Xu Genyou talked to Xiaoman at length, but mainly he apologized on behalf of Xu Genbao and inquired about the health of Xiaoman's grandparents.

And then there's Dazhu, the kid who used to follow him around all the way up, but he was left behind by the war.

It is clear that Xu Genyou is different from Xu Genbao.

Xiaoman's attitude towards him was also different: "Brother Genyou, my family had a good harvest last year, and we can eat as much as we want by mixing it with oak powder."

There are also a few rabbits and chickens kept on the mountain, so my brother and grandparents can eat meat, and they are in good health.

With the help of Yaozu's wife and his sister-in-law Genbao's wife, Xu Genyou not only knew that Xiaoman's family raised rabbits, but also that the sweet potatoes they grew were all fibrous, so he had no intention of borrowing them.

Xu Genyou mentioned Xiaoman's family's land: "A couple of days ago, I saw some outsiders digging up your land, so I went to ask them. They said they were helping out."

I was worried that since you live up in the mountains, people might steal your crops without you even knowing. I'll keep an eye on things for you from now on, and just let me know if anything happens when I go up the mountain.

He knew the location of Xiaoman's charcoal shed, and his family also had a charcoal shed on the mountain. Before the Lunar New Year, they had burned several kilns of oak charcoal and exchanged it for some grain at the medical shed.

Xiaoman wanted someone to keep an eye on things down the mountain: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Genyou!"

Li Laoshi is unreliable in his words and deeds. If Xu Gen, who knows him well, keeps an eye on him, then there will be no chance of anything going wrong.

Xu Genyou waved his hand: "Hey! Don't thank me. It's enough that you don't hate us. It's just a matter right under our noses, nothing to worry about."

Hearing this, Jiang Zhi coughed, and the three of them turned around.

Upon seeing her, Xu Genyou's relaxed expression tensed up again. He hurriedly greeted her, "Aunt Jiang!" and then rushed off to the fields.

Jiang Zhi pouted: I'm not a tiger!

Forget it, I won't force myself on someone who doesn't want to get involved.

"Errui, Xiaoman, let's go back!"

Jiang Zhi felt that making money was just as important as farming. Once the post station was repaired, her own house would also need to be repaired, which would require a lot of money.

Before leaving, she gave Li Laoshi some instructions about the village's land: don't plant coarse grains like sorghum and beans; leave the land empty and plant corn directly in two months.

The seeds distributed by the imperial court were given to the farmers who helped with the planting. The medical clinic had already given instructions, so they just needed to carry manure and spread it on the ground.

Li Laoshi remembered everything, saying that as long as he was given a few kilograms of grain, someone would definitely do the work.

Jiang Zhi has already made plans. Winter wheat has missed its season, and now the fields are full of various vegetables, while there are still three months until spring corn planting.

These three months cannot be wasted; we must quickly compost manure to prepare for the intercropping of corn in two separate crops.

Two crops of corn, that's exactly right, you read that correctly.

There were no hybrid varieties in this era; the corn was the size of modern sweet corn, and it was naturally sweet and sticky, with shiny, round kernels that felt like jade.

So when Jiang Zhi saw the tender corn, her first reaction was to nibble on half an acre of land.

Now that she has extra land, she wants to plant a crop of tender corn to eat first, and then a crop of dried corn.

Intercropping sweet potatoes in cornfields by creating raised beds ensures that the next season's harvest is not delayed at all.

On the way home, the little wild boar was waiting in the bushes again. This time, it didn't get scolded. Jiang Zhi patted it and said, "You'd better hide better from now on. If someone finds you, your legs will turn into hams!"

Xu Changshou's family has been sent away, and no one has seen the little wild boar since.

Moreover, during that disastrous pig-riding incident on New Year's Eve, Jiang Zhi also felt the power of the wild boar; if it wanted to run away, no one could control it.

The first thing to do in the new year is to repair roads.

