Chapter 75: Nonstop Hustle

Uncle Chen Jiu took a deep breath to calm his agitation and asked, “Do any of you have anything else to say?”

Everyone looked at one another and silently shook their heads.

“Think carefully!” Uncle Chen Jiu exhaled heavily. “Everyone was dying of thirst, rationing the muddy water we had just to survive.

“Then you suddenly discovered a water source—couldn’t you have finished digging the well, deepened the reservoir, and then gone to call the villagers to fetch water?

“Or were you planning to guard the water and make others trade food for it?”

The group exchanged glances again, each feeling the heat of shame on their faces.

“Think again!” Uncle Chen Jiu’s voice was low and cold. “If it had been you who figured out how to grow mushrooms—after getting blisters on your feet, calluses on your hands, eating poorly, and sleeping badly. You carried basket after basket of soil down from the mountain.

“Then you had to figure out how to prevent pests, how to grow more. You must have experimented at least eighty or a hundred times before succeeding.

“Would you be willing to hand over the mushroom-growing method you painstakingly figured out?”

Some with shallow tear ducts had already started to wipe away tears.

But Uncle Chen Jiu wasn’t ready to let them off the hook. He continued, “You all know the Zhao family of four had good fortune. But have you ever thought about why they were lucky?

“While you all were snoring away, they were stumbling around in the dark searching the mountain for food. That whole mountain’s already been combed through by them!

“If you had found something edible, would you have shared it with others?

“Who doesn’t know that one extra bite of something else saves a bite of grain? What, you think only you’re clever and everyone else is stupid?”

Uncle Chen Jiu’s mouth had gone dry from speaking so much, so he paused to take a few gulps of water before casting a sidelong glance at them. “I’ve said all this—did any of it actually sink in?”

A woman sniffled and stepped forward, head hanging low. “Uncle Jiu, we’ve taken your words to heart.

“We were foolish. We had no conscience! We’ll never do anything so disgraceful again! Please don’t worry!”

Uncle Chen Jiu turned his gaze to the rest. One by one, they all expressed agreement.

Only then did he nod slowly. “Let’s hope those promises weren’t just empty talk. Alright, scram! What, no chores at home?”

Only then did the crowd scatter.

Since they all lived nearby, it didn’t take long for Aunt Zhao to hear about what had happened—and she couldn’t have been more thrilled.

She smiled as she told Qin Ying, “Good thing your Uncle Jiu understands reason. Otherwise, us widows and orphans would just be sitting ducks waiting to get taken advantage of.”

“We won’t be taken advantage of,” Qin Ying said confidently. “It may look like they got the better deal, but in the long run, they’re the ones who’ll lose.

“When we’re eating meat in the future, they’ll only be left drooling!”

She glanced at the neighboring house and whispered to Aunt Zhao, “Mama, even Mr. Zhang won’t just stand by and do nothing.

“He’s a scholar—he values fairness. And since he works under Lord Zhou, if he saw injustice like this happening right under his nose, do you think he wouldn’t step in?

“It’s just that now that Uncle Jiu has stepped in to mediate, he doesn’t need to.”

Aunt Zhao gave it some thought and found it quite reasonable. “You really see things clearly!”

Qin Ying simply smiled with her lips pressed together.

After that, life settled down again. Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying worked in the fields, and many villagers came by to help—even though the two repeatedly declined, others simply wouldn’t listen.

In the blink of an eye, several days passed. The early-planted corn was visibly swelling up, while the newly planted seedlings were only about an inch tall.

Having seen the success of Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying’s land reclamation and farming, the rest of Tongshu Village adopted intercropping methods when planting. They sowed soybeans in the cornfields.

The spring-planted potatoes were growing well too, although they still needed regular weeding.

In the vegetable plots, as soon as one batch was harvested, it was distributed. Whether people kept it for themselves or gave it to relatives was their own business—no one interfered.

Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying blanched most of their share and sun-dried them for winter. Whether for stews, buns, or dumplings, they’d be great to have.

As July arrived, the corn and soybeans in the fields were ready for harvest.

The mother and daughter got up early and worked into the night, first picking the corn and carrying it home. Then they cut the stalks and piled them at the edge of the field, before turning to harvesting the soybeans.

Nearby fields were also ready for harvest, and many neighbors came to help. In just three days, the three acres were completely harvested and the land tilled and leveled. Some even asked if they wanted help planting vegetables.

After some discussion, Aunt Zhao and Qin Ying decided it was still too early to plant wheat, and other crops weren’t quite suitable, so they planned to plant Chinese cabbage.

As the saying goes, “First hot spell for radishes, second hot spell for cabbage”—this was just the right time to plant it.

But others advised, “Sister-in-law Zhao, since you’re not selling your cabbage, why plant so much? I traded for some long bean and cucumber seeds with my relatives. If you don’t mind, I can bring some over. Just plant a little of everything—it won’t hurt.”

Someone else said, “If you ask me, gourds are great too. The young ones are edible, and when they mature, you can dry them out for water containers or split them into dippers.

“Even just using up some spare vegetable seeds would be worth it!”

Listening to the advice, Aunt Zhao temporarily left the pile of corn in the courtyard and went to till the field with Qin Ying.

People came to help with that too. Besides the villagers, Zhang Jin Zhi even sent two of his own men over.

They dug up all the corn roots, which dried out in a day under the sun. Then they set fire to burn them off and re-tilled the field.

After tilling, they made ridges, carried water to irrigate along the furrows, and only after the water had fully seeped in did they begin sowing seeds and covering them with soil.

Afterward, Qin Ying and Aunt Zhao scattered crushed straw over the field. Dry straw was everywhere and already rotten—crushing it into mulch took little effort.

Someone couldn’t help but ask, “Aunt Zhao, what are you doing?”

“This helps retain moisture!” Aunt Zhao said matter-of-factly. “Otherwise, with the sun so fierce and no shade, the soil dries out completely in one day, and we’d have to exhaust ourselves hauling water again.

“Not that we mind the hard work, but there’s still a big pile of corn in the courtyard. We worked hard to get it—if the mice get to it, wouldn’t that be heartbreaking?”

Zhang Jin Zhi nodded repeatedly. “This is a great idea! Others can start doing this too.”

“This was Yingzi’s idea!” Aunt Zhao said proudly. “Speaking of which, we have to thank Mr. Zhang for lending her books—she’s getting smarter every day!”

Right away, a villager came running to Zhang Jin Zhi. “Mr. Zhang, my boy’s not too old yet—only fifteen. Do you think he could study?”

“Of course!” Zhang Jin Zhi answered confidently. “Even if you’re seventy or eighty, if you want to learn, you can!”

That man didn’t dare ask Zhang Jin Zhi directly for teaching, so he turned to Qin Ying instead. “Yingzi, your cousin Da Shuan isn’t dumb. Could he study with you?

“We don’t expect him to become someone great. As long as he can recognize a few words and not be completely illiterate, that’s enough!”