"Let's go, let's get ready and hurry up the mountain to take a look," the village chief called to the group, waving his pipe.
The old man had previously fought off two barbarians, and his left forearm was cut off. After a few days of recuperation, although he was no longer in mortal danger, he was still somewhat weak, but that did not stop him from working hard for the village.
Everyone quickly responded and turned to go back.
Inside the Li family's shack, Doctor Zhang was changing the dressing for Old Lady Li.
The old lady had a penetrating wound in her shoulder, which would be difficult to heal, but the old man's hemostatic medicine was very effective, and Jiayin also gave the old lady anti-inflammatory tablets and freeze-dried powder every day.
So, the old lady seems to be recovering much better than expected.
Jiayin walked over and squatted down next to her grandmother. Her obedient yet worried little face softened Grandma Li's heart, and she whispered words of comfort.
"Don't be afraid, Fu Niu, Grandma is all better now."
Jiayin hugged her grandmother's neck and kissed her on the cheek.
The old lady laughed even harder, "My Fu Niu is much better now, she even knows how to act cute with Grandma. Tell me, what good treats do you want to eat, or have you gotten into trouble again?"
Jiayin grinned, revealing a few small white teeth, "Grandma, I want to go up the mountain with Daddy!"
Grandma Li frowned. "Your injury hasn't healed yet, and it's windy up the mountain, so don't go. Grandma will have your mother steam some egg custard for you later, okay? The kind with minced meat in it, your second uncle bought some meat yesterday!"
Jiayin persisted, pouting and shaking her grandmother's arm.
It was uncommon for Doctor Zhang to stand up for the little girl, and he laughed, "Let her go. Children are prone to being listless, and being a little mischievous makes them more resilient. Her head injury is almost healed, with only a swelling remaining. Once it subsides, she'll be completely fine."
Sure enough, after hearing this, Grandma Li stopped stopping her and told Tao Hongying to cover her granddaughter up more warmly, as the mountain breeze was still quite cool.
Jiayin really liked the old doctor Zhang, so she went up to him and smeared his face with saliva, which made the old man both "disgusted" and grin from ear to ear.
Soon, everyone was ready. Li Laosi carried a basket on his back, with his daughter, who was wrapped up in cotton balls with only her eyes showing, lying behind him.
Liu, the镖头 (bodyguard), carried the village chief on his back, with Li Lao Er and several villagers following behind, and they went up the mountain together.
The Broken Gold Beach is covered with pebbles, so the mountains on both sides should also be mostly rocky.
What's remarkable is that both hills on either side have very deep soil layers.
Perhaps it was the sparse, short pines on the mountain that persisted in scattering their needles for many years. The pine needles, mixed with withered grass, worked hard to rot and accumulate year after year, resulting in this outcome.
In terms of height, slope, and even size, the two hills are about the same.
Moreover, they are all short, shady slopes with steep terrain, while the sunny side is long and slow-moving.
Of the 400 mu allocated to the village, 300 mu were occupied by two small hills, 30 mu by the gravel beach in the middle, and the remaining 70 mu were outside the valley. Although they were flat, they were close to the riverbank and could only be cultivated as low-grade farmland.
Standing on the mountain, the group had a panoramic view of the valley, which resembled a winnowing basket, and their feelings were somewhat complicated.
The advantage is that this valley is always sunny. The hills on both sides are very gentle, and the soil is also good.
Building a village in a valley provides shelter from the wind, warmth, and safety. A small river flows not far outside the valley, and beyond the river lies an official road, making water access and transportation convenient.
However, the downsides are also obvious. If the two hills are to be reclaimed, the dwarf pines will have to be dug out, and the land reclamation and development will require a lot of effort.
If a village were to be built on the gravel beach in the middle of the valley, waterways for mountain rain would have to be left, and laying the foundation would be extremely difficult.
The seventy acres of land outside the valley are riverbank land with sandy soil. Even if it is reclaimed, it can only grow sweet potatoes, not grains.
All things considered, if we want to survive, we must hurry up and clear the wasteland! We must plant the crops before the farming season.
Jiayin craned her neck to carefully examine her new home. She was quite satisfied and had more ideas than the other villagers.
Clearing land on the hillside to grow crops is certainly a way to ensure that the whole village doesn't go hungry, but we should also consider the long-term benefits.
It's best to set aside a hilltop for fruit trees. With good drainage, plenty of sunlight, and good ventilation, they will definitely grow high-sugar, high-quality fruit.
She has apple trees in her space, but no apple seedlings. She'll have to figure out a way later.
As for the fruit tree seedlings in this timeline, she didn't even consider them. Because without any improvements, the fruit they produced was small and sour.
It would be a waste to only grow sweet potatoes on the riverbanks outside the valley.
If we could grow watermelons, they would definitely be big and sweet.
In the vegetable garden of the small courtyard, there seemed to be a few watermelon seedlings, which grew from seeds she casually threw away when she occasionally ate watermelon.
These days, planting dozens of acres of watermelon seedlings is simply unrealistic...
Jiayin became more and more discouraged. She couldn't help but touch the back of her head. The swelling had shrunk to the size of a date, but she still couldn't enter the space.
When Li Laosi heard his daughter sigh, he untied his backpack and hugged her in his arms.
“Fu Niu, don’t be fooled by the fact that there’s nothing here. Dad is strong! This year, we’ll clear out all the barren mountains and riverbanks. By autumn, the hillsides will be covered with millet and sorghum. And there’s no grain tax here for two years. Even if the harvest isn’t much, it’ll be enough for us to eat. Dad won’t let you go hungry!”
"Yes, Lao Si is right!" The village chief, supporting Liu Biaotou's arm, also looked out over the valley with the same ambition.
"There's no place in this world where everything is perfect and goes smoothly. The fact that we've managed to settle down safely and escaped the barbarians' pursuit is already the best outcome. As long as we're willing to endure hardship and work hard, life will definitely be good!"
The other villagers nodded in agreement, "We're all farmers, we're afraid of everything, except hardship. Uncle Village Chief, please make the arrangements!"
"Let's go down the mountain and have a good talk with everyone. We need to get the work done as soon as possible, because the seasons wait for no one."
With a flourish, the village chief climbed back onto Liu the镖头's back, and the group descended the mountain.
The women in each household were already busy starting fires and cooking, and smoke filled the valley, making everyone quicken their pace.
For no other reason than for the sake of the elderly and children, we must muster our courage and work hard to build a new home!
Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru were busy cooking, while Old Lady Li, unusually, sat to the side, basking in the sun and chatting for a while.
When she saw her son bring her granddaughter back, and the granddaughter was still a little listless, Grandma Li felt sorry for her.
"Quickly take Fu Niu to the shed and let her sleep for a while. She must be tired from climbing the mountain."
Tao Hongying laughed and said, "She's just a little kid, she's been on her dad's back the whole time, what's there to be tired about?"
But despite saying that, she still picked up her daughter, carefully put her into the shack, gently patted her to sleep, covered her with a fine gauze to keep out mosquitoes, and then went out to continue her work.
The Li family members gathered outside, talking about reclaiming wasteland, but no one looked into the shed.
Of course, no one noticed that Jiayin had simply disappeared while she was sleeping...
In the small courtyard, Jiayin turned over and pulled the blanket over herself. The softness of the blanket made her suddenly feel that something was wrong.
She suddenly sat up, a large double down comforter covered by a fresh green milk down duvet cover, warm and soft to the touch. Beneath her was a plush mattress, and a snow-white lace princess-style bed curtain hung beside the bed…
Everything felt so real, without that invisible barrier from before.
She...entered a spatial dimension?!
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