To get rich, build roads first. The reason we didn't build them before was to deliberately increase the difficulty of going up and down the mountain. Now that we have more time to go up and down the mountain, taking detours is just a waste of energy and time.

Both families mobilized all those who could help, including Xu Errui, Jiang Zhi, Xiaoman, and Chunfeng, with Xiaoman's grandfather acting as the commander-in-chief.

The family was left with the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled.

Apart from the road leading to the mountain where the two families lived, which was deliberately filled in by Xiaoman, the rest of the area was destroyed by the torrential rain last summer.

The stones and mud piled up on the road need to be hauled down the mountain, and the clogged ditches also need to be cleared.

These things are not complicated; what they require is time, since the initial purpose was simply to delay the speed at which the refugees could climb the mountain.

Another task was to cut down trees and build bridges across mountain streams, something that had never been done before.

The people of Xujia Village only burn charcoal for a few days each time, and it's always winter. They can walk along the dried-up ditches, so the roads are only so-so.

This busy period lasted another half month. After the road was repaired, the journey up the mountain only took a little over an hour, half the previous three hours.

But before the road was fully repaired, Li Laoshi came again: "Sister Jiang, Zhang Juntou said that those outsiders have some left over after renting out their land. He asked if you want some? They're all scraps, no rent required. You can just turn them into tender corn later!"

Jiang Zhi asked in surprise, "How does Commander Zhang know about tender corn?"

Li Laoshi said hesitantly, "I said, Sister Jiang, you should plant two crops. One crop is for eating the tender ones, and Zhang Juntou should get some."

This big mouth... he hasn't even had a chance to eat yet, and someone's already eyeing him.

How much land is left?

Jiang Zhi called Xu Errui over: "Go down the mountain and take a look, record the land area, make a list, and see how much harvest there is! If you're not sure, ask other villagers for help."

This is a simple matter that Xu Errui can handle, and Jiang Zhi also intends to start honing his ability to get things done.

Xu Errui responded and followed Li Laoshi.

He stayed in the village for two days. When he returned to the mountain, he brought back a stack of papers covered with place names.

Xu Errui learned to read by memorizing the names of medicinal herbs during that year.

I can barely recognize them, and writing them is even more difficult. It's like drawing them. For example, "Erdao" or "Xiaodi". If you ask me, "Erdaogou" or "Xiaojiandi", I can still name them.

Jiang Zhi counted that the remaining land was more than ten acres, scattered over a two-mile radius, in dozens of places of varying sizes and lengths.

Walking around every day will max out your WeChat steps, no wonder no one wants to rent it. After paying the rent, there's not even any left over. It's better to take good care of the good land.

"Mother, Li Laoshi wants those outsiders to plant whatever they want, but I didn't agree. I'd like to ask Genyou to help keep an eye on things." Xu Errui rarely had the power to make his own decisions, and he spoke with great trepidation.

Jiang Zhi nodded without hesitation: "It's okay for Li Laoshi to do some tricks, but he can't cheat when it comes to farming."

If people cheat the land, the land will cheat the people. Xu Genyou is an experienced worker; he's reliable.

Seeing that he had done nothing wrong, Xu Errui breathed a sigh of relief and felt more confident. He then explained his other arrangements in the village.

“Mother, I see that many of those plots of land can be connected to our old land. I’m thinking of digging the field ridges to make them one piece, and then digging a ditch to let the water flow through. In the future, water can flow through the canal.”

Jiang Zhi nodded again: That's good, it's good to have this idea.

Receiving the praise, Xu Errui became even more excited and continued, but this time he spoke hesitantly: "Mother, we need to hire people to dig the field ridges and ditches. If we do it ourselves, after repairing the mountain road, we'll have to dig the ground again, which is too tiring!"

Jiang Zhi, who had just been all smiles, frowned slightly. This wasn't like Er Rui at all: "Was it Li Laoshi who asked you to invite people again?"