After sending off the women, children, sick, and elderly villagers of Xiao Village as though she were sending away troublesome gods, Song Jin distributed the wild vegetables to the village chief, Fan Shi, and Lin Shi just as Third Granduncle finished discussing the squad divisions with the village laborers.
Although Song Jin didn’t know exactly how the teams had been arranged, the village chief casually mentioned before leaving that her family had been grouped together with the village chief’s family and Third Granduncle’s family. As for the other two households, they were also steady, reliable families who rarely caused trouble.
Hearing this, Song Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
When forming a team, the worst thing was running into useless teammates. Encountering troublesome people could truly drive someone to death from anger.
As long as the other two families were easy to get along with, she didn’t mind forming a group together.
After seeing the village chief off, Song Jin returned and, sure enough, found Xiao Dalang and his wife speaking with Xiao Yanzhi.
Meanwhile, Ruyi, Jixiang, and the Jin-Mu-Shui-Huo siblings were squatting on the ground whispering together. While the four children whispered among themselves, their eyes repeatedly drifted toward Song Jin intentionally—or perhaps unintentionally.
Song Jin was completely baffled by the looks they kept giving her. Even while sorting and organizing supplies, she couldn’t help wondering whether the four children had been deeply moved because she had saved Mu Mu.
Or maybe they were angry she hadn’t let them eat roasted sweet potatoes?
Unable to figure out their little thoughts, Song Jin eventually gave up trying.
While the Xiao brothers talked, she bundled the quilts and cotton clothes together with cloth strips, then tucked the short axe into her waist.
This round of trading had yielded six cotton coats, three quilts, one handcart, one firewood knife, and one short axe.
It was truly a plentiful harvest.
Among everything, Song Jin was most satisfied with the short axe. It had already been sharpened, was razor-sharp, and fit comfortably in her hand.
Most conveniently of all, the clothing style worn by the common people of Great Hao resembled Hanfu, tied with waist sashes. Song Jin simply slid the axe handle into her waistband, making it both convenient and effortless to carry.
She even deliberately bounced around a few times to make sure the axe wouldn’t fall out before finally nodding in satisfaction.
Only then did she turn around, place the iron pot over the fire, toss in one portion of wild vegetables, and pour in half a pouch of spiritual spring water.
As though the timing had been calculated perfectly, the wild vegetable soup had just finished cooking when Xiao Yanzhi and Xiao Dalang’s conversation also came to an end.
Xiao Dalang gently instructed, “Second Brother, get some rest early. If anything happens, have the children come call me.”
A rare trace of warmth appeared on Xiao Yanzhi’s face as he warned in return, “Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, remember to tell Xiao Fugui exactly what I said. If he dares let Yang Shi continue tormenting you and the children, I don’t mind if he ends up losing two sons.”
During the refugee journey, causing something to happen to Xiao Yongtai and Xiao Yongkang would be incredibly easy.
Song Jin’s ears were sharp enough to catch Xiao Yanzhi’s words, and she instantly understood what he meant.
But she pretended not to hear anything.
Instead, she called out loudly, “Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, Ruyi, Jixiang—I made wild vegetable soup. Eat before you go back!”
Hearing Song Jin call them, Xiao Dalang and his wife froze for a moment before nervously glancing at Xiao Yanzhi.
Only after Xiao Yanzhi nodded did the couple dare accept the bowls of wild vegetable soup from Song Jin’s hands and call the two girls over as well.
As the family of four ate the soup, Xu Shi watched her two daughters wolfing down the food desperately, and her eyes gradually reddened.
The words at the tip of her tongue were swallowed back down in the end, condensed into a single sentence:
“Little Sister-in-law… thank you.”
Xu Shi had stepped forward earlier because she feared Yang Shi would bully Xiao Yanzhi and the Jin-Mu-Shui-Huo siblings.
Never once had she thought about coveting Second Brother’s family’s food, nor had she expected anything in return.
Seeing his wife’s reddened eyes, Xiao Dalang comforted her guiltily. “Tomorrow, once I find food and water, I’ll repay Little Sister-in-law. Don’t feel burdened.”
