Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

As dawn broke and the chill was at its strongest, Lin Feng opened his eyes precisely on time.

Lin Feng didn't disturb them. He tiptoed outside.

In the mountain village on a crisp, early autumn morning, the air was crisp and cold, and a thin mist shrouded the distant mountains and the nearby dilapidated houses. The courtyard was desolate, with only the small amount of firewood that Shi Xiu had chopped the day before, neatly stacked in the corner.

The roof is a top priority. The thatch is severely rotten and must be replaced. The earthen walls have many deep cracks and require a large amount of mud mixed with straw to fill them. The doors and windows are damaged and need to be repaired with timber. A small vegetable garden can be cultivated in the yard, but a water source needs to be secured. There are woodlands on the distant hillside that could provide timber and possibly small game.

A preliminary plan for survival and recovery quickly took shape in his mind.

As the first rays of sunlight pierced the morning mist and shone into the courtyard.

Shi Xiu was the first to wake up. She looked at the ground alertly and was stunned to find Lin Feng was not there. Then she heard rhythmic chopping sounds coming from the courtyard. She gently moved her sister aside, put on her coat, and went to the door.

Lin Feng, shirtless, revealing well-defined muscles that were neither particularly muscular nor particularly muscular, was wielding a gleaming axe, vigorously chopping at the thick, dead tree that she had failed to split the day before.

Shi Xiu was somewhat stunned. She had seen the strongest warriors in the tribe chop wood, but she had never seen anyone chop wood with such calm focus, as if they were not doing rough work but performing some kind of ritual. The smooth exertion of force and the steady rhythm gave her a strange sense of power.

Seemingly sensing the gaze, Lin Feng stopped what he was doing, turned around, and saw Shi Xiu standing at the door. His face was expressionless; he simply wiped the sweat from his brow with the old cloth draped over his shoulder: "Awake? How's Cao'er?"

Shi Xiu came to her senses and quickly said, "I'm much better. The fever has gone down, and I slept more soundly last night."

She paused, looking at the thick log that was already mostly split on the ground. "You... you're working so early? That wood is too hard, I..."

"The axe will be easy to use after a little sharpening," Lin Feng interrupted her, pointing to a pile of neatly chopped firewood of uniform size beside him. "This is enough to burn today. Go make breakfast, use the rice you brought, add plenty of water, and cook it until it's thick. Cao'er has just recovered from her illness and needs to eat something."

His tone was natural, carrying an unquestionable instruction, but without the condescending air of a command; it was more like a matter-of-fact division of labor.

Shi Xiu grunted in agreement and turned to go to the kitchen.

Liu Yun also woke up and timidly came out. When she saw Lin Feng chopping wood shirtless, her face flushed slightly. She quickly lowered her head and asked softly, "Husband, is there... is there anything I can do for you?"

Lin Feng glanced at her: "Do you know how to sew?"

"Yes, I will." Liu Yun nodded quickly.

"There are several drafty spots in the house, and the paper windows are all torn. I have some money here. After you finish breakfast, go to the village and see if you can get some thicker hemp paper, or even old cloth, and buy some needles and thread. Try to patch up the gaps in the windows and doors as much as possible to block the wind." Lin Feng took out several dozen coins from his pocket and handed them to Liu Yun.

Liu Yun took the copper coin, still warm from Lin Feng's body, and felt a slight tremor in her heart. He... just gave her the money like that? Wasn't he afraid she would run away or squander it? A subtle feeling of being trusted, mixed with fear, welled up in her heart.

"I...I'll take care of it," she whispered as a promise.

"While I'm at it, I'd like to inquire if anyone in the village has any surplus thatch, soil, or timber, or if they have any craftsmen who know how to repair houses, and how much they charge for it," Lin Feng added.

"Yes," Liu Yun replied.

A-Yue also came out at some point, still standing in the shadows in the corner, her face covered in grime, holding her wood-chopping knife, watching quietly.

Breakfast was a simple brown rice porridge, much thicker than last night, with some minced meat that Lin Feng brought.

