In the end, all of Ma Tao's bags were contracted out to Pinghe Village. Once everyone had tallied up their lists, they could carry their items to the back to exchange for supplies.
"It's so late, but time seems to fly by inside." Once I came out, I checked the time again and felt like there was something I hadn't gotten yet.
"Go back and rest, everyone. We'll head back to the village early tomorrow morning," Si Cheng reminded them as he saw everyone gathered together discussing what they had exchanged for.
Perhaps because they were too excited about exchanging items inside, many people couldn't fall asleep even after arriving at their camp.
"Let's work on these bags tonight so they can be used tomorrow." Some villagers couldn't sleep, so they went under the incandescent light bulb and started modifying the bags in their hands. Many people saw this and followed suit, and soon a small circle of people gathered.
"Now I don't have to carry this big bag around anymore, I can just carry it on my back, which is much more convenient. You know, all along the way, I was worried that the bag on my back would suddenly break, so I had to check it every few days."
"You know, with such nice bags, how could anyone not want them? It's practically a steal for us."
"They probably thought these bags were just packaging and not very useful in everyday life. They might also have been hoping that people would give them them for free, since these bags were exchanged for supplies."
"Where can you find anything for free these days? Even a single grain of rice is precious. But it's good that they're handling it this way. Now that they've solved our problem, they can also help resettle those refugees."
Everyone sat together, chatting as they altered the bags. Originally, it was the middle-aged women who were doing this, but soon, the younger people also joined in, helping out and quietly listening to their conversation.
“The Wu family in our village are also refugees, so they should be able to come and apply for a batch of supplies, right?” Someone thought of the Wu family, who had just moved to the village, and this time they did not come to the county town with the main group.
"Do you think you can get those things for free? I heard you have to write an IOU and there's a deadline for repayment."
"That's right. Besides, with Acheng and his comrades in the village, they can help them to some extent. If they have any difficulties, it's better to just ask Acheng and his comrades."
“The Wu family are all able-bodied men, and when they came to our village they were carrying large and small bags, so they certainly weren’t in such dire straits. Even refugees need to be categorized.”
Yun Qi and the other young people huddled together, listening quietly to the women chatting without interrupting.
"That's when you see the advantage of having many strong men in the family. It's rare to see such a large family like theirs nowadays. With their tall and strong appearance, no one would dare to mess with them."
"I heard there are still some unmarried men there. If there are any eligible girls in our village, we should be careful not to let outsiders benefit from them."
"They've only been here a short time, so we definitely need to observe them for a while longer. But this family is really good at working. Look at how quickly they've cleared the land and are slowly building the house."
"It's better to marry into your own village. Otherwise, you really can't trust other places. This time, we didn't see Baijia Village come to exchange supplies, but the other villages arrived in the afternoon."
As the topic shifted, everyone had long since lost track of where they were talking, and they started chatting idly about this and that.
At first, they enjoyed it immensely, but as time went on, drowsiness crept in. Gradually, some people's double eyelids started to merge together.
"I really can't take it anymore. You guys keep chatting here, I'm going back to rest."
After the first person spoke up, even three others followed suit and left.
"This drowsiness is really contagious. Let's pack up and go back to rest early, otherwise we won't have the energy to travel tomorrow." As the number of people around them gradually decreased, everyone simply packed up their things and went back to rest.
The journey back was much faster than the journey there. They had carried heavy loads of grain on their backs, but although they had a lot of things on their backs, they were all relatively light and fluffy. In addition, after being away from home for a few days, those who were going out for the first time did not want to stay outside any longer, because the outside world was so different from the village.
Upon returning to the village, no one lingered at the village entrance; instead, they dispersed and went straight home.
"Where is he?" The old man, who rushed over after hearing the news, was quite surprised to see that apart from Si Cheng and a few others who were still waiting there, no one else was there.
"Everyone's home now. You've all had a long and tiring journey." Yunqi also wanted to run back. He hadn't seen his two little darlings for days and missed them terribly.
Si Cheng then sorted out the items that the village had exchanged. This time, the village had brought dozens of kilograms of cured meat, which they exchanged for pig iron and knives.
After answering a few questions from the elderly, Si Cheng and Yun Qi put the items they had exchanged from the village into the cellar over at the square, planning to check the accounts with the village the next day. Only then did they take the items and go home.
"You're back," Yun Zhiming said, already waiting for them at the gate of the courtyard. He reached out and took the bag from his daughter's back.
"Where are Junjun and Lele? Those two little rascals didn't even come to greet us today." Yunqi had been looking forward to it since he entered the village, but he hadn't seen them yet.
"I haven't been able to find you two for the past few days and you've been making a fuss, so I've been going to bed late. I'm catching up on sleep now." Yun Zhiming lowered his voice as soon as he entered the courtyard, afraid of disturbing the two little ones.
"Let's go see them later. I'm filthy. I need to wash up first." As soon as Yunqi entered the house, he wanted to take a good shower. He felt like he had a musty smell from all the sweat he had put in these past few days.
"Go on, your mother and I will make you a bowl of noodles." Yun Zhiming went directly to the backyard to pick some vegetables. As for what he had exchanged for, he didn't care about that now. He was just thinking about how to fill his daughter's and son-in-law's stomachs first.
"It's still so comfortable at home," Yunqi said, putting down the bowl in his hand, feeling alive again.
"I hope the journey was smooth." Ever since their ordeal on their last trip to exchange salt, the elderly couple has been on edge all the time whenever their two children go out, only able to relax once the children have come home.
"The journey has been fine. There are usually many people coming and going on this road, so there haven't been any major problems," Yunqi quickly replied, knowing what his parents were worried about.
"Come see what we've changed. The quality of the new stuff is really good, even better than what I used to hoard." Yunqi saw that her father had turned to look at the two big bags. These bags were improved along the way with the help of several older women, and they were incredibly convenient to use.
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