"Two, two cents of silver!" The little village woman blushed. The young man who was once the strongest in the village worked hard every day and got just the amount of two cents of silver.
She thought Xu Mu was lying to her. How could there be such good things in the world these days?
"Official, official, I'll let you drive a pile. You can take your child to have a meal, but I won't charge you any money!"
Xu Mu stood silently. The pitiful expression of the village woman in front of him made his chest feel more and more astringent. It was not the Holy Mother's heart that caused trouble, but the good heart was trampled and trampled to pieces.
"I'm not going to lie to you. If you go to the old racecourse, you won't let your children go hungry."
The small village woman shivered and didn't know what to do for a moment.
"Mom, I'm hungry again."
Outside, the girl's crying voice came over again.
Xu Mu turned around, opened the door, and walked out silently. Regardless of the village woman's hesitation, he and Si Hu each held a child in their arms and walked toward the entrance of the village.
"Even if you are willing to be a wild prostitute in the countryside, you still have to fight for a bite of food for your children. So, what are you afraid of at this time?"
The village woman raised her head, gritted her teeth, packed a small package, and followed Xu Mu forward.
"If there is anyone in the village who is willing to work at the old horse farm, he can come with him." Xu Mu turned around and said loudly.
Unfortunately, except for the village woman from before, the rest of the people had frightened expressions on their faces and hid in the house one after another.
Five or six lazy men picked up stones from the ground and threw them angrily at the village woman.
"You can sell it in the village, but now you have to go out of the village to sell it! You are completely dirty, and you still think that an official wants to take you as a concubine?"
Sihu put down the child and drew out his sword as usual, frightening a few lazy people and running back in panic.
"Si Hu, put the knife away."
Xu Mu turned around and found that the village woman following him was already covered in dirt.
"What's your name?"
"My lord, my name is Xi Niang. My lord, I will go and wash myself off later. I also brought new clothes."
Xu Mu was stunned. Even now, Xiniang still regards him as a benefactor who is looking for flowers and flowers.
"Xiniang, let me ask you, why do those lazy people not want you to leave the village?"
"If someone passes by the village... and drives a stake, these people will want money."
"What does it have to do with them? Do you want to take money? How much money?"
"half."
No wonder I can't survive, even if I make a cheap living, I still have to be scratched by second-rate dealers.
It can also be seen that we can no longer expect to collect grain near Sitong Road. At that time, we will still need to drive a carriage to a farther village.
"Official, you have to be careful. These individuals have friendships with bandits. Even the village chief was killed by them!"
Xu Mu was a little speechless, and unknowingly, it seemed that he had formed a knot again.
After asking questions all the way, in about two sticks of incense, the group had arrived at the old racecourse.
"Xu, Xu Lang."
Just as he stopped, Jiang Caiwei came over carrying a bowl of tea.
"Caiwei, first take the child to eat something, and then this person's name is...Xiniang, you take her to work with you."
Xi Niang, a woman from a small village, originally had a scared look in her eyes, but when she saw Jiang Caiwei, she breathed a rare sigh of relief.
The two children, who were only skin and bones, looked pitiful. Jiang Caiwei's eyes were red and she hurriedly brought the earthen pot over and was about to turn around to get the bowl.
But he found that the two children were already squatting on the ground, scooping up the paste in the earthen pot with their hands, and stuffing it into their mouths.
"Mother, mother eats it too."
The little village woman laughed awkwardly, squatting on the ground like a child, and the family of three gathered around the earthen pot, constantly shaving the paste, and ate it all in a few seconds.
Everyone present, even the five horsemen who were farther away, all let out a long sigh.
In this world, being able to live well is already a great skill.
"My boss, we are short of manpower." Chen Sheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked over in a few steps.
Even now, including Xiniang, there are less than ten people. Renovating and repairing the entire old racecourse is a small project.
After working hard for most of the day, Chen Sheng and the others only formed a small circle around them after all their hard work.
Moreover, when the time comes, we will have to collect grain, make wine and distill the wine, and the manpower will definitely not be enough.
"There are no men left in the village. They are all caused by mountain bandits." Xu Mu sounded worried. His original idea was to recruit some people nearby, but now it seems that this is impossible.
"My boss, how about bringing all the women over tonight? They can also help with the work tomorrow."
The families of the five grooms will all live in the village. But in the current situation, the old horse farm has not been renovated, so it is very inconvenient for them to come.
"We'll wait until Zhuangzi repairs it. Chen Sheng, tell your brothers to build a few wooden houses first to avoid the cold at night."
The spring night is slightly cold. If it freezes for another night, I might get sick.
"Dong, boss." Xiniang, who had already changed into a new suit of clothes, walked over cautiously.
Xu Mu was worried that she would say something piling up again, but unexpectedly, Xi Niang just spoke in a low voice.
"Thank you, boss... Boss, less than four or five miles away from the village, there are a few retail investors who have moved out. If boss doesn't mind, I, I'll call them over."
Xu Mu's expression was slightly stagnant. The wine shop was just getting started. If all the people here were women and couldn't do the heavy work, it would be a bit of a loss.
Xi Niang seemed to notice Xu Mu's worry and spoke again hastily, "Don't worry, boss, there are men who moved out to become retail households because they were afraid that the village would be attacked by bandits again."
Xu Mu breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, I'll have someone take you there on horseback. But let me say it first, if you are a lazy person, don't blame me for being unkind."
"I understand, I understand!"
"Si Hu, take me with you."
Si Hu hurriedly drove the carriage, not forgetting to carry an iron-tied bow. After Xi Niang got on the carriage timidly, he picked up the reins and drove away.