Chapter 46
This kid is truly mischievous; he's the kind of kid who can get paid just by wandering around. He's eager to start working right away.
Qingyun heard about the children's heroic deeds a few days later.
The timeline goes back to the second day of the two kids' job. The younger one grabbed the older one's arm and pointed at a suspicious-looking man in front of them. Looking at the axe in the man's hand and the basket on his back, they immediately knew what the man did.
The two men stepped forward to reprimand the man, but he ignored them, grabbing one of them by the back of their collars and saying, "You two little brats, trying to tell your grandpa what to do? Don't you even know where you are?" He then tossed them aside, yelling, "Get lost!"
The two kids struggled and threatened, "Believe it or not, we'll report this to the authorities right now. Didn't you hear what Lord Mu said? If you keep cutting, you'll go to jail!"
The man chuckled, unconcerned, and said, "Then I'll wait."
Without paying any attention to the two of them, he started to cut down the tree. When the eldest brother saw this, he stepped forward and grabbed the man's broad arm, shouting, "We won't let you cut it! Come with us! Let's go see Lord Mu!" He then tried to pull the man away.
One grabbed the leg and the other the foot, clinging to the person tightly and refusing to let go. The eldest said to the second eldest, "Dog, do you still want your chicken leg?"
Second brother: "Big brother, I want to!"
The eldest brother said, "Damn it, if you miss me, why don't you hold me tight? If you run away, you'll be eating pebbles."
Upon hearing this, the second brother immediately tightened his grip, making it impossible for the man to shake him off. Seeing that the two boys were serious, he panicked and hurriedly threatened, "If you don't let go, my axe might disappear." As he spoke, he raised his gleaming axe in a show of force.
The second brother was still clinging tightly to the man, completely oblivious to the fact that the eldest brother had already let go. Only when the air suddenly went quiet did he realize something was wrong. He looked at his older brother and asked, "Big brother, aren't you going to eat the chicken leg?"
The eldest brother kicked him upon hearing this, "Eat, eat, eat! Do you think you're alive to eat like that?"
Seeing this, the second brother quickly got off the man. His chest was covered in dust from being rubbed against the ground. He scratched his head in confusion, "Then shouldn't I listen to you, brother?"
The man thought the two children were genuinely intimidated by him, thinking to himself that children are just children, and they're too young to be in charge of their grandfather. But the next second, he heard the eldest child say, "Are you stupid? Hurry up and find the adults. Tell them that someone tried to steal a tree and is now trying to kill someone! Tell them to come and save me."
As she spoke, she kicked the boy's butt hard again.
When the man heard that this was serious and that he would be falsely accused, he immediately felt that a few broken tree branches were not worth the risk of being accused of murder. Stealing trees would at most earn him a few meals, but if he were accused of murder, he feared that his life would be in danger.
When the second brother, truly foolish, listened to his elder brother's words and went to find Mu Helian, he was stopped by the eldest brother. He grabbed the second brother by the back of his collar and said, "I'm calling you a fool, you don't know this is the way of war."
After the eldest brother pointed it out, the second brother peered behind him, but couldn't find the man anywhere. He stammered, "Then we won't have any chicken legs tonight."
Upon hearing this, the leader slapped the other person on the head, "Idiot, that guy will definitely come again tonight, so we'll just stay here and keep watch."
The second brother hesitated. The weather was as cold as the dead of winter. If he stayed in the desert, he would die before he even got to eat.
His younger brother's simple-mindedness was so extreme that it was almost unbearable for the eldest brother. He sighed, rubbing his forehead, "You know it's cold, but he doesn't? And he chooses to come in the middle of the night?" He pointed to the basket the man had thrown aside, "He'll come when it's getting dark, and then we'll end up like this..."
The eldest brother leaned close to the second brother and whispered something. Although the second brother was still hesitant, he softened when he heard his brother mention their mother at home. His mother had worked so hard. If they could catch the culprit today, they could make some new clothes for their mother once they had some money.
Sure enough, as soon as it got dark, a tall figure appeared, tiptoeing around and looking around. Then, as if confirming something, he loosened his grip and muttered something very vulgar, "A bunch of little brats, thinking they're some kind of big shot, so arrogant and ignorant. They deserve a lesson. If I see them again, I'll give them a good beating..."
He spat into his palm, rubbed his fist together, and swung the axe down into the tree trunk, smashing a deep crater into it. But as he chopped, he noticed a warm, damp sensation above his head. He stopped and touched his head. "Is it raining at this hour?"
He was puzzled, though, why was the rain still hot?
As he was speaking, an even stronger impact poured into the center of his head. The man looked up and saw a stream of hot water. He smacked his lips and smelled a foul, pungent odor before he realized what this "hot rain" was all about. He immediately cursed, "You two beasts!"
The eldest brother's voice came from behind, "Hey! Why are you calling me grandpa?" As he spoke, he pulled up his pants, his smile impossible to hide. The second brother, standing timidly beside him, said, "Big brother, I still have more, I can't hold it in anymore."
"If you can't hold it in, then pee! Am I not going to stop you from peeing?"
At that moment, an even hotter stream rushed towards the man's head, soaking him wherever he tried to dodge. The second brother panicked, his face flushed with embarrassment. He tried to push away his older brother, who was helping him urinate, because he felt extremely awkward. But he couldn't resist, and his voice was almost tearful as he pleaded, "Big brother, don't use my little brother as a pawn!"
