"Oh, this is great news. With Wu Fan taking care of brother, there's no need to worry. He's skilled at both cleaning and disinfecting wounds," said Mi Guo.
"Will the subsidy still be given?" Mi Guo asked.
"Even though they are brothers, the subsidy of 20 wen per day will still be given, as I promised before. One must keep their word, right?" Gu Qingcheng said without hesitation.
Mi Guo felt like he had learned something new.
When Gu Qingcheng arrived at Wu Yu's home, Wu Yu had already woken up and was able to sit up in bed. Wu Fan was feeding him.
Seeing Gu Shaoye arrive, Wu Yu, despite being unable to move, quickly expressed his gratitude:
"Gu Shaoye, you are truly my lifesaver. If you hadn't boldly stitched up my wound, I might not be here now. I, Wu Yu, will never forget your immense kindness."
"Yes, I've never witnessed such exquisite medical skill."
Wu Fan also wiped the cold sweat from his brow. The situation at the time was perilous. If he had been the one to treat the wound, he would never have dared to act so decisively.
Gu Qingcheng smiled and said, "It's good that you're alright. I don't want anyone to get hurt. Since you two are brothers, I'm at ease about your care.
Wu Yu, just eat well, drink well, and rest your injuries. Once you've recovered, if you still want to return to the hunting team, you may. If you don't, you can do other work. There's no need to worry."
Gu Qingcheng said this because she considered that he might have developed a psychological shadow after being bitten by the wolf.
Wu Yu quickly replied, "Gu Shaoye, I was careless that day when the wolf attacked me. I hadn't encountered any fierce beasts on the mountain before and had let my guard down, which led to the wolf's attack.
Also, that wolf was a female. When she attacked me, I could tell from her appearance that she had recently given birth. Perhaps it was because she was protecting her cubs that she was so fierce.
Otherwise, with so many people around before, even fierce beasts like wolves would usually evade us and wouldn't easily provoke us.
I'm worried that if this wolf isn't hunted, recent hunters on the mountain will be ambushed by her."
"I see."
Gu Qingcheng pondered this.
She instructed Wu Yu to rest well and asked Wu Fan to take good care of his brother.
Wu Fan smiled shyly and said, "Of course. Even if he weren't my brother, but any patient, I would take good care of him."
The慰问品 (wèiwèn pǐn -慰问品) that Gu Qingcheng sent were piled up in the courtyard. When Wu Fan saw Gu Shaoye bringing so many gifts for him and his "brother," he was overwhelmed with surprise and said:
"Gu Shaoye, please don't. This is too valuable. Please take it back for those who need it more!"
"Your brother is the one who needs it most. Heh heh, let him eat and drink well, and recover his health as soon as possible."
After speaking, Gu Qingcheng briefly surveyed Wu Yu's living environment and then left with Mi Guo.
She was quite satisfied with the design of these small-area houses.
The layout of these houses was: one side room on each side of the upper section, a small hall in the middle for tea and relaxation, and a central courtyard with corridors on either side.
On the lower section, the left side was designed as a semi-open kitchen, and the right side was a storage room for firewood or farm tools.
Gu Qingcheng found this house structure to be quite reasonable. Although small, many of the villagers fleeing famine were alone and didn't need large houses.
Furthermore, if these single individuals settled down and had children in Phoenix Village, they could apply to live in larger houses.
After all, these houses belonged to her, and she had the authority to allocate them.
Of course, now that everyone had received their houses and their living situations were stable, as soon as there were weddings or funerals in the village and the population changed, more people would come to her for houses.
Gu Qingcheng planned to establish a housing management office to handle these matters.
Otherwise, it would exhaust her to death.
The housing distribution method she was currently adopting was inspired by the modern collective property housing system.
Gu Qingcheng's parents had experienced the phase of collective housing distribution and had told her about those times.
For example, housing allocation was based on积分 (jīfēn -积分) rankings. The sources of积分 included awards from annual evaluations, years of service, positions, and so on. Whoever had the highest积分 had priority in choosing a house.
Gu Qingcheng felt that this was a good system to motivate the villagers at the moment, so she adopted this method. Once the housing management office was established, it would operate according to this system, combined with the actual situation in Phoenix Village.
Leaving Wu Yu's house, the two headed towards the hunting team.
The hunting team's office was located to the left of the supply and marketing cooperative, a U-shaped, semi-open building.
There were two storerooms on each side. The left storeroom housed weapons, which could be drawn from the warehouse for hunting and returned upon completion.
The right storeroom was for storing animal hides and furs. The tanner was there daily, processing and treating the furs. Once they were made into finished products, they were sold down the mountain to subsidize public expenses.
At the hunting team, Yan Xin was leading a group of people in lifting heavy stones to train their strength. Seeing Gu Qingcheng, he quickly put down the stone and asked, "Gu Shaoye, is there something you need?"
"Arrange a group of people to go up the mountain with us to hunt." Gu Qingcheng said.
She explained to Yan Xin the situation reported by Wu Yu: the wolf that had injured Wu Yu was a female who had recently given birth.
Upon hearing this, Yan Xin realized the seriousness of the situation. If the mother wolf were not hunted, more people would be injured.
"Alright, this is also the top priority for our hunting team. Come, let's go up the mountain together."
Yan Xin quickly arranged for five young men with good archery skills to accompany them.
As the hunting team prepared, Yan Xin asked Gu Qingcheng what kind of weapon she would like. Gu Qingcheng said she would go back to get her weapons and meet them at the village entrance.
Upon hearing that they would be hunting the mother wolf with Gu Shaoye, the young men were excited. They prided themselves on their excellent archery skills and had long wanted to showcase them in front of Gu Shaoye. It seemed like a great opportunity today.
After returning home, Gu Qingcheng and Mi Guo changed into light hunting attire, then took out the bows they usually practiced with from the storage cabinet. Gu Qingcheng took one for herself and gave the other to Mi Guo.
Gu Qingcheng then selected a suitable dagger and tucked it into her leg wrapping. She gave another dagger to Mi Guo and then went to the village entrance to meet the hunting team.
The hunting team was already waiting at the village entrance. Upon seeing Gu Qingcheng's attire, everyone couldn't help but be taken aback.
Gu Shaoye, in her fitted hunting outfit, looked so heroic and spirited!
Gu Qingcheng carried a bow on her back, an arrow quiver at her waist, and a dagger on her leg, looking exceptionally handsome.
Mi Guo was dressed in the same way.
The hunting team members then realized that Gu Shaoye and his brother seemed to be skilled martial artists, fully equipped.
They had never seen Gu Qingcheng practice archery before, but Mi Guo was their initial mentor and they knew his archery skills were outstanding. Could Gu Qingcheng be even more skilled than Mi Guo?
Everyone was curious but dared not ask further. Gu Shaoye was quite mysterious in their eyes, possessing both wealth and capability. They feared that speaking carelessly might offend him.
"Gu Shaoye, it's dangerous to go up the mountain. You stay in the middle of us, and we will protect you. Don't worry, our archery skills are excellent, and we will definitely keep you safe," said a young man from the hunting team, stepping forward earnestly to caution Gu Qingcheng.
Gu Qingcheng nodded.
Mi Guo, hearing this, secretly wanted to laugh.