"If all else fails, we can take the lead and plant some ourselves. Maybe others will follow suit."
"Then let's go and discuss it with Second Grandfather and the others. We should also tell them that the water in the irrigation ditch is gradually decreasing. This way, they will pay more or less attention to it. If they also start planting, then everyone will plant some too." Yunqi had admired the tea seed oil for a while before pulling Sicheng out of the cellar.
“Then let’s plant some potatoes and corn, those crops are easy to manage during droughts. After the ditch is finished, I’ll go and turn over the fields in the backyard.”
"It would be good to plant some potatoes and corn. We can bake the potatoes into potato pancakes and store the corn for a long time. Even if we don't eat them ourselves, we can still exchange them for some necessities." Yunqi also realized that these could replace money in the future.
“We’ll have to go even further then, otherwise the salt in the village won’t last long,” Si Cheng said, expressing his concerns.
“Didn’t we already store enough before? Not counting what I stored before, my parents bought about twenty boxes, which is enough for us to live on for most of our lives.”
Si Cheng was actually quite helpless when he talked about this. At the time, he advised everyone to collect as many necessities as possible, and even to choose supplies with everyone else. However, many people were still very independent and felt that their own choices were correct, so they picked a whole bunch of random items.
Although they had brought back some salt from the county town last time, the amount used had increased dramatically recently due to smoking fish and pickling vegetables. Coupled with the fact that everyone knew their homes could never be the same again, a sense of unease suddenly arose, and they wished they could go back to the way things were before the disaster and properly store up salt. Some older women were still lamenting about how much money they still hadn't spent, all their years of hard work had been for nothing. Even Yun's mother was privately grumbling to Yun Qi that she had tens of thousands of yuan in savings, which had now all gone to waste.
“Everyone can still manage for now. If things really get too bad, didn’t we buy a lot of extra salt for the banquet? That should be enough to keep the village going for another year or so. Once we get the village sorted out, we’ll definitely have to go out and find a way out. Otherwise, we can’t stay like this for long.” It’s not that Si Cheng doesn’t want to go out, but he won’t feel at ease if he doesn’t build up the village and create a safe and stable home base for his family.
Upon arriving in the courtyard, Si Cheng picked up the large kettle placed on the table, greeted Yun Qi, and prepared to head to Hao Gou to do his work again.
When it comes to digging trenches, the village is actually quite fair and just. First, the entire area to be dug was measured out, and the work basically covered most of the village. To avoid any trouble, the village simply divided the work into sections by household. Each household just needed to dig their assigned area within the specified time, and of course, the depth and width also had to meet the requirements.
Normally, Si Cheng could have done all these things at home by himself in a few days, but Yun Zhiming felt that he couldn't entrust everything to his son-in-law, so he has been taking his tools to dig in his own plot of land every day for the past two days.
Seeing his persistence, Yunqi and the others let him be, but they wouldn't let him stay there for long. His family would always find a reason to call him back. For example, when Sicheng was preparing to go there, he also brought his two younger siblings with him. The old man, who doted on his two siblings, would definitely not want them to be left there to eat dust, so he would immediately take them home.
When Si Cheng arrived at the foot of the mountain, many people were already there and greeted him.
"Brother Cheng, you're here to dig too? Have you finished pressing the tea seed oil at home?" The piece that Monkey got was right next to their house.
"It's all pressed now, and the oil yield is better than we expected."
"That was definitely worth the effort. It's our turn the day after tomorrow. We've been grinding tea seeds every day for the past two days. Grinding them into powder is no easy task. My wife's hands are blistered from all the grinding." Monkey was genuinely concerned for Yunxia, whom he had just married. Not only was Yunxia grinding tea seeds at home, but she was also planning to go back and help her father and brother when it was her turn in a few days. Although he had told her not to work so hard and that he would come and help, the strong-willed Yunxia insisted that she would take care of both sides, and even do more than anyone else.
“You reap what you sow. We’re already doing better than other places.” Si Cheng said as he pulled his father-in-law out of the pit.
"Why did you bring them here again, Ah Cheng? Although I'm not as strong as you, I can still help you a little here." Yun Zhiming knew as soon as he saw the two siblings standing next to his son-in-law that the family was once again finding an excuse for him to slack off.
"Grandpa, do you not like Lele?" Little Lele pouted, feeling wronged. She could now tell that her grandfather was not welcoming of their arrival.
“How could Grandpa not like our little Lele? Lele is Grandpa’s precious darling.” Yun Zhiming couldn’t bear to see little Lele with a wronged expression. She looked exactly like Yun Qi when she was little.
"Hmph, Grandpa doesn't like Junjun. I'm going back to Grandma and she'll teach you a lesson." Junjun imitated an adult's tone. Yunqi would always say these things to him when he was at his naughtiest: "If you're not good, I'll have your dad teach you a lesson." In his memory, Grandpa was more afraid of Grandma. Usually, Grandma would make him do this or that and he wouldn't dare to say a word.
The monkeys on the side couldn't help but laugh when they heard this, but they quickly realized that it was an elder's joke, so they all lowered their heads and chuckled quietly.
Yun Zhiming blushed slightly, but quickly regained his composure. Did he not know that everyone present was basically afraid of their wives? What was so shameful about that? The most important thing now was to take care of his nephew's feelings.
"Grandpa likes Junjun too. Come on, Grandpa will take you to play with your second great-uncle." When Yun Zhiming couldn't handle the two little rascals lately, he would take them to his second uncle's house. Now, the two little ones adored their second great-uncle the most. Besides getting candy, the main reason was that the old man still enjoyed playing with them and always indulged their every whim. Now, their second great-uncle was their favorite person. Of course, they wouldn't always go empty-handed; they would often bring some homemade snacks.
Watching his father-in-law lead his two children toward his second grandfather's house, Si Cheng picked up a pickaxe from the ground and started working.
The monkeys watched with envy as he easily dug out a large chunk, and suddenly lost their desire to chat. They picked up their tools and continued their work.
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