Chapter 19
From afar, a figure could be seen working diligently, straightening the seedlings and then filling the pit with soil. Just then, a gust of wind blew, and fine sand got into her eyes. She rubbed them hard with her elbows before she felt a little better.
Turning her gaze to the man sitting beside her, Qingyun was somewhat speechless. Was this the foreman? He was sitting there so attractively.
Lin Wanjun leaned closer and asked cautiously, "This official from the Ministry of Revenue isn't supposed to be in charge of affairs in the capital, so how did he end up in this desert?"
Qingyun: "What? You know this person?"
Lin Wanjun answered softly, "The eldest son of the Ye family is very popular with the emperor. No one is unaware of this. My family had dealings with his family before."
Upon hearing this, Qingyun pondered, "Then why is this person going to the sand pile to eat sand for no reason? I slept well yesterday, and when I came out, I was startled to see this person sitting in the yard drinking tea."
The man smiled when he saw her come out, and she thought he was just looking for Song Junwu.
Unexpectedly, he came to the sand dunes with us today. He doesn't seem to mind the heat. It would be so much better to stay in the command post, where there's ice cream and ice available. However, Qingyun doesn't have time to worry about personal matters right now. She hasn't forgotten that she still has water purifiers to redeem.
Moreover, what she did was not without results; there have indeed been far fewer cases of fever recently, mainly because Song Chaoyun has implemented every task effectively.
How many leaders like this would we need in modern times?
Ye Linping sat with the two of them as long as they worked. He set up a tent and watched them with a smile. Lin Wanjun seemed to want to say something, but after glancing at him, she swallowed the words that were stuck in her throat.
"Do you know where Feng Sijing is?" Qingyun decided to ignore him and turned to ask Lin Wanjun. Moreover, she felt that the wind had been very strong lately. Since she started working, there had been a strong wind blowing on the sand dunes.
Lin Wanjun pondered for a moment after hearing this before saying, "He's probably in another squad." She looked at Qingyun and asked, "What do you want with him?"
Lin Wanjun was unaware that Feng Sijing and Qingyun had become friends. Her memory was still of the angry face of the other party on the sand dune that day. She thought he was looking for trouble with Qingyun, so she quickly grabbed her and said, "He wants to see you? Then I'll go with you."
Qingyun only wanted Feng Sijing to find some capable men to dig a well for her, but she quickly said no. As the two were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves. A man on horseback came from a distance. It was Ye Linping's man. The man dismounted and whispered a few words in the man's ear. Then Ye Linping returned in a sedan chair.
"What's going on here?" Qingyun muttered, puzzled, but still kept his hands busy.
Feng Sijing and his group arrived at Qingyun's place in the evening. Hearing that she needed their help, they rushed over as soon as it got dark. "You're really capable, you found someone again?"
He stared at the area that had been marked out and couldn't help but admire it. Qingyun smiled and brought them tea. "If you need water, you can come here to fetch it. I just thought it would be better to find a source closer to home because this place is too far from the well."
For dinner, Qingyun warmly invited the group to stay. She ate and took some food from the command post. After finishing, she asked Song Junwu to pack some dried meat for her and also took a basket of steamed buns from the supervisor's small kitchen. The food was quite good; Qingyun didn't want anyone to work for free.
After that, Feng Sijing and his group would come to Qingyun's courtyard to help after work. Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. However, when Qingyun checked the panel, he found that the progress was still stagnant. Logically speaking, Liu Ruo, that old man, should not have caused any more trouble.
Everyone has been working very diligently lately, and there haven't been any problems. After all, Song Chaoyun and the others haven't sent anyone to look for her, so Qingyun decided to find out the reason herself.
As dawn broke, she was still half asleep when she suddenly heard a knock at the door. Judging from the voice, it was Lin Wanjun. Qingyun rubbed her eyelids, still sleepy, and opened the door to invite her in.
Lin Wanjun pointed at Qingyun's clothes, her eyes wide with surprise, "Your clothes look quite nice."
Upon hearing this, Qingyun looked down and saw that she had made several T-shirts based on the design when she was sewing. Since the fabric she bought this time was all cotton, she simply kept them at home to wear as pajamas. As for why she didn't wear them outside, it wasn't because she was embarrassed, but because there was no way to protect herself from the sun in ancient times.
If you just stand shirtless in the sun all day, your skin will get sunburned.
Qingyun sat on the edge of the bed, yawning. "Take whatever you like and leave. Consider it a thank-you gift for your master."
Lin Wanjun stroked the fabric in her hand. "If you could sell this style in a clothing store, it would definitely be a big seller." She thought for a moment and then offered her advice, "That way you could make a lot of money."
Qingyun waved her hand. All she wanted to do now was finish the task quickly so she could go home. She didn't want to bother with anything else. Then, as if she remembered something, she asked Lin Wanjun why she wanted to see her.
Lin Wanjun smiled shyly upon hearing this. She took out a handkerchief, saying, "I'm giving this to you as a token of our sisterly affection." The handkerchief was embroidered with orchids, the stitching delicate and exquisite, clearly showing the effort put into its creation.
Qingyun stared blankly for a moment, praised him a few times, thanked him, and then accepted the gift.
