On this day, Pinghe Village welcomed several strangers.
"Brother Wu?" Si Cheng rushed to the village entrance as soon as he heard that someone was looking for him. He asked, somewhat uncertainly.
"Lion, it's me." Perhaps realizing that his current appearance was quite different from before, he quickly asked to confirm.
"Wait here." Once he confirmed that it was his old comrade-in-arms, Si Cheng quickly ran down from the watchtower and opened the gate to the village entrance.
"We've finally found you guys. It's so hard to find a place these days." As soon as the door opened, Wu Ge saw his old comrade-in-arms and gently nudged Si Cheng's shoulder with his fist.
"Come on, let's go home and rest for a bit." Seeing his old comrade-in-arms was all skin and bones, and his clothes were tattered, Si Cheng didn't ask any questions and led him home.
"This place is really nice. I wish I had listened to you and settled here." As soon as Wu entered the village, he looked around and saw that there were still free-range chickens running around, which told him that life here was very peaceful.
"Who knew there would be drought everywhere? If it weren't for the big lake at the entrance of our village, I don't know what we would have done." Si Cheng glanced at the young people next to him, all of whom were strangers and he didn't know any of them.
Seeing his gaze, Wu Ge slapped his forehead. "Look at my memory. Let me introduce you. These are my cousins. Since I didn't know about your situation, I had them accompany me on this trip."
Si Cheng nodded to them as a greeting, "Brother Wu, is everything alright at home?"
After all, they were old comrades-in-arms, so Si Cheng didn't beat around the bush and directly asked about the topic he was concerned about.
"Don't worry, everything's fine at home. Our family is so big, no one would dare to bully us on the street." Brother Wu knew what his comrade was worried about. Apart from lacking water and food, no one had dared to lay a hand on his family members along the way.
Si Cheng glanced at the machetes they were about to carry and understood what was going on. He knew that his brother's family made knives and they certainly didn't lack these weapons.
The villagers they encountered along the way greeted Sicheng in a friendly manner and looked at Wu Ge and his group with some curiosity.
"You're doing quite well here, kid. I remember this is your wife's family home, right?" Brother Wu knew that Si Cheng had been living with his parents-in-law since he got married.
“Yes, my in-laws are doing well. That's the house over there,” Si Cheng told Brother Wu, pointing to the yard not far away.
“This environment is great. If it weren’t for those potholed roads outside, I would have thought we were back in the pre-disaster era.” Wu Ge had seen similar-shaped courtyards all along the way, which made him even more confident in his decision to move his whole family here.
“The monkey and the bear live not far ahead. Let’s go over and call them over, and we brothers can have a good drink together,” Si Cheng told Brother Wu, pointing to the two houses at the foot of the mountain.
“Sure, they’ve all settled here. No wonder I couldn’t find them in the city.” Monkey and the others had originally left their city address, but after moving to Pinghe Village, they forgot to notify Brother Wu because they were busy storing supplies. Later, when they wanted to contact him, they couldn’t get in touch.
"Xiao Qi, look who's here." Si Cheng pushed open the courtyard gate and let them in.
"Are you Brother Wu?" Yunqi was sitting in the courtyard rubbing corn kernels when she put down what she was doing and asked somewhat uncertainly.
"Sister-in-law, it's been a long time. You're still as young and beautiful as ever." Wu Ge's praise confirmed to Yun Qi that the person in front of him was indeed Wu Ge, Si Cheng's old comrade-in-arms.
"Come on in and sit down." Yun Qi quickly pushed open the door and ushered them inside.
"Brother Cheng, you chat here with Brother Wu and the others, I'll go get some water." Yunqi went to his father's room to get the tea leaves he usually used to serve guests, put them in a cup, and then poured in boiling water.
After Yunqi put the tea leaves on the table, Sicheng asked her to tell Monkey and Big Bear to come over for a get-together.
"Alright, you guys chat here." Yun Qi didn't say anything more and turned to leave.
"I'm really sorry, our arrival has kept your sister-in-law very busy," Brother Wu said apologetically to Yunqi.
"Look at what you're saying. It's not uncommon for you to come all this way, isn't this all we should do?" Yun Qi waved his hand and left.
"What are your plans next?" Si Cheng didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.
"I'm really going to have to trouble you guys now." Brother Wu didn't mince words about the purpose of his visit. "I'm looking to see if there's any open space around here where my family can stay. Even if this place isn't an option, we can find somewhere nearby."
Si Cheng didn't answer him directly, but instead asked, "How many people are there in total?"
"There are more than 20 people in the family, young and old, but don't worry, none of them are troublesome."
Si Cheng also briefly explained the situation in Pinghe Village: "If you had come earlier, you could have cleared a piece of wasteland, but that area has been reclaimed by the military, and no one has moved in yet. We don't know their specific arrangements."
"Are there any vacant lots nearby? Any place close to a water source will do." Brother Wu was a little disappointed when he heard this, as he still had high hopes for Pinghe Village.
Si Cheng actually had another location in mind, but he would need to inform the village first.
“There is such a place, but I need to discuss it with the village. Besides, there isn’t much land there, so it will definitely take a lot of work to clear it.” Si Cheng didn’t dare to give a definite answer.
"I'm not afraid of any of that. I have many brothers in my family, and I have plenty of strength. No matter what the outcome, I want to thank you in advance." Wu Jun was actually a little uneasy when he first came over. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to find the person, and he was also afraid that the other party's conditions were not good, and he would not be able to ask for help again later.
"Dad, look what I caught!" Lele rushed in carrying a small bucket, with Yun Zhiming chasing closely behind.
Hearing his beloved daughter's voice, Si Cheng quickly went into the yard. "What did Lele catch?"
“Snakes, lots of snakes!” Lele shouted, pointing at the iron bucket in Yun Zhiming’s hand.
“I told her it wasn’t a snake, but she’s so stubborn. These are eels I caught in the ditch, and they’re quite big, but she insists they’re snakes.” Yun Zhiming put the bucket he was holding on the ground; it was more than half full of eels.
At this moment, Wu Jun and the others also arrived in the courtyard.
"Have we had guests?" Yun Zhiming asked Si Cheng, looking at the group of young people in front of him.
"Dad, this is my old comrade-in-arms, Brother Wu, and these are his brothers."
"Hello, Uncle. My name is Wu Tianxiang. These are my cousins Tianfu, Tianshou, and Tianxi. We've come to bother you." Brother Wu quickly introduced his brothers.
"...This name is really good, it means the family will flourish." Yun Zhiming was stunned by their auspicious names.
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