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

The sound of falling rocks stopped at dawn.

Aunt Lin said, "In my experience, if a night attack is launched, the fighting will stop at dawn. There shouldn't be any movement during the day, so everyone should go back and rest."

A young woman asked nervously, "Can we tell if we were the ones attacked, or if we attacked the other side?"

Aunt Lin looked at her intently and shook her head. "I don't know, but no matter which one it is, our men will have to fight the Beili people, and all we can do is wait at home."

A gentle smile appeared in Aunt Lin's eyes, her tone soft yet firm.

"Don't overthink things at times like this. Eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired, and take good care of our child. Just believe that he will come home as usual, just like he always has."

The young woman's eyes reddened, but she gritted her teeth and held back her tears, resolutely nodding, "Yes!!"

After everyone dispersed, Gu Xixi and He Jinglan returned to the courtyard.

He Jinglan entered the room and began frantically unpacking the packages.

Unfortunately, she was angry while packing last night and tied the bundle into a knot that was impossible to untie, no matter how hard she tried.

He Jinglan angrily tore at it a few times, then turned around to get the scissors.

Gu Xixi was calmly watching while sipping her tea. When she saw He Jinglan about to cut the bundle, she quickly got up to stop her.

"Oh dear, this pomegranate-patterned silk is quite expensive; it would be a shame to ruin it by cutting it!"

"Besides, if you ruin it, what will you do when you get back and have nowhere to put your things?"

He Jinglan slammed the scissors back onto the table, plopped down next to her, and yelled, "That blockhead surnamed Meng! You rotten blockhead, you stinking blockhead!! Go to the battlefield! Go to the battlefield and you won't even come to see me!!"

Gu Xixi sighed, "I knew you were worried about him."

He Jinglan immediately retorted, "Who's worried about him! Even if he doesn't come back from the battlefield this time..."

Gu Xixi suddenly grabbed He Jinglan's hand.

He Jinglan winced in pain and abruptly stopped talking. She opened her eyes in confusion and saw Gu Xixi with a solemn expression.

"Xixi, why are you pinching me!"

Gu Xixi said, "I'm telling you to be careful with your words, and not to say things you shouldn't when you're angry."

He Jinglan calmed down at this moment and felt a little regretful after being reminded.

“I…I didn’t mean to curse him.”

Gu Xixi's eyebrows curved slightly, "Anyway, you didn't say everything, so you can consider it avoiding the prophecy."

He Jinglan was taken aback, then laughed, "Xixi, I thought you were fearless and never believed in these things."

Gu Xixi smiled but remained silent.

She was a staunch atheist who swore an oath under the red flag and truly did not believe in these things.

Therefore, in her understanding, avoiding prophecy means not saying things that you might regret in the future.

On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes. If anything were to happen, even if the person who uttered the curse did not believe in ghosts or gods, they would still blame themselves and spend the rest of their life in regret.

Now that the war has begun, the situation outside remains unknown.

Gu Xixi decided not to act rashly and to stay here and wait for any notification from the Northwest Army.

As noon approached, the two women, who couldn't cook, were too ashamed to wait for the army's mess hall to deliver their meals.

They could only go to the kitchen and think about how to do it themselves.

Just as things were getting chaotic, someone ran into the yard, asking, "Is Boss Gu still home?"

Gu Xixi glanced at He Jinglan, signaling her to be quiet for now, then walked to the door and lifted the curtain a crack to look outside.

A young soldier dressed as a Northwest Army soldier stood in the courtyard. He looked familiar; he had previously served as a guard in the village and had even delivered meals to the courtyard once.

Gu Xixi breathed a sigh of relief upon recognizing an acquaintance, lifted the curtain to go out, and asked, "Has there been any message from upstairs?"

The young soldier clasped his hands in greeting and said, "The general asked me to pass on a message to you two distinguished guests: things are not peaceful outside, and I'm afraid a small group of bandits may be taking advantage of the chaos."

"The army simply cannot spare the manpower to accompany and protect you two, so since you haven't left yet, let's stay a few more days. However, the commotion outside might frighten the young girl. If there's really no other way, consider it a way to toughen her up."

Gu Xixi had been listening quite attentively at first, but her face gradually darkened as the last two sentences came out.

"May I ask, young man, were those final words, 'to test our courage,' the General's exact words?"

The young soldier broke out in a cold sweat. "...Yes."

Gu Xixi returned the greeting, "Then please also convey my words: a young lady is no less courageous than a man. I am grateful that the General has gone to such lengths in his busy schedule."

The young soldier lowered his head, his face flushed, as if he was trying to suppress a laugh.

He Jinglan said politely, "Go ahead and get busy. It's kind of you to make this trip during lunchtime. Don't be late and they'll have eaten all the meat."

The young soldier agreed and ran out of the courtyard.

He Jinglan then moved closer to Gu Xixi and said, "Look at him, he can still laugh. We didn't lose last night, did we?"

Gu Xixi nodded, "I think so too."

Despite their concerns, they did not press the young soldier for details about the military situation.

As ordinary citizens being protected in the rear, we should try to cause them as little trouble as possible at this time.

Gu Xixi walked back to the kitchen, her back view resolute, like a soldier about to go into battle.

"Let's go, let's continue cooking!"

Half an hour later, a pot of stewed millet rice with vegetables and meat was finally ready.

Gu Xixi said weakly, "I seasoned it from memory, why don't you try it and see how it is?"

He Jinglan took a bite, her expression gradually becoming complicated. "Hmm... it's a bit salty and a bit sweet, but the flavor is quite rich."

She paused, deliberately trying to find something to praise.

"But the meat was cooked through, and the vegetables were steamed until they were tender enough!"

Gu Xixi: "...There's nothing to praise, you don't have to force yourself."

He Jinglan was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Never mind, let's eat!"

The two hastily ate their fill and then cleaned up the kitchen, which looked like it had been ravaged by war.

After all that commotion, when I looked outside, it was already past mid-afternoon.

Gu Xixi said optimistically, "Anyway, there's nothing to do while I'm stuck here. I'm just idling around anyway. Having something to do makes time fly by."

He Jinglan nodded, supporting her lower back. "That's true, but I feel like I've never done so much housework in my life."

Gu Xixi suggested, "How about we sweep the yard?"

He Jinglan refused to back down, "Sweep it then, who's afraid of who!"

Just as the two reached the courtyard, a woman rushed in, her voice urgent, "Boss Gu! Miss He! Madam Zhou is having a difficult childbirth! You must go and see her quickly!"

Gu Xixi was startled. She remembered her; she was the only pregnant young woman in the village.

Considering that she needed to recover after giving birth, she was the only one who did not claim a fruit tree at that time.

He Jinglan stammered in shock, "A difficult childbirth? This is a huge problem! What should we do? They're calling us over, but we don't know how to deliver babies."

"At this point, we need to find a midwife, or a doctor!"

The woman delivering the message stamped her foot anxiously, "But during wartime, no one is allowed to leave the village!"