After half a month, no more refugees came to harass him by knocking on the door, and Yuan Zhuangtou breathed a sigh of relief.
They all thought that the refugees had been resettled by the government. In fact, a rumor was circulating in several new villages outside: there were wild beasts raised in this mountain and rural farm, and they appeared late at night to guard the farm.
People want to eat poultry, and wild animals want to eat people.
You are clearly looking for food, but if you are not careful, you will end up in the mouth of a wild beast and become its food.
Therefore, the rumor spread that even though more and more refugees were settled outside the village, no one would dare to approach the village without knowing the danger.
It's summer now. Jiang Yue used to be afraid of cold but not heat, but now that she's pregnant, she's a little intolerant to heat. She's wearing light clothes, and her belly is slightly bulging.
She sat in the main hall, facing Jiang Dashu and his three sons, Yan Gu's husband, and her youngest son. "It's been a month since you came to work at the farm. Today I'll give you your monthly wages. Do you want money or food?"
Jiang Yue placed both fine grains and coarse grains on the table and let them choose.
The two fathers and sons had made their own considerations at the beginning. Yan Gu's family wanted all coarse grains, half beans and half potatoes.
Jiang Dashu and Jiang San's rations were for coarse grains, half potatoes and half sweet potatoes. These two new grains were highly valued in the city, and they knew they must be good, so they decided to try growing them in their backyard, enclosing it in a wooden enclosure.
Although Jiang Dashu volunteered to only take half the food, Jiang Yue saw that, apart from his strength, he was no less capable than the younger men and indeed had more experience. Therefore, she gave him the same amount of food as the others.
And the share of the country is exchanged for money.
Jiang Yue once used fifty taels of silver to exchange for two large baskets of copper coins, and took them to the countryside to exchange for things. Now there is still more than half left that he has not used, which is just right for paying workers.
As for the other servants who had signed the indenture, they also received monthly wages, but not as much as they did. One hundred coins a month, and four sets of clothes a year, was already quite generous.
Jiangshan's family received a total of 15 kilograms of potatoes and sweet potatoes. Jiangshan was holding six strings of copper coins in his hand and grinning.
Yan Gu's family looked on with envy, but they already had plenty of food and were very happy. This was much better than doing odd jobs in the city from day to day!
Jiang Yue continued, "Rest for two days, then you will start clearing the wasteland."
"Normally, we should take food home for the first month to make our families happy. But the roads are unsafe right now. Would you consider going home together, or should I have someone deliver the food home for you and let you know you're safe?"
Several people hesitated. After being away from home for so long, they naturally wanted to go back home to see their wives and children and make them feel at ease. However, they had so much food on hand. If it was robbed, they would be heartbroken.
Seeing their expressions, Jiang Yue guessed it and gave a solution.
"You want to go home? That's fine. Zhuangzi is close to the city. I'll have Fan Bai go back to the city to check on the houses and shops, and then I'll take you there."
"Oh, okay!"
Jiang Shan was no longer afraid when he heard that Fan Bai was with them. He realized that the man must be very capable to be able to protect so many poultry.
The next morning, Fan Bai drove them back to the city in a mule cart.
Since there was food on the cart, they covered it with straw. Several men sat on the cart with tense faces, holding sticks tightly in their hands.
Fan Bai was the only one who was relaxed and showed no fear at all. However, he was unfamiliar with these people, so he naturally kept silent.
He didn't speak, and the others didn't dare to speak either. They hurried along in silence, and the atmosphere became even more solemn...
There were indeed quite a few people on the road. When they saw their mules, they looked greedy and seemed to want to block their way.
Jiangshan's breathing became rapid. He held the stick in front of his chest, as if he was going to hit someone if they got close to him in the next second.
Fan Bai glanced at the people on the road and took out the long knife given by his boss with his left hand.
Seeing that the other party had a sharp knife in his hand, the refugees retreated again.
Fan Bai put down the knife and increased his speed.
At mid-morning, the group entered the city. Fan Bai first sent them to their doorstep and then said, "I'll come pick you up at 3 p.m. tomorrow."
"good."
The strong men all rushed to do the work, and many old people and children on the streets stayed at home to weave straw sandals, which they could use for their own families, and if they made too many, they could exchange them for other things.
With so many people entering the city, the sound of mule carts was no longer unusual for them, but when the person getting off the cart was a neighbor, they became curious.
Some people came over to watch the fun and helped the Jiang family call people out.
Gao was taking care of the children in the yard, and her daughters-in-law were preparing lunch when they heard someone calling her.
"What's wrong?" She came out holding her grandson.
"mother!"
"Oh, why are you back at this time? Come in, come in." Gao was very happy to see her husband and two sons back.
"Dad!" Jiangshan's son rushed out and hugged his thighs, looking up at him, "I heard your voice in there!"
He hasn't seen his father in ages. His mother said he could come back once a month. He's still little and doesn't know how long a month is. She's getting annoyed by asking him every day. But he just misses his father!
Jiangshan hadn't seen his son for a month and missed him very much. He picked him up with his right hand and held the old bag in his left hand. The bag was bulging and it was impossible to tell what was inside.
The other people were doing the same, holding onto their bags and refusing to let anyone touch them. This made people even more suspicious.
"Are you out looking for work? What kind of work? How much food is paid? Do you need help?"
"We're neighbors, so if there's a good job, please think of us!"
“…”
The brothers hurried home, leaving their father alone to deal with the inquiries. They didn't know how many years they would be neighbors, so they couldn't make enemies.
Let Daddy say all those sour words. After all, he was the village chief for decades, so it’s more than enough for him to deal with the inquiries from outsiders.
"You're finally back!"
When Jiang Dajiang's third daughter-in-law saw her husband coming back, she was surprised at first and then happy, and hurriedly added more food to the pot.
Jiangshan held his son in his arms, bouncing him up and down to comfort him. He walked into the main room and placed the bundle on the table.
His son stared at the bundle curiously, "Dad, what's in here?"
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