Chapter 307: Shen returns to the village for the New Year, attracting onlookers
After the refugees were kidnapped, Jinniu placed them all in vacant houses in the village without caring whether they were dead or alive. If they were dead, he would bury them the next day. If they were not dead, he would send them all to the town early the next morning and ask the mayor to send someone to take them to the county town and hand them over to the county magistrate.
It is a crime for refugees to break into villages and rob people's belongings at will. This is completely different from the nature of what they do as ordinary refugees.
The next morning, the night patrol officer came to report to the village chief.
"Village chief, more than 20 refugees died last night, probably from excessive blood loss, and some froze to death. What should we do with the rest?"
Wan Laoer, as the team leader, came to ask Jinniu on behalf of everyone.
"You've worked hard on the night shift, go back and rest, we on the day shift will take care of the rest."
After Wan Laoer left, Jinniu immediately gathered some people from the day shift to tie up the refugees captured last night with ropes, lined them up in a row, and took them directly to the town.
For those who had already died, Jinniu asked his father to bury them in a mass grave, so that at least they could rest in peace.
Jinniu personally led the team to send the captured refugees to the town. Along the way, they met other scattered refugees, who were not a big deal. When they saw Jinniu's group of dozens of people, all holding axes and shouting, they were scared and ran away.
After Jinniu handed the person over to the mayor, he returned.
Since that day, no refugees dared to come to Shizi Village to rob. Even if there were some small groups, they would find out the route and take a detour.
Some of the nearby villages were robbed by refugees, but because they were far away from the county town, they were not affected much.
This tense atmosphere lasted for nearly two months, and near New Year's Eve, all the refugees were finally resettled.
Most of them were persuaded to return home. Shen Jinyuan wrote to the prefects of the border town, asking them to issue a notice to recall the refugees. After all, a city without its people would become an empty city.
For the sake of his own future, the prefect over there had no choice but to spend money to avoid disaster and promised to distribute food to the people until the spring plowing season next year.
The imperial court also sent 100,000 troops to garrison the border, and from then on the border became stable again.
Everyone can finally spend New Year's Eve peacefully.
Old Mrs. Wan adapts to the local customs. When she came to the border last year, it was almost Chinese New Year and she didn't do many things. She was just concerned with filling her stomach and settling down. This year is their second New Year spent at the border.
Old Mrs. Wan started offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month and cleaned the house inside and out with her daughters-in-law.
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Boss Wan and Shen also rushed back with Wan Hu, but the couple did not bring any servants with them, which made Old Lady Wan feel relieved.
She didn't like Shen's servants being around, so she spent the New Year happily with her family and did everything herself, which made the New Year feel more festive.
When Shen returned to Shizi Village, the familiar feeling made her feel relaxed all over. Moreover, without servants around her, she could say whatever she wanted and do whatever she wanted without having to worry too much. She was completely back to the time when she was recuperating at the Wan family in the first half of the year.
This was also the first time that Shen came back after the Wan family moved to their new home. Looking at this magnificent large courtyard, Shen was very happy. She was happy that her family was living well.
The news of Shen's return spread throughout the village like wings in less than half a day.
Even though today is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, and every household is busy as hell, the threshold of the Wan family's home has been almost trampled flat by people coming to visit the Shen family.
"Mom, is this Shen? She looked so different that I thought she was some other family's lady."
"Yes, look at her whole demeanor. Even the wife of the big landlord in the next village can't compare to her."
"Oh, what are you talking about? That big landlord's wife wants to cover herself with gold and silver jewelry, as if people don't know she is a landlord's wife. Look at Shen, although she is dressed plainly, the material she wears is comparable to that of the landlord's wife? I haven't seen this material in the town. It must be bought in the capital, right?"
Shen was surrounded by this group of women and was commented on by them like a commodity. Her face couldn't help but blush, and she didn't know how to resist.
At this time, Old Mrs. Wan came over with a basket of freshly roasted mountain products.
