Chapter 231

Fan Dazhu and Fan Erzhu found the wild vegetables unappetizing, but not to the point of being inedible.

In the past, when the family hadn’t split up, Second Aunt’s family managed the vegetable garden, so there were fresh vegetables to eat every month.

After the family split, Grandma didn’t go to the fields, and Mother, who took Zhaodi along, found it exhausting. Seeds weren’t sown in time, and the vegetables in the garden weren’t enough to eat, so the family had to eat wild vegetables more often.

They had eaten bitter, coarse, and unpalatable things before, but never anything as bad as this!

“Big Brother, if we don’t take care of the vegetable garden, won’t we end up eating such awful wild vegetables in the future too?” Fan Erzhu asked worriedly in a low voice.

Zhaodi had been away from home for more than a month.

Fan Dazhu stared at the wild vegetables in his bowl, his face wrinkled in frustration. “Even if Zhaodi comes back, it won’t help. She hurt her leg and can’t go to the fields.”

“Mother could take care of it. Actually, Grandma could too. Look at the women in the village who are around Grandma’s age; none of them stay home and enjoy life like an old lady. Only Grandma treats herself like a noblewoman enjoying her old age,” Fan Erzhu complained.

Fan Dazhu grimaced and took a sip of the wild vegetable gruel, making up his mind. “Alright, when we get home, we’ll have Mother and Grandma take care of the vegetable garden!”

He didn’t want to eat wild vegetables anymore!

Women should take care of men, manage the vegetable garden, cook, do laundry, clean the house, feed the livestock… These are all things that Mother and Grandma should be doing.

There’s no way the men should do these things!

After going out, he realized that they had been too lenient with the women in their family. Mother and Grandma were too lazy, and they needed to be properly disciplined.

Hong Daniu, Hong Mancang, and other former residents of Zhulin Village were fortunate to have met Master Bai and followed him to Shanshui Village. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even have black flour gruel to eat, let alone noodles made from white flour!

They looked at the Bai Family Village people, who were chatting and laughing, with their large family living harmoniously together. Suddenly, their noses tingled, and their eyes filled with tears.

No matter how bad the food or how tiring the work, at least the Bai Family Village people had their families together, with no one lost to the floods. If they could, if they could, they would rather eat poorly and do the hardest work in exchange for having their families back.

The eighteen men lowered their heads, almost burying them in their bowls, their shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

Under the cover of night, they wept silently.

After dinner, it was already dark. Everyone found a spot and slept in their clothes.

At dawn, everyone got up.

There was no breakfast at Bai Family Village now, and the people of Shanshui Village got up as well. Xu Qing had already organized the men to escort the Sun family to the county city and buy necessities like salt on the way back.

The men of Shanshui Village were unloading the carts.

They moved sack after sack of potatoes to the place Xu Qing had arranged. The people selected to learn how to plant the potatoes were also chosen by Xu Qing last night.

They were all elders from the village, experienced in farming.

The people of Shanshui Village taught seriously, and they listened attentively.

Although there would be several more visits, everyone feared what might happen if there were no future visits and communication was cut off. So they listened carefully this time, noting down any questions to ask next time, treating the matter with great seriousness.

It wasn’t until the sun rose that the on-site potato planting instruction was initially completed. The people of Shanshui Village packed up the ropes, tarpaulins, and sacks, loaded the carts, and set off back home.

They had to hurry and transport more seed potatoes while things were still relatively calm.

Passing by Zhulin Village, Bai Manshan took out the items bought in Nanning City the day before and handed them to Hong Daniu and the other eighteen men, saying, “Go, burn some paper money for your families.”

Last time, they had hastily buried their dead and went to the county city to handle the sale of their indenture contracts. Afterward, they went directly to Shanshui Village without returning.

Now, finally coming back, they had to pay their respects and burn some paper money for the deceased.

Hong Daniu and the others, with their cracked hands trembling, took the incense and paper money, and the eighteen men wailed in grief.

The men of Shanshui Village turned away, wiping the corners of their eyes with their sleeves.

As they set off again, the entire group fell silent, a heavy and oppressive atmosphere hanging over them.

Pulling their empty carts, they quickened their pace. As they exited the small road and turned onto another mountain path, they were stunned to see a group of people emerging from the forest, armed with machetes and kitchen knives.

Had they been targeted from the start?

…

Shanshui Village was bustling with activity.

In just three days, they had cut down the miscellaneous trees in their respective plots, mowed the wild grass, moved the stones, dug the ground, and made over a hundred earthen bricks. The efficiency was remarkable.

Zhang Tuzi and the two Fan families, who had been working leisurely, felt embarrassed seeing the progress made by each household in the village. They could only grit their teeth and keep up.

Shuiqing’s family didn’t have to participate in building the walls for Shanshui Village; they only needed to manage their own place at home.

Their home was situated on high ground, forming a natural defense, so they didn’t need to build walls. However, for safety, Shuiqing and Fan Jin decided to put up some fences to block the lower areas.

Fences were easier to build than walls and didn’t require much work. The whole family completed them in two days.

The Ding family planned to hire workers with silver. They originally intended to wait for Shuiqing’s group of men to return and hire them, but while chatting, Li Dani and her group asked if they could help.

They were strong and could cut trees, dig pits, and lay foundations—whatever the men could do, they could do as well.

Qin Yilin was delighted to hear this. It was perfect timing!

There was no need to wait for the men to return; she immediately hired the five women, paying them thirty wen a day.

Her family was small, just three people, and the village head had assigned them the shortest section of the road. Knowing they weren’t farmers and weren’t skilled at digging or making bricks, he assigned them a flat area to work on.

Qin Yilin calculated that with the addition of five strong workers, and with Li He and her helping out, they should be able to finish in less than half a month.

She happily led the five sturdy women to the section assigned to the Ding family.

“What’s the point of us working so hard if the Ding family hasn’t even started? If refugees come and take advantage of the chaos, they’ll just get in through the Ding family’s unfinished section, right?” Zhang Chunhua shouted to the others.

Her mother immediately agreed, “Chunhua is right. Even if we finish and install front and back gates, it won’t matter. The Ding family’s section is as wide and accessible as a main gate!”

She had been exhausted over the past three or four days! Her husband was lying at home, while she and her daughter and son worked tirelessly day and night. Of course, she had to find an excuse to slow down the work!

“Didn’t Sister Hu say her son would help when he returns? You heard that too. What’s the point of arguing now?” Li Daniu felt that Zhang Tuzi’s family was always causing trouble, making a fuss over everything.

Instead of arguing, it would be better to manage her own husband and bring him over to work. That would be more practical!

Aunt Zhang stubbornly said, “Who knows if Sister Hu was just being polite? The Ding family took her seriously because they have thick skin.

Besides, Hu Wenhua and his group have to deliver several batches of potatoes. How can they find time to make bricks? No matter how fast we work, if the Ding family is slow, it won’t make any difference!”