Chapter 3
Wen Yi handed over the small basket in her hand and continued to walk into the yard carrying the larger wicker basket.
"Why are you waiting outside so early today?" Wen Yi put the things in the yard and sat down leaning against a tree.
Ah Mu tiptoed over with a ceramic bowl and handed the cooled water to Wen Yi. "During the day, the village head came over and took my mother with him. Before he left, he told me that you should take a rest before you go."
I drank the water in one gulp and finally felt alive again.
"I see."
When I came back, I saw a lot of people going to the village head. I calculated the time and it was not the time for the village head to give routine instructions, so I didn't go over to join in the fun. I didn't expect that he really had something to talk to everyone about.
After asking Amu to process the wild vegetables first, Wen Yi got up and walked towards the village head.
When she arrived at the gathering place, she saw the village head seemed to be saying something, and many people gathered around him, including Shu.
"...That's it. Every household must send someone here before noon tomorrow."
When Wen Yi came over, he just finished the last sentence and waved his hand, and everyone dispersed. Shu did not explain here, but beckoned Wen Yi to go home, saying as they walked:
"I heard there was trouble in the east a while ago, and they're urgently recruiting people to quell the rebellion, so they'll have to pass through here."
The passing troops were provided with food from the public warehouse, but the remaining personnel were also required to perform labor to repair the temporary camp. This year, the people in this area were conscripted to dig canals. Although they were exempted from direct combat, they still had to complete the work.
Judging by the distance, they'd be arriving in a few days. The village head, Shan, had taken advantage of everyone's presence to inform everyone to avoid chaos. After all, being able to count the hours of labor without leaving home was a pretty good job, and it was something the village head had fought for. Naturally, everyone was very enthusiastic, promising to come when the time came to do so.
Wen Yi also had to complete these tasks next year, so the village head naturally did not ignore her.
"Come with me tomorrow. I'll ask Qi to look after Amu for a while. There aren't many opportunities like this."
Most of the time, there is always someone in a family who has to do labor service this year. After all, someone has to look after the farmland and the house, and only by taking turns can they avoid being fined during the annual settlement.
"Okay, let's prepare some more food."
A few days ago, half of the neighbor's house collapsed. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the repairmen weren't around. The village head had wanted to move Qi into the public courtyard, but the conditions there were terrible, and even if he moved there, his yard wouldn't be his anymore. Qi refused to go, saying he'd rather continue living in the precarious half of his thatched hut.
Finally, the village head discussed with a few people and decided that Qi would come to their house to sleep temporarily at night. After a while, when the craftsman who went to Pingyi came back and repaired the house, Qi would be allowed to move in. This plan was finally approved, and Amu was very happy that he was finally not alone during the day.
At this time, the two people who are considered to be working people will go out tomorrow, so food and various things need to be prepared.
From a distance, you can see smoke rising from several houses. That's probably the older children in the family making porridge, after all, the working class are still on their way home.
It is not safe outside these days. Most children are detained and not allowed to go out, or can only follow adults in the fields. When walking back, you can hear the sound of some children being scolded for running around. It is because the weather is getting colder, food in the wild is becoming scarce, and those jackals have become much more dangerous.
Wen Yi didn't dare to leave too far. Fortunately, the dried fish she had accumulated before was enough for the family to get through the winter. She was not too worried at the moment. She just went out every day to dig wild vegetables to fill the vegetable stock.
*
When I woke up the next day, it was still dark. I don’t know if it was because it was cloudy or because it was too early.
Qi and Shu were already up, and Shu had probably gone out early to prepare food, leaving only Amu, who was still soundly asleep, by his side. Wen Yi also straightened her clothes and walked out quietly.
It was indeed cloudy outside, but fortunately it didn't look like it would rain in the short term.
Shu gathered up the branches left over from the fire, looked at Wen Yi coming out, waved to her, and indicated that she could have something hot to eat before coming over.
The jar contained previously harvested, sun-dried mushrooms, which, when shredded, could be added to the porridge, making it a delicious treat. These were picked earlier in the forest, and the ones in good shape were dried and stored in baskets inside the house. The rest were mostly shredded and eaten, as they were today.
Before serving it out, Shu opened Wen Yi's small ceramic jar, added a small spoonful of cooked shrimp shell powder into it, stirred it well, and served it out in two small bowls. He left the rest for Amu as today's food.
Rain is a blessing for farmers, but it's not a blessing for those on the march or on business. While there's no penalty for changing your schedule due to weather conditions, things can change quickly. A few days of delay could ruin a promising situation, ruining any achievements you could have made.
When Wen Yi and the others arrived at the edge of the village, several people had already arrived, and the village head began to order everyone to register what they were going to do that day.
"Just put the things over there!" The village head directed people to move out bags of food and transport them to shelves not far away.
This place is quite remote and there are not many houses, so the main force will probably be stationed in a relatively flat area not far away, which is also closer to the water source.
However, some food still needs to be cooked, especially in rainy weather, as unprocessed grains can spoil easily. Roasted, steamed, and then sun-dried millet is a common food to fill your stomach during this time.
