"I won't hide it from you, Madam. There isn't much land in the village, and the soil isn't good either. The houses in the village are all damaged, so you'll have to repair them yourselves. Madam, think about it. Do you want to go to this village? This is the best solution I can think of."
"Of course, such villages do exist, but they are too far from Jinnan City, taking a whole day to walk there. Otherwise, we could arrange for your clansmen to be settled in other villages. I will try my best to arrange two villages. What do you think, Madam?"
An Shuyi thought for a moment, "Lord Li, may I discuss this with my clansmen first, and then give you an answer?"
"Alright, I'll wait here. Madam, you may go ahead."
"Alright, please wait a moment, sir!" Lin Anshuyi said, then walked towards the clansmen who had already arrived.
"Sister-in-law, what do you mean? Are you going to separate us?" Lin Changnian asked before she even got close.
Xia Hua looked at his resentful tone and didn't know what to say. Ever since Village Chief Lin came and said that they would be separated and not allowed to stay in the same village, these grown men had started to cry and beg not to be separated from them.
If it were a woman, that would be fine, but this is a man, a grown man at that! Shushu didn't come over; she must have gone to talk to that soldier, but these men are still dawdling here.
An Shuyi looked at him. Although she didn't want to admit it, she just felt that this member of the Lin clan was a bit dim-witted. Oh well, what could she do? She had transmigrated here. "I asked, and there are two options."
"First, there is a village not far from Jinnan City. There are no villagers in the village. After we go to that village, that place will become our village. However, it is surrounded by mountains on three sides, so there is very little land, the roads are not good, and we will have to build the houses ourselves."
"Second, that is to scatter the clansmen and distribute them to other villages. The official also said that he would try his best to arrange us in two villages. So, do you decide whether to choose option one or option two?"
After hearing her words, the clansmen discussed it with their families, but after the discussion, they still didn't know what to choose. In the end, everyone focused their attention on An Shuyi and Xia Hua.
"What are you looking at us for? Hurry up, how are you going to choose? Let's hurry up." Xia Hua didn't have such a good temper and urged.
They didn't want to separate just now, but now they're indecisive. I don't understand what they're thinking. Why don't they just choose that village? But I can guess why they're like this; after all, without land, there's no food.
Village Chief Lin looked at the villagers, then at the two women, and said, "Sisters, where do you think would be a better place to go?"
Seeing that they couldn't reach a conclusion, An Shuyi said helplessly, "Do you believe me and Huahua?" Fine, let her be kind one more time.
“What are you saying, sister-in-law?” Village Chief Lin said. “Of course we trust you and Sister-in-law Xia. We were able to get here alive without your help. We couldn’t make a decision because we didn’t want to separate, but if we didn’t separate, the village has too little land and not enough food to eat.”
An Shuyi nodded and said, "If you trust me and Huahua, then go to that village. Even if there is no land, we can still feed you. We may not make you rich, but we can still provide you with basic sustenance."
If possible, she wouldn't want to be separated. She and Huahua would grow high-yield crops and do business. No matter what they did, they needed people, and it was better to use people they knew well. But if they were scattered and assigned to other villages, although they could hire people from the villages, they couldn't trust them.
In the past six months, although she didn't know all the members of the Lin clan well, she had a pretty good grasp of them. They weren't the scheming type. If possible, she would still like to live in the same village as them.
“Okay, let’s choose that village then. As long as we can get enough to eat, we’ll go with the two sisters-in-law,” Lin Changnian said first.
Village Chief Lin glared at his cousin, wanting to punch him. Wasn't it he, the village chief, who said those words? "Yes, sister-in-law, we'll go with you to that village."
“Then let’s go. I’ll go and tell Lord Li.” An Shuyi said, taking a few steps ahead of them. “Sir, we’ve decided to go to that village.”
Li Shi clapped his hands happily, "Great, then I'll take the ladies to see the village right away." That's good, the village has been deserted for years, and the prefect has asked my brother-in-law to find a way to get some people to go there this time.
But whenever the refugees heard about that village, they all shook their heads and refused to go. Before they came, his brother-in-law had told him to say that village first, and if it didn't work out, to choose another one. But unexpectedly, these refugees actually chose that village. Now his brother-in-law could gain face in front of the prefect.
Seeing that Lord Li seemed very happy, An Shuyi smiled and said, "Lord Li, I wonder which village we are going to, who will be the village chief and the head of the village? Also, as you said, the village has too little land. After our Lin clan goes there, there won't be enough land to cultivate. Will other refugees be assigned there?"
Li Shi thought for a moment, then said, "Madam, let's talk as we walk!"
Then he and An Shuyi walked forward. "The old man who was with you just now was the village chief of Madam's former village. After we arrive at Taoyuan Village, which is the name of that village, let him continue to be the village chief. As for the village head...!"
"Lord Li, he is not only our village chief, but also the village head."
Li Shi turned to look at the old man from before. He hadn't expected this man to be so capable, being both the village chief and the head of the village. "Then he will remain the village chief and the head of the village. When you go to the county government to collect relief grain tomorrow, I will take him to exchange for the imperial edict."
"And your household registration documents also need to be changed, but once the village chief takes office, he will be in charge of these matters. As for sending the other refugees to Peach Blossom Village, you can rest assured, Madam. That village has too little land, and there won't be any land to cultivate there, so no refugees will go there."
Hearing this, An Shuyi felt relieved. As long as no other refugees came to Taoyuan Village, she and Xia Hua could make a big splash there. No matter how many unreasonable things they came up with, the villagers wouldn't say a word.
Over the past six months, she had witnessed her skills in fighting refugees with Hua Hua, her different personality, her different way of handling things, and the obvious irrationality of this world. She didn't believe that the Lin clan hadn't noticed these things; they just didn't say anything, or even acted as if they hadn't seen them.
"I am relieved to hear you say that, sir. Otherwise, if the land is distributed to other refugees, there won't be enough food for so many of us."
Li Shi smiled and said, "Madam, please rest assured. Although there isn't much land there, some crops can be grown on the hillside, though it's a bit difficult to cultivate." As he spoke, he suddenly pointed to the path ahead and said, "Madam, this is the road into the village, but it will take another half an hour to walk in from here."
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