live on campus, and Wei Liang will take care of him. Even if he doesn't become a peerless master, he'll be able to protect himself. But as for other academic subjects, we're helpless…""Won't school s...Although Xu, the village head, realized that going down the same path as the Yao family was far more dangerous than the meager benefits they could gain, separating from them wasn't easy. At least until Yao Changming's youngest son recovered, they couldn't bring it up, and even if they did, the Yao family wouldn't agree.

It's still offending the Yao family, being called ignorant and arrogant.

Xu Chang thought optimistically that perhaps when the Yao family no longer needed Dr. Jiao's medical attention, they would take the initiative to leave them behind. This was quite a possibility, after all, traveling with their band of refugees brought no honor and only slowed down their mule-drawn carts – it was truly a thankless burden.

However, he was still too naive.

Theory and imagination are still far from reality. What he thinks, after all, is just what he thinks. Things don't develop as he expected.

Not until three days later could Yao Changming's son, Yao Bing, get out of the car and play happily. The Yao family's convoy still showed no sign of wanting to part ways with Xu Jia Village.

Now, Village Head Xu couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

Taking advantage of the midday break at a spot within a forest, Elder Xu arrived to discuss matters with Xu Huaiyi. "What do they mean by this Are they trying to pin the blame on us What could we possibly have that would benefit them The illness has already been cured, surely they wouldn't wish for their own children to fall ill again"

This "they," of course, refers to the Yao family.

Over the past few days, Village Head Xu's awe towards wealthy households has been significantly diminished. He appears somewhat impatient and, of course, he still refrains from showing it openly. He can only vent a few complaints in private.

Not only him, but other villagers also had some complaints. The main issue was the lack of freedom. Although before, when Xu Huaiyi led the team, it was still Xu Huaiyi and the village head who made the decisions, and they passively followed orders, the arrangements made by the two were reasonable and for their own good. But these days, they were almost becoming slaves to the Yao family.

There is absolutely no personal freedom.

Everything was up to the Yao family. When the Yao family wanted to rest, they had to stop too. If the Yao family decided to leave, no matter what they were doing, they would be herded along. The worst part was at midday and in the evening; the Yao family's bodyguards and guards would confine them to one place, not allowing them to roam freely. They claimed it was to prevent them from bumping into the Yao family's women.

What's this They aren't criminals.

And they had to collect firewood for cooking and search for wild vegetables to eat. As for the children, they were always confined and bored. Adults didn't dare to speak loudly either. In short, life was extremely difficult and suffocating.

These situations, Village Head Xu understood, and Hsu Huai-yi had naturally seen them long ago. However, he remained indifferent and watched from the sidelines, with no intention of finding a solution. He had to make them deeply understand that cheap favors are not so easily obtained. Eating someone else's food, looking at someone else's face, using someone else's bowls, and being under someone else's control.

Now that Mayor Xu finally couldn't take it anymore and came to find him, he said calmly, "I figure the Yao family is really planning to go to the capital with us."

“What” Xu Zhang was both surprised and puzzled. “Why”

Xu Huaiyi stirred the porridge in the pot and casually said, "Of course it's profitable."

Xú, the village head, skipped a beat. "What do they want from us What could we possibly have We have no silver, no grain..."

Xu Huaiyi said faintly, "We have someone."

Xu Chang was stunned, and after a moment, he reacted, his face changed, and he could hardly speak coherently, "You, you mean, they want to use us to block the disaster"

Xu Huaiyi nodded, "Although the Yao family hired bodyguards and guards, they're enough to deal with small bands of bandits. But what if they encounter a large-scale robbery Even if they could cope, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses, especially since they brought so much food, silver, and women. These are all targets for robbery. But if they were tied up with us, they could share a large part of the disaster. More importantly, we have people. Don't talk about women and children, those who can pick up a knife and fight, just pull out a few, there are seventy or eighty. Even if they aren't as skilled as bodyguards, how many can beat one"

After a pause, he pointedly reminded her, "Look at those refugees trailing behind us. They're enduring so much hardship, but the Yao family hasn't driven them away. Why It's because they need them as cannon fodder when things get tough."

Xu, the village head, gasped after hearing this, “This, this, this is too vicious…”

Xu Huaiyi twitched the corner of his mouth, "What's this Poisonous In their eyes, the lives of poor people are worthless, they don't matter to them at all."

So, if they're dead, they're dead. Dying for them is called dying a righteous death.

Xu Chuang originally squatted, after hearing this, he directly fell to the ground, rubbing his old face with both hands, it took him a long time to regain some strength. He urgently grabbed Xu Huaiyi's hand, like catching a life-saving straw, "Huaiyi ah, your brain is good, think of a way, we have to quickly separate from them, the farther apart the better, we can't be involved anymore..."

Xu Huaiyi didn't shirk this time, "Alright, I'll think about it later."

Actually, he had an idea in mind already, but he couldn't just say it so easily.

After Xu Chang walked out unsteadily, Gu Huan happily strolled back with her daughter, sipping on preserved egg and pork porridge, and said knowingly, "Couldn't take it anymore"

Xu Huaiyi smiled and said, "Well, that's a little earlier than I expected."

“When are you going to split up with them” Not only did the villagers feel unfree and restrained, but Gu Huaxi was also fed up. As a woman, she wasn't restricted much, but with Yao family’s guards and attendants around, even if she went out, her reputation would be affected. So these days, her range of activities had shrunk considerably. It was quite difficult for her to sneak out and take pictures. Those people hired by the Yao family were not easy to fool.

"Tomorrow then." Xu Huaiyi said as he stuffed a freshly cooked pan cake into her hand, the meat filling generous and plentiful. "Eat more, you've lost weight recently."

Gu Huanxi raised her hand and touched her face. Had she lost weight She had clearly gained two pounds! On the road to escape, she was the only one who had put on weight.

She called her only physical activity taking her daughter for walks to broaden her horizons. The rest of the time, she either sat in the car reading or writing stories, when her eyes tired, she would open the window to look at the scenery, or she would lie in a reclining chair drinking tea and playing chess, teaching her son by the way. At night, while everyone else complained about how hard it was to stay up all night, she enjoyed gathering around the stove to cook tea and eat and drink.

These days are more comfortable than traveling in my past life, I'm bound to gain weight.

After a filling meal, the small class began again. Xu Changbo continued to teach characters, teaching ten each day at noon. He assessed the children's ability to absorb information and noted how many they could remember. This wasn't a formal school, so it couldn't proceed in an orderly fashion. This was more like a crash course, an intensive training session. It was a cram-school style of learning, so how much they learned depended entirely on their individual aptitude. After all, once they settled down in the capital city, the small class would be disbanded. There was no need for long-term planning.

Liu Xiwen was still teaching everyone arithmetic. He fiddled with the abacus beads as he explained the bead-counting mnemonics.

It's too difficult, the villagers can't learn it either. They can only understand simple addition and subtraction algorithms. It's barely enough, but there are also some brave ones who went to Liu Shitou for help making an abacus. They practiced with it on the way. That way, when they arrive in the capital city and look for work, wouldn't they have an advantage."Xu Cunzhang thought to himself, "What's there to think about Helping them is a matter of favor, not helping is a matter of principle. Besides, what they have done isn't just a simple matter of favor...