Zhāng 79

Every household brought out their pots and set up one stove after another in the grain-drying yard.

If they had tables and chairs at home, they brought those out too. Otherwise, there wouldn't even be a place to put dishes later.

When Paige and her group returned to the village, they could smell the delicious aroma of food from far away.

"Gurgle gurgle…"

"Gurgle gurgle…"

The sounds of growling stomachs echoed one after another. Everyone had left for the mountains before dawn.

Even if they had eaten something, by now it had already been digested.

With the smell of food in the air, it was normal for their stomachs to growl.

The teacher touched his own stomach. Thankfully, it didn't make a sound, or it would have been embarrassing.

This time, the whole process took much longer than usual. It was already late in the afternoon.

The main reason was the extended time taken to deliver items to the families of the deceased.

At first, they thought only the four of them would handle the cooking. But when they saw the quantity,

the village chief quickly organized over a dozen closely related men to help.

If it had been left to just Paige and the others, they wouldn't have even had time for lunch, only dinner.

If space weren't so limited, the village chief would've wanted everyone to join in.

Everyone had to wait until the fire completely died out and no embers remained before they could leave.

That delayed things even more.

Children were running around in the crowd. When they saw Paige approaching, they initially wanted to run up to her.

But when they saw the clothes she and the others were wearing, they all quieted down.

Even though they were young, they understood that whenever someone wore those clothes, it meant someone had died.

Death meant never seeing that person again.

Just like many of their playmates and parents in the village—they were gone now.

The village chief and some others took seats first, and the women quickly brought out the dishes.

Each dish looked, smelled, and tasted delicious.

At the village chief's table sat a few of the elders from the village, Paige, her three companions, and the teacher.

After a few casual exchanges, they started eating.

At other tables, people didn't even bother to talk. They all knew each other well. Once the food was served, everyone just dug in.

They had been hungry for too long. Filling their stomachs came first.

The women and children didn't sit at the tables. Each held a bowl and sat on stools or wooden blocks brought from home, eating and chatting by the stoves.

Children were carefree as always. Even while eating, they wandered around.

They compared who had more meat in their bowl or who was eating faster.

This meal was more extravagant than even what they had during the New Year.

Thankfully, Paige had sent some meat to the village a few days ago, and everyone had been slicing off a few pieces for each meal, just to add a bit of oil.

Otherwise, suddenly eating so much meat and fish today might have overwhelmed the village's toilets.

Paige suddenly realized this issue and frowned slightly.

If they got sick because of the big meal she had provided, that was never her intention.

So she searched through her space but couldn't find anything suitable.

Most of it was trauma medicine and antibiotics.

Finally, Paige looked toward her traditional medicine cabinet.

She took out a plant called digestion herb.

Even in the apocalypse, there were many non-toxic but unpleasant-tasting foods. For survival, taste didn't matter anymore.

As a result, many people ate too much and ended up with indigestion and stomach problems.

In the end, everyone discovered this kind of digestion herb.

After eating, they drank a bowl of herb water. It helped with digestion, regulated the stomach, and had a mild detox effect.

Paige was worried the mutated herb's medicinal effect might not suit the people here. Originally, it was one plant per person, but now with the whole village sharing one plant, it should be fine.

So, big pots were set to boil water, each with one leaf.

There were fewer than ten leaves in total. Even the last bare stem was used to boil a pot.

That stem worked even better. After the water boiled, Paige poured the stem's water evenly into the other seven pots.

After everyone ate and drank, each person had to drink a bowl of that water before leaving.

Children drank only half a bowl.

The water had a faint grassy taste. If you didn't pay attention, you wouldn't even notice it.

By the time everyone finished, it was almost evening.

Paige and the other three gathered at the village chief's house. Also sitting there were a few elders and some young people with good reputations.

"Uncles, grandpas, the four of us were lucky to be chosen by a commander to become soldiers. Now that we've achieved something, we want to give back to the village.

My grandparents and parents' funerals were handled so well thanks to the help of the elders in the village.

This is 2,000 yuan. The village can use it to buy a few cows. It will make next year's farming much easier.

With the rest of the money, you can repair the houses. They're all thatched huts, which aren't comfortable to live in."

As she spoke, Paige took 2,000 yuan out of her coat pocket and placed it on the table.

The village population had dropped sharply in the past few months. From a few thousand people, it had decreased to under a thousand.

By spring, there definitely wouldn't be enough strong laborers.

But having cows would change things. One cow could do the work of many laborers.

With so much land, next year could be a great harvest.

No one would have to go hungry anymore.

Thinking of that, the village chief's heart trembled. He imagined everyone having enough to eat and wear next year.

"Paige, then I'll accept this without holding back.

You all have grown up to be successful. You're the pride of Rin Village.

When you're away, we villagers may not be able to help much, but rest assured.

Your grandparents and parents' graves will be well cared for.

On holidays, if you can't return, I'll organize people to go and pay respects. It will be lively, and they won't feel lonely," said the village chief, clearly moved.

As the head of the village, he knew it wasn't proper to accept money from younger folks.

But this amount of money could truly transform the village's future.

They had invited so many people to witness the event. Clearly, they didn't want the village chief to refuse.

Their elders had passed. What concerned them most was who would look after their family's affairs.

Accepting the money meant ensuring the villagers would take care of their families' graves.

"With your word, village chief, we four can go forward without worries.

Rin Village is where we were born and raised. Naturally, we want it to become better," Paige said with a smile.

No one knew what the future would bring.

But Paige knew she wouldn't stay in one place forever.

Her only attachment was the matters at home. Now that the village agreed to help, her worries were gone.

After the New Year, she would travel and explore.

Without burdens, her time would be her own.

She wanted to see what a world without viruses looked like.

She wanted to see all the scenery she'd only read about in textbooks.