The army plans to rest here for a few days. Another grain transport team will come from the other side to meet here. If the weather is bad, those unused granaries will also be cleaned up and the food supply will be completed as soon as possible.
Shan had been the village head for many years and was very skilled in these matters. He directed several newcomers to use tools to clean the courtyard full of dead branches and leaves, while several others were carrying mud to fill the cracks.
The labor service was provided with food, and the village head naturally would not skimp on everyone's expenses in this regard. He cooked rice porridge in a big pot and put a few pickles in each person's ceramic bowl, and everyone enjoyed the meal.
While eating, the people near Wen Yi started chatting and gossiping:
"Hey, have you heard about the incident in Pingyi?" A man in a brown shirt spoke, deliberately lowering his voice.
"I heard it, I heard it. I also heard from those people that you're going that way this time." The person next to him couldn't help but ask, "I remember you came from Pingyi before?"
The man in the brown shirt nodded, feeling sympathetic. "But I remember that nothing like this happened when I left. I didn't expect it to happen so soon."
Nowadays, people have very few channels to obtain information. It takes a long time for a lot of news to spread. Perhaps it takes several rounds of offense and defense before people around can get the news.
"Yeah, that feels the same."
The questioner nodded, thinking what the man in brown said made sense, but then he had another thought: "But if something happens over there, won't we be in trouble here too?"
These worries were directly interrupted by the people around me.
"Don't overthink it. They sent people here just to protect this area, didn't they? We can just live our own lives here and don't worry about those big things."
"Yeah, yeah, I think it might have been resolved. These people are heading to the other side."
Shuye nodded, seeming to be quite confident about where he was, despite the fact that this was a very uneasy time. Wen Yi didn't quite understand this, but she didn't object.
Li was cleaning the ground not far away. He heard the group of people talking but didn't stop them. He simply didn't delay his work. If they wanted to chat, it was fine. He didn't make things too difficult for the supervisors outside.
"But I haven't seen any vendors from that area come over here recently, and I'm thinking of exchanging some stuff."
"Yeah, my guy was pestering me too. I finally saved up some stuff, but now he's not coming anymore."
There was a hint of regret in their voices. Their children would soon be independent and needed a lot of things. If they didn't come soon, they would have to go to Xinyi.
Traveling far away is not only unsafe, but also costs many times more money and food, and requires deeds and documents. People basically won't go out if they can avoid this trouble.
Those who have the conditions will take the opportunity to buy some and bring them back when they are working outside, or leave a message to another person at home and ask that person to buy some when he comes back. He is calculating in his mind.
After a day's work, Wen Yi and Shu finished registering their information and prepared to go back. But before they could leave, a few more people seemed to be rushing over from a distance, carrying something in their hands.
The village head had some vague predictions, and without caring about the people who were still there, he turned around and walked a few steps in the direction where those people came from.
"But the village head?"
"Exactly."
Shan nodded in agreement, then took the familiar token from the visitor's hand, compared it with his own, and found that it matched, then said very politely:
"The place has been cleaned up. If you don't have anything important to do, you can rest here for a while."
"That's not necessary. We just came here to take a look. We know you don't have much space here, and we were just passing by. I didn't expect you to be so quick. It will be easy to explain when we get back."
The man's tone softened a little. He directed a few people to go and take a look first, while he stood at the door, as if waiting for something.
Shan gave a wink to the person standing not far away, and Shu nodded, understanding that he was going to say something important. He pulled Wen Yi and took the rest of the people out.
When they got home, Ah Mu had already rekindled the fire and moved the clay pot back on top to heat it. The portion they had cooked that morning was quite generous, and with the steamed fish, it was enough for them to eat for the whole meal.
*
In the middle of the night, several people were woken up by the sound of rain. Amu shouted a few times in a daze, but Shu covered his ears and coaxed him to continue sleeping.
The next day, none of them woke up early, but Ah Mu woke first. When Wen Yi opened her eyes, she saw the little guy quietly sitting up, playing with a small wooden carving. This was found under a box a long time ago. After asking Shu, Ah Mu got his new toy.
It rained last night, so today's work will naturally be postponed. I took this opportunity to go out for a walk.
There weren't many crops growing in the fields right now, but the wild vegetables and weeds were quite useful. Bundled weeds could be traded with other farmers for something else, which was a bit of an income.
Wen Yi shook off the dirt on the roots of the weeds, then threw the things into the backpack behind him and continued to pull out one.
Wen Yi, who was concentrating on fighting the weeds, naturally did not notice several people standing under a tree not far away who were dressed differently from everyone else.
But even if she noticed, she probably wouldn't care. After all, she had often seen students or nobles traveling around in carriages. Those people always looked down on farmers working in the fields and would never interact with them.
Under the tree, the man who was standing in a trance looked at the old man next to him staring at the people busy in the fields, and said curiously:
"Is there anything wrong with this?"
This person was wearing more complicated clothes, but he kept a very low profile and asked questions very carefully, as if he was afraid of interrupting the thoughts of those around him.
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