Chapter 15

As the sun set and a sliver of sunlight hung on the horizon, Song Chaoyun arrived before the canal was even completed. He brought over the hot oil that was meant to be used to burn the trees, but this time it wasn't for burning them. Instead, it was to pave a new path for these saplings to survive.

Qingyun noticed that everyone's eyes were focused on the back of Song Chaoyun, where a large group of people stood. Then, two people carrying a basket each came over with more than a dozen baskets. When they slammed the baskets to the ground and lifted the white cloth covering them, what was revealed to everyone were white steamed buns as big as large bowls!

It was still steaming hot, and the air seemed to be filled with the aroma of carbohydrates and steamed buns. Everyone stared at it intently, as if they wanted to burn a hole through it, and kept swallowing their saliva.

Seeing this, Song Chaoyun simply smiled and waved her hand, "You've all worked hard today, come and have dinner."

The scene was chaotic; everyone was scrambling like madmen, pushing and shoving, afraid of missing out. When Mu Helian squeezed in and came out again, her snow-white insteps were bruised and blackened. She ran towards Qingyun with four large steamed buns in her arms, happily handing her two and giving some to Lin Wanjun beside her.

"This princess is truly merciful!" Mu Helian smiled broadly, completely unlike the cold and aloof demeanor Qingyun had shown her when they first met. She was probably an optimistic and cheerful person, but life and hardship had given her a prickly appearance.

Lin Wanjun assumed she had only taken four and, worried it wouldn't be enough for the group, was about to go get more when Mu Helian stopped her. Mu Helian patted her chest and pulled four more white trinkets from her clothes, saying, "Brother Lin, don't underestimate me!"

Upon hearing this, the two burst into laughter at the playful nickname given to Mu Helian.

Meanwhile, Song Chaoyun sat on the sedan chair, propping his head up with his hand, looking utterly bored. The torches around them illuminated the entire world. Everyone was eating white flour steamed buns, which they rarely got to eat, wolfing them down. As soon as they put them in their mouths, they would gulp down water. Some even ate five at once.

"You said that just doing this job would get you steamed buns to eat, but if you really do this job well, are you saying you'll get to eat meat?"

"Eat meat? That's something you only get to try during the New Year, a few pieces of pork. As for the rest... you..." The woman took a bite and swallowed it whole, not caring about the taste at all. She just wanted to be faster than everyone else and stuff the good stuff into her stomach. She chewed her mouthful of food and continued indistinctly, "Don't... don't dream about it." Then she burped.

Qingyun clutched at the steamed bun, her mouth feeling increasingly bitter. Looking at this scene, she had never imagined that steamed buns could be considered a delicacy, never imagined that there were places so poor that even steamed buns could be considered a delicacy. This was truly bitter.

As someone living in a peaceful era in the 21st century, she truly felt extremely distressed.

Lin Wanjun, with her sharp eyes, noticed Qingyun's tears falling onto the back of her hand. She stepped forward and took her hand, thinking she wasn't full, and handed her the other half of her hand. "Why are you crying? Are you feeling unwell?" She patted Qingyun's back. "When the trees grow taller and we plant more, we can grow rice and wheat. Whether we want noodles or steamed buns, we'll have everything we need."

She looked at Qingyun and comforted him, "These things will come in the future."

Qingyun wiped away her tears and snot, stuffed the steamed bun into her mouth, and nodded choked out, "Yes, we'll have them all, we'll have them all in the future!"

The firelight shone into the ditches again. Qingyun, hunched over, examined each channel. After a while, she smiled with delight, "It's ready! It's all ready!" At this time, the wind was biting cold, and the temperature in the desert had already begun to drop. Qingyun was dressed in thin clothes, and the cold wind made her shiver.

She didn't care much, turned around and said loudly to the two of them, her joy overflowing. She had actually fixed the canal in one day. However, after working until the first half of the night, Qingyun sent everyone back, while she stayed behind to finish the last section.

I wanted to ask the two of them to go back first, but they refused and insisted on finishing the last part with Qingyun.

System: [Ding~ Congratulations, host, on completing the task. The items from this task are not eligible for the points redemption system. The task will last for one month. Please keep up the good work!]

The system notification sounded at the opportune moment, but the more she listened, the more something felt off. [Shouldn't it be completely free? Who said this thing was free like vegetable seeds and saplings?!]

System: [Host, the product provided this time is not included in the free supply.]

Qingyun was furious upon hearing this. [Fine! You're selling duvet covers? You're quite the expert?]

System: [The mall does not sell cotton products. Are you sure you're not mistaken?]

Qingyun: "..."

This artificial stupidity is truly beyond words.

The canal was completed, and the sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn. In a few hours, sunrise would be upon them. The three of them headed back together, while the other two, exhausted, parted ways to go home. Qingyun, however, wasn't planning on sleeping yet. He drew several buckets of water from the city's well and returned home.

After preparing the medicine according to the instructions, he ran back to the command post to have someone bring it over to treat the longhorn beetle. Qingyun repeatedly instructed that the water must be strictly guarded and that they must not drink it, as it would cause poisoning.

