The location Xia Zhaoyi chose was on a steep back hill further than the tea garden.
There is a rare large piece of flat land on the mountain, and the entire place is surrounded by Zhan Jiuye's men.
The men hired by Xia Zhaoyi were clearing away weeds and debris under a large tent set up high to prevent rain.
Xia Zhaoyi was looking at the list.
In the end, Lao Tong and Zhi Changle selected only ninety-one people.
The village was too short of manpower, and refugees came frequently, so they couldn't allocate too many manpower to her.
It's just... these people want to ask everything.
Should we separate the clutter and trees? Can we dig up a bunch of wild matsutake mushrooms and take them home? What should I do if a hare nest is accidentally destroyed?
Someone else shouted that there was a snake, and the sound reached Xia Zhaoyi, and the snake was killed by the person next to him with a hoe.
Then Xia Zhaoyi watched helplessly as the two women grabbed working tools and ran to the place where the snake was killed. They knelt down with a thud, knelt and worshiped in front of the twisted snake corpse, muttering something in their mouths that Xia Zhaoyi couldn't hear.
Understand the local dialect.
In addition to the interaction between people and nature, there are also great conflicts between people.
Since they were all from other places and did not understand the conflicts between the local people, Lao Tong and Zhi Changle chose strong and tall people when selecting their personnel, and did not delve into the grievances and disputes between these people.
There were minor conflicts and frictions one after another. Some people quietly came up to Xia Zhaoyi to talk to others and asked Xia Zhaoyi if she remembered the woman she threw into the river.
Xia Zhaoyi nodded.
So the man pointed randomly at the field.
That so-and-so is the neighbor of the woman's sister-in-law.
That so-and-so is the niece of the woman's cousin's wife.
…
Xia Zhaoyi was silent for a long time, saying nothing, and asked him to go back to work.
Zeng Jishi, sent by Zhan Jiuye, opened his mouth at the side, but couldn't say anything.
Behind them, at least three miles away from the mountains, Lin Shuanglan and Bai Wuniang passed by the Taoist temple, passed through the large tea garden, and arrived at the large mountain stream deep in the valley behind the mountain.
The oncoming mountain rain became heavier and the wind began to howl.
At the intersection next to the mountain stream, there were several militiamen standing.
The militiamen recognized Lin Shuanglan, but they still stopped her and prevented her from passing through the back hill.
"Don't be kidding," Bai Wuniang said in disbelief, "This is Da Lanzi, Mr. Lin's daughter!"
"Master Zhan Jiu's death stipulations," the militiaman said in a dilemma, "Master Zhan Jiu said that this area will belong to Miss Ali for the time being."
"Then, Miss Ah Li will definitely be willing for us to go there," Bai Wuniang said.
The militiaman scratched his head: "Miss Ah Li hasn't said anything yet."
"Then please send someone up to ask."
The mountains are high and the rain is heavy, and the roads are muddy. It is really inconvenient to go up and down. Several militiamen are actually reluctant to go.
Lin Shuanglan also noticed it. She rolled her bright eyes and said, "No, there's no need to go. The warrior next to Ah Li will come over later and ask him to take us there."
"He," Bai Wuniang lowered her voice, "Da Lanzi, he is so fierce."
"Can you still scare us to death?"
Bai Wuniang held on to the bamboo basket on her forearm and had no choice but to wait with her.
Not long after, Zhi Changle was seen behind him.
Zhi Changle's steps were long and fast, and he was also carrying a bamboo basket in his hand.
His bamboo basket was sturdier, and the whole package was made into a lump, airtight.
When they got closer, the militiamen shouted: "Brother Zhi!"
"Brother Zhi!"
Zhi Changle came from the barracks. He was very popular in the barracks in his early years and was the best at dealing with people like this.
After greeting the militiamen, he walked towards the mountain.
Lin Shuanglan and Bai Wuniang looked at him from the roadside, but found that he was not looking away and did not see them at all.
"Hey, Brother Zhi!" shouted a militiaman of the same size.
"What?" Zhi Changle looked over.
Zhi Changle recognized this person. When Xia Zhaoyi threw the mother and son down by the river, this militiaman was the brother of the person whose money was stolen, named Liu Dongxin.
"This is Mr. Lin's daughter!" Liu Dongxin said, "They want to go up the mountain to find Miss Ali. See if you can take them with them!"
"Aren't these feet?" Zhi Changle pointed to their feet, "Why, you want me to carry them? You can try to carry two of them. How about stacking Arhats?"
Bai Wuniang was so angry that her face turned red.
Liu Dongxin was also speechless. He quickly stepped forward, took Zhi Changle aside, and explained to him in a low voice.
"In this case," Zhi Changle nodded, "Ah Li told me that Mr. Lin's daughter would come to her to learn how to write."
"Look, is it convenient to bring it up?"
"Then let's go." Zhi Changle said.
Liu Dong said hello and turned around to ask Lin Shuanglan and Bai Wuniang to follow.
Lin Shuanglan and Bai Wuniang were both unhappy and walked towards Zhi Changle in a sullen voice without looking back.
Although he was going up the mountain, Zhi Changle walked steadily. When he arrived at Xia Zhaoyi's place, he opened the bamboo basket and found that the noodle soup inside was separated and steaming.
Xia Zhaoyi's appetite has been bad these days, and Zhi Changle doesn't like to waste, so he doesn't cook much.
Xia Zhaoyi raised her chopsticks and asked Zhi Changle if he had eaten it before. Zhi Changle smiled honestly and said, "Not yet. I see you got up early."
With that said, Zhi Changle looked towards the venue and asked Xia Zhaoyi how it was here.
"They are very capable and can do it much faster than I thought." Xia Zhaoyi said.
Zhi Changle nodded and looked at the weeds and trees that had been cleared away. These people were very nimble with their hands and feet.
"Oh, by the way," Zhi Changle said, "there are two girls looking for you. Third Master Lin's daughter and her friend should be arriving soon, they are a little behind me."
"No, we're here!" Lin Shuanglan shouted, "We're here!"
The two girls supported each other, Lin Shuanglan gasped for air, and Bai Wuniang almost fell down from exhaustion.
Although they grew up in the mountains and were accustomed to farm work, the walk this time was a bit far, and the speed of Zhi Changle was too fast, so they didn't want to fall behind too far.
"Are you here to learn calligraphy from me?" Xia Zhaoyi said.
Lin Shuanglan nodded slightly: "Well..."
"I just came to watch the fun," Zhi Changle said, "Ah Li, you are busy with your business."
"It doesn't matter, I still have time to teach," Xia Zhaoyi smiled, "I'll eat something first, and you guys are ready to write, ink, paper and inkstone."
With that said, Xia Zhaoyi turned around and asked Zeng Jishi to help clean up a clean table and come out.
There weren't enough stools, so someone picked up a few rocks and wiped them clean.
Lin Shuanglan and Bai Wuniang's breaths calmed down. After sitting down, they took out the pens, inks, paper and inkstones from the baskets.
The rain was so heavy that the two of them shared an umbrella, and the paper was quite wet from the wind and rain. When Xia Zhaoyi saw them drying the paper, she asked Zeng Jishi to bring some of his own paper over.
As soon as the good rice paper was touched, the soft and smooth surface made people like it. Lin Shuanglan did not dare to touch it too much. She retracted her hand and said to Xia Zhaoyi: "Ah Li, we can't have this!"
"Take it!" Zhi Changle shouted, "We, Ali, can make paper ourselves!"
"Ah?" Lin Shuanglan was surprised, "Ah Li can also make paper?"
When Zeng remembered something, he also pricked up his ears and looked at it.
