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

The cabin was small and dark, but it was filled with many women. Through the cracks in the window, Su Li could see that all the women inside were huddled in the corner, barely clothed. If it weren't for the rise and fall of their chests, one would have thought they were dead.

Su Li vividly remembered that glance inside, and now she sighed deeply, saying, "What should I do!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zexuan said, "The bandits have all been wiped out. Tell them and ask if they are willing to leave the wooden house. They are safe now and no longer need to live in fear day and night."

Su Li understood Zhao Zexuan's idea, so she nodded and said, "I'll try. You tell the soldiers to keep quiet, and I'll go talk to them."

Zhao Zexuan nodded, then waved for the soldiers to turn around and be quiet, taking a step back, but he remained by Su Li's side.

The only thing Su Li was certain of was that the people inside were still alive. So, after making some preparations, she carefully knocked on the door and said softly, "Girls, can you hear me? The bandits have all been wiped out. You are safe now."

Su Li heard a slight movement when she knocked on the door, but no matter what she said next, there was no sound from inside, let alone any reply.

After knocking several times and trying to persuade them for a while, no one inside responded. Su Li had no choice but to walk aside with Zhao Zexuan and say, "These girls have probably been persecuted by those bandits. They are unwilling to believe us for a moment. Let's give them some time. Maybe if we give them more time, they will come to their senses."

Zhao Zexuan thought so too, so he nodded and said, "I see that everyone has been through a lot these past few days, so let's stay here for a few more days until we clean up the large underwater net before we set off again."

Su Li nodded and said, "Then I'll come more often these next two days and see if I can persuade these girls."

Zhao Zexuan nodded and ordered someone to escort Su Li back, while he led his soldiers to continue patrolling the mountains.

Back at the campsite, Su Li sat and pondered for a long time. In the end, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the girls and got up to find a few reliable aunties in the village.

After telling the aunts what had happened to the girls, Su Li said, "They are very pitiful. I don't want to do anything for them, but I just feel that they shouldn't live like that, barely clothed. I want to send them some clothes, not necessarily to keep them warm, but at least to cover their skin."

Aunt Wang, Aunt Liu, Aunt Zhou, and Aunt Li in the village are the ones Su Li has been in contact with the most recently, and she is quite familiar with them. So Su Li took the initiative to discuss this matter with them to see if she could come up with a way to at least get a set of clothes for each of them.

The aunties were initially shocked when they heard about this, but after understanding Su Li's plan, they hurriedly said, "It's just a set of clothes, what's the trouble? We'll go and try to get some for them later. They're pitiful people, and those bandits deserve to die."

As women themselves, they understood the hardships women faced in this world. So, the women were furious and condemned the bandits. However, after their condemnation, they hesitated and said, "Madam, could we go with them to persuade those young women? They are all so young, and we can't bear to see them wither away like this."

Hearing this, Su Li lowered her head and pondered. She thought that this might work. Perhaps these aunties, with their experience, would be more effective in persuading these girls. Besides, there's a saying that goes, "Many hands make light work." She believed that with the aunties' sincere help, those girls trapped in their predicament could get out of their predicament sooner.

The team rested halfway up the mountain. During this time, apart from boiling water and cooking, the village women spent all their time making clothes.

Su Li originally thought that finding some old clothes to give to the girls would be enough, but she didn't expect that the aunties who knew more about this news would take out their best fabrics and make a clean set of clothes for the girls.

The clothes were finished on the third day. Su Li had been working alone for the first two days, but on the third day, Aunt Wang and the others came along with the clothes.

Perhaps because of Su Li's previous preparations, or perhaps because the safe situation these past two days had made the girl inside a little more relaxed, there were some subtle movements coming from inside when Aunt Wang and the others knocked on the door from the outside.

The sound was very soft at first and no one noticed it, but as it gradually grew louder, Su Li and the others noticed it.

When they finally received a reply, Aunt Wang and the others were very excited. They then advised, "Girls, I know you are suffering and you are in pain, but I want to say that no matter what happens, you must live on. Only by living can you have hope."

"Only by surviving can there be a new beginning. If you can't get out of that situation, you'll stay here forever. Do you want to stay in this small, cramped wooden hut forever? You want to come out and see the sunrise outside, don't you?"

"Auntie has prepared a few sets of clothes for you and will bring them in. If you'd like, knock three times, and then Auntie will stuff the clothes in for you."

After he finished speaking, everyone present waited for the response from inside.

After about fifteen minutes of silence, just as everyone was about to give up, a soft knocking sound came from inside—one, two, three.

Hearing the noise, Aunt Wang and the others were delighted and happily stuffed the clothes through the crack in the door, saying, "The clothes were made by the aunties together. The stitches may be a little rough, but they are clean and comfortable. They are all new clothes, so the girls can wear them without worry."

However, no matter how much Aunt Wang and the others tried to persuade them, there was no response from inside.

The girls inside refused to communicate, so Su Li and the others had no choice but to return empty-handed and were somewhat disappointed. However, on the bright side, at least the girls were willing to accept the clothes, which was a good start.

Just when Su Li and Aunt Wang thought there was still time, the news of their departure the day after tomorrow was announced that evening.

Knowing they were about to set off, Su Li and Aunt Wang were surprised, but not as soon as they expected. They were also a little worried, as the girls had not made any progress. What were they going to do?

After trying for so many days, Su Li was a little unwilling to give up and decided to find time to take another look tomorrow. So she said to her aunts, "Let's go take another look tomorrow."

Aunt Wang and the others didn't want to give up easily, so after hearing Su Li finish speaking, they immediately nodded and said, "Okay."

The departure the day after tomorrow was a done deal, and that couldn't be changed. However, Su Li wanted to find out the specific arrangements from Zhao Zexuan, so she wanted to talk to him. But before she could even ask, a soldier informed her of Zhao Zexuan's whereabouts.

"The Pei family wants to discuss some matters with the general, so the general is speaking over there now."