Gu Qingcheng relaxed upon seeing it was Dai Fa.
Clearly, these many people were the new villagers Dai Shu had recruited to the mountain.
As the saying goes, "Seeing the mountain from afar, but the horse runs to death." Although they could see Dai Fa's group, it would still take at least half an hour to reach them.
So, Gu Qingcheng asked Mei Xiang to organize people to boil water and prepare to make noodles later.
Currently, the village had ten fixed women responsible for cooking, with Mei Xiang as the head. They usually worked in the fields and helped in the mess hall when needed.
Upon hearing that more people were coming up from the mountain, Mei Xiang quickly called for people, then scrubbed pots and lit fires to boil water.
When Dai Fa and his group reached the village entrance, Gu Qingcheng was already waiting for him there.
"Uncle Dai, why are you back so late? You worried us to death."
"Heh heh, today I ordered another 40 head of cattle, 50 rabbits, and 30 geese in the city. I was busy all morning.
As I was leaving the city, I happened to encounter a group of new refugees. I asked them if they wanted to come to our village. To my surprise, as soon as they heard there was food and drink, they all agreed.
I brought them up, but halfway here, they were moving very slowly. When I asked why, I found out they were so hungry they were about to faint.
Alas, I was careless. I forgot to feed them a full meal at the foot of the mountain. I'm still not as thoughtful as Young Master Gu."
Gu Qingcheng smiled and said, "I've already told Mei Xiang to make noodles. How many people came in total?"
"Around 300 people. I didn't count precisely."
At this moment, the refugees had reached the village entrance. The person at the front saw a village that was suddenly well-ordered in the dark mountain valley, and a look of shock appeared on their faces.
At this time, the villagers of Taoyuan Village were mostly eating dinner at home and had lit oil lamps. Though the small, bean-sized lights were not very bright, they gave the newcomers a sense of hope.
"Everyone, this is Young Master Gu, the elder of Phoenix Village. All the food, drink, and daily necessities in Phoenix Village are supported by him alone. I'll say it upfront: if you come to Phoenix Village, you must abide by the rules here and listen to Young Master Gu."
Seeing the new villagers exhausted and famished, Gu Qingcheng instructed Mei Xiang to pour the boiled hot water into clean large wooden tubs and have them line up to get water to drink.
These people were tired, thirsty, and hungry. When Gu Qingcheng immediately offered them boiled hot water, they were quite grateful.
However, it was only gratitude for having hot water to drink.
But they never expected that as the first person drank the hot water, their gratitude would intensify again.
It turned out the hot water was sweet, mixed with a large amount of white sugar.
Sugar could replenish energy the fastest and raise blood sugar. Gu Qingcheng had generously poured a bag of white sugar into each tub of water without hesitation.
"It's so sweet? I haven't drunk sugared water in so long. It's sugared water! Hurry, everyone, line up!"
"Mom, I want sugared water!" The child's mouth watered upon hearing it was sugared water.
For a moment, the new villagers were in a small commotion.
Gu Qingcheng asked Mei Xiang to use a wooden ladle to scoop sugared water for the villagers. The villagers used their own eating utensils, whether basins, bowls, or jars.
Mei Xiang was also generous, filling every large plate and small bowl to the brim, never faltering.
If it were in the past, Mei Xiang would have been heartbroken. So much white sugar, how much silver would that cost?
But Young Master Gu was so generous and open-handed, Mei Xiang had slowly gotten used to his ways.
"Drink some sugared water first to fill your stomachs. The noodles will be ready soon. You'll each get a bowl of noodles then."
Mei Xiang said this while distributing the sugared water.
With the sugared water, the new villagers obediently moved to the side, sat on chairs, and waited for the noodles while drinking.
The village's communal tables and chairs were not put away and were fixed in place. Over 300 people, scattered, quickly filled the dining chairs again.
Gu Qingcheng thought, it seems I'll need to ask the carpenter to make several dozen more sets of tables and chairs, otherwise, there won't be enough seating soon.
Hundreds of pounds of noodles were cooked in ten pots, with oil, salt, meatballs, whisked egg flowers, and a handful of scallions, emitting a tantalizing aroma.
When the new villagers received their noodles, they never expected that their first meal in Phoenix Village would be pure white flour noodles.
They had thought that even coarse grain noodles would be good, or even black bean noodles, just to survive.
They never imagined it would be pure white flour noodles.
Some people started crying while eating, perhaps remembering their loved ones who had starved or frozen to death.
Qin Yue and Liu Cui knew the village was busy. Although they weren't cooks, they would proactively help whenever the village had an event and they weren't busy.
They were grateful to Phoenix Village and Gu Qingcheng, viewing Gu Qingcheng as their savior.
The two of them also heard the suppressed crying of the new villagers, and their hearts ached. They understood that everyone had gone through the pain of losing loved ones.
Once life improved slightly, they would remember the suffering their relatives endured and couldn't help but cry out.
The two of them also shed tears.
All the noodles were served. The roughly 300 people each received a large bowl of noodles. No one cared about the heat, slurping them down with gusto, as if they would swallow their tongues along with the noodles.
Gu Qingcheng took the opportunity to test their loyalty. There were 315 people in total, and strangely, not a single one was below the acceptable standard. All of them were on the acceptable line, with scores above 65.
Gu Qingcheng found it peculiar at first, but then she thought, having food to eat was the most important thing. It was no wonder everyone's loyalty was acceptable.
After eating, Gu Qingcheng asked Dai Fa to arrange temporary shelters for them first.
Currently, seventy percent of the people in Phoenix Village lived in wooden houses. The excess shelters had not been dismantled and Gu Qingcheng had specifically kept them to house new villagers.
Since many villagers had moved into new houses, there were enough remaining shelters for these new villagers, so Dai Fa's arrangement went smoothly.
One or two people shared a shelter, and soon, everyone was settled.
The new villagers didn't go to sleep immediately. They were curious about their new environment. Some wandered around the village in the dark, while others lit bonfires in front of the shelters. Some families who knew each other gathered to chat.
"This must be the most suitable place for us in the south. I heard that all the villagers here are refugees like us who fled the famine."
"Yes, we won't look down on each other. The residents of Wangchun City have their noses so high up, they look down on us completely."
"I heard that if you farm here, you get paid, and the village gives rice three times every ten days."
"Didn't they say each person would receive 20 catties of rice before? Does the child count? Will they get less because they're young?"
"I heard it's calculated per person, regardless of age, and everyone will receive 20 catties of rice. Tomorrow morning, after doing one thing, you can collect the rice."
At this moment, a new villager who had gathered information heard everyone's discussion and interjected.
"Do one thing? What thing?"
"Is it something difficult to do?"
"Will they make us sign indentured contracts?"
"Even if it's an indentured contract, I'll sign it. I'm starving to death, I need to keep my life first!"