages.
Tung oil can be sold for money, and it is also a raw material for making soap. The predecessors planted the trees, and the successors enjoy the shade. This is sustainable development.
Jiang Zhi also declined Er Rui's offer to throw her a lavish fiftieth birthday banquet.
Everyone is afraid of getting old, and she was unwilling to admit that she was already an old woman, and that this body was not her own.
During this time, besides delivering a new medicine to the Huo family's pharmacy every year, Jiang Zhi also had her own things to do every day.
She compiled specimens of various herbs, and then preserved the processing methods, prescriptions, and efficacy of these herbs to teach future generations.
Having thousands of acres of fertile land is not as good as having a skill. In a place where war can break out at any time, having a few skills is a way to survive.
The preparation methods for various medicines are basically the same; what Jiang Zhi needs to do is find the specimens.
The harvesting season for medicinal herbs is in spring, autumn, and winter. As a result, the people of Xujia Village often see Village Chief Jiang carrying a basket on his back and holding a hoe, walking along the fields and in the mountains.
Behind her, a ferocious wild boar with long tusks followed closely.
Everyone is afraid of wild boars, but Peppa is completely unaware and obediently walks around carrying her basket.
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