"Uncle, do you know where the leader of this settlement lives?"
Dapeng felt that wandering around aimlessly was not a solution. Moreover, as they walked, they had already attracted many malicious glances. If they hadn't been carrying bows and arrows and looked like they knew martial arts, they might have been robbed long ago.
Even a strong hero can't fight off a mob. Although they were well-equipped, they might not be able to defeat a large number of people.
So, Dapeng stopped and asked an old man sunbathing by the roadside.
The old man was as thin as a skeleton, his veins bulging. He raised his bony hand and pointed to the corner of a house visible in the distance, saying:
"Go straight, another 200 meters and you'll be there. It used to be the Mountain God Temple. Our settlement is formed by three villages. Two village chiefs have died. The surviving one is Village Chief Liang from Wujin Village, who is now the village chief here."
"Thank you, sir." Dapeng took out a rice ball and handed it to him, "Consider this my tip for directions."
The old man never expected such a great reward for a simple pointer, and his hands trembled with excitement.
Rice balls, rice – he hadn't tasted such flavors in almost half a year.
After Dapeng and his group left, he eagerly put the rice ball into his mouth and chewed vigorously.
Following the old man's directions, they found the Mountain God Temple, which was now the village chief's residence.
The Mountain God Temple was a small temple with rammed earth walls and a gate made of bundled firewood.
Dapeng stepped forward and called out, "Is Village Chief Liang here?" Kuaishuge
Soon, a middle-aged man in his 40s came out to answer the door, saying:
"I am. Who is it?"
Village Chief Liang had sharp eyes but his face was inevitably marked with fatigue from hunger.
"You are Village Chief Liang? Nice to meet you. We have something to discuss with you."
Dapeng said politely.
"Who are you? What is it about?"
Village Chief Liang looked at these young people who were clearly living a comfortable life and asked suspiciously.
"Let's talk inside."
Dapeng opened the firewood gate himself and gestured for his crew members to place the 20 catties of rice, 10 catties of meat, and half a catty of salt from their back baskets in front of Village Chief Liang.
"Ah? This?"
Village Chief Liang's eyes widened at the sight of the abundant supplies in the baskets.
"Heh, we are villagers from Phoenix Village and we have something to discuss with you. This small gift is just a token of our appreciation."
Dapeng spoke with full confidence.
Rice and meat were more captivating here than gold or jade. Seeing the rice and meat, Village Chief Liang's feigned composure disappeared, and he warmly invited them inside.
After some pleasantries, Dapeng explained their need to recruit young men to work in their village.
"We have young men here, but I can't say they are strong and healthy," Village Chief Liang said with difficulty. "Everyone is either starving or sick. Honestly, there are not many people in good health."
"It's alright. As you said, they are just hungry and sick. As long as it's not a contagious disease, our village can treat it.
As for those weakened by hunger, ten days to half a month of recuperation in our village will be enough to recover.
While working in our village, they can earn money and grain to send back to support their families."
It's hard to leave one's homeland. Village Chief Liang's settlement used to be a village on the plains, and life was relatively decent. Unexpectedly, after the flood submerged their village, they had to move to nearby high mountains, and life became difficult.
At this moment, the news brought by Dapeng and his group was like a ray of hope for survival. If it were up to Village Chief Liang, he should have been offering gifts to Dapeng and his group.
Village Chief Liang quickly summoned the young men of the village and asked Dapeng to choose.
However, the number of young people in this village was not large, only 35. Dapeng selected 20 of them with better health conditions and told them to wait at home, and they would come to pick them up in a few days to go to Phoenix Village.
As for the woman holding the infant, when Dapeng was about to leave, he saw her still waiting anxiously under the large banyan tree. Dapeng could only take her onto the boat. After leaving this settlement, Dapeng set off to recruit from other villages.
As he traveled, Dapeng realized how miserable the common people of the Great Zhou Dynasty were. The population had decreased by more than half, either bitten to death by zombies or drowned by floods.
Everywhere he went, if there were people, it was considered good to recruit thirty to forty young men.
He contacted several villages before he could gather 100 people.
Fortunately, apart from the difficulty of recruiting enough people, everything else went smoothly because they had grain as a prelude, and no village could refuse grain.
Like Dapeng, Xiaopeng first visited the village chief or leader at each place, then offered grain and meat to state his intentions.
After the other party accepted, he would let the accountant sign a contract with the village for planting medicinal herbs.
Even though the government had disappeared, formal written documents were still highly valued by the villages and were not easily violated.
When they heard about planting medicinal herbs on the mountains, everyone in the village knew that medicinal herbs did not require very fertile soil on the mountains and were easy to grow.
In the past, medicinal herbs were picked and used casually from the mountains. However, deliberately planting medicinal herbs was a rare occurrence for the villagers.
Planting medicinal herbs could be exchanged for grain, so no village could refuse. They all signed the contracts readily.
Of course, Xiaopeng also helped recruit people for the village along the way.
After a month of traveling outside, Dapeng and Xiaopeng brothers had temporarily completed their phase of the mission and returned to the village.
They brought back 150 people. Upon arriving at the outskirts of Phoenix Village, they had to stay in the isolation zone for seven days first.
During these seven days, the crew members had time to reflect on their experiences.
Thinking about what they had seen outside, and then thinking about the current life in Phoenix Village, they all felt a sense of unreality, considering themselves incredibly fortunate to be villagers of Phoenix Village.
After the seven-day isolation period, upon entering the village, the crew members saw the clean and tidy village, and the relaxed, content villagers, and could not help but exclaim:
"If you don't go out and experience it, you won't know how good our Phoenix Village is now."
"Yes, it seems we made the right decision to follow Young Master Gu here."
Dapeng and Xiaopeng dismissed the crew members and, without taking time to go home, immediately went to report to Gu Qingcheng.
Gu Qingcheng's outer courtyard was where she usually worked. Any important matters could be brought to her here.
"Not bad, Xiaopeng, you found 20 villages and signed orders for 20,000 mu of medicinal herbs. Dapeng, you also recruited 100 people. The results are fruitful. You've worked hard."
Gu Qingcheng was very satisfied and hosted them with tea in the main hall.
"Young Master Gu, I took in a mother and child. They might not meet your requirements, but I saw how pitiful they were. If I hadn't taken them in, they probably wouldn't have lived long, so I brought them to the mountain."
Dapeng was referring to Xiu Niang and her child, the woman who had knelt before him when he first visited the settlement.
Gu Qingcheng heard this and said:
"It's alright. Let them settle down and find some work. If Xiu Niang still wants to take care of her child, why not arrange for her to work in the daycare center? I'll talk to Zhang Chunhua about it."