The atmosphere at the dinner table remained silent, but compared to the deathly stillness of the previous night, it was more lively and less tense.

After finishing his meal, Lin Feng said to A Yue, "A Yue, you're strong. Come with me to the back mountain and cut some suitable logs to make roof beams and doors and windows."

A-Yue didn't speak, but simply nodded silently.

Lin Feng took a sharpened axe and a wood-chopping knife, and A Yue silently followed behind him. The two of them left the courtyard one after the other and headed towards the mountains behind the village.

Upon reaching the edge of the forest, Lin Feng stopped and observed the growth and texture of the trees.

"We need straight, sturdy, and durable wood, pine or cedar is best," Lin Feng said, as if talking to himself, but also as if speaking to A Yue.

Lin Feng began chopping down the tree. Each axe stroke hit the right spot, his efficiency was extremely high. A tree as thick as a bowl was chopped into a deep gash in just a few strokes.

"You give it a try." Lin Feng stopped, handed the axe to A Yue, and pointed to the other side of the notch. "Chop here, and be careful to use even force. Don't let the wood get stuck on the axe."

A-Yue took the axe, weighed it in her hand, and then, imitating Lin Feng, swung it down. She was indeed very strong; with each swing, wood chips flew everywhere, the effect was remarkable. However, her movements lacked skill and were somewhat clumsy, nearly causing the axe to slip several times.

Lin Feng neither mocked nor urged her on. He simply offered a few words of advice when her movements were clearly incorrect: "Keep your wrist steady." "Use your waist, not just your arms." "Try to be a little more angled."

"Take a break and have something to eat." Lin Feng found a clean rock to sit on, took out two leftover hard breads from last night from his pocket, and handed one to A Yue.

A-Yue hesitated for a moment, then took the bread, turned her back to Lin Feng, and began to eat it in small bites.

"Did you often do these things in the tribe before?" Lin Feng suddenly asked, his tone calm, as if he were just asking casually.

A-Yue paused her chewing, without turning around or answering.

Lin Feng didn't press further, but continued, "I've met the Redhoof Tribe; they're excellent riders and skilled with lassos and short spears. Is your tribe located on the western grasslands?"

A-Yue's back seemed to stiffen for a moment. After a long while, just when Lin Feng thought she wouldn't answer, a low, hoarse voice, almost unlike a woman's, rang out stiffly in heavily accented Mandarin: "...Yes."

It was just one word, but it seemed to have taken a lot of effort.

"How did you get arrested?" Lin Feng continued to ask, his tone still calm, as if he were talking about the weather.

This time, A-Yue remained silent for even longer. Lin Feng could see that the knuckles of her fingers, which were gripping the dough, were turning slightly white.

"...The tribe was defeated in the war. The men died, and the women and children...were captured and sold by other tribes." Her voice was even lower, carrying a kind of bone-deep numbness and coldness.

Lin Feng nodded and didn't ask any further questions. Tribal wars, annexation, and prisoners becoming slaves... these were all too common in this era, especially on the grasslands. A-Yue's former status as a tribal noble might explain her silence and stubbornness, which set her apart from ordinary slaves, but it also meant deeper pain and humiliation.

"Here, no one knows who you were before." Lin Feng finished the last bite of his pancake, stood up, and said, "You are just A-Yue, my wife, Lin Feng's wife. It's better to forget the past."

A-Yue abruptly turned her head, looking directly at Lin Feng for the first time. Her face was covered in ash, obscuring her expression, but the numbness in her eyes seemed to have been torn open, revealing a surging, complex mix of emotions—shock, doubt, confusion, and a hint of something deeply hidden, perhaps even unconsciously… a flutter of emotion?

Lin Feng didn't look at her. He started binding the cut logs together, preparing to drag them down the mountain. "Have you regained your strength? Get these logs back; we still need to repair the roof today."

