Tian Yuanshan wanted to keep cursing, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was gagged by the villagers. He could only make muffled whimpering sounds as he was hoisted up and carried away.
Tian Jinshui didn't fare much better, as someone warned him:
"I advise you two brothers to stop making trouble, or else you'll have a bitter pill to swallow."
Since it concerned their own survival, no one dared to try and smooth things over anymore.
"Come on, everyone, let's help them move."
"We must make sure these two brothers get out of our Tianjia Village today."
"Right!"
Qin Sang watched the villagers herd The Shan Shui Brothers away before lowering her eyes and squatting down to bandage Caoer's wound.
"Don't let it touch anything dirty. Bring your younger brother back this evening for another application of medicine."
Caoer nodded obediently. Widow Xia hesitated for a long while beside them:
"Da Zhuang's Mother, will you... still be moving?"
Qin Sang had no intention of moving. She needed to accumulate Mall points through medicinal herbs, and moving to the Town would be quite inconvenient.
Moreover, the Town wasn't necessarily more comfortable than the countryside. Ancient Towns were only convenient for business and shopping, but other urban facilities couldn't compare to modern times. The lack of public toilets alone was enough to put Qin Sang off, as she had seen waste flowing freely in more secluded areas.
In terms of environment, the countryside was much more pleasant.
Qin Sang shook her head:
"As long as those two families are gone, I will naturally stay."
Widow Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief:
"That's good then."
After chatting for a bit and seeing Widow Xia off, Qin Sang closed the courtyard gate. In the main hall, Si Jin and Er Fu were waiting for her.
"Mother, are we really moving to the Town?"
It was Er Fu who asked; she was clearly very resistant to moving to the Town.
Qin Sang smiled and patted her head:
"We're not moving. The Town isn't as comfortable as the countryside; here, no one meddles in what we do."
Tian Erfu finally smiled and pulled Si Jin along to get back to work.
When Eldest Brother's Wife returned with Eldest Girl, she brought back news that Tian Yuanshan and Tian Jinshui's families had been driven out of the village with sticks and clubs.
"The chickens and ducks were all tied up and hung around Tian Yuanshan's neck. They flapped so much that his head was covered in chicken feathers."
"Tian Jinshui was beaten until he was crying for his parents, limping all the way."
"Both families, nearly ten people in total, were all crying."
Qin Sang could imagine the scene.
While it might have been a bit cruel for the women and children of those families, she wasn't the cause of that cruelty. If anyone was to blame, it was those two brothers for not acting like decent human beings.
San Gui also returned, but the news wasn't good. Not a single person in Third Brother's Wife's natal village had harvested their grain early. Third Brother's Wife grew anxious hearing this, so San Gui comforted her:
"But father-in-law said the family has rice and grain for exchange, and they have silver as well. He told you not to worry too much and to focus on recovering your health."
Qin Sang also spoke up:
"Yes, after we deliver this batch of mosquito coils tomorrow, we need to bring back more rice and grain. There will definitely be more people coming to our house to exchange for food."
Tian Sangui nodded:
"Then should we hire a few more guards?"
Qin Sang agreed:
"Definitely. Once the locust plague hits, the surrounding villages will have nothing to eat. We need to make money, but we also need to pay attention to safety.
What's the point of having money if you lose your life? Wouldn't that be tragic?"
The whole family was amused, except for Er Fu, who looked out the door from time to time with a worried expression.
By evening, a long queue had formed at Qin Sang's gate. Besides their own villagers, there were people from other villages. Third Brother's Wife's relatives had come, and Heizi had also arrived with four or five brothers driving an ox cart.
By now, Er Fu and the others could handle the common mugwort and such; Qin Sang was mainly responsible for those roots and stems without leaves.
The villagers were all talking at once about the situation in their own villages.
"In our village, the grain was eaten by locusts until nothing was left. Two elderly people were so distressed they couldn't catch their breath and literally died of grief."
