I feel so good after dressing up as a peasant girl

Although she only received an ambiguous reply from Gu Yongming, Gu Wenxuan was still secretly looking forward to the hunting operation in half a month.

She was not worried that there would be refugees living in the mountains next to Jiajia Village who would become bandits, because Jiajia Village was different from Baijia Village. Jiajia Village was a real hunter village, and the villagers mainly relied on hunting to support their families.

Gu Yongming and his friends could choose not to go into the mountains, but the vast majority of the villagers in Jiajia Village could not.

Gu Wenxuan believed that during the time when she stayed at home to recuperate and the villagers of Baijia Village were busy with spring ploughing, the villagers of Jiajia Village must have gone into the mountains together.

Since they did not encounter any refugees who had become bandits, it proved that those refugees were deliberately avoiding existing villages.

Even if some of them were really hiding around Jiajia Village, Gu Wenxuan would only be happy that she had found the first target of the gang-eating-gang operation.

She was full of expectations and planned to continue practicing martial arts to strengthen her body and hunting to save money in the next half month.

However, early the next morning, Bai Jingzhou, who was always punctual, was about a quarter of an hour late when he arrived at the open space outside the Gu family's house with his younger brother and sister.

"Sorry, we're late." He put down the basket containing the cloth towel and bamboo tube, "I stayed up too late last night and accidentally overslept this morning."

Gu Wenxuan was running in circles with her two younger brothers. When they saw Bai Jingzhou and his two companions, they subconsciously slowed down their pace.

Hearing Bai Jingzhou say this, Gu Wenxuan asked casually, "Did something happen?"

Bai Jingzhou nodded. "The villagers who were conscripted at the end of last autumn have returned, but two people from our Bai family died while serving as laborers."

He told Gu Wenxuan and the other two that four villagers had died in the village when they were conscripted to perform forced labor at the end of last autumn. Their bodies were cremated on the spot by fellow villagers who were serving forced labor with them, and only the ashes were brought back.

Among these four people, two were outsiders who settled in Baijia Village later. They were all unmarried and had no family burden. Their parents and other brothers were supporting them. However, the two members of the Bai family who died outside with them were all married with wives and children.

Now the able-bodied labor force in their family is gone, leaving only orphans and a widow, and it seems that they can no longer make ends meet.

One of them had parents and brothers who still had a conscience. He died while serving labor, so his parents and brothers took the initiative to assume the responsibility of helping him take care of his wife and children at home.

With their protection and help, and with the occasional visit from Bai Lizheng and the elders, that family, no matter what else, at least no longer has to worry about food and clothing.

Nowadays, they don't expect to eat well, have enough to eat, or wear warm clothes to keep warm. As long as they can have wild vegetable soup mixed with grains and rice bran like before, which can barely keep them full, and have clothes to cover their bodies, they will be satisfied even if the clothes are patched up.

But even such a small wish cannot be fulfilled by everyone.

Last night, Bai Jingzhou followed Bai Chong and first went to the family where there were parents and brothers who could help shelter and help their wife and children.

Although the Bai clan members in that house were sad, they could at least still live on, so many of them, including Bai Li, did not stay in that house for too long.

The reason why Bai Jingzhou's sleeping time was occupied was that a member of the Bai family, who was the only son in the family, also died in this labor service.

The man was a distant cousin of Bai Jingzhou. His father died early, and after his death, only his mother, his wife Wu, and his three children were left in his family.

According to seniority, Bai Jingzhou called his mother Fourth Grandma. It was this old lady who chose to hang herself last night because she couldn't get over the depression.

Fortunately, just as she hung herself up, her eldest grandson Bai Jingshan found her. The child called his mother Wu and the neighbors of the Bai family, and they rescued the old lady.

This matter was soon reported to Bai Lizheng and several elders of the clan. Bai Lizheng and several elders of the clan hurried over and gently advised the old lady to think more positively.

Bai Chong was a doctor. The Bai clan members called him over to check the old lady's pulse immediately. When he heard from the clan members that the old lady had hanged herself, Bai Chong not only went there himself, but also brought Bai Jingzhou and Ning Cuizhi, who might be able to help.

The family of three not only brought a medicine box, but also a bag of bean flour, a basket of eggs, a bag of brown sugar, and two strings of copper coins.

When Bai Chong and others rushed over, the old lady was crying and telling Bai Lizheng and several clan elders that she did not commit suicide because she was too sad about the loss of her son. Even when her husband died, she still gritted her teeth and held on to raise her son.

The old lady wiped her tears and said to Bai Lizheng and several elders in a sad and numb tone: "I really have no other choice!"

"Over the years, the government has been imposing various taxes on us, the common people, in various ways. You can see that we have squandered all our wealth a long time ago. Now we have no money, no land, and no food."

"Now that Lao Wu is gone, besides my daughter-in-law, there are only me and my three children left at home. But how can she, a woman, earn enough to feed the five of us?"

She wanted to commit suicide not because she was sad, but because she didn't want to be a burden to her daughter-in-law anymore.

The old lady's tears were streaming down her cheeks, but her tone of voice revealed a calm despair. She said, "If you don't let me hang myself, then I will starve myself to death. Anyway, I can't be a burden to my family anymore."

Bai Lizheng and several elders of the clan were sighing. The only strong laborer in her family was gone, and her two boys were at the age where "they would eat their parents out of money". This life... was really unbearable.

If the old lady was sad, they could still persuade her to think about her three grandchildren, but now the old lady was acting completely out of rational considerations of the cruel reality, which made it impossible for them to continue persuading her.

But Bai Lizheng couldn't just watch the old lady commit suicide, so he said, "There are so many people in the clan, and no one will just watch your family of five starve to death."

As he spoke, Bai Lizheng motioned to his wife to show the things and money they brought to the old lady.

Bai Lizheng's wife hurriedly stuffed the two pieces of silver she had brought to the old lady, and then gestured to the old lady to look at the bag of sorghum rice she had brought.

She and Bai Lizheng were the only ones at home. Bai Lizheng had hurriedly come here directly from the previous house, without going back home at all. She was just a little old lady, and she really couldn't carry so many things, so she simply brought some more silver and money.

Seeing this, other members of the Bai family who came after hearing the news also showed the tearful old lady the copper coins, grains, and vegetables they had brought with them.