Chapter 17 – Going to Help

An An turned over on the heated brick bed inside the house, waking up in a daze. She thought: The vegetables at the Zhao family’s home were growing so well largely because of the lucky koi bonus she had given.

But their own hard work was also not to be overlooked!

Mom is amazing!

Zhou Yu nodded thoughtfully. “You’ve truly put in a lot of effort. Nowadays, without bees and butterflies to pollinate, it really affects the crops that require pollination.”

Zhao Hu grinned widely, full of pride. His sister was just that smart and capable!

Zhou Yu steered the conversation back to the crops. “We’ve been to the fields. Compared to other villages, your crops are in much better shape. Looks like this year will be a good harvest.”

“Of course!” Aunt Zhao beamed with satisfaction at the mention of the fields. “Our whole village only tends to a few acres of land, and everyone here is an experienced farmer. How could we not manage it well?”

Zhao Hu added, “Don’t we take turns guarding the crops? When it was our turn, it happened to coincide with the soybeans flowering and the corn filling out, so we went and did some pollination ourselves.”

Afraid that An An might roll off the bed in her sleep, Qin Ying apologized and returned to the room to stay with the child and continue sewing.

They then heard Zhou Yu ask with great interest, “How did you do the pollination? There are so many crops—it’s not the same as growing vegetables.”

It was clear he had deliberately lowered his voice.

Zhao Hu answered casually, “We may not have much, but every household still has a feather duster or two, right?”

Zhou Yu glanced inside the house and smiled lightly. “Is An Bao’er sleeping soundly? Will the noise disturb her?”

Zhao Hu turned to look and laughed, “Don’t worry, our An Bao’er is tough. She’s not afraid of noise at all!”

Despite saying that, he still lowered his voice. “We borrowed a couple of feather dusters and walked through the fields a few times. That’s all it took.

“If one round didn’t feel thorough enough, we’d go again—just made sure not to knock off the flowers.

“Didn’t think much of it at the time, but later, when we saw the corn growing better than ever before, we knew our effort hadn’t been wasted!”

Zhou Yu was very intrigued. “Was this method your sister’s idea too?”

“Yep!” Zhao Hu was clearly proud. “Other than my sister, who else could come up with such a clever idea?”

Aunt Zhao chuckled and gave him a light smack, then explained to Zhou Yu, “Don’t mind him—this silly boy of mine respects no one except his sister.”

Zhou Yu blinked, a bit curious. “I heard you weren’t originally a family?”

“Ah,” Aunt Zhao sighed, “Our Yingzi has had a hard life. She and her mother fled here during troubled times.

“That was before the drought. Life here was still manageable.

“The two of them rented a place next door with the Guo family.

“Yingzi’s mother was in poor health and passed away. Before she died, she betrothed Yingzi to the Guo family’s son, Guo Wen.

“In the countryside, people marry young. When Yingzi turned fourteen, the Guo family wanted them to get married.

“But the world was in chaos, wars everywhere, and men being conscripted left and right. It was like everyone had a blade hanging over their heads.

“The Guo family just wanted to secure a future for their lineage early.

“But before they could even hold the wedding, Guo Wen was taken away to serve in the army. He was gone for three years, and later…”

Zhou Yu’s eyes widened slightly. The Guo family didn’t sound like decent people. But since it was their private affair, he didn’t press for more and just listened quietly.

Aunt Zhao shifted the conversation with a cheerful tone, “But our Yingzi is smart, diligent, and capable. She’s skilled in both household chores and fieldwork, and she can read and write too.

“Educated folks are indeed clever, so we thought once winter comes and things are quieter, we’ll let Yingzi teach Huzi how to read and see if she can make this silly boy a bit smarter.”

“Reading and writing are certainly good things,” Zhou Yu nodded. “If you ever need help with anything, just let me know. If I can help, I absolutely will.”

“Oh no, no need!” Aunt Zhao waved her hands quickly. “How could we possibly trouble you like that!”

After a while of chatting, Zhou Yu finally brought up the real reason for his visit. “I wonder if I could ask Brother Huzi for a favor—to help us find a water source?”

Aunt Zhao responded immediately, “It’s not that we don’t want to help, but my silly boy—how could he possibly have that kind of ability!

“Didn’t you just say it yourself? After three years of searching, even big officials couldn’t find many working wells. How could Huzi possibly manage it?

“The well in our village—that was pure, dumb luck!

“To be honest with you, we tried looking for more water sources elsewhere afterward, but none of them worked out.”

By the end, Aunt Zhao sounded quite dejected.

Zhou Yu fell silent too.

He was simply out of options. They had tried every method they could think of. Even the most experienced old hands were at a loss. What could a half-grown boy like Zhao Hu possibly do?

It was just a desperate move, really.

Suddenly, the previously invisible Xu Xia spoke up. “Auntie, luck is a mysterious thing. You can’t rely on it completely, but you also can’t ignore it.

“For three years now, there’s been a drought, not a drop of rain across the entire Heishan area. Aside from areas near the river, you can’t dig water anywhere.

“Yet only here did water spring forth… Other than chalking it up to your so-called ‘luck,’ what other explanation is there?

“If your family’s good fortune could help others, who knows how many lives it might save? That would be a huge merit for your family…”

Great merit?

Just waking up, An An caught that phrase and sat up while holding onto the edge of the kang table. She tugged on Qin Ying’s sleeve and began babbling and pointing outside.

Ah, not being able to talk was really frustrating!

Why did humans have to rely on guessing just to communicate?

Strangely enough, Qin Ying guessed her meaning correctly this time.

Or perhaps Qin Ying also wanted to use An An’s fortune to help more people—without revealing her secret.

She swiftly dressed An An and put on her socks and shoes, then carried her outside. Facing the troubled-looking Aunt Zhao, she said, “Mom, let’s go help.”

Aunt Zhao’s gaze instinctively softened as it landed on An An’s face.

Qin Ying smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. Huzi and I won’t let An Bao’er suffer. And you can stay home and rest these next few days—it’ll be time for the autumn harvest soon.”

Zhao Hu also patted his chest and said, “Don’t worry, Mom! If anyone dares make An Bao’er suffer, I’ll be the first to deal with them!”

Aunt Zhao gave him a smack on the head, but in the end, she agreed.

A smile appeared on Zhou Yu’s face as he stood up to take his leave. “In that case, let’s set out tomorrow and start looking from the mountain.

“We’ll come pick you up—what time would be convenient?”

Since they had agreed, the Zhao family didn’t hesitate and replied, “Any time is fine.”

“Then let’s go early,” Zhou Yu decided. “I’ll head back and fry up some flour to bring for An Bao’er tomorrow.

“Too bad today’s egg was the last one…”

Qin Ying quickly declined, “No need, we’ll prepare An An’s food ourselves.”

Zhou Yu said no more, but later still had Xu Xia send over the white flour that Zhang Jin Zhi hadn’t been able to deliver earlier.

This time, the Zhao family didn’t refuse.

Qin Ying mixed the white flour with finely chopped greens and steamed a few small buns for An An. She also prepared some millet and filled up the water pouch. She worked late into the night before finally going to bed.