"I heard about it back when we were fighting the PN Soldiers. Aren't they foreigners too?
At least Western food knows to cook things properly.
But do you know how the PN Soldiers eat? They eat it raw.
Fish, meat, they just slice it up and dip it in sauce. No cooking at all," Paige said to them.
"Ew~~" The three of them almost threw up their dinner just thinking about it.
No matter how hard things were, they always knew to roast fish before eating it.
They had eaten raw fish when they were young, but the taste was hard to describe.
"No wonder they wanted to take over our country. Their whole country was that poor," Ely nodded knowingly.
"Then we have to train even harder and beat all the PN Soldiers back to eating live fish," Uziel said, clenching his fists.
"That's not the right way to think about it," Paige shook her head at Uziel.
"If they like our country so much, crossing the ocean from so far away just to come here...
Our country is so big, maybe we can give them a little part.
Why do elders want to return to their roots? Because they love the soil under their feet.
If they love this land so much and don't want to live hard lives in their own country...
Since they're already here, let them stay.
Crops grow both above and below the ground. We live above ground, so let them stay underground.
Let them save themselves decades of hard work," Paige said with a wicked grin to Uziel and the others.
There's an old saying in Hua Country: 'Since you're already here, just stay.'
Besides, Hua Country isn't a place you can come and go as you please.
The four of them happily ate dinner, then sat on the couch chatting for a while before going back to their rooms to sleep.
When they returned to their rooms, they found that the messy bathroom had already been cleaned, and their dirty clothes were taken away to be washed.
For a moment, they weren't quite used to it.
That night, Paige snuck into Winn's room and shared some intimacy.
Paige felt that since they would be living together from now on, they might as well go in order.
The next day, Winn and the others left early in the morning, driving the car that Paige had brought back the day before.
Paige was already awake when they left, but she stayed in bed for another half hour before getting up.
After getting up, she gathered everyone for a short meeting.
"I don't care what you did before, or who you used to work for, or who you work for now.
Just remember one thing: here, you only get one chance.
I don't want anyone knowing anything about what goes on in this house.
Remember, nothing. No matter how big or small.
If I find out anyone said something they shouldn't have, there will be only one consequence: death.
If anyone thinks they can't complete their mission, or they owe something to their superiors, then now is the time to leave."
The people standing in front of Paige stayed completely silent.
"Alright, you've had your one and only chance. From now on, just do your jobs properly.
As long as you don't do anything you shouldn't, I won't treat you unfairly."
Once Paige finished speaking, everyone went back to their tasks.
"Miss, what if Officer Fang starts asking questions?" the butler asked cautiously.
"Mr. Zhang, are you my butler or Officer Fang's butler? Or maybe Commander Ye's butler?" Paige replied.
"Understood, Miss," Mr. Zhang immediately bowed his head and answered.
"If Officer Fang has any questions, tell him to ask me personally." Paige said, then walked out the door.
"By the way, go out and buy a big water jar. Then have someone boil clean water and pour it in.
Make sure the jar is washed clean before you pour in the water," Paige instructed before leaving.
As for money, they had collected a lot of legal currency when looting the PN Soldiers.
Yesterday, when she sent Steward Zhang to get custom-made clothes, she gave him a stack of that money. It should still be enough for now.
Her space couldn't preserve freshness, but it could store some boiled water.
Last time, when they were running around the city all night, they couldn't even find water to drink. That's why Paige thought of storing a big container of water in the space.
What if they had to stay outside for several days? A small amount of water wouldn't be enough.
Paige ran back to the cave where they had lived before.
A few days ago, they went down the mountain planning to go shopping. Who knew that trip would lead them to the military camp.
Luckily, it was cold now, so things didn't spoil easily.
But that little black horse had eaten up all the dry grass in the cave. Paige believed that if she hadn't come back in time, she might never see Seven again.
Yes, this horse named Seven was actually black.
When Paige saw the skinny Seven, she quickly took out some beans to feed it.
The PN Soldiers also had horses, and she had taken them too.
Then, Paige put everything in the cave into her space, not even leaving the bed behind.
She might not come back in the future, and storing things in her space was much better than leaving them in a damp cave.
But she still left two door panels and a torn quilt behind, just in case someone fleeing disaster came to the mountains—at least they'd have something to stay warm.
She also left a clay pot and some firewood. But all the wild boar meat and wolf meat in the cave—she took them all.
Once Seven was full and had enough to drink, Paige led it away.
Before leaving, she placed a big stone in front of the cave entrance, leaving only a narrow gap big enough for one person, to prevent wild animals from taking over the place.
Even though the chance of that was small.
When Paige reached the bottom of the mountain, she took out all the wolf meat from her space, along with some of the wild boar meat.
She planned to give them to the village.
In her memory, the people of Rin Village were all quite kind. Since many people had died, there was temporarily enough grain.
But meat was always lacking.
"A horse, there's a horse."
"And so much meat, Mom, so much meat."
"Paige-jie, it's Paige-jie bringing back a lot of meat."
"Wow!"
The first ones to spot her were the children from the village.
When they saw it was her, they shouted even louder.
The villagers began to come out one after another.
Paige led a big crowd of children and adults straight to the village chief's house.
"Paige, were you all attacked by wild animals?"
"Is anyone hurt?"
"Where are Winn, Uziel, and Waiter Erin?"
"You should just move back to the village. Now that the PN bombing planes are gone, life will slowly get better."
"Yeah, the uncles can help you. A house can be built in a day."
"Right, and with more people in the village, wild animals won't dare come down the mountain."
"You four kids living alone up there is too dangerous."
Everyone was talking over each other, not even giving Paige a chance to speak.
Soon, they arrived at the village chief's house.
"What's all the noise? With all this racket, how is the girl supposed to speak?" The village chief had already heard the commotion.
He stood at the doorway waiting, knowing the noise was heading his way.