The young guard, startled, glanced again at the buckets of water in the corner and stammered, "You're using poisoned water to water the trees?!"

Qingyun chuckled, "It's fine if the tree drinks it, but if a person or an insect drinks it, they'll definitely be lying on their stomach, you know?" She waved her hand, "Just remember, don't let anyone drink it! If someone dies, it's not my fault!"

The young guard pinched his nose. He had just leaned closer to smell it and found a strange odor. "Who would drink this water that smells so bad!"

After she finished all that, the workers were all heading to the hill to work. Song Chaoyun still had some humanity, so she arranged for Qingyun to find a room in the command mansion to sleep first. Goodness, she was so tired that once her head hit the pillow, she was impossible to wake up.

In her dream, she saw the forest she was protecting, and those few bastards smoking. She figured they must have started the fire by smoking somewhere else. By the time Qingyun realized what was happening, she was already surrounded by flames. The wind was blowing particularly hard, constantly pushing the flames towards her.

It seemed as if fate itself decreed that she was to die...

She tried to hide underground, but the speed at which she dug the hole was no match for the raging fire. At first, she felt very hot, and then she felt a burning pain all over her body. Her clothes were stained with flames, and when she raised her hand, she found that her skin had cracked open, and she could see the pink flesh inside.

It hurt so much. Qingyun cried pathetically. She hated why she had to go through this, she hated those men smoking, she hated that she was already alone and helpless, yet fate had been so unfair to her. At that moment, she almost gave up on herself.

It's not a big deal to die like this. Life doesn't necessarily have to find value. Often, many people end up living a mediocre life.

Unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better, and fate gave her another chance. She was transported to this strange world and into the body of a girl with the same name as her. Although she was treated like a slave every day, she managed to make a few friends and gain some sense of belonging.

As she was reflecting on this, she seemed to hear Mu Helian's voice from above, so urgent and frightened.

Qingyun slowly opened her eyes, still a bit grumpy from waking up. She stretched first, then rubbed her eyelids and asked, "What's all the noise about?"

Looking up again, she saw a bunch of people standing there. She suddenly clutched her chest, knowing she was a bad sleeper and that covering her private parts was important. "What's going on?!"

Song Chaoyun, Song Chaohua, Song Junwu—those whose names you could recall and those whose names you couldn't—were all crammed into this small room. It was as if they were about to arrest her and put her in jail! Mu Helian was overjoyed to see that she had finally woken up and burst into tears.

She grabbed Qingyun's arm and yelled, "Why the hell are you sleeping so soundly!"

Qingyun: "What?" She looked completely confused.

An old man came forward and removed the numerous silver needles stuck in her head. Qingyun gasped, her eyes widening in shock. She realized she had been awakened by the pain.

No wonder the scenes in my dream felt so real.

When she woke up, she learned that she had slept for a day and a night. Mu Helian had been looking for her but couldn't find her anywhere. Only then did everyone realize that Qingyun had been staying in the room ever since he woke up that day and hadn't gone out.

"Something terrible has happened!" Mu Helian pulled her back from her daydreaming. "The irrigation canals are a complete mess, and there's no time to use them!"

Upon hearing this, Qingyun immediately understood who had done it. She asked, "How's it going?"

Mu Helian went to check yesterday morning and found that the stones on the rammed earth wall had been moved out, some water outlets had been specially modified, and others had been trampled and collapsed, making it completely unrecognizable! She searched for Qingyun all day, thinking that she had gone to plant trees on the hill. She couldn't find her among the dozen or so tree-planting teams within dozens of miles, which really worried her.

Song Chaoyun dismissed the rest of the men and looked at Qingyun, saying, "I've already had someone redo it."

Qingyun slowly put on his clothes, replying, "No rush, we can fix it slowly. Right now, the main concern is the insect infestation."

Hey! This kid was more anxious than anyone else to repair the canal before, but now she's not in a hurry anymore.

Mu Helian hurriedly asked why. Qingyun smiled and said that old man Liu Ruo wanted to wear her down, but little did he know that once he got the key item, he wouldn't take his little tricks seriously at all. But he was too wicked. Did he really want her to fail and be beheaded by the emperor a hundred times?

Qingyun wrapped her thick, ink-black hair around her hand a few times, then tied it up with a wooden hairpin. She nimbly jumped off the bed. "Has the insect infestation been effective?"

Mu Helian followed behind her, saying, "We've brought the infected saplings under control, and now everyone is still catching the adult insects."

Seeing that she was awake, Song Junwu gave her a few instructions and then returned to the military camp. Qingyun ate her meal, while the two Song sisters played cards to pass the time, without saying they were leaving. This made Mu Helian, who was in the same room, very reserved.

Seeing this, Qingyun quickened her eating and brought up the electronic panel again, which showed the progress of the insect plague control. It had reached fifty percent. She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she had really exhausted herself by sleeping for so long, and that she couldn't work so hard in the future.