The eldest brother ignored him and said fiercely to the man under the tree, "You look down on us, you son of a bitch, have a good taste of our virgin urine!" He then laughed loudly and imitated the tone of an old gentleman full of ethics, "This is nectar, and you must drink it well and not waste it."
The man was so angry he was jumping up and down, but he couldn't hold the two of them. He could only hurriedly pack his things and run to the side, cursing as he packed. He was really furious, but he only dared to lower his head and curse. If he raised his head again, he would taste the urine of a child again.
The eldest brother: "Stop yelling at me! If you've got the guts, don't run away. Come with us to see the officials. I haven't even taken your head yet to get the reward money!"
This was a great revenge. The second son finally finished urinating, pulled up his pants, and said, "Let this man who harassed Mother be punished."
Seeing this, the eldest brother patted the second brother's head, feeling satisfied. "It's good that you know. I'm not using it to exchange for money, it's just to avenge Mother."
"But we can't eat chicken legs anymore, and Mother has no new clothes to wear."
"Are you stupid? We both get paid a day. It's not too late to buy it after we get paid."
After that, many people were genuinely afraid of the "children's urine forest," as they never knew when they might be able to drink the specially made water.
Qingyun said directly, "One child may not amount to much, but the power of two children together should not be underestimated."
However, she had been looking for the deaf-mute girl for the past few days but had not seen her. Qingyun even asked the aunt who sells steamed buns, who said that she hadn't seen the girl for a long time and told Qingyun to relax, saying that she might have gone to stay with some relatives.
If you have relatives to rely on, why would you need to steal things every day to survive?
Qingyun was worried, but since the person couldn't be found, her worrying was useless.
Counting the days, the potatoes will be ripe soon, and I'm starting to worry about pests again. We sent pesticides last winter, and now we'll spray them again, just in case.
Qingyun was still thinking about this ideological issue. Simply using force to suppress them was useless. She needed to make those people understand that killing without planting was tantamount to courting death. With this in mind, she went to Mu Helian again and posted a notice.
[Indiscriminate logging will result in life imprisonment]
Afforestation and Resource Regeneration
[Sitting idle and living off one's savings will lead to one's own destruction]
Mu Helian: "Your handwriting is quite good."
Qingyun: Really? Actually, it was all written down using the original owner's muscle memory.
Then he found Song Junwu and asked her to help copy hundreds of copies and post them out, and to send a storyteller to sit and tell the story every day.
Song Junwu: "What are they saying?"
Qingyun waved her hand. Couldn't she find a story among these few hundred? Even if she couldn't make one up, she'd have an artificial intelligence write one!
A transformation of thought and knowledge is truly underway.
A month passed in this way, and she figured it would be time to dig potatoes soon. She led a group to dig up the potatoes from Song Chaoyun's plot first. The yield was indeed high, and the farmers who came to dig were overjoyed as they held the golden potatoes in their hands.
"I wish I had this much land."
As soon as she finished speaking, a muddy hand patted her shoulder, followed by a voice saying, "Don't worry, my land is no different from yours."
Seeing this, the farmer's wife asked again, "Can this be stir-fried?"
"Oh, so you know how to stir-fry?" Qingyun thought that people in ancient times only knew how to boil and steam. Before he could speak, he heard the peasant woman continue, "But potatoes and sweet potatoes are probably not suitable for stir-frying."
Seeing this, Qingyun quickly replied, "Yes, yes, yes! You can stir-fry, deep-fry, steam, or boil it. There are so many ways to eat it, I'm just afraid you won't be able to try them all." She remembered that sweet potatoes had a much higher starch content than potatoes, right? Maybe that's why stir-fried sweet potatoes don't taste good?
She hadn't tried it either, but Qingyun definitely had the expertise to speak on how to eat potatoes.
After harvesting this batch of potatoes, a second crop can be planted in a few months. Qingyun told everyone not to eat all the potatoes, but to save some for seeds. Once this busy period was over, Qingyun went back to the sand dunes to plant trees.
She buried her head and worked hard to plant the seedlings in the holes when she heard a commotion. Following people's gaze, she saw a mother and daughter rushing over under the scorching sun, carrying a large bamboo basket in their hands.
At first, she thought it was a family member bringing food, until the old woman next to her pulled her aside and pointed to the mother and daughter who were already behind her, saying, "They're here to see you."
"Looking for me?" Qingyun asked, puzzled. She frowned and shielded her eyes from the glaring sunlight. She felt a little dizzy after squatting for so long. When her vision cleared, she realized that it was the farmer who had asked her for potatoes at the market last year. She remembered this person very well because she always felt that the woman was living a very hard life.
The peasant woman grabbed Qingyun's hand, unable to speak, only wiping away her tears and crying. Only those who have experienced it can understand the bitterness she felt. She was very grateful to Qingyun for the seeds she had given her, and had traveled dozens of kilometers to find her and thank her in person.
"Girl, our family has no way to repay you!" she said, handing the basket to Qingyun, which contained some beef and cornbread.
Qingyun felt very complicated when she saw this scene. Perhaps it was because she had never been treated like this before, or perhaps it was because the feeling was particularly novel, but she roughly understood the feelings of those who received the banner.
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