Chapter 136: Preparations in Advance

When everyone returned to the village, Xu Mo spotted Chen Miaoyi waiting at the entrance.

It turned out that Chen Miaoyi had arrived there early, hoping to see Xu Mo return safely as soon as possible.

Several other villagers were waiting there as well, all of them family members of the members of the delivery team.

When they saw the delivery team return safely, they all breathed a sigh of relief and happily went forward to greet them.

Chen Miaoyi ran joyfully to Xu Mo and said with delight, “Husband, the hunters who came back told us that you drove off the bandits and won a great victory!”

Xu Mo smiled. “You already heard?”

“Yes!” Chen Miaoyi nodded, then asked, “Husband, you weren’t hurt, were you?”

“Hurt? Ha!” Xu Mo burst out laughing before shaking his head. “I hadn’t even had the chance to make a move before that rabble ran away. It would have been difficult for me to get hurt even if I wanted to!”

“Then it’s good that you weren’t injured…” Chen Miaoyi said repeatedly.

As they spoke, Chen Miaoyi noticed Qin Mutou looking around, apparently searching for someone.

She smiled and said, “Mutou, stop looking. Huihui is at home preparing a meal. She heard that you won a great victory and said she would cook something delicious for you and Husband.”

Qin Mutou immediately brightened. He turned and ran toward home, disappearing in an instant.

Xu Mo then began telling Chen Miaoyi about what had happened when they encountered the bandits.

Although she already knew the outcome, Chen Miaoyi still could not help feeling anxious as she listened to Xu Mo’s account.

She asked, “Husband, the bandits suffered such a heavy loss this time. They shouldn’t dare come back again, should they?”

Xu Mo shook his head. “Miaoyi, according to my analysis, these bandits were paid by someone specifically to deal with me. So I believe they will definitely return. And the next battle certainly won’t be as easy as today’s.”

Chen Miaoyi’s expression immediately filled with tension and concern.

Xu Mo took her hand and comforted her with a smile. “Miaoyi, don’t be afraid. I’ve already thought of a countermeasure. If those men dare come again, I’ll still be able to strike them hard and make them regret it!”

“I believe in you, Husband!” Chen Miaoyi said with an emphatic nod.

As Xu Mo was speaking with Chen Miaoyi, the village chief approached from the side and cupped his hands. “Young Master Xu.”

Seeing him, Xu Mo immediately said, “Chief, you’ve come at just the right time. There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“What is it, Young Master Xu?” the chief asked.

Xu Mo led him to the cargo cart and showed him the hemostatic medicine and the materials for dressing wounds.

“Chief, I’d like the women in the village to learn how to stop bleeding and dress wounds,” Xu Mo said seriously. “As you know, Old Song is the only physician in our village. If we encounter the bandits again and many people are injured, he certainly won’t be able to handle everything by himself.”

“Young Master Xu, is that really necessary? Didn’t you drive off the bandits with ease today? Not one of our people was injured, while so many of the bandits were killed,” the chief said.

“Chief, today’s circumstances were rather unusual. It was our first time using bamboo spears, and the bandits were completely unprepared. That was why we were able to defeat them so easily,” Xu Mo explained.

“But they aren’t fools. After suffering this loss, they will certainly think of a way to counter us when they return. My instincts tell me that they may even imitate us and use bamboo spears as weapons. Once we clash again, the situation will be entirely different. We must be prepared.”

The chief thought it over carefully, then nodded at once. “All right, Young Master Xu. I’ll go find Old Song shortly and explain the matter to every household.”

“Then I’ll trouble you, Chief,” Xu Mo said with a smile.

He then told the chief that the pork on the cart had been purchased specifically to encourage people to take part.

When the chief visited each household, anyone who agreed to send someone to learn would receive two pounds of pork per person.

The chief praised Xu Mo repeatedly for his cleverness. With pork as an incentive, the women of the village would be far more eager to participate.

When the chief left, Xu Mo had him take a cage of chickens and a cage of ducks with him.

He had asked the chief to deliver them to Old Song. After all, Old Song would be the one teaching them how to stop bleeding, apply medicine, and dress wounds. It was only proper to give the teacher a gift.

After the chief departed, Xu Mo called over Niu Da and his two brothers.

Xu Mo believed that, having now made enemies of the bandits, they needed to take the village’s security seriously at once.

The three brothers agreed that he was right and nodded in succession.

Xu Mo then offered two suggestions.

First, watchtowers should be built at several entrances to the village, with people stationed there day and night.

Second, the village should form a joint defense patrol responsible for nighttime rounds, preventing the bandits from sneaking into the village under cover of darkness and endangering everyone’s lives and property.

Upon hearing this, Niu Da immediately thumped his chest and said, “Master, leave the joint defense patrol to me. I guarantee I’ll handle it well!”

Xu Mo nodded. “Then I’ll trouble you, Niu Da… No, that won’t do anymore. From now on, you have to be called Captain Niu! Don’t you all agree?”

Chen Miaoyi, Niu Er, Niu San, and the other nearby team members all nodded and laughed.

Their laughter made Niu Da somewhat embarrassed, but he was delighted inside. It showed that his master had fully acknowledged him.

As for constructing the watchtowers, Xu Mo had already made up his mind. Apart from his carpenter uncle, no one in the village was capable of taking on the job.

Since it was already getting late, Xu Mo instructed Niu Da and the others to store away the wooden shields and food properly before leading Chen Miaoyi home.

On the way, Chen Miaoyi suddenly asked about Ning Yaxin.

“Husband, did you see Miss Ning today?” she asked.

Xu Mo shook his head. “I didn’t. Miss Ning had gone out and wasn’t at the shop.”

Worried that Chen Miaoyi might overthink things, Xu Mo did not tell her that Ning Yaxin had actually been at the shop but simply refused to see him.

“Oh, is that so…” Chen Miaoyi replied softly.

Xu Mo asked, “What is it?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I only wanted to ask how Miss Ning was doing. It’s nothing else.”

Xu Mo nodded and said no more.

When they arrived home, they had just entered the main room when they heard voices coming from the kitchen.

“It’s delicious, truly delicious! Huihui, your cooking is incredible!” The speaker was Qin Mutou.

A moment later, Xu Hui’s voice came from the kitchen. “Could you stop talking and hurry up and eat? Cousin and Sister-in-law will be back soon. I don’t want them to see that I secretly cooked something for you.”

The kitchen fell silent after that. Qin Mutou had probably begun eating with his head down.

Xu Mo smiled, then called toward the kitchen, “Huihui, why don’t I tell your father to arrange your marriage tomorrow? Then you two won’t have to sneak around anymore.”

The moment he finished speaking, something toppled over in the kitchen.

Hearing the noise, Xu Mo immediately turned to look at Chen Miaoyi.

The next moment, the two of them burst into hearty laughter.

Perhaps she had heard them laughing, because Xu Hui soon came running out of the kitchen, her little face flushed bright red.

“What’s so funny? Stop laughing! Stop laughing!”

But her words were completely ineffective. If anything, they only made Xu Mo and Chen Miaoyi laugh even harder.