"Fortunately, the locusts didn't eat all the mugwort, otherwise we wouldn't know what to use to exchange for grain."
"Dig for Caoer roots. Da Zhuang's Mother said many medicinal herbs use the roots and stems; she'll take them."
Many people sought confirmation from Qin Sang, and she explained everything one by one, putting everyone's mind at ease.
The people from her own village had received the news earliest and had dug up the most roots. Although there might only be one or two medicinal plants in a pile, everyone was still incredibly satisfied.
People from other villages watched with envy. Nowadays, being able to exchange for an extra half-catty of rice could keep a family alive for two more days.
It took about an hour of sorting to finish the exchanges for the local villagers. The items brought by other villages were mostly dug up before the locusts arrived, so the process was very fast.
Third Brother's Wife's natal family had been picked up by San Gui in the mule cart. Most of what they brought was mugwort, with few other medicinal herbs. A full cart weighed over three hundred catties, which exchanged for a total of eight catties of rice and grain. Adding to that the one catty of grain for Carpenter Zhao, the whole family happily carried their grain bags away.
No one was in a hurry to return to their villages; instead, they stayed to watch the excitement.
They also wanted to see if there were any other high-priced medicinal herbs they didn't know about. Returning to their villages meant facing a gloom of despair, so only here at Qin Sang's place could they feel a bit of joy.
Heizi drove the ox cart over. The cart couldn't hold everything, so the others were also carrying baskets on their backs.
"Aunt, the stuff on the ox cart is what we dug ourselves. The ones we're carrying were bought from others; we only used thirty catties of rice."
Qin Sang nodded, very satisfied with the efficiency of Heizi and his group. To be able to get over a thousand catties of herbs in a single day—there really was strength in numbers.
Qin Sang picked them out and had Er Fu weigh and record them one by one. There was quite a lot of mugwort, a full seven hundred catties; it must have been hard on that old ox.
Qin Sang asked Heizi:
"How much did you buy this ox for?"
Heizi was clearly very fond of the old ox:
"It only cost four taels. I didn't even drink two mouthfuls of water today; I saved it all for the ox."
Qin Sang nodded. Water was precious now, and Heizi saying this clearly showed he was worried that if the water completely ran out later, the old ox would die of thirst.
How heartbreaking that would be.
Qin Sang told him not to worry:
"Tomorrow I'm going to the Town to buy water. When the time comes, you can just exchange medicinal herbs with me for water."
The nearby villagers grew anxious:
"Da Zhuang's Mother, can we exchange for it too?"
"Where in the Town is water for sale? Can we go buy it too?"
"You wouldn't know this, but Da Zhuang's Mother is acquainted with Steward Huang in Town. She's buying it from him. For us ordinary folk, I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to get through his courtyard gate."
Qin Sang smiled and said:
"I'm not sure how much water I can buy yet. If there's extra and you all need it, you can prepare a container. It won't take up much space anyway."
Qin Sang didn't plan to give it away for free, and the price couldn't be low either. Otherwise, if word got out, she would be surrounded by refugees.
One couldn't say she was cold-hearted; in ancient times, self-preservation came first.
Saving everyone was the Emperor's business.
She weighed out thirty catties of flour for Heizi and his group; this was in exchange for the herbs they had dug themselves. For the others, Qin Sang had already given them rice and there was a surplus, so she didn't need to give more.
The villagers left in small groups, but Heizi and his men didn't seem to have any intention of leaving yet.
Qin Sang saw that Heizi seemed to have something to say:
"Heizi, is there something else?"
Heizi let go of the ox cart's rope and walked up to Qin Sang:
"Aunt, there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it? Go ahead," Qin Sang waited for him to speak.
Heizi was clearly a bit embarrassed. He hesitated for a long time, looking repeatedly behind Qin Sang. Qin Sang glanced back:
"Does it have to do with Er Fu?"
Tian Erfu, who was tidying up the herbs behind her, stiffened and looked up in surprise.