Going up the mountain is no longer like before, where you could just carry a medicine basket. Now, many medicinal herbs on the mountain have dried up, and you can't even see what the original leaves looked like, so you can't identify them.
Furthermore, the mountains are now teeming with wild animals, making the task even more challenging.
Yunnan medicine experts haven't dared to ask to go up the mountain again recently, partly because they don't want to trouble everyone, and partly because they know how difficult it is to find medicinal herbs now.
Ma Tao was aware of these circumstances and had completely lost faith in this attempt to exchange for medicinal herbs.
Yun Xun thought about the village's storage facilities, but there was nothing he could do to help them. He could only ask them to go to the square to rest.
The Lian family father and son are still living in the prefab house. They were very excited to see Ma Tao and the others, thinking they were going to go up the back mountain, so they went up to ask them.
"Why are you here again?" Ma Tao recognized Lian Jianpeng; he was also present when Village Chief Si took him there last time.
"We've been waiting for someone to go into the mountains before we can follow. Are you planning to go into the mountains?" After such a long wait, Lian Jianpeng was getting anxious. After all, if they continued to delay, not only would it be difficult to integrate later, but it would also delay the clearing of land and planting, which would definitely have a great impact on their future lives.
In particular, Lian Qingfeng has been complaining lately, believing that his efforts will only make things more difficult.
But Ma Tao's answer was destined to disappoint them: "We came to the village to exchange for goods, and we won't be going into the mountains for the time being."
Lian Qingfeng looked at his son with disappointment, "When will things finally settle down? This constant uncertainty is making me feel so uneasy."
Ma Tao comforted him, "You don't need to worry too much about that. I heard the environment on the mountain is quite nice. If it weren't for the fact that the elderly people in this village are reluctant to leave, Village Chief Si would have wanted to lead people to move up there to live."
Lian Qingfeng had always envied the living environment in Pinghe Village. If there hadn't been no other land available, he would have wanted to stay there.
"This is also because I'm worried about delaying the land reclamation and planting. I need to have food on hand to feel at ease. Otherwise, staying here every day will make me feel uneasy." Lian Qingfeng was anxious about the food supply.
Although he and his son could dig up some wild vegetables here, they were also constantly consuming other food. This situation of only spending and not earning made him very uneasy.
Ma Tao and his group only rested here for one night. The next morning, they took the last of the medicinal herbs that Pinghe Village had given them and rushed back.
Not long after they left Xin San Village, Si Cheng also arrived at Xin San Village with his team.
On this section of road connecting Xin San Village and Pinghe Village, the intersection had long been fenced off by refugees who had stayed there before. Since the people here today did not recognize them, they could only stop and wait here.
Zhao Dongwei couldn't help but complain, "Now we have to go through two gates to get back to our own village. What kind of situation is this?"
"Isn't having two doors a good thing? At least it improves security." Although Yunqi felt it would be a bit more troublesome, it would also increase his sense of security.
Wu Tianxiang said, "After a while, when everyone comes in and out of here more often and gets familiar with it, it won't be so troublesome anymore."
Yun Jianying found this quite interesting. "Now that there are three villages and three walls, our village is the safest. If there were a gang like Dong Ge's last time, they wouldn't even be able to get to the entrance of our village."
The other members of the group were less active; some didn't even want to talk, just hoping the other side would open the door soon so they could get home.
Fortunately, the person on duty here was quick-witted and soon found someone nearby who knew Village Chief Si to identify the person and let them into the village.
In just over a month, the narrow and crowded lakeside path has been widened by these people, and many small wooden houses have been built along the lake.
The side facing the mountain was covered with brambles, and rows of farmland had been cultivated along the slope.
As they came in carrying large and small bags, those who didn't know them stared curiously at them, while those who did know them explained things to the people around them and waved to greet them.
Si Cheng and his group responded to everyone who greeted them, which made everyone have a much better impression of the people from Pinghe Village.
Of course, with so many strong young men walking by, many families with daughters also had their own ideas. Everyone knows that Pinghe Village just held a group wedding a while ago, and these people had all gone out before that, which means they still have a chance.
"They're finally back. These bastards ran fast enough, dropping their stuff and running home. Were they that homesick?" Zhao Dongwei had just put his things down when he realized that most of the people had run away.
Yun Qi understood it better than him: "It's not that he misses home, it's that he misses the simple porridge and side dishes at home."
"These beasts, they didn't even remind me. Sister Yunqi, I'm leaving too. I'm going back to ask my mom to make me a bowl of tomato and egg noodles, with a handful of scallions on top. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water." Zhao Dongwei said as he ran out. He had been thinking about this day and night for the past few days.
Seeing that the group had all run away, Si Cheng and Yun Qi said to Yun Xun and the others who had been counting the number, "We're going back too. You can take care of things here."
Si Cheng didn't wait for their reply after he finished speaking. He took Yun Qi's hand and started walking home. The two of them didn't speak along the way, but instead quickened their pace, wanting to get back to their elderly parents and children as soon as possible.
Si Cheng and the others didn't rest when they got home; they started working on the farm the very next day.
Meidi's situation wasn't so smooth. Although she and Akun were planning to sneak away when they weren't looking, they didn't know if the other side was on guard against them, but these past two days, wherever they went, someone followed them.
Seeing that she would have to break her appointment with Dong Ge if the delay continued, Mei Di became a little anxious.
“It’s no use having them watching us every day; we have no way to escape.” Meidi made an excuse to go out and look for wild vegetables, but there were also some people watching them from a short distance away.
Ah Kun: "If all else fails, let's wait until they relax before taking action. They'll definitely be keeping a close eye on us at the beginning."
Meidi bit her lip. "But we made an appointment with Dong-ge. If we don't go back on time and something else happens, we'll have a hard time finding them again."
Meidi never expected that asking for directions would lead her into such a predicament.
“We’re helpless right now. If it were just one or two of them, we could handle them, but with three or four of them, we simply can’t beat them.” Ah Kun understood his own fighting ability. In Dong Ge’s team, he was only good at running errands; he was completely incapable of charging into battle.
If he were to face these people, he would have no chance of winning. As for his cousin, she wasn't much better off than him.
The two siblings fell silent. The time they had agreed upon with Dong Ge was fast approaching. If they couldn't escape soon, would they really have to go with them?
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