Border Soldiers: My granaries are full of grain and meat, and I guard this region.

Upon hearing Wang Dun's words, Wang Huanzhi slapped Wang Dun on the forehead.

"Fool! Have you forgotten the day Qi Feng summoned Magistrate Zhao? If you had actually sent someone to eliminate Qi Feng, that would have been fine, but what if you failed? Do you know what the consequences would be?"

Hearing Wang Huanzhi's words, Wang Dun lowered his head, his tone somewhat unwilling.

"Are we just going to watch the Ye Family Restaurant steal all the business in Fuxing County? Father, I'm not willing to accept this!"

Wang Huanzhi sighed, and Master Lin shook his head upon seeing this.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Just don't cause any more trouble."

......

The Ye Family Restaurant has been doing very well these past few days, with daily sales stabilizing at over 30 taels of silver and profits around 20 taels of silver.

However, Qi Feng did not use the money to enjoy himself. Instead, he immediately asked Ye Zhiwan to recruit more waiters and chefs to meet the guests' needs.

Ye Family Restaurant's main selling point is its wine; its food is only average and there's much room for improvement.

However, Qi Feng did not choose to make improvements. He still had a lot to do with Qi Jiu. Taking too big a step could easily lead to disaster. Qi Feng planned to make improvements to other parts of Ye Family Restaurant later. The most urgent task was to stabilize Qi Jiu.

For several days in a row, Ye Family Restaurant was extremely busy, but it gradually stabilized.

The four who were originally busy began to have some free time, and Ye Ling Shuang's health was slowly improving. Until one day, Ye Ling Shuang suddenly approached Qi Feng.

"Brother Qi, I want to go back to Ye Family Village."

Qi Feng was slightly taken aback: "Go back for what?"

Ye Ling Shuang lowered her head: "Those were my clansmen after all. The uncles and aunts from the village are all there. Although the government has sent people to collect their remains, I haven't been able to go back and see them properly."

"I want to go back and erect a monument for them, and even if I can't get back the property that Ma Shuo stole, I want to find out if there are any belongings left behind."

Qi Feng was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."

Ye Ling Shuang's lips moved slightly: "Brother Qi, I want you to come with me."

Qi Feng pursed his lips and finally nodded.

The next morning, Ye Ling Shuang packed her bundle, which contained three incense sticks, a pot of Qi wine, a short hoe, and a wooden plaque that she had personally carved, with the four characters "Ye Family" engraved on it.

Qi Feng also prepared a powerful bow, a short sword, and dry rations.

Before leaving, Yu Yourong chased after them and gave each of them a hot wheat cake. She then lowered her voice and said to Qi Feng, "Husband, Ling Shuang is suffering. Please take good care of her."

Ye Ling Shuang looked up at Yu Yourong, and felt a warmth in her heart.

Qi Feng grasped Yu You Rong's hand and smiled slightly.

"I understand. Ye Family Restaurant will be relying entirely on you and Ye Zhiwan today. Please put in a lot of effort."

Yu Yourong smiled faintly, "The business at Ye Family Restaurant has stabilized, so it's not too tiring. But you and Ling Shuang, the mountain road is difficult to walk on, so please be careful."

Qi Feng nodded and climbed into the borrowed carriage.

The two remained silent the entire way, the only sound being the crunching of the wheels over the gravel on the ground.

Ye Ling Shuang sat on the cart, her hands tightly gripping the wooden sign, staring blankly at the mountain road leading to Ye Family Village in the distance.

The snow on the mountainside of Liupanling has begun to thaw, and the streams that were frozen in the mountains have started to flow again.

The road to Yejiazhai was difficult to travel. Half of the snow had melted, and the ground was muddy and slippery. The horse-drawn carriage could not go up the fork in the road below the village, so the two had to carry their things on their backs and continue on foot.

Ye Ling Shuang walked very fast, hardly stopping at all.

Qi Feng followed behind him, his tone calm.

"Your injury has just healed, don't get too excited."

Hearing Qi Feng's words, Ye Ling Shuang gradually slowed down, but Qi Feng could still notice that her body was trembling slightly.

Finally, Ye Family Village reappeared in their sight, but it was very different from before.

The corpses that were originally on the ground were cleaned up by the people sent by the government. The entrance to the village was broken and completely lost its former grandeur.

Ye Ling Shuang stood motionless in front of the village gate, lost in memories.

Qi Feng did not urge her.

For Ye Ling Shuang and Ye Zhi Wan, that night was indeed a nightmare, as more than 100 people from Ye Family Village were wiped out.

If he hadn't appeared and saved the two sisters, they would probably have become Ma Su's playthings by now.

Qi Feng walked to the makeshift tomb platform that the government had previously erected, cleared away the weeds that had grown back around it, and then took out the flask of Qi wine from his backpack and poured it around the tomb platform.

Ye Ling Shuang finally moved. She walked step by step into the ruins, squatted down and began to dig the soil with a short hoe.

Qi Feng went over and started digging with him. The two of them dug for about half an hour and found several pieces of iron that had been burned and deformed, as well as a comb that was half buried in the soil, with a small plum blossom engraved on the back of the comb.

Ye Ling Shuang gently ran her fingers over the wooden comb, a hint of sadness in her eyes: "This is Xiao Wanzi's comb; she was only six years old."

Qi Feng was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, as he recalled the night he rescued Ye Ling Shuang and Ye Zhi Wan.

That night he killed someone, Liu Daye, who was about to defile a little girl, and that little girl was Xiaowanzi.

Ye Ling Shuang gently stroked the wooden comb in her palm. She didn't cry loudly, but turned her back to Qi Feng, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Qi Feng shifted his gaze, pretending to look at a crooked pine tree in the distance, feeling a heavy weight in his chest.

He disliked this world, where human life was as worthless as grass.

A six-year-old child should be growing up under the love of his parents and enjoying the care of his elders, but should not die at the hands of the border guards, who were more like a group of bandits than border guards.

This group of people could slaughter more than a hundred people without hesitation, just for a pretext or a reason.

These are just those who died by the sword; who knows how many more were driven to their deaths by the ways of the world.

Even if it were just Qi Feng, if he hadn't transmigrated here, the original owner of this body would have been killed by the border army for military merit. Even if he had survived by sheer luck, the original owner wouldn't have been able to handle the 500 jin of meat and grain afterwards.

This is all caused by the damn world.

After a while, Ye Ling Shuang stood up, wiped her face with her sleeve, and said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Qi, please help me erect the monument."

Qi Feng nodded, and the two of them worked together to dig a deep pit in front of the tomb platform. Ye Ling Shuang put the wooden plaque she had brought into the pit and then built it up with stones.

Ye Ling Shuang took out three incense sticks from her bag, lit them, and stuck them into the soil in front of the wooden plaque. She then poured the last of the Qi wine onto the wooden plaque. She knelt in front of the plaque and whispered a few words, but her voice was too soft. Qi Feng could only vaguely catch the words "I will live well from now on".

When Ye Ling Shuang stood up again, her face looked much better than before, and the gloom in her eyes had dissipated considerably.

"Brother Qi, thank you."

Qi Feng put away the short hoe and brushed the mud off his hands.

"If the people of Ye Family Village are watching from heaven, they would be happier than anything to see you like this now."