The village chief held the two children tightly in his arms and glared angrily at Li Lianzhen.
“Sir, we will exchange dried seafood for your grain, but we will not sell the children in our village.”
Although these two children have no parents, our village will raise them.
Li Lanzhen clapped her hands, stood up, and laughed heartily.
Do I look like a kidnapper to you?
If I were a kidnapper, I would have kidnapped them both when I met them on the other side of the river in the morning.
Why should we leave grain to trade with you for these dried seafood?
The villagers who had been surrounding the village chief and protecting the two children were also puzzled after hearing Li Lanzhen's words.
Yes, if this strong woman were a kidnapper, she would have already abducted Shuiwang and his sister.
Shuiwang tugged at the village chief's sleeve, "Grandpa Village Chief, Auntie isn't a kidnapper, she's a good person."
Her son and grandson are both in our border defense battalion; her son is even a junior general.
After hearing Shui Wang's words, the village chief looked at Li Lanzhen.
"Is what this child is saying true? Is your son really a young general guarding the military camp?"
"Yes, I won't lie to you."
I just looked at these two children. They have no parents or other immediate family members here. Of course, he said the village chief and the villagers treat them very well.
If it weren't for you helping them get food from various families, they would have been dead long ago.
So I wanted to bring the two siblings with me to my village.
I can support both of them, brother and sister.
If you're worried, you can come with me to the border post to take a look.
Li Lanzhen's words left the village chief and villagers at a loss for what to do.
"Okay, I'll go back and discuss it. Take the child with me for now."
After we've discussed it, I'll come find you tomorrow.
Li Lanzhen planned to store the dried seafood in her spatial storage and leave after dark, once the villagers were asleep.
So it seems like staying overnight might be a good idea.
"Alright, village chief, then you two go and discuss it."
This time, the village chief did not tell Li Lanzhen to stay at their house; instead, he took the villagers and Shui Wang and his sister back to the village.
Li Lanzhen simply took out a few sticks and straw mats from her storage space and quickly built a triangular hut.
First, a thick straw mat was laid out in the shack, and then a mattress and a quilt were taken out.
Li Lanzhen glanced at it; everything in front of her was piled high with food.
The villagers carefully tied the baskets tightly with rattan rope.
Li Lanzhen looked around and saw that no one was there.
I knew that the villagers should be at the village chief's house distributing grain right now.
When it came to food, she was a little flustered when she took it out of her spatial storage.
She almost gave herself away, and she was a little annoyed at herself for being so careless.
That morning, I met Shuiwang and his sister and learned that they were both orphans and were struggling to make ends meet.
He was so excited to find sugarcane that he didn't even think about how to get the food out.
After descending the mountain, we saw the village chief of the small village on the other side leading his villagers to transport dried seafood.
Then it suddenly occurred to me that someone had delivered the dried seafood, and I hadn't prepared the food yet.
There was nothing she could do, so she said to the two village chiefs, "Village chiefs, please wait here for a while."
I'll go see if my men have delivered the food yet.
After saying that, they went up the mountain.
The village chief and villagers did not doubt Li Lanzhen's statement.
She went up the mountain, avoiding the valley where sugarcane grew, and found another small hollow.
Here are black flour, brown rice bran, sweet potatoes, and potatoes.
Because she didn't know the exact weight of the dried seafood, she couldn't estimate the approximate amount of food she would need.
So they simply took out several hundred kilograms of these kinds of grains and piled them together.
Once you find out the weight of the dried seafood, you'll know the weight of grain you can exchange it for.
When they come to transport the grain, you can just add more when you see an opening.
Fortunately, the total weight of all the grain she took out was several tens of kilograms more than she had.
Lanzhen said that the extra weight from the sweet potatoes and potatoes was what she had given to the village to grow, and that's how she got away with it.
Thinking about it now, I still feel a bit scared.
She took out a few wild vegetable pancakes, some dark cornbread, and a small jar of pickled vegetables, and put them into her basket.
Then I slowly rolled up the kimchi in the flatbread, ate two flatbreads and two steamed buns, and then drank a bowl of Lingquan water.
After tidying everything up and putting it in the basket, I covered the basket with a cloth and lay down to rest for a while.
Li Lanzhen drifted off to sleep, not knowing how long she had slept, when she heard hurried footsteps approaching.
She immediately woke up and took out a stun gun from her spatial storage and placed it under the mattress.
Li Lanzhen sat in the shack without moving.
"Auntie, Auntie~~"
She heard Shuiwang's shout and casually put the stun gun into her spatial storage.
As Li Lanzhen stepped out of the shack, she saw Shui Wang holding a bowl in his hand.
His younger sister, Niu Niu, followed behind, running around.
Next to the water source is the village chief's little girl.
"Auntie, Grandma Village Chief cooked seafood porridge and asked me to bring you a bowl. You can have some; it's delicious."
Li Lanzhen took the bowl and looked at the children.
"Thank you. Have you eaten yet?"
"We've all eaten. Today's seafood porridge had grains in it, and it was so delicious!"
Grandma Village Chief's cooking is delicious, Auntie, please eat!
Shuiwang said happily, "Auntie, Grandpa Village Chief said that he and Uncle Dazhu will take me to the military camp with you."
Li Lanzhen knew that the village chief and the others were worried, which also showed that the village chief and the villagers of this small fishing village were indeed kind-hearted people.
They raised these two children, who had no parents or relatives, as if they were their own.
"Okay, let's leave early tomorrow morning."
As Li Lanzhen spoke, she took out her own bowl from her basket, poured the seafood porridge into it, washed the village chief's bowl with water from her water bag, and then handed it to the village chief's little girl.
"Thank you. You can go back and rest now."
Shuiwang, you should pack your things too.
Shuiwang frowned, thinking to himself, "What else is there to tidy up at home? It's just me and my sister."
Oh, I'll pack a few little things that Mom and Dad used to use in a bag and take them with me, so I can look at them and touch them when I miss them.
He nodded, then turned and left with his younger sister.
Just as it got dark, Li Lanzhen saw the village chief and several men walk around the area before going back.
Li Lanzhen didn't go over to say hello; she lay in the shack, waiting for the time to pass.
I reckon everyone in the village is fast asleep.
Li Lanzhen waved her hand and sent all the dried seafood into her spatial dimension.
Take the little donkey and donkey cart out of the space.
She plans to take them back in a donkey cart tomorrow morning.
Walking back is too far and tiring.
Just as dawn broke, the village chief, a man in his twenties, and the Shui Wang siblings arrived.
Niu Niu was probably still asleep; the man was holding her in his arms.
The village chief walked up to Li Lianzhen and looked at the dried seafood that had been scattered on the ground yesterday, which had all disappeared. His expression became serious.
"This, this, sir, when did your men take away these seafood? How come you didn't know anything about it?"
"Oh, I came over last night. I didn't disturb you."
"Village chief, you two are going to deliver Shuiwang and Niuniu."
The village chief nodded solemnly, "Yes, we'll go with you."
"Okay, let's get in the car then."
When Li Lanzhen heard their footsteps, she packed up the shack.
They left only the straw mats, mattresses, and blankets, spread these inside the donkey cart, and put the two children on top of them, covering them with the blankets.
"Village chief, you two should ride in the donkey cart. I'll drive it; it'll be faster that way."
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