Seeing the abundant water source and its strong flow, the villagers proposed building a canal to bring the water to their farmland. Even if their crops were already gone, they could still plant some cabbage and radishes. They could even take a risk and plant some sweet potatoes. Even if the potatoes were still small, they could still fill their stomachs before winter.

Elsewhere, Wan Xueying brought Qiu Shi and An Ping to her own fields. Seeing the barren wheat fields was heartbreaking, but when she spotted a patch of golden soybeans near the foot of the mountain, she was delighted.

There are not many soybeans in this field, and they are even more inconspicuous in comparison with the withered wheat field. However, they are also yellow in color, showing signs of being about to mature.

As for the wheat, a portion near the soybeans hadn't completely withered. Wan Xueying concentrated her mind deep into the soil and unexpectedly discovered faint water droplets. This indicated that there was a water source in the nearby mountains, though not as abundant as the one they had found.

"Brother, these soybeans..."

Before Wan Xueying could finish her words, Anping excitedly interrupted her, "I see, this soybean field isn't barren, it's ready for harvest." This was a pleasant surprise! When we first reclaimed this land, we didn't know what to plant, and we happened to have some soybeans at home, so we planted them.

"This wheat..."

"I saw it too. The wheat is half dead. It will be hard to save it even if we water it well." Anping was still immersed in the joy of harvesting soybeans, and the problem with the wheat was already expected. His mood was only slightly depressed.

"I'm saying that if we take good care of the wheat around here, maybe we can save it."

"Really? But how do we do it?" Although he thought it was unlikely, Anping was still very curious.

"I'll mix some growth solution when I get back, dilute it, and then pour it on these wheat plants to see how it works." The growth solution she was referring to was, of course, the sap of the Tree of Life. Fortunately, the Tree of Life had sprouted some new leaves during this time, and it didn't look as bald as it had been since Shen Yu's rescue. However, even if it was to be used, it would have to be from older leaves. If it was diluted, the wheat wouldn't be able to use much.

"When did you learn how to match this?" After asking this, An Ping scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "I almost forgot, you must have seen and learned a lot in the capital." For people who have never been to the capital, there is a certain mythological color attached to it, as if there is everything, and everything is omnipotent.

Since he had made up so much on his own, Wan Xueying didn't explain. The most she could give was that it was from a book. However, there was one thing she never got the chance to ask.

"Did you give your mother the prescription I gave her when I left home for the capital?" She had given it to them under the name of the Bo Mansion. Was she cheating both sides?

"I use it, but..." Anping said a little embarrassedly, "It's just that the medicine is a bit more expensive. We don't have that much money at home, so we can't buy it all the time."

"You have done a great job." It was better than she expected. It would be easier to treat Su.

They didn't stay long. Upon returning, they heard that the villagers had gathered at the new water source to discuss the construction of a canal. This involved pledging manpower. Should all male members of the village contribute? Or should each household contribute? Or should contributions be based on the size of the farmland? This presented a significant challenge, and the village chief was in a state of embarrassment.

"How's the problem with the house?" Wan Xueying currently needed to solve the housing problem more urgently, so she asked about it as soon as she saw Shen Yu.

"The village chief said that in order to express his gratitude to us for finding the water source, he would give us an abandoned house not far from here for free. Oh, and he would also give us the more than ten acres of wasteland around it." Shen Yu looked delighted.

"That's great." The people in the village are simple and grateful, and their hard work was worth it.

"But if we count carefully, there are four families. Do we all have to live together?" Shen Yu asked.

Wan Xueying, Aunt Chen, Madam Wu, the guards and the three coachmen are one family; Shen Yu leads Shunzi, Nanying and Beiwu as one family; Gu Ming and his mother are one family; and Wan Hesu, who changed his name to Congsheng, and Lin Yingnan and Chunjiao are considered one family.

"No. We brought Gu Ming and his mother, Wan Hesu, and the others with us because we were exiled. Now that we're here, of course we have to live our own lives. Whether we live well or not depends entirely on our own abilities." She then asked, "Have you seen that house? How big is it? How many people can it accommodate?"

"That house is quite large, with two courtyards, front and back. It's said that the original owner was on his way to seek refuge with relatives when his entire family was killed by bandits, leaving it ownerless. It's also said that someone from the same village had previously considered buying it, but before they could even move in, they broke their leg for no apparent reason. Later, someone else, unwilling to believe in evil, wanted to buy it, but tragically died in the wilderness. In short, anyone associated with that house will suffer misfortune."

"Is the house you're talking about not far from here, near the foot of the mountain to the north, with a large piece of land around it?"

"Yes." Shen Yu nodded, "It should be the one you mentioned."

