Ning spread the supply list across the converted granary table. Beside each item she had written a place, an owner, and a route. Several lines remained empty.
Pei set down a crate of pears. “The orchard can provide fresh fruit and dry storage, but we cannot house every traveler. I brought the numbers from the families who offered.”
“How much storage?” Ning asked.
“Two rooms after the first supply cart arrives. One shed for blankets and tools. The shed roof leaks near the back wall, so nothing that spoils can go there.”
Mao Lin, who had been a soldier before he left the provincial line, tapped the map. “The packing shed by the mill is dry. We can keep blankets and spare tools there. The former soldiers will check it in shifts, but they are not signing up as a unit.”
“I’ll record the job, not the group,” Ning said. “Each person can choose their own duty.”
Mao watched her write it. “Good. I don’t want someone sending orders to people who never accepted them.”
Bai marked the roads. “The north road is wide enough for the grain wagon, but the checkpoint has added guards. The lower ridge avoids it, but a full cart cannot pass the narrow bridge. Medicine can go by handcart; grain will have to use the north road or be split into smaller loads.”
