Heavenly Blessed Baby: Fleeing Famine, Busy to Prosper!-Chapter 136: I Want to Call My Wife Over

"It’s likely that once we enter the city, you’ll be dispersed to various villages for resettlement. With our large number of people, the chances of all of us staying in one village aren’t great. So we’re planning to form a new village. I wanted to ask if you’d like to join us."

Qi Quanjin didn’t beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose.

The adults among the thirteen people were all stunned.

They hadn’t expected that the benefactor’s purpose for coming here would be this.

For a moment, no one spoke; they all looked at Qi Quanjin in surprise.

Qi Quanjin sniffed and continued, "But let me speak plainly from the start. We’re forming a village, but each family will live their own lives. We have quite a few people, and if you want us to help with work, you either have to pay or provide something else, as we won’t work for free."

These words instantly dimmed the light in everyone’s eyes.

The old man smiled bitterly, "Benefactor, you kindly came over to talk to us; we understand your goodwill. But, but... Forget about Silver Coin; we can’t even fill our stomachs. This, this..."

Qi Quanjin scratched his face.

Indeed, these people are in such dire straits that expecting them to pay for labor isn’t realistic.

After pondering, Qi Quanjin said, "How about this, tell me what you can do now, and I’ll see if we can use any of you. If we can, we’ll pay you for the work."

After pausing, he added, "But my family doesn’t have much money, so the pay won’t be much."

These words brought light back to everyone’s eyes.

The old man spoke first, "I used to be a junior scholar; later, I taught in the village, but a scholar is useless!"

Talking about this, the old man couldn’t hide his helplessness.

Originally, during the famine, he brought many books, but later they were all burned for fire.

Unfortunately, books don’t last long when burned and can’t be eaten.

He’s a teacher! And a junior scholar!

Qi Quanjin was greatly surprised and hurriedly clasped his hands in salute, "Elder, I apologize for my rudeness!"

"Sigh, benefactor, please don’t make fun of me, this old fool."

The old man smiled bitterly.

Knowing the topic wasn’t easy to continue, Qi Quanjin looked at the others.

The others didn’t have any special skills either; they used to live by farming in the village. Only two men said they used to hunt in the mountains, but they weren’t real hunters – just had some strength and carried heavy loads during their spare time.

This was a bit... difficult for them.

Qi Quanjin was worried.

Speaking of hunting, he could do it too.

Speaking of strength, none of the men in his family were weak.

Speaking of farming, these people had also lived by farming before!

The old man noticed Qi Quanjin’s difficulty and said, "Benefactor, just giving us this fire and Ginger water is a life-saving grace. Although we have no skills, we are not people who forget kindness."

"If the benefactor needs people for work, we won’t slack off. But if we cause trouble for your family, we’ll leave far away tomorrow."

Following the old man’s words, others nodded in agreement.

Even those not from the same village as the old man understood the situation. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have just silently gathered without begging for aid.

To them, death was scary, but dignity was more important.

Qi Quanjin agreed, "Alright, you go ahead and warm by the fire. I’ll go back and think it over."

Add thirteen mouths, and none really skilled.

Even if there’s physical strength, it assumes their stomachs are full enough to exert it.

If they wanted to take in these thirteen people, they’d first have to ensure they don’t starve.

Thirteen people’s rations... that’s not a small number.

Just as Qi Quanjin was about to get up and leave, a younger man sitting across suddenly spoke, "Benefactor!"

"Hmm?"

Qi Quanjin didn’t feel anything special about being called "benefactor" anymore.

Giving them fire and Ginger water, the kindness is worthy of the title "benefactor."

The man turned and looked at those on the other side, then lowered his voice, "Benefactor, while I was warming over there, I heard those people saying they wanted to sneak over and test your path while you were asleep. Only the sudden snow kept you awake, and they didn’t come over."

"Benefactor, you gave me this warm Ginger water, saving my life. I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to repay you, so consider this a return of kindness!"

Saying this, tears fell from the man’s eyes.

Who wants to die, when they can live?

But to survive as a wrongdoer, he refused.

He’s a good man.

Qi Quanjin admired him internally, while cautiously glancing at the others warming by the fire.

There were quite a few of them, with many strong men among them. If they snuck over at night and caught his people off guard, it would be a real issue.

Qi Quanjin thanked the man, then returned to Mr. Zhou Sr. in his group to discuss what he learned, finally bringing up their situation being watched by people on the other side.

"Sigh, we have carriages and goods, so it’s normal for us to attract attention."

Mr. Zhou Sr. sighed.

Mr. Sun Sr. added, "If so, those people aren’t bad characters. But food is the issue; if we really take them along to establish a new village, we can’t just watch them starve."

Everyone agreed, so for the moment, they didn’t know what to do.

Qi Quanjin glanced back at his wife, Yi Meng, and saw her looking at him; their eyes met, and Yi Meng smiled slightly.

That smile warmed Qi Quanjin all over. He turned back and said to everyone, "I want to call my wife over and have my sister-in-law and brother’s wife come too. Let’s discuss together; maybe we’ll come up with a good idea."

"Alright."

Qi Zheng made the decision.

Though their fire was not large, just prepared for the few old men, so everyone discussed and moved positions.

Now they gathered by the central fire pit.

At this point, everyone was crowded together, making it feel rather lively.

Others watched as the few old men moved over, and the three families’ wives were called over, everyone moved a bit, and after sitting down, Qi Quanjin finally repeated the conversation.

After hearing, no one immediately responded but pondered individually about what to do.

The first to speak was Yi Meng.

She was familiar with this era and, coupled with her past life experiences, her ideas were somewhat different. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"I’ll speak first!"

With Yi Meng’s voice, everyone’s eyes focused on her.

Being watched like this, Yi Meng didn’t feel so uncomfortable. After considering her words, she shared her idea.