"Ugh, I'm exhausted! You guys eat too fast, Xingxing can't keep up!" Xingxing looked at the group of fluffy creatures with a mixture of love and annoyance.
"When will you learn to dig up the soil and eat earthworms by yourselves? You don't seem very smart." Even the little hens at home can dig up the soil and catch earthworms to eat by themselves.
"Xingxing, don't worry, the ducklings will be able to find their own food when they grow up a bit." Chun Chun saw Xingxing struggling and her two pink paws were covered in mud, so she quickly ran over to help.
"I'll help you dig. If we dig together, the ducklings won't miss out on the earthworms." Chun Chun is eight years old and is used to doing chores, so she's quite strong.
"Chun Chun, you're so kind. After we feed the ducklings, I'll help you dig for earthworms." Chun Chun helped Xing Xing, so Xing Xing will help her in return.
Chun Chun smiled at her. They were good friends. Dad said that good friends should help each other. Moreover, Chun Chun really liked Xingxing, who was the prettiest girl in the whole village.
After feeding the ducklings, the four little ones went to the ditch to wash their hands. Unless there was a drought, there were ditches everywhere in Yegou Village, and the water all came from springs flowing down from the mountains.
The four little children ran unsteadily, especially Xingxing, who was followed by ten little yellow ducks. The ducks all regarded Xingxing as their mother, and wherever Xingxing ran, the ten little yellow ducks followed.
When Zhao Guihua looked up, she saw a group of ducklings following behind her daughter. When her daughter ran, the ducklings ran too; when her daughter stopped, the ducklings stopped too. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Xingxing, slow down so you don't fall." Zhao Guihua saw that her rosy little face was covered with mud, making her look like a naughty little kitten, so she put down her hoe and went over to help her wipe her face.
“Ruru is dirty too, Mother. Look, Ruru is even dirtier than me.” Xingxing pointed at Chen Yueru, gesturing for Zhao Guihua to wipe the latter’s face.
"Okay, Mom will clean you first, then I'll clean Ruru. Don't rush," Zhao Guihua said with a playful smile.
The weeds on the wasteland were as tall as a person, and there were also many low shrubs, so you can't just bring the oxen over to plow the land. You have to cut the weeds and shrubs first, and then you have to use a hoe to dig up the grass roots and tree roots.
Zhao Guihua and Zhao Xiu have finished clearing the weeds and have started digging up the roots.
Originally, there were too many weeds at the foot of the mountain, and no one was willing to come and cultivate the land. But ever since Zhao Guihua and Zhao Xiu came and each cultivated two acres of land, the other villagers have been unhappy about it.
Everyone was envious, always worried that other people's land would be more than their own, so they all followed suit and came to this area to reclaim wasteland.
Zhou Laosi and Zhong Mailian also arrived, and the two of them even started clearing land right next to Zhao Guihua. It was unclear what the two of them were up to. Although Zhao Guihua was disgusted, she didn't say anything.
After all, this was wasteland, and the government had never managed it. Anyone could come and cultivate it, and she couldn't stop them. Oh well, at most she would just avoid working with Zhou Laosi and the others in the future, so as not to get tired of each other.
"The soil here is so hard, and the tree roots are growing so deep, we can't dig anymore." Zhou Wufu and Zhou Sanfu were covered in sweat and stopped digging, indicating that they couldn't do it anymore and needed to find a place with softer soil.
At this time, Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu came over. They would take over the work that the other three brothers couldn't do. They were strong and never slacked off. They always took the initiative to take on the heavier tasks.
After wiping Xingxing and Ruru's faces and washing their hands, Zhao Guihua led them to the shade of a tree. There were several baskets under the tree, filled with food.
"Chun Chun and Dong Sheng, come and eat some dried fruit and dried meat. There's honey water in the bamboo tube, come and drink it." Zhao Guihua waved her hand, and Chun Chun and Dong Sheng stopped playing in the water and ran over.
Xingxing was happily eating her dried meat when she heard Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu shout, "Mom, come quick, see what this is?"
Zhao Guihua had just picked up the hoe when she suddenly turned and walked towards Erfu and Sifu. "What the hell?"
Hmm? A small, corroded, and tattered box.
With a little effort, Zhou Erfu shattered the small wooden box into pieces, revealing its contents, which turned out to be...
"Silver? How can there be silver here?" Zhou Laosi and Zhong Mailian, who had arrived at some point, were practically going crazy when they saw the silver.
After Zhou Laosi finished howling, he tried to snatch the item. Zhou Sifu knew something was wrong as soon as he heard his voice. He was already on guard, and as soon as Zhou Laosi squatted down, he grabbed his collar and pushed him away.
"Get out of here! You always try to steal everything. You're only good at bullying your own kind. If you're so capable, go and try stealing from others outside!" Zhao Guihua knocked Zhong Mailian down before he could even make a move.
At this moment, the other villagers also gathered around. When they saw that Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu had dug up silver, their eyes lit up with greed, and everyone's mind raced.
"Aunt Zhao Xiu, what are you standing there daydreaming for? Why don't you go dig for silver too?" Xingxing reminded her crisply, looking completely naive.
Zhao Xiu suddenly came to her senses and quickly ran back to the land she had cleared, and began to dig with great effort. Qiuqiu was already tired, but at this moment she also followed her mother and swung the hoe quickly.
Seeing this, the others quickly ran back to their own cultivated land and began digging frantically. Zhou Laosi and Zhong Mailian, under the pressure of Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu's tyranny, dared not come to snatch anymore and could only return to their own land next door to dig with resentment.
The five brothers were still digging for silver, focusing on hard, difficult-to-dig areas, hoping to find more. However, after digging for a long time and turning over almost the entire ground, they still hadn't found any more silver.
Others also made some discoveries. Zhao Xiu dug up a small wooden box containing about two hundred taels of silver, and the other villagers also dug up some silver as well.
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