Saving System: Calm Down, My Fleeing Host!-Chapter 134: Origins

The sharp-eyed Xiao Yun suddenly saw Cheng Xiaoxiao, "Benevolent one, thank you for saving our entire family." Saying this, he pulled his parents and younger brother to kneel down and kowtow to Cheng Xiaoxiao.

The limping old man also pulled his two grandsons to kneel down.

The villagers present all knew the earth-shattering deeds Xiaoxiao had done during the days she was away.

They also knew that these two families were just among the tens of thousands of people Xiaoxiao had saved.

By allowing them to come to the village, it showed that these two families were grateful, and look at how sensible they were.

"Please rise, in our countryside, we don’t have so many formalities."

Cheng Xiaoxiao helped up the eldest limping old man, "You go with Erya first to wash up and eat something!"

Upon hearing that she had a task, Erya immediately enthusiastically called them to follow her.

She was a completely different person from the timid and shy girl a few months ago.

Cheng Xiaoxiao was greatly relieved and then looked at Leng Qi, "Thank you for your hard work, Coach Leng!"

Leng Qi was still pondering his second brother’s matters, nodded, said nothing, and left.

The always silent Qi Fei, with reddened eyes, stepped forward and choked out, "Boss Xiao."

Cheng Xiaoxiao didn’t know how to comfort the young man in front of her, so she just patted his shoulder, "Condolences! From now on, this is your home."

Qi Fei nodded heavily.

"Believe that your parents’ spirits in heaven also wish for you to live well and happily."

"Mm!"

Looking at the bundle in Qi Fei’s arms, probably his parents’ relics, she said, "You go back and change into clean clothes first, see how dirty you are, fill your stomach, and call my dad and big brother to help you set up a clothing mound for your parents in the back mountain!"

A hint of a smile finally appeared on Qi Fei’s despairing face, "Thank you, boss!"

At this time, Third Uncle and Seventh Uncle, who heard the news, also rushed over.

Trembling, they asked, "Xiao girl! Has the outside world really become a man-eating realm?"

In the pairs of eyes filled with eager anticipation, Cheng Xiaoxiao sincerely said, "Yes! The situation outside is terrible now, so the bridge leading to the town must be destroyed."

They also recalled how, to obtain news from the outside, the village chief had tirelessly organized people to clear the mountain roads, finally building a bridge and opening a road, yet it only brought vicious bandits who caused the entire village to suffer greatly. The thought was distressing.

Everyone frowned, bewildered by how it felt like the whole world had collapsed in just over a month.

"Now, there might not be many shelters left in the entire Yanzhou County, our Qingshan Village is still relatively safe and self-sufficient, so we must guard this piece of land and not let outsiders ruin it. The two groups of bandits outside, one has been eliminated, and the other is seriously weakened, temporarily not posing a threat to us, but we still need to post guards at the exits, with shifts keeping watch every day, in case any bandits without eyesight target us."

Everyone nodded; this was necessary.

"Also, while we can live behind closed doors, there’s something very important we must pay attention to..."

Everyone looked over together.

They didn’t understand why Xiaoxiao was so serious, was there something more brutal than bandits?

They couldn’t help but become nervous.

"Epidemic prevention!" Cheng Xiaoxiao emphasized each word.

Third Uncle anxiously asked, "Xiao girl! What kind of epidemic are you talking about? It can’t be a plague, can it?"

With those words, everyone’s face changed drastically.

A plague! What a terrifying disease. Once contracted, one is sure to die.

"How could it be?"

Seventh Uncle, incredulous, recalled the rat plague from his childhood, when tens of thousands perished.

The mere thought was chilling.

"Rest assured, everyone, so far there haven’t been reports of any diseases, it’s just that this flood was severe, many people and livestock died, and there are bodies exposed to the wilderness everywhere, it’s inevitable that a plague might arise, so let’s prepare in advance to prevent any disease from being transmitted to our village through water sources or animals."

"Then we should just use well water."

"Drinking water can be well water, but what about irrigating the crops?" someone worriedly asked.

"Yes, we have enough food for this year, but if we don’t plant crops next year, what will we eat?"

"And mice can get in anywhere, can we really prevent them?"

People started chattering and discussing.

After deliberating for a long time, they came up with no real solution.

Third Uncle had no choice but to place his hopes on Cheng Xiaoxiao, "Xiao girl, you tell us what to do, and I’ll have everyone cooperate with you."

For next year’s matters, let’s talk about it next year, let’s get through the current difficulties first.

"Okay! Everyone go home and rest well tonight, starting tomorrow, don’t worry too much, we’re just taking preventative measures."

Though it was just prevention, everyone couldn’t help but worry, what if it’s true?

When Cheng Xiaoxiao got home and saw the two families look refreshed, they had good appearances and were quite pleasing to the eye.

The system couldn’t help but tease: "The host is such a face-judger, when doesn’t she look at appearances? The day she rescues an ugly group will be strange!"

Cheng Xiaoxiao signaled for the two families to introduce themselves, she needed to know their backgrounds to assign work properly, she wouldn’t support idlers here.

If any of them were lazy and up to petty tricks behind her back, she would kick them out just the same.

Then they began to recount their pasts.

The limping old man, surnamed Hu, will be called Grandpa Hu from now on, his elder grandson is Hu Yixiu, and the younger grandson is Hu Eryang.

They were previously a prominent family in the town, a family of over ten members, had built up their fortune with charcoal burning, and in recent years had cooperated with the government to become the biggest official supplier in town.

For a while, their life was glorious until a little over a month ago, a torrential rainstorm destroyed everything.

After the flood, they suffered heavy losses, and the outside of the town was full of refugees. Initially, the county magistrate even opened the granary to aid the refugees. Later, when the refugees rioted, the government managed to suppress them, but didn’t dare to open the city gates again, and just as they were enduring this, a group of highly skilled bandits occupied the town.

Then the nightmare began. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The bandits committed all kinds of evil in the town, harming countless maidens, with many who couldn’t endure the humiliation ending their lives by hanging or bashing their heads against walls.

Later, those who survived were tied and moved to Qishan Town by the bandits.

During the journey, family members either died of illness or were tortured to death, leaving only the grandfather and grandsons alive.

Xiao Yun’s father was called Tong Yan, mother Feng Chun, Xiao Yun’s full name was Tong Baiyun, and his younger brother Tong Jie.

Their family were servants of a wealthy merchant’s mistress, who lived on an estate, with the father being the steward on the estate, and the whole family had a job there, leading a simple and comfortable life.

When bandits attacked, the mistress couldn’t bear the humiliation and slit her own throat with a bandit’s knife.

Their family hid in their small cellar and survived the disaster.