A-Yue silently turned her head, stuffed the remaining bread into her mouth in a few bites, then got up, walked to a pile of thinner logs, easily hoisted two logs onto her shoulder, and used her other hand to lift the rope binding the larger logs, taking the lead in walking downhill. Her steps were steady and powerful, as if she were carrying not heavy logs, but two bundles of hay.

Lin Feng watched her silent yet resolute back, and the corners of his mouth curved almost imperceptibly.

This woman is like an untamed wild horse, possessing immense strength, resilience, and a strong sense of vigilance. But with the right approach, she could become the strongest bulwark in this family.

He picked up the remaining timber and followed.

When the two returned to the dilapidated house, it was nearly noon. Liu Yun was already back, carrying several rolls of rough hemp paper and some old cloth, her face flushed with excitement.

"My lord, I've got it! This hemp paper, and this old cloth..."

Liu Yun reported in a low but clear voice, explaining what she had received and the information she had gathered.

She seemed nervous, afraid of not doing well, but her eyes also held a hint of excitement at completing the task.

Lin Feng listened carefully and nodded: "Well done. The wooden nails and tools will come in handy. I'll buy thatch this afternoon. We'll dig the soil ourselves. We don't need the craftsman for now; we'll do the repairs ourselves."

"We'll fix it ourselves?" Liu Yun and Shi Xiu, who had just put down the wood, were both stunned. Repairing a house is a skilled job; could the two of them, along with Lin Feng and A Yue, manage it?

"Fix the roof first, plug the leaks, we'll deal with the rest later." Lin Feng didn't explain much. "Shi Xiu, is dinner ready?"

"Okay...okay." Shi Xiu came to her senses and hurriedly went to the kitchen to bring out lunch—it was still brown rice porridge, but with more wild vegetables added.

A few people sat around a slightly flat stone slab in the courtyard, eating a simple lunch. The sunlight shone on them, bringing a little warmth.

As the sun set, the roof of the main house was almost completely repaired. The newly laid thatch gleamed golden in the sunset.

Dinner was still brown rice porridge and baked flatbread, but Shi Xiu dug up some wild scallions from somewhere, chopped them up, and sprinkled them into the porridge, adding a rare fragrance.

At the dinner table, silence still prevailed, but the atmosphere was noticeably different. Shi Xiu would occasionally place a piece of wild scallion on her sister's plate, Liu Yun would quietly ask Lin Feng if he needed to buy anything else, and even A Yue would nod almost imperceptibly when she received the baked flatbread from Liu Yun.

Lin Feng ate quickly. After finishing, he took out a flexible vine and a few sharpened sticks that he had brought back from the mountains during the day. By the light of the embers in the stove, he began to weave something.

The three women's eyes were involuntarily drawn to it.

Lin Feng's fingers flew nimbly, and the thin vines seemed to come alive in his hands, quickly weaving several fist-sized, intricately structured rope loops. He then slightly modified the sharpened wooden sticks, turning them into several simple trigger mechanisms.

"This is... a hunting snare?" Shi Xiu, being a herdsman, recognized it at a glance as a tool commonly used on the grasslands to catch small prey, but Lin Feng's snare seemed to be more exquisite.

"Okay." Lin Feng responded, putting away the snares and traps. "We'll set them up on the back mountain tomorrow and see if we can catch some wild rabbits and pheasants to improve our meals."

The three women exchanged glances, each seeing surprise and a hint of...expectation in each other's eyes. This man seems to know a little bit about everything.

Late at night.

Shi Xiu and Liu Yun slept on the kang (heated brick bed) with Shi Cao'er as usual, while Lin Feng slept on a makeshift bed on the floor. This time, A Yue didn't stubbornly sit in the corner. Instead, she spread some dry grass not far from the makeshift bed and lay down. Although she was still holding her wood-chopping knife, at least she was lying down.

The house was much warmer and more airtight than last night. Most of the cold wind was blocked by the sealed windows and door gaps, and the newly repaired roof no longer let in drafts.

This family is just getting started. The three women, with different personalities and backgrounds, will need time and more events to truly unite them. But at least, the first step—working together to solve basic survival problems—has been taken, and it seems to be working quite well.