During my escape from famine, I survived by eavesdropping on the whispers of food.

Everyone watched as the fat landlord actually took out a contract and showed it to them.

Most of the people in the crowd were illiterate; the only one who could read was Uncle Li.

The man held the contract directly in front of him, arrogantly waving it around and saying, "Look at this! Do you recognize these words? Look at you, you country bumpkin, you probably can't even read!"

Uncle Li looked at the piece of paper that was stuck firmly to his face. For a man, this was really too embarrassing.

But the other side had a large number of people and was powerful, and he had a wife, children, elderly parents, and other people around him, so he could not get angry.

He could only swallow his anger and dared not say anything more.

Holding a piece of paper, I could clearly see the stamp on it, and the words written on it, in various sizes, were written very clearly.

This stunned Uncle Li, who didn't know many words.

Between breaths, he had a feeling that the contract was very likely real.

When he turned around, everyone looked at him with pitiful eyes, and Zhou Shi also noticed Li Shu's face.

Zhou stepped forward and cautiously asked him, "Is it really true?"

Zhou's tone sounded extremely weak.

Uncle Li had no choice but to nod and say to her, "There are marks of official robes hanging on it, so it looks like it's real."

Upon hearing that the contract was actually genuine, everyone began to offer their own opinions.

"It looks like we're definitely going to be thrown out today. I can't believe we're going to be thrown out before Qin Shuangshuang even comes back."

"Exactly, exactly. I was originally thinking... never mind, never mind."

Zhou could sense that what they were trying to say was that their daughter had promised to take care of them and give them food.

But she is still nowhere to be seen; she must be completely disappointed in her daughter.

Zhou had no choice but to lower her head, and Qin Hao next to her also lowered his head.

They knew that Qin Shuangshuang had made a boastful promise.

Now everyone here is probably disappointed in them. Why didn't they leave when the eldest son led that group of people away?

They probably regret it now.

At this moment, Uncle Li glanced at everyone behind him and said, "Shut up, everyone. If we leave this place, do you think we'll have nowhere to live? We can just go out and find a place to stay, right?"

However, at this moment someone spoke up.

"It's easy to say. Once we leave this place, where else can we find such a safe and secure place?"

"The houses outside are either leaking or have no roof tiles at all. What should we do?"

"That's right! Qin Shuangshuang promised to take good care of us, but now she's nowhere to be found. If we had known, we should have gone with someone else back then."

The eldest son stepped forward, swaying his hips, and said to them, "I told you to follow me back then, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what's happened! Even if you want to go to my place now, you'll probably have to be my slaves."

At this point, several people even stood up, especially a few big men who said directly to the man in the opposite house, "So be it, as long as we can get a bite to eat, what's wrong with being your slave?"

"Exactly! Our whole family is already struggling to survive, what else is there to be afraid of?"

Then several other people joined the eldest son's group. Seeing them now standing in his line, the eldest son turned to Uncle Li without hesitation and said, "Look at this mess Qin Shuangshuang has made! And now, I, her aunt, have to help her."

I reckon she's not coming back. You guys should start making plans now. Alright, everyone, hurry up and get the rest of you out of here. Today, I'm going to stay here and think carefully about whether to raise pigs or ducks here in the future.”

The fat landlord teased the woman in front of him, flicking her nose and saying, "You can raise whatever you want. See what you want to raise, and I'll have someone catch a lot of chickens and ducks to keep you company and amuse you."

The eldest son was laughing so hard he forgot all about home.

Seeing that his entourage was coming up behind him, trying to drive them away, Zhou Shi led his son forward, glancing at Uncle Li as he left.

Uncle Li nodded and then led the remaining five or six people—the elderly, the weak, the women, and the children—away with his entire family.

Once outside, I saw that the door was even guarded.

They knew that no matter how much they argued, they wouldn't be able to get in.

Uncle Li said to Zhou, "Aunt, since Shuangshuang has entrusted you to me, don't worry, I will take good care of you and your son."

"Then let's find a place to stay first. There are still many refugees in that forest where we're going. We still have a few pieces of bread on us, so don't worry, we'll be back in a few days."

Zhou nodded and said to him, "Thank you so much."

Now, everyone had no choice but to leave, braving the bitter cold, fierce winds, and heavy snow.

……

The next morning, Qin Shuangshuang pushed open the curtain in front of her and found that there were some people loitering outside her tent.

Qin Shuangshuang pulled the thin blanket behind her closer and said to them, "Why are you all standing outside like this? Shouldn't you be resting instead?"

Then those people, especially the few soldiers who had slandered her yesterday, came up and hurriedly kowtowed to Qin Shuangshuang to apologize.

"You're a living god, a living god! I'm so sorry, it was all my fault, my fault. I hope you can forgive me for the harsh words I said yesterday!"

“What happened yesterday was our fault. We wronged you. If it weren’t for you, we probably wouldn’t have made it through this cold weather.”

"Now that everyone has basically recovered, we estimate that even if the enemy attacks, we can fight them for hundreds of rounds."

Look at everyone, although they are wearing this armor and look extremely cold, they seem to be in good spirits.

Qin Shuangshuang never expected that the herbal soup she brewed yesterday would actually cure their cold overnight.

Qin Shuangshuang had to admire it; indeed, the charm of traditional Chinese medicine was truly amazing.

Jin Danian then stepped forward from the crowd and said to Qin Shuangshuang, "Those brothers in our camp who caught a cold yesterday have all recovered."

"Thanks to the herbal medicine you brewed yesterday, we would probably all have been wiped out last night."

Qin Shuangshuang told him, "This is all thanks to the herbs we found yesterday. We should find more to help everyone prepare."

This news must not be leaked, and must not be known to the nearby enemy forces. This recipe is my own exclusive secret, and there are other things added to the herbal decoction.”

At this point, Jin Danian became curious and asked, "What is it?"

Qin Shuangshuang smiled and said to him, "Since it's a secret recipe, you absolutely must not reveal it."

Jin Danian smiled. "Alright, by the way, Miss Qin, there's something I need to tell you. Your young friend had to leave first, saying he'll come back to find you after he's finished."

You've been in the military camp for quite some time now, and your family must be getting worried. Let's send you home today. We've already prepared your reward; take it with you when you return.

"I estimate that you'll be able to live a slightly more comfortable life for a while. Stay in the city with your family, and once we capture this city, you'll have better days ahead."