The soybeans were also all planted after five days, and then it was time to plant the wheat and rice.

These two crops had already been specially cultivated by dedicated people, and everything was timed perfectly.

Qiao Jiuru basically secretly took fifty rice seedlings each day, plus another twenty or thirty hidden with the help of Su Huaiyuan.

That very night, the seedlings were immediately planted in the storage space.

Losing one seedling per batch didn’t really matter.

The production team usually grew extra seedlings just in case they didn’t have enough to plant.

Besides, they weren’t stealing hundreds of seedlings — Qiao Jiuru only took for two days, then stopped.

Within just a couple of days after planting those two hundred seedlings, they had already grown.

In a few more days, the plants would start to tassel.

Once harvested, they would replant again, and within less than a month, they would have rice to eat.

Qiao Jiuru also secretly took nearly two hundred wheat seedlings, and after planting, the amount gradually increased little by little.

From then on, they would no longer lack food.

On the fifteenth day of hard work, which was the fifth day of planting rice and wheat, Qiao Jiuru was bent over planting rice when suddenly a startled cry came from not far away.

She instinctively straightened up and looked toward the sound, seeing a young boy anxiously supporting an elderly man crouched in the field, holding his stomach.

Then she saw Cai Qingwen hurriedly running over, followed by Zhou Meihua.

Both the elderly man and the boy were somewhat familiar to Qiao Jiuru, but she didn’t know their names or identities.

After all, during the many days here, apart from Cai Qingwen and his wife, their family had no interactions with the other relocated people.

Perhaps because of their sensitive identities, everyone instinctively avoided mingling or talking much — the most they would do was nod in greeting.

Besides Cai Qingwen and Zhou Meihua, a few other relocated people gathered around as well.

Qiao Jiuru hesitated, unsure whether she should approach, and instinctively looked for Su Huaiyuan.

He was working nearby and had seen the scene too.

The couple exchanged a glance.

Then Su Huaiyuan put down the seedlings he was holding, came over, and quietly said he would go take a look.

Before he could get there, Bai Lianshan had already received the news and hurried over.

“What’s going on? What happened?” Bai Lianshan was also working nearby, so he came quickly.

Seeing so many people gathered and not knowing what was wrong made him uneasy.

He anxiously asked.

“The team leader’s here.”

“Team leader, Old Feng has fainted.”

“Zi Lu said Old Feng’s been having severe stomach pains recently, and he just fainted from the pain.”

“I knew Old Feng had been feeling bad for days.”

…

Cai Qingwen and the others quickly told Bai Lianshan what they knew, worried about Old Feng.

The fields were so busy now that they barely dared to rest, especially at a time like this.

“I’ll find someone to carry him to Uncle Jiu’s clinic to take a look.”

After understanding the situation, Bai Lianshan quickly made a decision and called a young man over to carry Old Feng to Uncle Jiu.

Then Bai Lianshan, accompanied by the young boy, hurried toward Uncle Jiu’s home.

Although everyone was worried, work had to continue.

They could only wait until the end of the day to find out how Old Feng was doing.

Su Huaiyuan glanced briefly, and after Old Feng was carried away, he returned to work.

Although some distance away, Qiao Jiuru overheard words like “stomach pain” and “discomfort.”

She didn’t even need to ask — she knew Old Feng’s stomach illness had acted up again.

Although they could eat enough here, the food was coarse grains and wild vegetables.

Added to that was the long-term lack of oil, no nutritional supplements, the weakness of old age, hard labor in the fields, and exhaustion.

Over time, the body simply couldn’t withstand it.

When work ended, Qiao Jiuru, like before, led Da Bao and Xiao Bao home.

Passing by Uncle Jiu’s house, she saw no one inside.

She guessed the grandfather and grandson had already gone back.

Dinner was still rice and steamed buns, radishes stir-fried with cured meat, stir-fried cabbage, and wild vegetable egg soup.

The wild vegetables were picked by her on the way to and from work, from the edges of the fields. Not much, just enough to make a vegetable soup.

As usual, Su Ze and Zhou Wanwan ate the most, while Su Huaiyuan and Qiao Jiuru made excuses to eat less, then planned to sneak into the storage space later for extra food.

Not long after the family finished eating, just as they were about to take turns washing up and going to bed early, Cai Qingwen suddenly arrived — followed by another person.