"Come on, come on, we've been talking for a long time, are you all hungry? Eat something, don't just stand there, I have a lot of work to do and I don't have time to entertain you, I'm really neglecting you all, this mountain product was brought back by my eldest daughter-in-law, you can all try it, they said the county magistrate brought it from the capital, we don't know the value of it, just eat it as a snack, don't despise it."
When the women heard this, their eyes lit up and they quickly reached out to take it, but they did not eat it. They put it in their pockets, preparing to go back and let their men and children have a taste. After all, it was brought from the capital, and they would never be able to eat anything from the capital in their entire lives. This time, they were lucky enough to get it thanks to the Shen family.
But the women were too embarrassed to stand there any longer. After all, Old Lady Wan had already made it clear that she was busy! How could they still have the nerve to cause trouble here?
"Aunt, you are busy. My family still has a lot of work to do and is waiting for me to go back. Let's talk when you are free. I will come to wish you a happy new year on the first day of the first lunar month."
After talking for a while, several women left one after another.
Old Mrs. Wan saw the person out the door, then turned around and locked the door.
"If anyone comes again, tell them that we are worshipping the Kitchen God and don't want to disturb them. Please don't open the door."
Old Mrs. Wan said to her sons and daughters-in-law who were busy in the yard.
Wan Ersao burst out laughing: "Mom, our house is never this lively before. When the eldest sister-in-law comes back, our house is more lively than during the Chinese New Year. It's so lively that I don't feel cold anymore."
Shen was a little embarrassed and pulled Mrs. Wan's arm: "Mother, it's all my fault. I came back too early. In fact, I wanted to come back earlier, but the refugees had not been properly settled at that time, and there was still some chaos outside. Jinyuan didn't let me go back. I finally made it to today, and the city gates are wide open, but I have caused trouble for you again."
Old Lady Wan patted Shen's hand with a smile on her face: "Well, what nonsense are you talking about? Those people came up to you when you came back. They just wanted to curry favor with you because they saw that you are living a good life and have status now. They didn't think about it. They just stayed in this small piece of land in Shizi Village every day. What's the point of currying favor with you? It's better for them to go back and clean up the house and rest up."
Seeing that Old Mrs. Wan was really not angry, Shen was in a good mood and quickly rolled up her sleeves to help with the work.
"Oh, don't get your hands dirty. If you get your hands dirty, you may not feel bad, but your mother will. But if I don't let you work, you will feel uncomfortable too."
Old Lady Wan said as she called out to Second Sister Wan, "Second Wife, take one of your usual clothes and give it to your eldest sister-in-law. Let her change into it first."
"Okay, Mom, I'll go right away."
Wan Ersao agreed, stopped what she was doing, went into the house, and quickly found a set of half-new clothes for Shen.
"Sister-in-law, please don't despise me. This is what I usually wear when I work. Although it's not as impressive as yours, it's comfortable to wear and helps me work efficiently."
"Second sister-in-law, you are so thoughtful, how could I dislike you? You know what kind of life I lived before, right?"
Shen took the clothes and went into Boss Wan's house before her wedding. Old Mrs. Wan had already spread new bedding in the room and cleaned everything. Shen was deeply moved and felt that she had made the right decision to marry the right person.
Mrs. Wan San has already prepared everything for today's offering to the Kitchen God in the kitchen.
Boss Wan and the men in his family set up a table against the south wall of the kitchen and began to worship the Kitchen God.
In the minds of the people, the Kitchen God controls the blessings and misfortunes of the world, as well as their food, clothing, housing and transportation, so people attach great importance to worshiping the Kitchen God.
After offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, it is the women's world. Several sisters-in-law are busy in the kitchen, chatting with each other, making it very lively.
All the children have returned, except Wanquan and Wanwen. All the children in the family are running around in the yard.
The happiest one was little Fubao, as she was finally reunited with her brothers.
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