"You got up so early to bring me a handkerchief; it seems you really value me." Qingyun washed up, changed into her outdoor clothes, and prepared to go check on the saplings.
Although it felt much the same as before, at least it was growing well, with patches of vibrant life and lush greenery. [Isn't this great? Why hasn't the progress moved for days?] Qingyun tapped the system, asking it to come out and give an explanation.
System: [Host, please don't rush things. Controlling an insect infestation takes time.]
Qingyun: [If we've poured all our manpower and resources into this, and there's barely any progress after several days, do you think that's normal?]
System: [A normal kiss~ Please wait patiently. I haven't detected any abnormalities so far.]
Qingyun took a deep breath, somewhat speechless. There was definitely something wrong with the progress being stuck like this, but after observing for a day and finding nothing amiss, and knowing that the pesticide dosage she was getting from the command center every day was sufficient, how could this be…?
While she was thinking, she unexpectedly caught sight of the person who had come over. The person looked familiar, and she thought he should be the one next to Song Chaoyun. The person looked at Qingyun and actually took the initiative to bow to her. "I am Qin Yao, and I am here on the orders of the princess to deliver bees to you."
Bees? Qingyun suddenly realized that he had indeed talked to Song Chaoyun about beekeeping.
But if I leave it to her, she won't know how to raise it.
Seeing Qingyun's troubled expression, Qin Yao seemed to have guessed her thoughts and replied, "Today is just for Miss Qingyun to have a look. You don't need to worry about the beekeeping. His Highness has invited a beekeeper to come along."
Upon hearing this, Qingyun chuckled awkwardly, rubbed his chin, and with a solemn expression, suddenly asked, "Is Her Highness the Princess in the manor today?"
Qin Yao: "Yes, I am."
Qingyun looked up at the man, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled, "How about you do me a favor..."
After saying that, she went to the command post herself. She wanted to check the daily supply of medicine with her own eyes. When she entered the side hall, she saw the little guard from last time. As soon as Qingyun arrived, she saw some laborers carrying water onto the oxcart. She walked over, looked at the water in the bucket, and smelled it. She found that the smell of pesticide had become much fainter.
It shouldn't be like this, since I get up early every day to prepare it, and the smell is different from what I smell in the morning.
When the laborers saw Qingyun, they bowed respectfully to her, which really startled Qingyun. She didn't know what kind of mountain gate this was, and what kind of behavior it was. "What are you doing?! Get up quickly."
They were all working-class people from the same social stratum, so why this sudden commotion? The laborers exchanged glances, their eyes darting around, but remained silent. They grabbed the water and left, leaving Qingyun completely bewildered. [What's going on?]
System: [Host, you're asking me? I don't know either~]
Putting the minor incident aside, Qingyun went to the remaining large buckets of water, pointed inside, and said, "Did you dilute it with water again?"
Upon hearing this, the young guard quickly waved his hand, "We've been guarding here and haven't gone out, so why would we use other clean water to dilute it?"
"Hey! That shouldn't be the case..." She asked again, unwilling to give up, and the other person told her firmly that it wasn't true.
Seeing this, Qingyun returned to the sand dune. Going back and forth like that would exhaust a person. She ran to the source of the entire canal, the place where the water was released.
She went over to take a look and found that a project had been built next to the well. People were pulling and turning it around, and the water was being pulled up vertically. This thing looked like it worked like a waterwheel.
Mu Helian stood aside supervising the work, but she wasn't idle either, seemingly focused on something in the well.
Hearing footsteps, Qingyun was overjoyed to see her coming. She asked her why she had come up today. This well was the closest to the damaged saplings, so naturally the irrigation canal was dug from here. However, the well was located on a small hill, and she didn't usually come up here.
Qingyun was very curious about the strange object in front of him and hurriedly asked what it was.
Mu Helian, nicknamed "Jingche," held a black dragon whip. Her gesture of waving it was very eye-catching, instantly reminding people of that day's scene. Qingyun got goosebumps. Upon hearing that it was called Jingche, he had the system look up a lot of information.
After reading it, I couldn't help but sigh, "These ancient people were really amazing. If it were me, all I could think of was a water pump." She had always thought that Mu Helian had called so many people up there so that each person would carry a bucket and pour it into the irrigation ditch. But it seems she was too naive.
Qingyun asked Mu Helian about pesticides, and everything seemed to be done according to standard procedures, which puzzled her.
So she asked the other person to bring out the porcelain bottle containing the pesticide. She only sniffed it slightly and immediately sensed something was wrong. The pesticides for powdery mildew and longhorn beetles were two different formulations. She personally prepared the pesticide solution for the longhorn beetles, while the pesticide for powdery mildew was prepared using water from this ditch.
But now, what's in this porcelain bottle is clearly not pesticide for treating powdery mildew.
"No way..." she muttered to herself, a bad feeling creeping into her mind. The system beside her, hearing her thoughts, announced electronically, "[Host, you didn't mix up the two pesticides, did you?]"
Qingyun: [No! I don't think I'm that stupid.]
System: [On the other hand, it's normal for you to get them mixed up; all porcelain vases are the same.]
Qingyun: Did you even listen to me properly?!
Besides, even if they were mixed up, the water in the command post wouldn't taste bland after just one morning; that's unrealistically fast.
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