Si Cheng saw that he had already provided a solution, but the other party was still hesitant, so he didn't want to be too direct.
Fortunately, there were so many people exchanging medicinal herbs during this period that everyone knew the inventory very well, and they quickly calculated the items and handed them over to the people of Gaojia Village.
Gao Liang barely made it to the village entrance just as he was about to leave Gaojia Village. At this time, he was covered with things that his aunt and sister had given him.
"I told you, you're always like a freeloader whenever you come to Pinghe Village." Someone started teasing Gao Liang as soon as he left the village.
"There's nothing I can do, my relatives are just too hospitable, something you can only envy."
"This kid is getting cocky. You should have signed up to come to Pinghe Village to learn medicine back then. He's your cousin and your brother-in-law here. You would have been in perfect harmony with him."
"No way, I get dizzy as soon as I look at a book. The thought of memorizing so many medical principles and various diseases is terrifying. I'm only suited for manual labor." At the time, many people advised him to try learning medicine from his brother-in-law, but after taking the medical book from his sister and glancing at it twice, he felt completely bewildered.
"We should have had you try to persuade your cousin earlier, see if he could help us mediate." The representative from Gaojia Village only then remembered that he hadn't asked Gao Liang to act as a mediator.
"You've got it wrong. If my cousin agrees, he won't have to consider anyone else's feelings. On the contrary, he has principles in many things. Like last time when we went to exchange salt together, he treated our family the same as everyone else along the way."
Gao Liang had anticipated this tactic and tried to minimize his presence on the way there, quickly making his escape as soon as he entered Pinghe Village.
Whether it was his words that had an effect or not, no one continued to make things difficult for him with this issue along the way.
After the people from Gaojia Village had gone far away, Yun Xun turned to Si Cheng and asked, "Brother, didn't you finish explaining your previous method?"
Si Cheng patted him on the shoulder, "There are some things that are not suitable for us to say too clearly. If they are determined to be ruthless and eliminate future troubles, they will take that approach."
Yunxun still felt that the method Cheng Ge had proposed before had many flaws, let alone being able to eliminate future troubles.
"You're still too young. You need to go out and experience more to grow up." Wu Tianxiang rubbed Yun Xun's head, but his hand immediately felt the prickly texture of his freshly shaved buzz cut, so he let go.
"Brother Wu, I still don't understand." Yun Xun felt that if he didn't figure this out today, he probably wouldn't be able to eat dinner.
"Didn't your brother say before that as long as they're willing to be ruthless? What constitutes being ruthless is something they'll have to figure out for themselves." The words were already so clear; if Yun Xun still didn't understand, then there was truly nothing that could be done.
Seeing Yun Xun, he seemed to remember something and stood there blankly.
"Now he understands. He's still too young and doesn't know that there's a dark side to this world. If we don't make these people afraid, we won't be able to control them in the current situation." Wu Tianxiang felt that it was best to make everyone recognize the situation at this time, because extraordinary measures are needed in extraordinary times.
“If we don’t take a tougher stance, these people who want to take shortcuts will become even more unscrupulous. They think that since they’re not killing or setting fires, there’s nothing anyone can do about them.”
In his previous life, Sicheng had seen many such cases. Some people, because of their soft hearts, kept giving in, only to find themselves with nowhere left to retreat, and by then it was too late to regret it.
"Ah Cheng, are you really not going to get involved in these things?" Wu Tianxiang asked his old comrade-in-arms curiously.
“We have no reason to interfere now, nor can we help these villages sort things out for them. They also need to grow up. Otherwise, if our village has to support them all, we simply can’t manage.” Si Cheng didn’t mean he didn’t want to help, but he didn’t want everyone to become dependent on others. Sometimes, distant water can’t quench a nearby fire, and you have to rely on yourself.
"The difficulty now lies here: it's unrealistic to prevent these refugees from coming in to find a way to survive, but the conflict will only intensify."
"Let's go see how many medicinal herbs are left? After this batch of herbs is sold, our village will start to run into financial difficulties, right?" Si Cheng knew that the conflict wasn't at its worst yet, so he should focus on the affairs of his own village.
"That's right. Yesterday, Yao Shu and the others were complaining that the medicinal herbs in several of the partitioned rooms were all gone, which made them feel like their hearts were empty too. Apparently, they've started to care about the unharvested medicinal herbs in the village's backyard now."
When Wu Tianxiang heard this, he felt the same way. It was just like when his family was fleeing. Although they took most of the fine ironware with them, they felt very bad when they thought about their original stock and what they had now.
"Farmers rely on the weather for their livelihood, fishermen rely on the water for their nets, and doctors like them rely on medicinal herbs to treat and save lives. Now that medicinal herbs are in short supply, even the most skilled cooks can't cook without rice, so naturally they're anxious." Si Cheng was helpless in this situation; many medicinal herbs require a certain amount of time to grow. If they are processed before their peak medicinal effect, the efficacy will be greatly reduced.
"But they shouldn't exchange any more medicinal herbs. If we end up with nothing left, that will be troublesome." Wu Tianxiang was unaware that every household now keeps its own commonly used medicinal herbs, so he dutifully reminded Si Cheng.
"There's no need to worry about that. Every household grows so much. If all else fails, we can cobble together the prescription. Besides, every household keeps some on hand."
"Our village is truly farsighted. By relying on these medicinal herbs, we can live better than others in this world." Wu Tianxiang has repeatedly marveled at his family's good fortune. Now, his elders are busy and cheerful every day, and they even ask the old farmers for advice when they don't understand something. Their lives are much more fulfilling than his.
"Brother, you're here!" Liu Fengya had just finished his work and was about to go back to see Gao Jie.
"Are you all done with your work?"
"There aren't many medicinal herbs left, so it's just a simple cleaning up." Liu Fengya used to be troubled by so many medicinal herbs, but now that this batch of herbs is almost cleared out, he's starting to feel uneasy again.
"In that case, you should go back too. We were just taking a walk."
Si Cheng also knew that because many people had come to exchange medicinal herbs recently, Liu Fengya would stay here most of the time. Even when Gao Liang came over just now, he didn't have time to go back and say hello.
"Then I'll head back first. You can explain anything to the others as well." Liu Fengya didn't stand on ceremony with them. His wife at home had been diagnosed with twins, and her belly was growing bigger every day. Apart from handling some medicinal herbs here, he tried to spend as much time as possible at home with her.
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