The dead general was kidnapped by his husband and taken to farm.

For the next few days, Ji Yinghuai was in the shop in town, while Jiang Shian concentrated on making soap at home.

He had to refine oil, collect shells, and burn wood ash by himself, and he was too busy to handle it all.

I simply asked the children in the village to help, and they paid one penny a day and provided me with a meal.

The news was released for him by Huang Fugui. The crops in the fields had been almost finished in the past two days, and those who had spare money began to send their children to school in the town. Those who had no money could only help in the fields, or go to the river to fish and play around.

Just picking up a few shells, earning a penny and having food provided, who wouldn't want to do that?

When there are a lot of people, there will naturally be those who come just to eat and drink for free. Jiang Shian had already made preparations. He found the winnowing baskets and bamboo baskets at home and borrowed a few from the Huang family.

He took out all of them and placed them in the yard. He looked at the dozen little kids in front of him and said, "You can't just eat for free at my brother's house. There are requirements." He pointed at the bamboo baskets and said, "Two people form a group. Each person chooses one. You have to fill five baskets a day to get your wages and stay for meals."

"Ah. We have to pick up so many baskets!" Sure enough, someone immediately became unwilling.

The person who spoke was a boy about four years old, and he looked neatly dressed.

The boy pouted, obviously unwilling. If he acted like a spoiled child, his parents would give him a penny, and he wouldn't have to work. He only got one penny for working all day, so he might as well go out and play.

He stuck out his tongue at Jiang Shian and said, "Then I won't do it." Then he trotted out of the yard.

Then two younger people came. Huang Fugui curled his lips and couldn't help saying, "This isn't a hard job. You're so delicate."

Including Huang Fugui, there were only five people left. One of them looked the oldest among them. He was skinny, his clothes had several holes and were not mended. The shoes on his feet even had a hole in the front. It seemed that he was living a very difficult life.

He took a step forward and looked at Jiang Shian, who had a timid face. "I can do it even if I don't have any money. Can you let me eat here? I... I have a younger brother at home, and I want to... bring him some food back. Is that okay..."

The last few words were almost inaudible. He probably felt that what he said was a bit too much, so he lowered his head and dared not look at Jiang Shian.

He is the only one working to feed two mouths, so he won’t agree no matter how kind he is!

He only mentioned his younger brother but didn't mention his parents. Jiang Shian looked at the boy and thought he was pale and thin with sunken eyes, which was really pitiful. He had to cook for him so he didn't need any food.

Jiang Shian went over and patted his head, "Sure, you have to help me with the work. If you are worried, you can bring him to my house."

"Is it okay?" The boy's eyes lit up, and he looked at him with hope in his eyes.

"Of course you can." Jiang Shian nodded, his face gentle.

The remaining children each took a bamboo basket and were about to go out. Jiang Shian called Huang Fugui and waved to the little fat boy, "Fugui, come here. Don't follow them to pick up the shells. Come and help me with the other things."

"Okay." Huang Fugui stopped and ran back.

Both stoves were lit, Jiang Shian was in charge of refining the oil, and Huang Fugui helped him burn the ash outside.

The firewood in front of the Huang family's house was used for burning firewood and feeding livestock, but there was green grass to cut. There was not much use for burning firewood on the fire.

As soon as Jiang Shi'an said that, Aunt Huang told him to pick up as much as he wanted and burn it himself, and not to mention using copper coins, because her boy had eaten a lot of good food here.

There was no need to keep an eye on the oil refining all the time, so Jiang Shian leaned against the door and asked about the situation of the young man just now.

Huang Fugui wiped his tears, but they were not tears of pity. He was burning corn stalks, and the wind blew wherever he squatted. The black smoke kept getting into his eyes, making him cry.

Wiping his tears with his sleeve, he stood up and said, "Fangzi and Yuanzi are the two brothers who are pitiful. Their mother was kidnapped by their father from other places and ran away after giving birth to their brother. Their father couldn't stand the winter and drowned in the village river while drinking. Only the two brothers and a shabby thatched house were left. Fangzi is only two years older than me. In addition to taking care of the family, he also has to take care of his brother. Life is not hard."

At this point he lowered his head and spat, his face showing some indignation, "Originally his family had quite a few fields, but when his mother ran away she sold all the fields for silver, leaving them not a single penny. The land they are farming now was given to them by the village chief out of pity for them, so they can at least grow some vegetables, otherwise they would have starved to death."

Jiang Shian nodded. He was too busy to handle everything. If the person was honest and reliable, he could hire him to help at home for a long time.

As he was speaking, Fangzi came back holding his younger brother. According to what Huang Fugui said, Fangzi was already twelve years old, but looked like eight or nine years old, while his younger brother was even younger and weaker, at three years old, he could hardly walk steadily.

She has been starving for a long time, and her body is not getting enough nutrition. Yuanzi thinks she is lacking iodine, and her legs are shaking when she walks. If she continues to be starving for another two years, she may not be able to bear it or even become paralyzed.

Fang Zi put his brother on a stool beside him and looked at Jiang Shian, feeling a little uneasy. "My brother is very well behaved. He can sit and play by himself without any worries."

"It's okay, don't worry, I will help you take care of him."

Fangzi smiled at him gratefully, picked up the bamboo basket and was about to go out. It was not easy to get a job, if he did a good job, he would come again if he needed help in the future.

"Wait a minute." Jiang Shian quickly called him and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

There were still several steamed buns left from the breakfast, and there were sweet potatoes in the stove for the puppy. He took out the remaining steamed buns, turned out the sweet potatoes from the stove, picked them up with tongs and walked out.

"This is the leftover steamed bun from this morning. It's still soft since it was freshly made. You can eat it first. This sweet potato is still hot. Peel it and give it to your brother."

When the puppy saw that the sweet potatoes he had cooked for him were gone, he followed Jiang Shian out and kept hitting his hind legs with his head, as if he was a little dissatisfied.

Jiang Shian handed the food over, but Fangzi hesitated and refused to take it. He hadn't started working yet, so why should he take other people's food first? But he was really hungry. This was a big, white steamed bun. He hadn't eaten it for a long time, not to mention his little brother sitting on the stool. His mouth was watering.

Jiang Shian didn't even wait for him to take it, and directly stuffed it into their arms, and put the sweet potato on the ground, "Don't be polite with me, eat first, how can you have the strength to work if you don't eat enough. Your brother looks too thin, feed him first and then go."

Fangzi looked at the steamed bun in his hand. It was white and soft, and he could even smell its fragrance.

When he looked up at the young man squatting and playing with the dog, his eyes suddenly became red. It had been a long time since anyone had been so nice to them.

"Thank you, thank you. Don't worry, I will work hard." He didn't know what to say, so he could only promise in a hoarse voice that he would not be lazy.

Jiang Shian looked up and smiled at him, saying softly, "Okay, I know, you guys eat quickly!"

Fangzi was not in a hurry to eat first, he broke the bun into small pieces and fed it to his brother, then he started to wolf it down. He only ate one, and put the extra one in his pocket, thinking that he could take it out and give it to his brother next time he was hungry.

Jiang Shian felt a little sad, looked away and patted the puppy's head, "Be good, I'll make you one, and there will be a big bone tonight."

There was quite a lot of meat from the badger oil I made two days ago. The puppies have meat for every meal these days. They have grown a lot bigger than before, and their fur has become more shiny.

Hearing the bone, the puppy calmed down, whimpered twice, and licked his palm twice with its tongue.