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

Old Qian had already relaxed and was happily enjoying his fruit tea.

Upon hearing Gu Xixi say that it was not yet time to rest easy, he was taken aback and quickly asked:

"Why? Didn't you say there was nothing wrong and we could go on with our lives as usual?"

Gu Xixi smiled and said, "We will naturally continue with our lives as usual, but we must not be careless."

"When the village caught fire last year, a group of idlers from a nearby village broke in and caused trouble. Do you remember, Uncle Qian?"

Old Qian frowned. "I remember."

"Are you saying... someone will take advantage of the chaos again this time?"

Gu Xixi said, "That possibility cannot be ruled out."

"Whenever there is unrest, public order will inevitably be affected to some extent; something will happen here or there."

"Not to mention the huge mess we're facing."

“In the past, with the Northwest Army stationed in the Northwest, there were few reports of bandits causing trouble. But the Northwest Army has important things to do now, and we must be careful not to overlook anything.”

Old Qian nodded repeatedly, "Yes, you've thought it through thoroughly. It's always good to make some preparations in advance."

Gu Xixi reassured everyone, "Actually, there's no need to be too nervous."

"As long as the Northwest remains stable overall, the situation will still be in the hands of the Northwest Army, and those who cause trouble will only dare to make small-scale disturbances and do some sneaky things."

"We ordinary people can protect ourselves as long as we guard the village."

Aunt Zhang had been very flustered since earlier, but she has gradually calmed down now.

"That makes sense. As long as the Northwest Army is still around, we have nothing to fear. We can rely on ourselves!"

She had come to a complete understanding: since things had already come to this, what was the use of being afraid or worried anymore?

Why not believe in Xixi? Just continue living your life as usual!

He Jinglan had been listening quietly until now, when she finally rested her chin on her hand and said, "Although I'm not from your village, I'm here with everyone."

"We're in this together, and I'm duty-bound to help wherever it's needed!"

Old Qian said gratefully, "You truly are a good friend of my niece's; Huachidu Village is your home too!"

The group then discussed how to defend the village.

Huachidu Village has a natural geographical advantage, nestled against a mountain, but it only has one entrance, located on the side of the Big Locust Tree.

It's easy for someone to keep an eye on it, and the back mountain can also provide the villagers with some of the food and medicinal herbs they need.

The final decision was to adopt a shift-based patrol system.

Two people form a group, divided into five groups, covering five areas of the entire village.

In addition, each day is divided into six shifts, with shifts changing every four hours.

If anything happens, the patrols can detect it in time and alert the whole village.

Then it was divided into two situations.

If all that comes are petty thieves and idle scoundrels, then the whole village will gather and beat them to a pulp.

If the attackers are bandits, armed and numerous, the entire village should quickly hide in the mountains behind the village.

Therefore, each household hid their stored grain and valuables in advance.

It will make evacuation easier then.

With a solution in hand, Old Qian was deeply moved. "It really is true that we need to pool our wisdom. Thank you all so much."

“Madam Meng, Miss He, I, as the village chief, thank you both on behalf of the entire village for your consideration for our village.”

Without delay, Lao Qian immediately stood up to make arrangements.

As they walked to the door of the main room, he remembered something else and reminded Gu Xixi, "We can't go into the city to sell things for the time being, and we don't know when the ban will be lifted."

“We have several orchards where we can store eggs, duck eggs, and medicinal herbs.”

“But the Zhou family grows vegetables, and they can’t eat them all. They’ll probably rot in the ground.”

Gu Xixi understood. Old Qian meant well, afraid that if her fruit tree planting project failed in the Zhou family, it would cause them to complain, and in the end, even the fruit trees would be wasted.

She smiled and said, "Uncle Qian, don't worry. I had a way to deal with any trouble when I came up with these intercropping methods for you to choose from. After you finish the village meeting, I'll talk to the Zhou couple."

Old Qian breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "It's good that you know what's going on."

At the village meeting, Lao Qian did not mention that the Northwest Army might rebel against the imperial court. He only said that the situation was unstable, Qingtian County was under lockdown, and there was a fear that outsiders would take advantage of the chaos. He also said that the village should make preparations as soon as possible.

It's like a drop of water falling into a pot of boiling oil.

The whole village was in an uproar.

Some people panicked, some didn't believe it, and some disagreed with Lao Qian's idea of ​​having the villagers defend themselves.

Old Qian was never a kind or easily bullied person, and at this critical moment, he was suppressing his temper. He wasn't going to tolerate these people.

"You don't want to do it, huh?"

"Alright then, let's not do anything. Let's just leave the village entrance open and nobody cares. Maybe one day your family will be robbed, your child will be kidnapped while playing in the village, or you'll be sleeping on the kang in the dark and no one will know who slit your throat."

"Don't blame me, the village chief, for being ignorant when that time comes!"

"I've come up with a way for you to survive, but you're unwilling to accept it. I can't be bothered to help you!"

Old Qian said this and then turned and left.

The villagers exchanged glances, and seeing that Old Qian really had no intention of turning back, they became anxious and shouted for him to stay.

One of them, who thought himself clever, laughed and said, "Village chief! We're still discussing this, why are you in such a hurry?"

Old Qian turned around in a rage, yelling, "Discuss my ass!"

"If you have any ideas in your belly, just say them. If they respect you, then take them and do it."

The man shrank back and didn't dare to utter a sound.

The villagers hesitated for a moment, and began to discuss among themselves.

"There's no other way. Otherwise, we'll just have to listen to the village chief."

"The village chief is one of our own, he wouldn't betray us, would he?"

"Didn't the village chief say that the patrols are just in case? There's no guarantee that there are actually thieves?"

"Although the wheat harvest is coming soon and there is a lot of farm work, I can accept it if each family takes turns working."

……

Several elderly people pulled Old Qian aside, telling him not to take it personally and that the whole village should just listen to him and do what he needed to do.

The matter was thus settled.

Ultimately, nobody wants to be robbed of everything and lose their life.

Since we dare not gamble, we can only cooperate with the village chief's arrangements.

As the conference ended, before Gu Xixi could even move, the Zhou couple had already come looking for her.

Old Zhou was always a taciturn man, always with a sullen face, sighing and not saying a word.

Although Sister-in-law Zhou was clearly anxious, her attitude was still good.

She asked with a forced smile, "Xixi, we can't go into the city to sell vegetables lately, so what do you think of these vegetables at my house...?"

Gu Xixi said, "I remember that my sister-in-law's family grows long beans, coriander, and bok choy."

Sister-in-law Zhou was grateful to see that Gu Xixi remembered everything. "That's right."

"Coriander and leafy greens are fine, but I grow the most green beans. In the summer, they keep growing one crop after another. I can cut several handfuls every morning. What should I do?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Gu Xixi's reaction.

Without hesitation, Gu Xixi said, "Don't worry, sister-in-law, I have a solution."

"When the weather gets hot, many people lose their appetite due to the summer heat. Pickled vegetables are refreshing and crisp, and they sell best at this time of year."

"On the contrary, fresh green beans are in peak season, and there are plenty of vegetable farmers in the county town selling them."

"You haven't been able to get a good price lately, have you?"

Mentioning this, Sister-in-law Zhou felt a little ashamed, as Gu Xixi had previously advised her not to plant too many green beans.

But she heard that Grandpa Gu's family made a lot of money selling green beans last year, so she greedily planted more.