Perhaps because of Chief Wu's involvement, the number of people signing up increased, and Political Commissar Wang and his team accepted them all without even counting the number of applicants.
When all the registered people gathered together, Political Commissar Wang spread out the drawing paper that Si Cheng had submitted earlier and hung it on the wall.
"This is a sketch of the new dwelling. It takes about three days to walk from the nearest inhabited place to this village, and the road is all mountainous. Now take a good look at this drawing. If you don't think it's suitable, you can leave now."
No one expected that they could see the place before even checking in, and they all started scrambling to squeeze in front of the drawing paper.
Later, it was the chief Wu and others who helped maintain order, which allowed everyone to line up and go forward to watch. Those who were satisfied with the surrounding environment stayed on the side, while those who had other ideas crossed out their names and turned away.
Most of those who passed away this time were people with elderly people and children at home, because the journey was too long and the mountain roads were difficult to travel. These elderly people and children had no ability to protect themselves in the deep mountains.
Political Commissar Wang saw that the remaining eight or nine hundred people had stopped trying to recruit the refugees. Since their own families also needed to be taken care of, he decided to see if any of their family members were willing to join them.
After explaining everything, Political Commissar Wang took Si Cheng back to his office.
"Village Chief Si, your village can exchange the items they want tonight, and we will arrange for someone to accompany you to Xinjiu Village tomorrow morning."
"Xinjiu Village?"
"That's right, naming them is such a painstaking task, so we put all the villages we've formed together in order, and this one just happens to be the ninth."
"That really saves trouble. The villagers haven't even moved in yet, and they've already marked all the names." Si Cheng understood when he thought about the new third village.
No one expected that Brother Cheng could exchange for supplies ahead of schedule after just one trip, while many villages were still arriving one after another.
When they heard that the area behind the mountain had been designated as Xinjiu Village, everyone was somewhat prepared, but they still felt a little disappointed.
When Si Cheng led them to the office where they had exchanged supplies, they felt a little more at ease seeing the wide array of items. At least this time they could choose their supplies first, and the exchange rate was even lower than last time.
This time, everyone is trying to redeem as many clothes and shoes as possible that they didn't get last time, and only redeeming the rest for miscellaneous items.
"Brother Cheng, I didn't see you guys earlier. I thought you hadn't arrived yet. Didn't my cousin come this time?" Bai Zhidong asked Si Cheng after noticing that Liu Fengya wasn't in the group, since the two families were now distant relatives.
"No, but your son-in-law is here. He's in the back now. Go find him."
“Okay, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my son-in-law.” Bai Zhidong felt it was better to ask his son-in-law about some things.
The location arranged by Baijia Village this time was right next to Pinghe Village. Lian Jianpeng, one of the members of their team, nodded and greeted Si Cheng from afar. Ever since his wife and children were killed by wild wolves, and his father is still not very mobile, he has become very quiet. Perhaps because the blow was too great, people rarely saw a smile on his face.
When they returned to the camp, everyone around them knew that they had successfully exchanged the supplies.
Some people started to get restless, arguing for an explanation and believing that this was discriminatory treatment.
Chief Kuang and his team simply informed everyone of the notice they planned to post tomorrow, and stated that as long as the corresponding land could be provided, the exchange could be made in advance.
Everyone was stunned. They never expected that the additional condition for bringing everyone together would be like this.
Everyone thought they would try to raise prices and exchange these supplies for more food, but no one expected that the target would be land.
Given the precedent of the previous allocation to various villages, many locals and newcomers had many disputes and conflicts, so they were somewhat xenophobic.
Although many villages still have vacant land, they are very resistant to the arrival of outsiders. For a time, all the villages started to discuss this, and no one paid attention to the fact that Pinghe Village had already exchanged for supplies.
Lian Jianpeng found Si Cheng while the argument was raging in Baijia Village.
"I'm sorry to bother you again." This time, Lian Jianpeng's attitude was much more humble, completely unlike the tone he used when they first met.
“If anyone makes things difficult for you, you can ask Village Chief Bai for help.” Si Cheng assumed that the two would no longer have any contact.
"No, I want to ask if that new place you mentioned could add two more spots for my father and me."
"Why? Baijia Village shouldn't be that difficult to get along with. Although you went a bit too far last time, you've been there for so long and have more or less integrated into the community."
Lian Jianpeng quickly waved his hand, "No, they have already apologized to us for what happened last time, and we understand their actions at the time. It's just that I don't want to stay in that sad place any longer. Every time I get home, I think of Xiaohan lying on the ground in front of me, and that's how we lost both our lives."
At this point, Lian Jianpeng choked up a little.
Si Cheng was most afraid of comforting people, and since Lian Jianpeng had already said so much, he couldn't just refuse directly.
"This is not something I can arrange, but I can take you to ask the person in charge. However, the foundation you painstakingly built in Baijia Village will have to be started all over again. Think about it yourself."
"Thank you, but I would still like to move if I have the chance."
Seeing his insistence, Si Cheng said something to Yun Qi beside him and then took him to find Political Commissar Wang and the others.
Many people saw the two of them leave together and surrounded Yunqi to ask him about it.
Before things were settled, Yunqi didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he made an excuse that he had been thinking about other things and hadn't heard what they were saying.
Although no one really believed her explanation, they didn't make things difficult for her.
Because of the location Si Cheng had just provided, and because he had personally led the team this time, Political Commissar Wang agreed to let Lian Jianpeng go to Xinjiu Village. However, his house and land in Baijia Village would be handled by them, but he was also given some grain as compensation.
Lian Jianpeng never expected this unexpected gain. He had originally decided to leave Baijia Village with what he had at home.
Si Cheng has done all he can to help. As for how Lian Jianpeng will hand over the reins to Political Commissar Wang and the others, and how he will explain things to Baijia Village, that's his own business.
They were returning to their village tomorrow. Although they had exceeded their quota for the supplies they wanted to exchange, they hadn't yet fulfilled another purpose of their trip. The villagers of Pinghe Village began to split up and search for information they wanted to know.
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