As soon as Hua Xiangyun entered the courtyard, she immediately sensed something was wrong. "Captain, there's a backyard here, isn't there?"

Captain Ren naturally knew this person with connections, and he had made a mental note of him.

She hadn't even arrived yet, but Director Jiang had already come over several times. Thinking about this relationship, his attitude improved a lot. "There is a backyard, but the rooms there are a bit small. They used to be used by helpers and long-term workers."

There is also a vegetable garden; you can grow some vegetables there if you'd like.

At this point, Captain Ren remembered the young woman in front of him, but she only came in the morning and left at night, and didn't stay here.

She probably asked that question out of curiosity about the yard.

"And there's the backyard too," Mr. Wu and the others were quite excited. The front yard was already so spacious, the backyard would usually be just as big.

"But where does this lead from?"

Captain Ren pointed to the pile of grass wall on the right, "There is a door over there. The owner of this house separated the two sides to prevent the farmhands in the backyard from running to the front."

Clear away that pile of grass, and you'll be there as soon as you open the door.

Everyone in the village envies this courtyard, but no one dares to live there because it's too extravagant. They're afraid of being accused of indulging in pleasure. Of course, there's another reason too...

"We'll have to go take a look. If the location is suitable, we'll help the children clear the land in the next few days so they can have more food in the future." Everyone was very interested when they heard about the land, because they relied on supplies and even a single scallion cost money.

If they can grow vegetables on this private plot, even if the children can't manage it, there are still the others, right?

I come over to tidy up during my break, so that the family can earn some extra income.

The group of people were full of energy, and in no time they had cleared the passage in the backyard.

The doors used to be made of solid wood, and apart from the cracks on the outside, they didn't affect their use.

Wu Yanxin and her group had already divided up the rooms, with the men and women splitting in half from the middle, taking over the four main rooms in the main hall.

It's good that the two of them share a room, so they can at least take care of each other.

"We originally wanted to each have our own room," Wu Yanxin and Xiao Shaoyao complained to Hua Xiangyun after confirming the location, "but there's nothing here, and if we each have our own room, we'll have to prepare a lot more things."

This is good. Living together with Shaoyao means we can take care of each other, and you'll have a place to stay at lunchtime too.

Hua Xiangyun nodded absentmindedly, "This is fine, but there's no furniture here. How do you plan to rest at night?"

“It’s hot now, it’s okay,” Xiao Shaoyao said, seeing everyone heading to the backyard. She pulled them along as well. “When I came over, my dad brought me a mosquito repellent sachet. We can clean out the room and make a makeshift bed on the floor.”

As for the kang (heated brick bed), we'll tidy it up later.

People like them, who were sent to the countryside from the same place and whose families were all relatively well-off, didn't consider these things at all.

If you spend some money, I believe many villagers will be willing to help with this.

The backyard is much wider than the front yard, with a row of small bungalows on each side and nearly an acre of open space in the middle.

If these people share the cost of growing vegetables, they can support their families in addition to feeding themselves.

"This place is quite nice," Mr. Wu nodded in satisfaction, then asked the team leader, "Can they really grow their own vegetables here?"

Captain Ren said, "Of course, but this place has been abandoned for so long, it's a bit difficult to clean up."

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," Xiao Tongke and the others were full of fighting spirit at the thought of having their own vegetable garden. "It's a good opportunity for us to learn how to grow our own vegetable garden and become self-sufficient in the future."

This statement earned praise from Captain Ren, who said, "That makes sense. Unlike the city, our village doesn't have any supplies. We have to rely on our own hands for everything."

Don't underestimate a small vegetable garden; it can solve many problems.

He now has a better understanding of these children; the fact that they immediately think about cultivating a vegetable garden upon arrival shows that they are not lazy.

But he didn't know that these children had other ideas in mind. Working in the fields was too hard, and they would definitely slack off. If they didn't have enough work points, they could grow some themselves to make up for it. During their breaks, they could also take some home to please their families and get more ration coupons.

It was still early, so after completing the formalities, everyone gathered in the yard to begin cleaning. They had considered asking the villagers for help, but for some reason, the villagers kept their distance from them.

Captain Ren simply brought them here, gave them a few instructions, and then left.

Hua Xiangyun knew something was amiss and knew she couldn't possibly leave alone, so she simply stayed to help tidy up the yard.

The yard was nice, and it looked even more impressive after they cleared away all the weeds.

“This is the courtyard where rich people used to live,” Ang Lee said with some envy. “How many people do you think would have lived here?”

"How would we know? But this land is ours now. We can use the backyard for farming, and we can tidy up the front yard and plant some mosquito-repelling herbs." Xiao Shaoyao had come prepared. "I have some seeds here, what do you think?"

After getting to know her, everyone realized that Xiao Shaoyao was a descendant of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Although they didn't know if she was skilled in growing herbs, the thought of avoiding those damned mosquitoes made everyone willing to give it a try.

“We should plant them. We’ve only been in this yard for a short time, and we’re covered in bites,” Wu Yanxin was the first to agree, raising both hands. “It’s just that we made a mistake this time; I forgot to bring a mosquito net. Did you bring peonies?”

Xiao Shaoyao said, "I brought some. We can squeeze in tonight."

The elders who came with them are going back later, but they have to stay because they have to start work tomorrow.

Seeing how enthusiastically they were discussing, Hua Xiangyun had to remind them, "Did you bring food? Did you bring pots and pans? Do you have firewood?"

Everyone was so busy cleaning the yard that they forgot about it.

When everyone got together and tallied up everything they brought, they found they had everything except a pot.

"Go ask the brigade leader," Hua Xiangyun could only remind them. "This used to be used for communal cooking, there should still be some in the village, we can borrow it for now."

Yes, everyone thought of that too. We split into two groups: some people continued cleaning the yard, some went to gather firewood, and two people went to the village to borrow something from the village head.

Hua Xiangyun had already helped clear the weeds and didn't plan to help them any further. She followed Wu Yanxin to the room, where there was indeed only a collapsed kang (a heated brick bed) and nothing else.

After helping them remove the excess trash from the room, Hua Xiangyun decided not to do anything more.

Hua Xiangyun waited until everyone was busy with their own things before going to the backyard alone. Behind the long row of bungalows was an old pine tree, which was also the shadiest place.

Looking up at the still-high sun, Hua Xiangyun went to the tree and felt her pores open wide, and her hair immediately stood on end.