Chapter 69: Entering The Village
The refugees who had long been in hunger were thoroughly conquered by three consecutive days of mixed flour steamed buns, and upon hearing this, they beamed with joy. The clever ones had already knelt down to kowtow, and the rest of the refugees followed suit.
Feng Chang stepped forward and handed the few pages of paper filled with writing to Pei Qinghe: “These are the names, origins, ages, and backgrounds of our twenty-five people. Please review them, Sixth Sister.”
Pei Qinghe skimmed through them roughly and praised, “You’ve done well.”
Feng Chang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and responded with utmost respect, “Thank you for the praise, Sixth Sister. In the future, as long as Sixth Sister gives the instruction, we will go through fire and water.”
Pei Qinghe tugged at the corner of her mouth: “No need for this useless nonsense. Still the same words: whoever dares to do evil, I will kill everyone. Whether you choose to live well or seek your own death is up to you.”
Her tone was indifferent and casual.
The refugees felt a chill in their hearts and, after standing up, lined up in a row, following Pei Qinghe into the village.
Pei Qinghe pointed to the first thatched hut: “There is hot water in the house. Go wash up and change clothes.”
The refugees’ clothes were ragged and worn, emitting a stench, with lice on their heads and fleas on their bodies. It was fine in the vast wilderness, but as soon as they entered the thatched hut, it immediately reeked.
Gu Lian, whose half face was ruined by a knife scar, kept a straight face and said loudly, “Undress in order, one by one into the bathtub.”
Feng Chang, standing first, quickly stripped off his clothes and entered the wooden bucket. The water in the large wooden bucket was very hot, almost scalding his skin. Feng Chang didn’t make a sound, and when he came out, a layer of mud and ash was floating in the bucket, along with many lice.
This was just the first round; next came a second bucket of hot water, this time scrubbing even the hair. Only after the third bucket of hot water could they be considered truly clean.
In front of each bucket, a woman watched vigilantly. Whoever moved slowly or didn’t wash thoroughly would get a scolding.
These fierce women from the Black Bear Stockade were used to seeing men’s bodies and were quite disdainful of these skinny, scar-covered bodies before them. They muttered right in front of them, “And they want to pick one from these to be a son-in-law? They don’t look useful at all.”
“After they eat a few months of full meals, then we’ll see.”
Feng Chang twitched the corner of his mouth and stopped the refugees who wanted to retort with stern looks. These women were clearly different from the Pei Clan women. However, since they were settling down in Pei Family Village, they were not to be provoked.
The dirty water was carried out, and buckets of clean hot water were brought in. After changing the hot water three times, all the refugees were finally clean. Then Gu Lian brought people carrying a pile of cotton clothes.
These cotton clothes were bought from the ready-made clothing shop in the county town. Not new clothes, but all thick and sturdy, washed and sun-dried, with the fragrance of soapwort.
As usual, Feng Chang led by example and was the first to put on cotton clothes.
Gu Lian glanced disdainfully: “Now you barely look like a person. Get out!”
Feng Chang was not annoyed and said in a gentle tone, “Sixth Sister asked me to lead them, so I have to stay and watch to prevent them from being reckless in speech or action.”
Gu Lian curled her lips and turned to the other two women, “Take all their dirty, stinky, ragged clothes out and burn them.”
After busying for half a day, twenty-five refreshed refugees appeared before Pei Qinghe.
Pei Qinghe pointed to two more thatched huts: “The new village isn’t built yet, so everyone is living crowded now. These two houses are for you to stay in temporarily. In a few months, when the new village and new houses are built, we’ll allocate two more houses here to you.”
Feng Chang wanted to kneel but was stopped by Pei Qinghe: “No need to kneel all the time. From today on, you all have to go to the fields to work. What to do, listen to Pei Jia.”
At lunchtime, long lines formed in front of the five large iron pots. At a glance, old and young, almost all women. There were only five adult men like Pei Jia, plus more than twenty male children.
Feng Chang’s group of new refugees, though skinny, were all men. As soon as they appeared in line, they immediately drew everyone’s attention.
“These are the newly recruited refugees?” Madam Lu, as usual, disliked everything: “All withered and thin as firewood, can they reclaim land and farm? Better not waste grain.”
Madam Fang chimed in softly: “In a village, there should be some men.”
Her daughter-in-law had already married a son-in-law and borne children. The others shouldn’t idle either.
Madam Lu could naturally see through Madam Fang’s little thoughts. She pursed her lips to say something sarcastic, but caught sight of Pei Qinghe’s figure from the corner of her eye and immediately shut her mouth.
Today’s lunch was sorghum rice, one spoonful of radish stewed meat per person. The sorghum rice was a bit coarse, but drenched in fragrant meat broth, the soft radishes soaked full of juice were especially sweet, plus a meat slice half the size of a palm.
One bowl wasn’t enough; they could get another. No more meat? They could get another spoonful of meat broth and radish.
Feng Chang ate until sweat beaded on his nose tip. Looking up, the refugees squatting beside him were eating on the verge of tears: “I can’t even remember how long it’s been since I ate like this.”
“I’ll die before I leave here; no one can make me go.”
Looking at the Pei Clan women again, they ate not a bit less than the men. Some with big appetites were getting a third bowl… yes, the sisters Pei Qinghe and Pei Yan.
“Girls eating so much,” Madam Lu muttered distastefully: “Yan Yatou is already so tall; if she keeps eating, she’ll be taller than men. Then she won’t be able to find a son-in-law.”
Pei Yan kept her head down eating without lifting it: “Cousin Sister Qinghe eats even more than me, but Grandmother doesn’t dare say anything to her and just picks on me all day.”
Madam Lu flew into a rage out of humiliation and slammed down her bowl.
Pei Qinghe frowned: “If you’re eating, just eat! Why smash the bowl!”
Madam Lu, in anger, picked up the bowl again.
……
“In another ten days or so, it will be winter wheat harvest.” Pei Jia pointed to a sparse wheat field, somewhat emotional: “This is the first year of land reclamation, and we encountered heavy rain a few days ago, destroying quite a bit of the wheat.”
“What we need to do now is still reclaim wasteland. Originally it was just over ten of us; now with you, we have more than forty. The village has ploughing oxen, mules, donkeys, and enough iron plows.”
Feng Chang nodded.
Among the women farming in the fields, a few looked familiar; he had seen them that morning during the bath and change. The leader was that knife-scar-faced woman.
The twenty-five refugees pulled the ploughing oxen, held the iron plows, and shouted as they reclaimed wasteland.
After working for an hour, they could rest for a stick of incense. The warm water was salted, to quench thirst and replenish strength.
Pei Qinghe came to the field edge twice.
In the evening, after half a day of labor, everyone finished work. Five large iron pots steamed with heat and aroma, corn mush with mixed flour steamed buns and pickled mustard greens.
After eating his fill, Feng Chang specially sought out Pei Qinghe: “I want to discuss something with Sixth Sister.”
Pei Qinghe remained impassive: “What is it?”
Feng Chang said: “This afternoon during land reclamation and farming, I observed carefully: some plowed more, some less. I plan to start tomorrow, tallying their work daily. Who works hard and who slacks off will be obvious at a glance.”
