If this continued, there was no telling how many more blows they would receive. The man's blows were particularly harsh. Liu Laolai, fearing they couldn't withstand it, begged for mercy: "Stop! Stop! We were wrong! Can't we just keep digging the canal?"
"Can you guarantee that you will dig the canal properly this time?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Yes! Yes!" Liu Laolai and his son nodded repeatedly.
"Well, I'll give you one more chance. If you still try to be sneaky, I won't use just this little bit of strength."
Qiu Shi's somewhat Versailles-like remarks left Liu Laolai and his son feeling even more apprehensive. They were already nearly unable to hold on, and the other person had only used 30% of his strength. If he had used 100%... wouldn't their legs be lost?
No! They have to work hard!
Frightened, Liu Laolai and his son dared not slack off again while digging the canal. Fearing further punishment, they repeatedly confirmed each section of the canal to see if it was up to standard before moving on to the next one.
By noon, not only the father and son who had never done so much work, even the other strong laborers in the village could not bear it and stopped.
This time, the father and son learned their lesson. After asking Qiu Shishi for permission, they lay on the ground, exhausted like a dog, gasping for breath with their mouths open.
I didn’t feel it when I was working just now, but as soon as I stopped, my stomach was growling with hunger and I felt like my chest was sticking to my back.
Seeing other people delivering food, Liu Laolai, who had already angered his wife to death, felt very upset. Once upon a time, every time he went to work in the fields, his wife would also bring him delicious meals. He really regretted it!
Seeing others tucking into their food, Liu Ergou swallowed hard and said pitifully to Liu Laolai, "Dad, I'm hungry! If I don't eat, I'm afraid I won't be able to work this afternoon."
If you can't work, you'll be punished, and after being punished, you can't work anymore. Liu Laolai sighed heavily, "Let's drink more water. Fortunately, there's no shortage of water in the village now."
"Can't we ask them for some? If they don't give it to us, we'll just rob them." That's what they did before.
"You're crazy!" Liu Laolai angrily scolded Liu Ergou, "Aren't you afraid of being kicked out of the village?"
"The worst that can happen is we'll be kicked out of the village! Then we won't have to work anymore." Liu Ergou's words clearly showed his inexperience and lack of understanding of human suffering. If life outside was that easy, Liu Laolai would have taken him away long ago.
It was because the village chief was kind and the villagers condoned their behavior. If they were to go out and steal things, or rob people if they refused to give them something, they would probably have been beaten to death.
"You don't understand. We can't survive if we leave the village."
Liu Ergou curled his lips, obviously not agreeing with what his father said.
"Come on, don't look at them. Let's drink more water and fill ourselves up. We'll find a way to get something to eat in the evening."
"That's all we can do."
Just when the father and son thought they would have to work on an empty stomach, an elderly couple, one of the families Liu Laolai and his friends were helping with, came to them carrying a basket.
"Laolai, Ergou, you must be starving. Come here and have something to eat." The old lady put down the basket and took out a plate of black flour dry food and handed it to Liu Laolai.
"Is this for us?" Liu Laolai didn't dare to reach out to take it.
"Look at what you said, of course it's for you, otherwise why would I come here at my age?"
"But Aunt Niu, why are you so nice to us?" This was the first time in all these years that someone took the initiative to give them food instead of them having to steal or rob.
Aunt Niu smiled lovingly, "Why is that? It's because you and your son are helping my family with work."
"So that's how it is!" Liu Laolai had an inexplicable emotion churning in his heart, and his voice was a little choked. "But this is too much dry food. Is it enough for you two old people?" he asked kindly.
"We old folks only need a small meal, unlike you two who have to work so hard digging the canal. If you eat more, you'll have more strength and can dig the canal faster. But there's nothing delicious at Auntie's house, so I have to inconvenience you two."
"No grievance! No grievance! This is already very good." Liu Laolai hurriedly invited Liu Ergou to eat with him.
When there were only two pieces of black flour rations left, Liu Laolai blushed and asked Aunt Niu sheepishly, "Can we take these two back home to eat tonight?"
"This is originally for you and your son. You can eat it anytime."
"Thank you so much, Aunt Niu."
"No thanks! No thanks! You don't have to worry about me working these days. Although I can't let you eat well, I will definitely make sure you have enough to eat."
"Thank you again, Aunt Niu." The father and son rarely earned their food through their own labor, and this meal was the most satisfying one they had recently.
The weather was incredibly hot, and fearing heatstroke, Wan Xueying had Aunt Chen, Madam Wu, and the others prepare a large pot of summer-cooling soup for everyone. Liu Laolai and Liu Ergou, father and son, had not been left behind because of last night's incident. This gave them even more strength, and they worked incredibly hard that afternoon.
