Zhāng 75

Paige walked into the living room and saw a warm, peaceful scene.

Sunlight streamed gently through the floor-to-ceiling windows, softly shining on two men who were quietly sitting on the sofa, holding newspapers and reading intently.

They wore brown vests over white shirts. The sleeves were rolled up, and the collars slightly open. They had on khaki-colored casual pants, which made them look both stylish and comfortable.

Both men had tall, straight builds. Just sitting casually on the sofa, they were like a beautiful scene in a painting.

Who would have thought that not long ago, they were just ordinary farmers from the countryside?

They used to wear rough cloth clothes, muddy straw sandals, facing vast farmlands and rolling hills.

Their conversations were mostly about how the crops were growing and the daily matters with neighbors.

But they didn't back down. They worked hard to adapt to this new environment, learning how city people dressed and behaved.

From being completely out of place at first, they gradually fit in.

Now, they had transformed into high-ranking officers, noble young men, and an innocent cadet.

Their eyes no longer showed only simplicity and honesty, but also confidence and composure.

"Did you eat?" Paige asked, breaking the silence.

The two brothers looked up. No matter how much their identities had changed, the love in their eyes for Paige remained the same.

"Did you eat? Were you very busy? It's so late and you're just getting home," Winn asked with concern.

"I just went to check on things this afternoon. You two could've gone instead."

"It's fine. Everything's done. Since we're all full, let's head out," Paige said without any guilt.

After all, collecting food was much more important than military training.

They put down the newspapers and got up to leave.

After stepping outside, each of them put on a coat.

Paige twirled the car keys and asked, "Who's driving?"

"Driving?" Winn asked uncertainly.

"Of course. We have a car. You think we're walking?"

Paige tossed the keys to Uziel, who was closest to her, and then got into the back seat.

As Uziel walked past Winn, he shoved the keys into Winn's hands and got into the back seat too.

Winn laughed and could only obediently go drive.

There was no one else to pass the job to.

"There's some food, cloth, and cured meat in the trunk.

It's almost New Year. These things are our gifts to the people in the village.

As for how to distribute them, let the village chief take care of it," Paige said.

Winn nodded, then remembered Paige was sitting behind him and probably couldn't see, so he answered, "Alright. By the way, do you have any candy? The kids in the village only get to eat candy during New Year."

Unfortunately, this year had been hard on everyone, and no one knew if they could have candy at all.

They had prepared some New Year gifts too, just not as complete as Paige's.

Also, they were planning to take care of some matters today and hadn't thought about bringing gifts.

"Candy? I don't have any," Paige said.

So, red sugar was added to the trunk.

Even though it wasn't candy, red sugar was still sweet and would do for now.

Mixed in water for the kids, it would sweeten their mouths and also help with blood replenishment.

More useful than candy that only caused cavities.

Walking would have taken four to five hours, but with the car, they arrived in just over an hour.

That was only because they couldn't drive fast in the city. Otherwise, it would've been even quicker.

The main thing was it saved their legs.

When the car entered the village, a crowd of children shouted and ran after it, followed by curious adults.

In this small village, they didn't even have an ox cart. Now, a car had arrived.

It was rare and exciting. Soon, the whole village knew.

Everyone left their warm homes to come watch.

Even though they were curious, they only dared to watch from a distance. No one stepped forward.

The car didn't stop until it reached the village chief's house.

Most of the houses were later-built thatched cottages, smaller than the old mudbrick houses. Plus, the population had dropped significantly.

So the car barely made it through.

As soon as Paige opened the door and stepped out, the children rushed over.

"Paige-jie, Paige-jie!"

"Paige-jie is back!"

"Paige-jie came back in a small car!"

"And Winn-gege and Uziel-gege are here too!"

"Paige-jie brought Winn-gege and Uziel-gege back!"

Some of the kids who were more familiar even asked to be held.

"Winn-gege, can I touch it?"

"Uziel-gege, can I sit in it?"

"Paige-jie, I want to touch it too."

"Paige-jie, why didn't Ely-gege come back?"

The children chattered all at once, crowding around them.

The three of them didn't know who to answer first.

"Quiet, quiet!"

The village chief shouted through his big loudspeaker.

This secret weapon was usually only used during village meetings.

But after shouting several times himself and still being drowned out by the children's voices, the chief had no choice but to use his last resort.

The crowd instantly quieted down, giving Paige and the others a moment of peace.

"I need to use the toilet. Winn, Uziel, you two handle the stuff," Paige said, quickly escaping.

She knew it wouldn't be just the kids who were excited; the adults would be even more enthusiastic.

Sure enough, once the trunk was opened, Winn and Uziel didn't even need to do anything.

The onlookers each grabbed a bag or a parcel and unloaded everything.

Paige quietly used her ability to sneak in even more supplies.

Otherwise, that small trunk wouldn't have held much.

Even a small village had over a thousand people.

It looked like a lot, but once divided among everyone, it wouldn't be much.

Seeing the piles of food in the yard, along with the cured meat hanging to the side, everyone was shocked.

No wonder it was a small car. It sure could hold a lot, even if it didn't look that big.

After the initial surprise, everyone's enthusiasm exploded.

They asked about work, life, health, and daily matters.

There was nothing they wouldn't ask.

Their voices were so loud the chief's loudspeaker couldn't overpower them.

He yelled several times to no effect.

In the end, it was the chief's eldest grandson who screamed so hard that his voice cracked, finally calming everyone down.

Why was the chief's grandson so eager? Because the chief had promised that if he could quiet everyone down, he'd get to eat meat that night.

Meat , something they barely had a few times a year was a huge temptation.

"If you keep fooling around, nothing will get done today.

You might not need to do anything, but Winn and Uziel have work to do.

Go on, get back to your tasks. I'll let you know if anything comes up," the chief shouted through the loudspeaker, making sure everyone could hear him.