The next day, because they were going to clear the land, everyone got up very early, even Zhen Wanwan was dragged out of bed.
Zhou's two sisters-in-law and Dongzi's wife, Wang Cuihua, had already prepared breakfast in advance.
Clearing land was hard work, so the ingredients they used for cooking were all easily filling foods.
Zhen Wanwan hadn't gotten up this early in a long time, and was listlessly picking at her rice.
She'll be going with the wasteland today, so Guaibao and Tianbao will have to stay with her.
Qu Huaiyuan also gave a group of children a holiday, and Grandma Li decided that the whole family would go out together.
Those who could do some work, big and small, did as much as they could. Except for Aunt Qu, who had difficulty moving around and stayed at home, almost everyone went with her.
Yuan Huizhou sat next to Zhen Wanwan, quietly eating his meal in small bites, but after a long time, he still couldn't get his mouth full.
Zhen Wanwan patted his little head and said, "If you can't eat, then don't eat anymore. Auntie will give you something delicious later."
Because Yuan Huizhou's public identity was Zhen Wanwan's nephew, he followed Gou Dan and the others in calling her aunt.
The little figure opposite him was silent for a moment, then whispered, "It's not easy for people to grow food. Father... Father said we can't waste food!"
Zhen Wanwan looked at him in surprise. She really didn't expect that such a young kid would have such a sound moral compass.
Moreover, his life must have been much better before, yet he still knows the principle of not wasting food.
"Our Zhou'er is so great! Let's eat slowly and not waste a single grain of rice!"
Zhen Wanwan happily ruffled his hair, and seeing this, Old Lady Li, who had been paying attention to the commotion, began to moisten her eyes again.
She felt even more sorry for Yuan Huizhou. Her thoughts were simple and pure. Yuan Huizhou lost his parents at such a young age, and she didn't know how much he had suffered.
Otherwise, how could someone who was already at an age where he couldn't even hold his urine properly know how difficult it is for farmers to grow grain?
"Grandma! Give me another bowl of rice!"
Dog Egg's face was covered in rice grains as he ate, and he stared longingly at Old Lady Li with his empty bowl in hand.
Seeing her grandson eating so wildly, Old Mrs. Li scolded him angrily: "You have no manners at all! I don't know how I've ever let you go hungry or thirsty!"
Even so, Grandma Li still took the empty bowl and scooped it full of rice.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they carried their water and lunch to the carriage.
Zhen Wanwan's mission this time was not to reclaim wasteland, but to first find out where there was a spring.
Then have the workers building the house leave a space at the spring.
Because a group of children went along, the road was bustling with chatter.
Dahe Village is neither far nor near the county seat; it takes about an hour to get there by horse-drawn carriage.
They got up early today, and when they arrived at Dahe Village, the villagers were just getting ready to go to work in the fields.
Some people saw several horse-drawn carriages approaching from afar, and hurriedly dropped their farm tools and ran back to the village to inform the villagers.
Before long, elderly ladies and gentlemen, along with young children, surrounded their carriage.
The men driving the carriage turned ashen-faced upon seeing this.
Zhen Fuyou, especially the one in the first carriage, was so angry that he started swearing.
"A bunch of sons of bitches...the same old tricks again...they haven't seen money in eight lifetimes, how dare they try to stop their grandpa!"
Inside the car, Zhen Wanwan's heart skipped a beat. She gently opened a corner of the car window and immediately understood what was happening.
They're probably here to ask for tolls again!
Having already experienced this once, Grandpa Zhen and the others were so angry their beards were practically standing on end.
Ignoring his advanced age, he jumped off the carriage and picked up a tree branch from the roadside, banging it around wildly.
"Are you blind? You dare to intercept my car again?"
At this moment, the village chief, who was always late, walked through the crowd from behind.
He squinted and looked around, finally fixing his gaze on Grandpa Zhen and Qu Huaiyuan's faces.
Why is it them?
Qu Huaiyuan had already dealt with the village chief once. He stepped forward and bowed to the village chief.
"Village chief, we meet again!"
"We are all villagers who were assigned to Dahe Village by the county magistrate. We came here today to clear land on the mountain so we can plant crops next year..."
The village chief's eyes flashed, and he pretended to be confused, saying, "Ah! I remember you all. I'm getting senile and forgetful. It's alright then, everyone please make way!"
After saying that, he waved to the villagers, urging them to leave the carriage.
Although everyone was furious, they were newcomers and didn't want to make enemies!
So Old Master Zhen snorted coldly and slunk back to the carriage.
Zhen Wanwan frowned as she looked at the scene before her, deeply disliking the atmosphere of Dahe Village.
She whispered to Zhenfu, "Second brother, didn't Dad and the others say we live on the edge of the village? Why do we still have to pass through Dahe Village?"
They had only just arrived at the village entrance, and before they could even turn around and leave in a more secluded direction, they were surrounded by villagers.
Zhenfu spat dismissively before casually explaining, "We were indeed on the outskirts of the village, but these villagers specifically sent people to guard the village entrance in order to extort money from us, so we were surrounded as soon as we entered!"
Upon hearing this explanation, Zhen Wanwan picked up the boat, and sure enough, they avoided the group of villagers by about ten meters before turning around and leaving for a more secluded place.
"Sigh! Does this mean we'll have to go in and out of here from now on?"
Given the nature of the villagers in Dahe Village, their whereabouts are practically exposed to everyone else.
This was extremely painful for Zhen Wanwan!
The carriage traveled for another ten minutes or so before arriving at the homestead that Grandpa Zhen had mentioned.
Currently, two or three workers are digging a pit in the ground for the house, and their horse-drawn carriage is parked on the wasteland next to the house.
Zhen Wanwan looked around and noticed a few houses not far away.
Some people were even digging soil and clearing land on the opposite hillside.
Actually, the environment here is not bad, it's just a bit desolate, and being far from water sources, it seems very backward and impoverished.
Granny Zhang, Rou'er, and Xiaomei worked together to quickly set up a simple, shady spot as a place to stay.
It's convenient for everyone to take a break when they're tired from work.
With Granny Zhang helping her look after the children, Zhen Wanwan took out her all-purpose exploration device.
This thing is expensive for a reason, and it's very practical for Zhen Wanwan who wants convenience.
All she needs to do is walk around with the all-powerful detector, silently think about what she wants to find, and the pointer will guide her.
Once found, a red light will illuminate, indicating that you have reached your destination.
It feels just like using a modern navigation system, or even more convenient and faster.
After all, navigation requires you to manually enter the address, but this all-purpose explorer only requires her to silently recite it in her mind, it's simply a must-have for lazy people!
There's just one bad thing: this thing is bound to its master!
To anyone else, it's just a piece of scrap metal.
"Little sister! What are you doing? Do you need my help?"
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