Chapter 256

Zhang Chunhua genuinely hurt herself when she fell to the ground, and she was groaning in pain, trying to catch her breath—how could she know that Hu Wenhua, that blockhead, didn’t have a single ounce of pity for her?

Her mother had told her that men always have the mindset that if there’s an advantage to be taken, they won’t pass it up, especially when a woman throws herself at them.

If the people in the village saw the two of them together, what could Hu Wenhua say then?

In her village, the gossip alone would force the Hu family to take her in as a wife. As for whether things would be good after marriage, she could just learn more from her mother, be obedient in everything, and give him a son, and then she’d have him completely under control.

Lying on the ground and moaning, Zhang Chunhua couldn’t understand why things were turning out so differently from what she had imagined at home.

Was it that her mother’s teaching was wrong, or that she hadn’t learned well…

The men from the village who arrived were all surprised to see Chunhua lying on the ground.

“Is that Chunhua? What happened?”

“What are you doing here?”

It was well-known in the village that Zhang Tuzi’s family didn’t get along with Fan Jin’s family, so what was Zhang Chunhua, a young girl, doing here?

She was different from Ding Jiajia. Ding Jiajia’s family had good relations with both families, so it was normal for her to visit. But for Chunhua, who wasn’t close to them, why would her parents let her come here alone?

Lying on the ground, Zhang Chunhua wished she could bury her face.

But the ground was clean blue stone, hard and cold, with nowhere to hide.

“I’m just saying, Chunhua, how could you fall on flat ground? You need to be more careful when you walk.” A sharp-eyed man kindly advised.

Once he spoke, the other men couldn’t help but chime in, “Are you hungry?”

“Zhang Tuzi’s family exchanged a lot of cornmeal with the Jin Niu family, so you shouldn’t be starving. I think you’re just tired, from doing too much work, maybe? But if you’re tired from building the wall, you should rest at home. Luckily no one was around this time, but next time if someone is nearby, it could cause a misunderstanding.”

“True words.”

They had seen Zhang Chunhua standing at the courtyard gate from afar, walking toward them, and then suddenly she fell straight down.

A real fall on flat ground!

No one could figure out how she had managed to trip.

Hu’s mother was very grateful that her daughter’s courtyard gate was a recessed entrance, different from ordinary courtyard gates, so Wenhua had been pressed up against the door and wasn’t seen.

It was both lucky and a testament to her son’s decency in keeping his distance from other girls and staying clean, not taking advantage of them.

Zhang Chunhua was initially determined, but now she wished she were dead!

She pressed her hands against the blue stone slab, trying to get up.

The village men watched, not because they weren’t kind-hearted, but because a girl falling wasn’t a big deal, but them helping her up would be different.

Hu’s mother, Qin Yilin, and other women saw that things were out in the open and cheerfully stepped forward.

Qin Yilin helped her up with a smile and said, “Come, Aunt Ding will help you up. You child, if you come, just knock on the door. There’s no need to rush.”

“Yes, but as a young girl, if you’re shy, next time bring your parents or someone else along, and don’t come alone.”

“By the way, what did you come here for this time?”

Zhang Chunhua’s face turned bright red as so many eyes stared at her, forcing her to speak despite her embarrassment, “I just thought I’d come to visit Sister Shuiqing.”

No one in the courtyard believed her.

However, the village men didn’t think much of it. They had heard from their wives that Shuiqing had discovered some medicinal herbs and might need to hire people later, likely choosing from among the women. The village women and young girls were very excited about this. They figured Zhang Chunhua had probably come for this reason!

They resolved to discuss this with their families once they got home and make sure to visit Shuiqing’s house more often to build good relationships.

Supporting her arm, Zhang Chunhua limped away.

It wasn’t until she was far off that the men spoke to Shuiqing, “Chunhua may be able to work, but she’s not very efficient. If you’re hiring, you’ll need to choose carefully.”

“Medicinal herbs are valuable, we can’t afford any mistakes.”

Shuiqing immediately realized they misunderstood Zhang Chunhua’s visit as an attempt to build connections for the hiring. However, she didn’t plan to correct them and simply went along, “Got it, I’ll keep that in mind.”

The men hadn’t come to find Hu Wenhua but were there to see Fan Jin.

The old village head and the elders had discussed and decided on an ownerless barren hillside, from which they would take soil to replace the topsoil washed away by the flood from the fertile fields.

While the soil on the barren hillside wasn’t as rich as the topsoil of the paddy fields, it was better than the compacted soil at the bottom. Moreover, with most villagers now raising rabbits, there was an abundance of rabbit manure.

Mixing this manure to make compost and then using it to fill the fields would help improve the harvest.

The old village head was right, the disaster had happened, and now they could only try to minimize the loss.

Their village was better off than others; at least they had high-yield potatoes and kudzu root from the mountains.

This gave them hope!

Now, they had an additional source of income from selling rabbits.

“The old village head said that most of the nearby barren hills belong to villagers. That distant barren hillside, if your people get up early tomorrow, it’s best to go with us to avoid digging in the wrong place.”

Fan Jin had no objections, “We’ll follow the old village head’s plan. However, we need to go out tomorrow. We’ll join you after we return when there should be more people.”

They needed to go out to buy a donkey.

The village men didn’t ask further. They delivered their message, chatted a bit more, and then left together.

Their days were now very different from before.

In the past, during the busy farming season, it was normal to be incredibly busy, but during the off-season, they were generally quite idle. However, starting from last year, they were constantly busy. First, they collected mushrooms from the hills, then peeled water caltrops, raised rabbits, planted potatoes, delivered potatoes to Master Bai, built walls, sold rabbits…

They were busy during both the farming and off-seasons. The main goal was to keep everyone occupied!

However, despite being so busy, they were happy. They felt more secure and at ease than before.

Without such productive activity, they wouldn’t know how to cope with the endless impacts of the flood.

In the evening, Shuiqing was tallying the family assets—her favorite activity.

Counting money and reviewing the family’s income.

Last year, they earned silver from He Shouwu, calligraphy brushes, and selling rice wine. The market also brought in money from mushrooms, water caltrops, and the biggest item, fish glue, which sold quickly. This year, they mostly relied on old stock.

Rice wine sales had completely stopped, and it was uncertain when they could sell it again.

Calligraphy brushes were unsellable as well. After the flood, there was little demand for luxury items like brushes. Most students were frugal, preferring to use their old brushes.

In the market, Li Huyu couldn’t come over for a while, so the major income from fish glue was gone.

The flood had not only devastated the fields but also destroyed aquatic plants in the lake. The nearly mature water caltrops had completely vanished along with their stalks.

This year’s water caltrop harvest was out of the question.