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

Majia Village is the village they plan to pass through next; these people came from Majia Village!

Zhao Zexuan had some doubts in his mind, so his expression became more serious. He asked, "Isn't your village near Huacheng? It's said to be very remote, but the fields there are fertile. Why are you fleeing famine?"

Upon hearing this, the man wiped away his tears and said, "Our village was originally remote, and ordinary people would never easily go to our village. But for some reason, one day someone suddenly led a large group of soldiers into our village, saying that there was an iron mine in our village. They directly conscripted all the men in our village and made us mine for them."

At this point, perhaps knowing that questions would arise, the man explained further: "Judging from the way those people acted, you could tell they were no good. These days, mining is a life-threatening business. We didn't want to work for them, so we took the children and escaped overnight."

"How many people escaped from your village?" Zhao Zexuan asked.

Upon hearing this, the man immediately replied, "Not many, just the few of us. The others are being guarded by soldiers."

"How many soldiers went to your village in total?" Zhao Zexuan asked again.

"I don't know exactly how much, I just know there was a lot. They robbed everyone of their food as soon as they arrived, so we didn't take a single grain with us when we escaped," the man said hastily.

Hearing this, Zhao Zexuan had an idea, and then asked, "Are there more soldiers going to your area than there are here?"

Upon hearing this, the man looked around, hesitated, and shook his head, saying, "There shouldn't be any, but I'm not sure. We escaped through the side path as soon as we learned what those people were after, so we didn't see clearly."

Having heard this for a while, Zhao Zexuan had an idea in his mind. Knowing that he wouldn't get anything out of him by asking any further questions, he asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Ma Yong," the man said immediately.

“Ma Yong, I can overlook your actions this time. You can live if you want, but you have to do something for me. If you succeed, you and your child can live.”

Upon hearing this, Ma Yong immediately raised his head, his eyes filled with eagerness.

"I want you and your companions to go back to Majia Village to mine for them and, incidentally, pass on messages," Zhao Zexuan said.

Upon hearing this, Ma Yong immediately agreed, "We are willing, and we will definitely complete this task successfully."

“If you complete this task successfully, you and your children will live, and the team will welcome you. But if you have any ulterior motives, I will not show any mercy.”

Upon hearing this, Ma Yong and his remaining companions immediately said, "We will definitely complete this mission successfully."

"In that case, you will set off first thing tomorrow morning. Someone will explain the main tasks of this operation to you. Your children can stay with the team, and someone will take care of them for the next two days."

Upon hearing this, Ma Yong and the others immediately nodded in agreement, eager to show their loyalty.

……

Since Zhao Zexuan had decided to pass through Majia Village, he wouldn't easily change his mind. After learning from Ma Yong that there was an iron mine in Majia Village, countless thoughts flashed through Zhao Zexuan's mind, and finally converged into one: he wanted the iron mine too.

Ma Yong and the others are original villagers of Majia Village. It wouldn't be unusual for them to go back. They haven't figured out the situation inside yet, so they'll wait a bit longer.

***

The news that Ma Yong and the others had been left behind quickly reached Su Li's ears. She wasn't surprised that Zhao Zexuan would leave them behind; what surprised her was that Ma Family Village had an iron mine, and that they had just happened to stumble upon it.

As soon as Zhao Zexuan returned, Su Li asked him, "Are you trying to seize this iron mine?"

In response to Su Li's question, Zhao Zexuan nodded without hesitation and said, "Why not take an opportunity that's offered to you?"

Su Li wouldn't object to Zhao Zexuan's decision. She asked, "Have you found out how many people are there?"

Zhao Zexuan shook his head and said, "It's not clear yet, we'll have to wait and see!"

“Then let’s stay here for a day!” Su Li said.

"Whether it will take one day or two or three days is uncertain at the moment, but we will finish quickly," Zhao Zexuan explained.

Su Li understood the value of iron ore, so she agreed with Zhao Zexuan's decision.

"Perfect timing! Let's make some more cotton-padded clothes and quilts while we have this time. Aunt Liu and the others were just telling me today that they were going to make cotton-padded clothes on the train!" Su Li said.

Hearing this, Zhao Zexuan asked in surprise, "Why are you aunties in such a hurry?"

"Have you noticed that the weather is getting colder?" Su Li suddenly blurted out.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zexuan shook his head slightly and said, "The changes aren't very noticeable!"

"Because the changes aren't obvious, most people haven't noticed. But if you observe carefully, you'll find that the temperature is dropping very quickly. Winter might come very early this year, and I feel it will be very cold," Su Li said.

Su Li never talks about things she's not sure about, so if she said that, it means there's a high probability of it happening. For a moment, Zhao Zexuan's thoughts became somewhat complicated.

"Then we need to find a place to settle down as soon as possible!" Zhao Zexuan blurted out.

“We really need to settle down as soon as possible. If this winter is really cold, the situation will be very tense, and we are not well prepared,” Su Li reminded her.

“I discussed it with the generals and finally found a place on the map that is barely suitable for settling down. That place is quite a distance from here, and according to yesterday’s itinerary, it will take another half a month to get there,” Zhao Zexuan said.

"Under normal circumstances, it should take half a month, but if something unexpected happens, half a month will be far from enough, like this time, who knows how long we'll have to stay," Su Li said.

“Accidents are always unpredictable; no one knows when they will happen, but we will act quickly,” Zhao Zexuan said.

Understanding this, Su Li nodded and said, "We will also hurry up and sew cotton-padded clothes."

……

Time flies, and the next day arrived in the blink of an eye. Early in the morning, Zhao Zexuan led his soldiers to escort Ma Yong and the others back to Majia Village, where the troops set up camp.

After talking with Zhao Zexuan last night, Su Li felt a strange sense of urgency and got up early this morning to watch Aunt Liu and the others sew cotton clothes and quilts.

Aunt Liu and the others were unaware of what had happened in Majia Village. While busy with their work, they asked curiously, "We're supposed to stay here for a few days, so why do we keep stopping after walking so far?"

Others shared the same question and joined in the discussion: "We don't know what happened either. We only saw the general leave with his soldiers early in the morning. We couldn't find out why. We're really afraid something else has happened."