A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Huo Jiang looked tired, and his beard was unkempt, showing that he hadn't taken care of it much in the past two days.

Yet his eyes remained astonishingly bright, radiating a domineering aura capable of piercing the heart.

"Does Mr. Gu want to establish some businesses for the families of relatives in the village?"

Huo Jiang was somewhat displeased. "I have never been in arrears with military pay. The pay of ordinary soldiers in the Northwest Army is higher than that of any other garrison in Daye."

"Is what you're saying, Boss Gu, implying that I, the general, am mistreating the soldiers?"

Gu Xixi nodded, "General, please calm down. I did not mean to criticize you."

"You pay a lot of wages, but there are always a few months throughout the year when you don't have enough to live on."

Huo Jiang was not an arrogant person. He frowned and said, "Go on."

“The women and children in the village can indeed not starve thanks to the military pay sent back by the head of the household, but every winter around the New Year and before the summer wheat harvest, the price of grain in the Northwest always rises by several times.”

"In order to feed the whole family, they had to be very careful with their money, buying coarse grains and bran, and digging up wild vegetables to mix with refined grains. It was not so bad if there were only one or two children in the family, but the hardest thing was that there were three or four children."

"It's really tough for me. I have to carefully calculate the amount of food I can eat every day, for fear that if I don't calculate it right, we'll run out of food before the end of the month when we get paid."

Huo Jiang's expression gradually turned serious.

After Gu Xixi finished speaking, Huo Jiang suddenly stood up and solemnly bowed to her.

"Thank you for telling me all this, Mr. Gu. Please forgive my rudeness and offense just now!"

As expected of the King of the Northwest, his apology was incredibly loud, even resonating with his chest.

Gu Xixi's ears were ringing from the noise, and she hurriedly waved her hand, saying, "The general loves his soldiers like his own children. When there is a shortage of food and pay, he would rather pay out of his own pocket. I understand that you misunderstood something earlier."

Huo Jiang, however, did not want to shirk his responsibility. He said guiltily, "It's my fault. Every time I asked those rascals below if they had any difficulties, they all said no. Now that I think about it, they must have been afraid of making me worry."

"But as their commander, I failed to conduct a thorough investigation and never visited the families' village in person, which was my dereliction of duty."

He walked over to the long table, poured a bowl of warm water from his own double-layered thermos, and personally handed it to Gu Xixi.

Then he sat back down, adopting an attitude of listening attentively.

Although Gu Xixi wasn't thirsty, she couldn't refuse Huo Jiang's kind offer.

She held the bowl in both hands, took a sip, and continued, "There are no large plots of land in the village, but the women still plant vegetables in every nook and cranny. They were as happy as if it were New Year's when you paid them their wages this time."

Huo Jiang pondered, "You mean, these family members also want to find some work to do?"

“Hmm,” Gu Xixi nodded and said with a smile, “I heard that some of them wanted to make new clothes for their husbands, some wanted to use their own money to buy delicious food so that their husbands could eat with the children when they came back, and some were saving money to send their children to school.”

Huo Jiang seemed thoughtful. "It all sounds like a good thing."

He recalled the reason he established the military dependents' village: since there were no ranks in the army, he wanted to allow the families of soldiers who were able to come here to move in, as a benefit for the soldiers.

The deeper reason is that it is beneficial to stabilizing morale within the military.

At this moment, Huo Jiang had already deduced a series of positive effects in his mind.

First, by solving the living difficulties of the families, more and more families will be willing to stay here for a long time, which is beneficial to the morale of the troops.

Furthermore, with family members having money to spend and work to do, their moods are good, and the soldiers' home environment is also good, so they naturally have no worries.

Huo Jiang nodded repeatedly as he pondered, a satisfied smile creeping onto his lips.

"Mr. Gu, don't worry about me, keep talking!"

Gu Xixi said, "The military dependents were a great help in digging up the epilepsy grass this time."

“They learn quickly, are hardworking, and are quick and efficient. Isn’t it a waste to keep them confined at home to do laundry, cook, and take care of the children?”

Huo Jiang had completely abandoned his prejudices and immediately understood the implied meaning, asking with a smile, "Mr. Gu, tell me, what would be considered not to waste anything?"

Gu Xixi said, "Firstly, it's not a good idea to keep running back and forth to plant my Bodhi fruit trees here, so I want to hand over the orchard to the military dependents to plant."

"Secondly, there are several dozen acres of oat fields that have been cleared by the military and are close to the village. Could we allocate some of these fields to each family in the village? It's just to supplement their household income. We don't need too much; one acre per family will suffice."

Huo Jiang laughed loudly, "Boss Gu really dares to speak his mind."

"This is the first time someone has asked me to vomit up a little bit of what I've already eaten."

Gu Xixi wasn't afraid at all. "Anyway, you've given me a lot of subsidies over the years. Consider it an advance subsidy for me to support my family. You don't have to plant the land yourself or harvest the oats yourself. It's a good deal."

Huo Jiang was amused and burst into laughter, pounding his leg.

Gu Xixi looked up at the inner chamber of the tent behind him, her gaze deep.

Just as Huo Jiang looked over again, Gu Xixi had already looked away and was drinking water as if nothing had happened.

Huo Jiang waved his hand and said, "The oat fields are easy to handle; we have plenty of land now! However..."

He gave a playful look. "Boss Gu never works for free. Why don't you explain how the Bodhi tree is actually used?"

Gu Xixi arrived with a plan already in mind. "The method is the same as what I did in Huachidu Village. Those who are willing to adopt fruit trees must sign a contract with me. I will not take a penny in the early stages, which is equivalent to lending the fruit trees. After the Bodhi fruit is harvested, I will receive the money according to the proportion agreed in the contract every year."

"After the fruit tree has successfully borne fruit, it will belong to the adopter after five years, starting from the first year of successful fruit bearing."

Huo Jiang nodded and said, "I only heard Xiao Meng say that you plant fruit trees like you are deploying troops."

"Now that I've heard the details, I know he wasn't lying."

He smiled and praised, "This arrangement is indeed ingenious; it helps others without harming ourselves."

Gu Xixi bowed slightly and said politely, "General, you flatter me."

After a moment's thought, Huo Jiang made a decision: "Then I'll trouble Boss Gu to see this through. You go back and talk to the women in the village. As long as they're willing, you can decide on this matter."

Gu Xixi, having achieved her goal, said happily, "With your words, I dare to go back and tell everyone."

After the business was concluded, she immediately got up to take her leave.

Huo Jiang had military affairs to attend to, so he didn't keep the guest and instructed the sentries outside the door to see him off properly.

As Gu Xixi reached the door, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and laughed, "I'm not a hungry tiger in the mountains, why should I hide?"

Huo Jiang's expression tightened, and he looked somewhat embarrassed.

"Who is Mr. Gu referring to?"

Gu Xixi smiled and said to Huo Jiang, "Please tell that person that since the medication has been used for a long time, it would be best to find a way to wash it off, otherwise he might be easily discovered when he hides."