In a chaotic world of infrastructure development, a woman's path to survival after being reborn

Upon understanding Zhao Zexuan's implied meaning, the generals present all frowned, clearly knowing that the matter was about to become complicated.

Upon hearing this, Wang Cong, the military advisor, stared intently at the marked location in front of him and said, "If we want to go to Lingnan, this is the only road. If we want to go around here, we have to take a detour through the nearby mountains, which will waste a lot of time. Moreover, there are countless dangers in the deep mountains."

Upon hearing this, the other generals immediately retorted, "With so many of us, taking a detour is not feasible. Let alone whether these oxcarts and donkey carts can even get up there, even if they could, they would be unable to move an inch."

“The terrain in the mountains is complicated. It would be fine if it were just us rough people, but the villagers are all here now, so going up the mountain is not practical.”

After all the discussion, the final conclusion was that going up the mountain was not an option; if one wanted to go to Lingnan, one would have to pass through the city occupied by refugees.

They were all very familiar companions and had developed a tacit understanding with each other. At this moment, they tacitly began to discuss how to "pass through" smoothly.

The rest of the group was unaware of Zhao Zexuan's plans; they simply continued their journey and rested as planned.

"Zhao Zexuan is very busy" is Su Li's recent perception. After all, he was still able to come back for meals a few days ago, but these past two days he hasn't even had time to eat.

Su Li could understand Zhao Zexuan's busyness. After all, there were so many people in the team, and things were getting increasingly unsettled along the way. It would be strange if he wasn't busy.

As they traveled along the road, the number of refugees increased, and the expressions of everyone in the group grew more tense each day, presumably because they all realized the seriousness of the situation.

When people have no way out, they become more reckless. In the past two days, there have been several incidents of refugees blocking vehicles, but the soldiers suppressed them and prevented them from causing too much of a disturbance. However, everyone's emotions have indeed been greatly affected.

Before descending the mountain, everyone had prepared themselves mentally, knowing that things might be chaotic outside, but they didn't expect it to be this chaotic. Looking at the refugees by the roadside, they were still alive, but they seemed to be dead, looking without any vitality.

The scene along the roadside could be described as purgatory, and their group was like targets who had stumbled into purgatory, and could become a part of it at any moment.

Along the way, looking at the surrounding scenery, it's hard not to be moved, but even if moved, no one dares to act rashly, because they know that in this world, kindness can lead to death.

Zhao Zexuan understood everyone's feelings, so no matter how many conflicts occurred in the past two days or how bad everyone's mood was, he did not interfere. This was not only because he believed in the soldiers' abilities, but also because he knew the villagers' capacity to endure.

***

One night, the team camped on a small hillside and began to cook with whatever they could find. Su Li was also preparing rations for the next two days, not only for herself but also for Zhao Zexuan.

Before cooking for Zhao Zexuan, Su Li had some doubts. She thought, even if Zhao Zexuan's family was angry that he married her, they shouldn't have stopped preparing meals for him. That just didn't make sense.

Moreover, judging from Su Li's observation, Zhao Zexuan's mother was not the kind of person who was easy to talk to. How could she let Zhao Zexuan get along with her?

Just as Su Li had this question, Madam Zhao on the other side said angrily to her daughters-in-law, "What do you think that child is thinking? He told us not to prepare his food, saying that his wife would prepare it for him. What kind of logic is that?"

"Do you think that woman is capable of doing any work? She looks so frail and weak. I hope she doesn't get sick and become a burden to Zexuan."

When Madam Zhao said this, her daughters-in-law all remained silent without interrupting, but they couldn't help but refute it in their hearts: "If someone who has driven an oxcart for so many days is considered weak, then there probably isn't a healthy person in the world."

None of Zhao's daughters-in-law thought Su Li was the kind of woman who was weak and frail, so they remained silent when faced with their mother-in-law's grumbling.

After muttering for a while, seeing that no one agreed, Madam Zhao didn't dare to continue. Instead, she became worried and said, "Do you think that woman can cook properly for Zexuan?"

She couldn't ignore this, so Sister-in-law Zhao smiled and said, "Since Fifth Brother was able to take the rations over, he must know that girl well. Besides, even if things go badly, we are his sisters-in-law. We can't let Fifth Brother go hungry."

Hearing this, Madam Zhao finally calmed down, nodded, and said, "Let's wait and see, and see how they manage to live their lives..."

Leaving aside Madam Zhao's predicament, Su Li gave up her plans when they didn't come to her door for a long time and started cooking. However, due to the limited ingredients, even though she was a good cook, the food she made was just so-so.

What Su Li considered ordinary and tasteless food was a rare delicacy in Zhao Zexuan's eyes.

This time, Zhao Zexuan was unusually punctual when he came back to cook, which surprised Su Li.

When Zhao Zexuan returned, Su Li was preparing to start a fire. Now that he was back, he naturally took over the task of tending the fire and skillfully added firewood to the fire.

Su Li was a little surprised to see Zhao Zexuan return, and quickly began preparing dinner.

While helping to tend the fire, Zhao Zexuan watched Su Li's skillful cooking movements and finally said after a long while, "It's a pity that someone with your cooking skills is only good for tending the fire."

Hearing this, Su Li realized what Zhao Zexuan meant and said, "What's there to regret? Isn't being a fire maid good? All you have to do is watch the fire all day and not have to do anything else!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zexuan chuckled and said, "It seems I was the one who was foolish."

Hearing this, Su Li did not refute, and did not look at Zhao Zexuan. She just stared at the food in the pot, as if she was afraid that the food would burn.

"Could you do me a favor?" Zhao Zexuan suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, Su Li finally turned her gaze to Zhao Zexuan and looked at him with confusion.

Zhao Zexuan didn't mince words and said directly, "Make me some more food, I need to leave for a few days."

Upon hearing this, Su Li asked, somewhat puzzled, "If you're leaving, what about all of us?"

"You can stay here for the next few days. The soldiers have scouted this area and there's no danger. You can stay here."

Hearing Zhao Zexuan say this, Su Li didn't ask any more questions and nodded, saying, "After dinner, I'll make you some pancakes as dry food."

"Thank you," Zhao Zexuan said.

"You're welcome. It's what I should do. I believe what you said back then. If I weren't your wife, I'm afraid it would be difficult for you to accept me," Su Li said.