"I remember that family arriving later. They immediately bought that piece of land and hired someone to build a new house. They also cultivated the surrounding land themselves." Wan Xueying had a strong impression of them because they were the only family in the village capable of such a grand construction project. However, that family rarely interacted with the rest of the village. Although their two families lived close together, they rarely visited. I never expected so much would happen to that family later.

"Don't you think that house is unlucky? Do you still want to live there?" Shen Yu was quite curious about this.

"What's lucky or unlucky? Nine out of ten times it's man-made." Although she could even encounter things like time travel, she didn't believe in supernatural powers or anything like that.

"Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble if you move in?"

"Let's talk about it after we take a look." Wan Xueying was afraid of trouble, but she brought so many people with her, and there were indeed few places suitable for them to live.

"What are your plans for the rest of the families?"

"Wan Hesu, no, his name is Congsheng now, right? We can give them a ride, and we won't need their help much along the way. They'll have to find their own place to live. Gu Ming helped find the village chief of Shuiyuan before he gave us the house and land. If he wants to live in the village, I plan to buy him a house. What about you?" Does this guy want to live in the same house with them? It doesn't make sense.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "I will go to the military camp in a while and can only take one personal soldier with me. Comparatively speaking, Beiwu is more suitable for there, so I plan to take him with me. Only Shunzi and Nanying live here permanently. I want to buy a few rooms on the edge of that house from you. I just need to rebuild the courtyard wall and install a gate. In this way, after Beiwu and I leave, you can help me take care of Shunzi and Nanying's food and drink. Of course, when Beiwu and I are here, I have to count on you for food and drink. But don't worry, we will provide money and labor, and you can use us wherever you can." It was obvious that he had this plan a long time ago.

"Are you planning to blackmail me?" Wan Xueying raised her pretty eyebrows.

"Didn't you say that you were only staying here temporarily and that you would move to the county town in the future? Maybe we'd get married by then, so why would we go through so much trouble as a family?"

"Oh, where do you get all that confidence from? I'm not in a rush to get married anyway. If you're in a hurry, go marry someone else." She finally had a chance to escape the constraints of family life, so she had to enjoy it for a few more years. As for her relationship with Shen Yu, since they had already announced their engagement, she wasn't too opposed to it.

"Don't say those angry words. I've already said that you are the only one I'm committed to in this life. If you're not in a hurry to get married, then I'll wait until I've established myself in the army. It won't be too late to marry you then." He was afraid of letting Wan Xueying down.

"Then let's put it this way. Let's wait until we've made a name for ourselves here before we consider getting married."

"Okay, let's make it a deal."

After working for almost a whole day, everyone was starving. Wan Xueying decided to wait until everyone had finished eating before considering the rest of the matter.

There was no shortage of water, and Aunt Chen and Nanny Wu prepared three tables full of food. In order to express their gratitude and to make it more convenient to do things in the village in the future, Shen Yu and An Dayong invited the village chief over.

Even though he was racking his brains over how to allocate labor to build the canal, the village chief still came to the banquet with a happy face because he was too happy and knew that Shen Yu was an official.

The village chief was overjoyed when he saw the sumptuous banquet and the fine wine Wan Xueying had brought from the capital. After two or three glasses of wine, when Wan Xueying suggested buying two smaller abandoned houses nearby, the village chief immediately agreed and offered a very low price.

Before the village chief arrived, Wan Xueying had already spoken with Wan Hesu and Gu Ming, and they had both clearly stated that they wanted to stay in the village. For no other reason than that, wherever Wan Xueying and her family were, their families would also live there.

The more important reason is that within a radius of 100 miles, only Yushu Village has such abundant water resources, so there is no need to worry about having no water to drink.

Wan Hesu also planned to treat everyone to a meal and some drinks as a witness to his marriage with Lin Yingnan. The two of them planned to get married as soon as possible in the simplest way so that they could live together legitimately.

In addition, he also proposed to go to the Ningjiang County Reserve Camp with Shen Yu, intending to enlist as a new soldier. If he did well, he would definitely become a capable assistant to Shen Yu in the future, which coincided with Shen Yu's original idea of ​​asking Wan Xueying to save him.

If he joined the army, there would only be two women left at home, Lin Yingnan and Chunjiao, so he wanted to settle down near the house where Wan Xueying would live in the future.

Lin Yingnan also learned from her mistakes. Now she completely follows Wan Xueying's lead. She doesn't have to worry about her being as troublesome as before, so Wan Xueying agreed to his request.

As for Gu Ming? In addition to helping him buy a house, Wan Xueying also found him a job. After knowing what it was, Gu Ming naturally accepted it with pleasure.