A short while later, everyone saw the people who were speaking.
He wore the same coarse cotton-padded jacket and gray rabbit fur hat as the old man before, except that compared to these people, the old man's clothes had relatively few patches.
"Oh my, so many young men! Our village can finally hold its head high!" a toothless old woman said with a smile.
The old man beside her smiled and stroked his beard upon hearing this, his joy practically overflowing.
"Don't stand in the wind, everyone. It'll hurt your faces. Let's go to the village ancestral hall first. It's big enough to hold everyone," the old man said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Ma Wencai glanced at the old man with a puzzled look, and whispered to Li Yichang beside him, "Since he knew it was cold outside, why didn't he take us into the ancestral hall from the beginning, but instead called a bunch of people over here?"
Li Yichang glanced at the old man and said softly, "He has his reasons for doing this."
Ma Wencai looked at Li Yichang and snorted coldly, "What you have to say is quite something."
However, Ma Wencai soon understood why the old man had called these women over.
"Girls, where are you from?"
"Oh my, the capital is so far away. That must be quite a journey. After you've rested, come to my house for dinner. My cooking is excellent."
"What? You're fifty-two? I can't believe it, I really can't believe it. I'm two years younger than you, we look like we're from different generations."
...
The old man called these women over for two reasons: first, to find out about their backgrounds through conversation and see if there was anything unusual; and second, to let them experience the warmth of the village.
"We've arrived. This is our village's ancestral hall." The old man's smile vanished, replaced by a hint of sorrow in his eyes. He then led the way inside.
The group followed the old man into the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall was indeed very large, capable of accommodating hundreds of people in the exiled procession. Upon entering the hall, the most striking feature was the row of memorial tablets.
The surnames on these memorial tablets are so diverse that they far exceed the capacity of a typical village.
The old man looked at the memorial tablets and sighed. He explained, "These are people who left our village; they all died in the war."
To express their gratitude for their contributions, the village erected a memorial tablet, hoping they would all be reborn into a good family.
If the original exiles had heard these words, they would probably have huddled together, trembling with fear, and tried to escape from here.
But now they have defeated bandits and fought real battles with villains, so their courage is naturally not what it used to be.
After listening to the old man's words, they expressed their respect and reverence for the ancestral tablets, but their faces showed no regret or fear.
The old man felt somewhat relieved upon seeing this; it seemed that those who came this time were all men of courage and spirit.
He smiled and said to everyone, "I am the village head of Blackfish Village. My surname is Lin. Everyone usually calls me Old Lin. You can call me that too."
As you've seen in our village, we're left with only the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled. If you don't regret your decision and truly want to settle here, I'll arrange accommodation for you right now.
Xu Jinhuan smiled and said, "Li Zheng, we already knew about the situation here when we chose Blackfish Village, so we have no regrets."
Lin Lizheng laughed heartily upon hearing this, a hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes, "Good, good indeed!"
He then continued, "There are actually quite a few empty houses in our village, but some of them have been in disrepair for years and have collapsed."
There are about ten rooms available now. You can come with me to take a look first, and then we can discuss where you'll stay.
And so, Xu Jinhuan and the others followed Lin Lizheng to see all the empty houses in Blackfish Village.
"Lin Lizheng, these houses are all quite nice. Let's discuss how to divide them. Once we've decided, we'll have someone report back to you," Xu Jinhuan said with a smile.
Lin Li chuckled and stroked his beard. “No problem, you don’t need to rush. This house hasn’t been lived in for a long time, so it definitely needs to be tidied up.”
It's cold now, and you haven't prepared any firewood since you just arrived. Come to my place later and get some to use for now; it's hard to endure winter without a heated kang (heated brick bed)."
Xu Jinhuan smiled and agreed, thanking him repeatedly.
After seeing Lin Lizheng off, Xu Jinhuan began to explain her arrangements, looking at the men in the group.
"The conscription order will be issued soon, so you can stay with your families for now."
After saying that, she looked at Xie Datou and said, "Datou, you take your men to the military camp as well. Don't have any contact with Li Yichang and his men. Try your best to win General Hu's trust."
"Yes, boss!" Xie Datou replied respectfully.
He then looked at An Er and the other guards, saying, "Each village has a limited number of conscription slots. Half of you will go to the military camp, and the rest will stay to protect the village's safety."
Those who stayed behind to guard the village lived in the empty house at the village entrance, while the rest lived with Wang Manshan and his men.
"Yes, boss!" the guards replied in unison.
Xu Jinhuan quickly arranged accommodations for everyone and then began to arrange logistical matters.
"After we move the things, the women will be in charge of tidying up the house and making leather coats, while the men will all go up the mountain to chop firewood, trying to finish all the firewood we need for the winter before the conscription."
If you don't want your wife and children to freeze, then work hard chopping wood, do you hear me?
"We heard you!" everyone responded in unison.
After they left, Xu Jinhuan said to Li Xiaoxiao beside him.
"Xiaoxiao, your sister is going on a long trip. If all goes well, she'll be back tonight. If something comes up and she's delayed, it might take a few days. Please let everyone know for me."
Li Xiaoxiao was somewhat surprised to hear this. She asked with a worried expression, "Sister Xu, is there any danger on your trip? Should we take Brother Datou and the others with us?"
Xu Jinhuan smiled and patted Li Xiaoxiao's head, "Don't worry, your older sister is very powerful. Ordinary people can't get close to me at all."
Immediately afterwards, Xu Jinhuan took a few steps to the side, waved to Li Xiaoxiao, and then disappeared in front of her with a "whoosh".
Meanwhile, a woman suddenly appeared in the backyard of a grain shop in the capital.
The moment Xu Jinhuan arrived in the capital, he took out a disguise mask from his spatial storage and transformed into the appearance he had when he bought the grain.
"Boss, you've arrived!" the grain shop clerk called out enthusiastically.
Xu Jinhuan smiled and nodded, "How's business at the store lately?"
The shop assistant proudly said, "Ever since we started selling honest grains, business has never been bad. Some people even travel all the way from Beijing to support our business."
After listening to the shop assistant's report for a while, Xu Jinhuan left the grain shop. Her return to the capital this time was not for such a trivial matter.
She wanted to kill Lei Tingjun herself to end this ridiculous farce.
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