Hearing this, Song Jin almost wanted to lecture them. She sighed and said, “Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, saying things like repayment makes it sound like you’re treating me as an outsider. Honestly, it hurts to hear. Please don’t say that again in the future.”
After pausing briefly, she continued:
“But whether these words sound pleasant or not, I still think I need to say them.”
“You keep yielding to Yang Shi over and over, but all that does is encourage her to become even worse. If you don’t want to be bullied, then you can’t be afraid of trouble. In fact, you need to be even harsher than Yang Shi! Only if you’re ruthless enough yourselves will Yang Shi fear you!”
Yang Shi had been able to torment Xiao Dalang and his wife for over ten years precisely because she knew the couple was weak and afraid of conflict.
If they had dared resist even once, they never would’ve fed Yang Shi’s arrogance for so long.
Why had Yang Shi not dared provoke the original owner for two whole years?
Wasn’t it because the original owner had the courage to let her natal family back her up?
Ignoring the shocked expressions on the couple’s faces, Song Jin suddenly pulled a firewood knife from the newly acquired handcart and forcibly shoved it into Xiao Dalang’s hands.
“This knife,” she instructed seriously, “must stay on you at all times for self-defense! Don’t ever let anyone from the old Xiao family steal it! And remember this clearly—during the refugee journey, you can lose your life, but you absolutely cannot lose this knife! Losing the knife is the same as losing your life!”
Song Jin wasn’t trying to scare them.
She simply knew how brutal the coming refugee journey would be.
The northwest had suffered drought for two years straight. Not a single grain had been harvested, and the imperial court never provided disaster relief.
It wasn’t until one year later—after the great earthquake—that the court finally agreed to settle the refugees.
That alone showed just how corrupt Great Hao’s government was and how incompetent the emperor truly was.
Since the court couldn’t be relied upon, the refugees could only depend on themselves to survive.
Among millions upon millions of refugees, the ones who ultimately survived would undoubtedly be the fiercest.
Song Jin remembered that among the Xiao Village refugees who eventually settled together with the heroine, there had never been any mention of Xiao Dalang’s family or the old Xiao family.
Which meant Xiao Dalang’s family had either become separated from Xiao Yanzhi during the refugee journey—or died.
Since she had transmigrated into this novel and become family with Xiao Dalang and his wife, that was a kind of fate.
If she could help, then she wanted to help.
But for now, all she could offer was a single firewood knife.
To Song Jin, this favor seemed minor.
But to Xiao Dalang, it felt impossibly heavy.
“I absolutely can’t accept this knife. You traded it for a pouch of water! I truly can’t take it!” Xiao Dalang already felt mentally burdened after accepting a bowl of wild vegetable soup. There was no way he dared accept the knife too.
But Song Jin refused to let him decline. She shoved a large sweet potato into his hands as well, pointed toward the newly acquired handcart, and continued:
“Take this sweet potato back to Xiao Fugui. Once he gets a sweet potato, your family should have a better few days. And take the handcart back too. Xiao Fugui will definitely be even happier seeing the cart, since he’ll think he got all this for free.”
“A firewood knife and a handcart? Absolutely not!” Xiao Dalang shook his head without hesitation, even trying to return both the knife and sweet potato to Song Jin.
Seeing this, Xiao Yanzhi immediately stopped him.
“Brother, if Song… Jin wants you to take them, then take them. The knife is for protecting yourself on the road. With it, I’ll feel more at ease. As for the sweet potato and handcart, they really will help you, Sister-in-law, and the children live more comfortably for a few days.”
Even Xiao Yanzhi himself hadn’t expected Song Jin to willingly give the knife and handcart to his older brother.
He had to admit that, without realizing it, the resentment in his heart toward Song Jin seemed to have faded a little more.
Xiao Dalang had originally wanted to refuse Song Jin’s kindness, but hearing Xiao Yanzhi’s words was like hearing an imperial decree.
He no longer declined.
“Alright! Big Brother will listen to you!”
In the end, Xiao Dalang and his wife accepted Song Jin’s kindness.
The family of four pushed the handcart together as they returned to the old Xiao family camp carrying the sweet potato and the firewood knife.