Wan Xueying had quite a lot to do that day. First, she and Shen Yu took Su Shi and Xiao Anfan, who had little work to do, to water the An family's wheat fields that were not completely abandoned, using water diluted with leaves from the Tree of Life.
The previously purchased cabbage, radish and other seeds were also grown in the space. At the same time, corn and cut sweet potatoes were also grown, which greatly shortened their growth cycle and ensured that a batch of harvests was completed before winter.
Since Shen Yu had to report to the military camp within three months after receiving his appointment, everyone decided to complete the renovation of the mansion before he left.
Shen Yu was afraid that someone would do something bad to Wan Xueying and the others after he left, so he planned to find that thing as soon as possible, preferably to resolve the matter completely before he left.
The villagers are currently in a hurry to build a canal, but they don’t even have enough manpower of their own, let alone asking the villagers for help?
Shen Yu went to discuss with the village chief whether he could first find people from other villages to come and help. They could provide food or money.
Liushu Village is closest to Yushu Village. After hearing that they had found a new water source, the village chief and villagers of Liushu Village also wanted to ask Wan Xueying and others to help find water in their village.
When the head of Liushu Village heard that Wan Xueying and Shen Yu were looking for help building a house, he approached them and said that if Wan Xueying could help them find a new water source, even if they could build a canal, they would wait a while before doing so, provided they helped Wan Xueying and her family build their house first.
"Xueying, what do you think?" Shen Yu didn't have the ability to find a water source, so he gave the decision-making power to Wan Xueying again.
"Just finding a water source for our village is a problem. Since the people from Willow Village have come to us on their own initiative, and the conditions they offer are exactly what we need right now, why not take advantage of this opportunity to have the best of both worlds?"
So on that day, Wan Xueying did not bother Gu Ming who was participating in the canal construction, and went to the back mountain of Liushu Village with Shen Yu.
She used her spiritual power to search for a long time before finally finding two water sources between two mountains. However, compared to their village's water source, these two sources were much inferior, suitable only for digging wells, not for building canals. This helped the villagers of Willow Village to avoid anxiety and allowed them to wholeheartedly help them rebuild their homes.
Another particularly attractive thing about the mansion they live in now is that it is entirely built with bricks and tiles. The floors of the rooms are paved with blue bricks, and even the paths in the garden outside are paved with pebbles.
Wan Xueying and Shen Yu decided to use the previous materials even when expanding the house to achieve a unified style for the entire house.
They had initially thought it would cost a fortune, but when they inquired in the county town the next day, they discovered that, aside from the soaring price of food, the prices of other items were actually much lower than in previous years. This was also true for building materials like bricks and tiles.
Also, because many local families fled the famine, the prices of houses and shops were surprisingly low.
"Aren't you planning to do business? Why don't you buy a few more shops while the prices are low? If it's a good house, you can buy it first and hire two people to take care of it." Shen Yu suggested.
Wan Xueying nodded, "I was planning that as well. Besides, your military settlement is relatively close to the Ningjiang County government. You could buy a nice house there to stay in during your days off, and also entertain your superiors and comrades. It would be best if you also bought a few shops. Even if you don't run a business yourself, renting them out could still bring in some extra income."
They can't just sit there and eat up all their savings! They've been spending a lot of money lately, mainly on expensive food and seeds, and the feeling of their wallets shrinking is terrifying.
This is thanks to the fact that they did not spend money on buying houses and land, otherwise their wallets would have been emptied even faster.
Droughts are rare in northern Xinjiang, but this year's situation is quite unusual. This is a good opportunity to buy more hard currency at a low price. Even if I don't use it myself, I can still sell it for a good price later.
Shen Yu nodded, "That's what I was thinking." He wasn't good at business, and his future focus would be on the military camp. Buying a shop and renting it out would be easier to manage. If Wan Xueying's business expanded and became part of the county government, he could give her the shop.
If there weren't so much wasteland here, there would still be a lot of land waiting to be reclaimed, and not many people would actually buy land. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a bad idea to hoard more land.
"We have sent out a lot of food before, and we don't have much food left. Do we need to buy some more this time?" Shen Yu asked.
Wan Xueying still had some food in her space, but it wasn't much. She could only bear the pain and nod, "Buy it, no matter how expensive it is."
He paused and continued, "If we had a well-trained and efficient team like Pei Xuanqing, we could do business between the north and the south. We could take things that the south is interested in and sell them there, and then buy some things that the people here like from the south and sell them here, making a profit from the difference between the two prices."
This was a business that Wan Xueying had planned long ago. Unfortunately, the times were bad and bandits were everywhere. Without a strong team, such a business would be impossible to do.
Who would have thought that Shen Yu took this matter seriously and actually formed such a team afterwards, which managed to reduce the soaring food prices in the north.
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