Hearing this, Jiang Qinyu was temporarily relieved and shook her head, saying, "It's all thanks to everyone's hard work; I didn't help much."
"Really impressive?" Chen was puzzled for a moment, then quickly smiled and said, "You mean they all worked very hard, right? Sigh, it's what they should do. If they didn't fight so hard, how could they have managed to reclaim the grain and supplement their family's income?"
"That's right, Lu Yanzheng's wife, don't be modest. We're all indebted to you this time. If you ever need anything in the future, just come to Aunt Zhang, and this old woman will definitely not hesitate!"
“Count me in. If my old man knew we wouldn’t have to worry about fleeing famine anymore, he’d be ecstatic. Yu’er, right? If you have any difficulties, your Aunt Wu would be happy to help you…”
The women expressed their gratitude to Jiang Qinyu, and Chen straightened her back a little more unconsciously upon hearing this.
She knew that the wife she married for her eldest son would be a good one, and now it's come true.
Jiang Qinyu smiled, said nothing more, and joined them in scavenging for supplies.
Qinggang Mountain has been causing havoc in the surrounding villages for so many years. If they just take the grain and leave, wouldn't that be a huge loss for them?
Especially when the old women like Chen came, it was even less likely that anything useful would remain in the village; they had to take everything away.
Next, Jiang Qinyu witnessed the power of the old ladies and women of this era. They could move everything except a few walls.
"This table is nice. I'll have my husband come and take it away in a bit."
"Wow, this straw hat and mat are better than the ones I have at home. I have to take them with me!"
"Don't try to take it from me, everything in this room is mine!"
"Grandma Jiang, don't be so domineering! My family needs a big broom, you have to give it to me..."
If it weren't for the village chief's wife, Meng, managing things with great difficulty, these people would probably have fought over a pair of straw sandals.
Jiang Qinyu looked up at the sky speechlessly. It seemed that the men in this village needed to train, and the women couldn't be idle either!
It wasn't until daylight that the people of Dingshui Village brought their belongings down the mountain.
Because there are many handcarts and wheelbarrows in the village, and several horses, cows and mules kept in the stable, these should not be wasted and are all used to transport things.
The women packed up everything useful they found using tattered bedsheets. Some had their men carry it, while others carried it on their shoulders or in their hands, seemingly without feeling tired, and ran down the mountain as if the wind was blowing through their feet.
“If it weren’t for the fact that it’s not good to come back, I would definitely come back and take those two stone mills back.”
"Don't even mention it! If I could take it with me, I would have dug their well back! I think there's a lot more water in their well than in our village!"
"Aren't you satisfied? All this stuff still can't shut you up? Women are such a hassle..."
"Li Tiezhu, who are you calling troublesome? Just wait until I get back and I'll teach you a lesson!"
"No, I didn't, honey, please don't be angry..."
A group of people descended the mountain in a lively manner, hurrying towards the village. Halfway there, they saw the people who had stayed behind the night before, along with a group of children, come to meet them.
"Father, Mother, you're alright? That's wonderful! You're finally back!"
When the children saw their parents return safely, many of them burst into tears and ran towards them.
"Hey, don't touch me! The thing on my shoulder is going to fall off!"
"You brat, what are you crying for? I'm perfectly fine. Hurry up and go get your mother's things..."
When the children saw that they had brought back so much grain, they cried and laughed and rushed forward to help. The group of people walked briskly back to the village.
Upon returning to the village, Village Chief Li instructed everyone to gather all their belongings and place them in the village's ancestral hall.
“These were earned with everyone’s blood and sweat, and no one can just take them home. After a long night, everyone should go back and rest for half a day. Those who need to treat their wounds should do so, and those who need to eat should eat. Come back here at Shenshi (3-5 PM) and we’ll discuss how to divide these things.”
No one objected to what Village Chief Li said. Although some of the grain that was salvaged belonged to each family, it did not mean that it had to be returned in its entirety.
Anyone with a modicum of common sense can figure out the logic behind this, especially those families who already had limited food supplies; they were even more eager to receive a share of the extra food recovered from Qinggang Mountain.
Jiang Qinyu was not worried now that she had food in her hands. She ignored the noisy others, found Old Man Lu and Chen Shi, greeted them, and prepared to go back.
She was still worried about leaving her two children, Shufan and Pan'er, at home with Lu Yancai and his wife.
“There’s nothing else to do here. Your father and I will go back with you,” Chen said readily.
Old Lu twisted his arm and glanced at it. "It's so hot today, I need to go back and treat my wound."
Upon hearing that he was injured, Chen nervously pulled him over to take a look, then immediately dropped him. "It looks like he's already healed before he even got home. How can you say you're injured when you're like this?"
Old Lu was a skilled hunter in his youth, and his skills were naturally agile. In addition, he had always followed Village Chief Li and a young man from another village, which allowed him to narrowly escape being harmed many times.
"What do you know, you old woman? This at least proves that I was seriously fighting those bandits last night!" Old Lu argued in his defense.
Chen pouted, "Come on, stop being so concerned about saving face. Let's see how much grain our family gets this afternoon."
Old Lu fell silent, because he wasn't sure if his performance would earn him a larger share of grain.
The group arrived home quickly. The first thing Jiang Qinyu did upon entering the courtyard was to look at her house. Seeing that the lock on the door was still properly fastened, she breathed a sigh of relief.
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