Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

Not far from the shed, a temporary bathing area was built. In order to prevent a cold caused by the sudden drop in temperature after taking a shower, a half oil barrel (which Chen Weiguo got from the mine) was placed there, filled with wood, and lit to use as a stove.

It was easy for adults to change into work clothes from the mine and textile factory after taking a bath. There were only five sets of clothes for the children, which were Xiaolong's and his family's. The rest wore work clothes, which basically reached the ankles. Anyway, they could make do with them for now and replace them slowly. Even if they made clothes, it would take several days, after all, there were fifteen children.

After taking a shower and changing clothes, I asked them to wash their clothes. Judging from the current weather, they will be basically dry by tomorrow noon.

Then we were assigned accommodation, four people in one room (shed). The beds were made of logs laid on the ground and then wooden boards on top, making them simple and stable beds.

Toiletries, no matter how big or small, one set for each person. (There are all kinds of resources in the second world, nothing is lacking. Of course, the things taken out are all things from this era.)

After everything is washed and daily necessities are distributed, these people are basically settled. The rest is to wait until the house is habitable and then move in.

After finishing the work, it was already noon.

Lao Yang was chatting with a few older people, getting to know their respective situations and seeing if any of them had any skills.

Liu Xiaolong and his four companions became friends with the new kids.

Finally, Liu Guozheng was no longer the only one who cooked lunch. With Wenxiu's help, it naturally became a lot easier.

Although there were many people helping, we didn't prepare any big fish or meat for lunch. We just prepared a pot of mutton soup, which was milky white and fragrant, and looked very appetizing.

The staple food is of course unleavened bread, mainly because it is simple and convenient.

This food is several times better than that in relief centers.

The aroma made everyone lose the mood to chat.

After lunch, Lao San and Chen Weiguo went to the boiler factory as planned. Fortunately, the location was not far away. According to Chen Weiguo, it was about sixteen or seventeen kilometers away.

Erlang and Li Dabao are in a group. Their task is to buy some common medicines and replenish some daily necessities (just for show). The most important thing is to go to Sijiucheng and find a way to get a sewing machine. With more children, there will be more times when sewing and mending are needed, so it is necessary to get a sewing machine.

When they went there, the three of them brought a pig with them. Zhang Long went with them so they could take care of them. After all, there are still people in this world who are willing to take risks.

Li Xiangdong also went back and said that he would bring people back in the evening, mainly because he was worried that some problems might arise in the evening.

Liu Guozheng suggested that it would be best to bring two female comrades with him, who could take good care of the children and help with sewing and mending, making clothes, etc. (It was a necessary skill for women in that era to make their own clothes.)

During the meal, I basically got to know all the new elderly people. They were all around 50 years old and from several northern provinces. They had no relatives at home and had never thought about returning to their hometown again. In their words, going back would be death too, so it didn't matter where they died.

What they didn't know was that if they really went back now, they would not starve to death, because Wang Chao and Ma Han were traveling around the provinces, especially in the countryside. When he passed by, he would ask every household to leave enough food for three months. They could not leave too much, for fear that some people would donate it out of impulse.

Now both Dynasty and Mahan are equipped with jeeps (the prototypes were purchased for free, and after upgrading and modification, they were mass-produced by the manufacturer). It should be no problem to travel back and forth in three months.

Liu Guozheng had no way to explain these things. He just let them stay. The village was short of people anyway.

As for Wenxiu, she was not prepared to stay for a long time. If it were not for the child, she might not have stayed and would have kept looking until she found Gu Nian.

Gu Nian is Wenxiu's husband. According to Wenxiu, her husband participated in a battle to defend a certain area in Hongxiong. After the victory of the war, Gu Nian was the only one who survived from their squad. He returned to Bincheng with his comrades' ashes. The two met and got married in Bincheng.

At that time, Xia Kingdom had not yet been liberated.

Because his comrade's family was killed, Gu Nian tracked down the enemy all the way from outside the Great Wall to inside the Great Wall in order to seek revenge.

I never went back and I don’t know whether I am alive or dead.

By the time Xia Kingdom was liberated, Wenxiu had not waited for Gu Nian.

Later, Wenxiu didn't want to wait any longer and decided to look for it herself.

On the way to search, he saved a little girl and she kept her with her all the time.

She has never given up all these years because she firmly believes that people who have experienced bullets and come back alive from hell will not die easily.

Finally, Liu Guozheng asked if there were any photos and offered to help find them.

When talking about the photos, Wenxiu's eyes were filled with tears, like a deep well that could never be filled, revealing endless sorrow.

Nearly twenty years have passed, and the photo has long been blurred. She said she can hardly remember what Gu Nian looked like. The only memory she has is that resolute back.

After hearing Wenxiu's story, Liu Guozheng sighed.

Care is the persistence in her heart, no matter how time passes, it remains the same.

"this..."

"How about this, stay here now, and I'll ask someone to help you try to look for it."

Liu Guozheng didn't know how to comfort her. He had never encountered such a situation before, and he couldn't understand the so-called empathy.

Wenxiu turned her back, wiped the tears from her eyes, and said, "Thank you, Comrade Liu. I can't live and eat for free. See if I can help."

"Then you will be responsible for the medical care of our village temporarily, especially for these children. If anyone has a headache or fever, get treatment in time."

"In a few days, we will set up a special medical room just for you."

"There are also some medicines and other things that are needed. Please write a list and I will have someone bring it back next time."

This can be considered as making the best use of people's talents.

"Ok."

Wenxiu also felt relieved. She used her professional knowledge to exchange for a temporary place to stay, and she felt at ease.