A meal of steamed buns made Xia Lunong's happiness after waking up reach its peak.

After returning home, he went to the back of the door to find a hoe, and slowly turned the soil in front of the house, intending to plant strawberries, watermelons, cantaloupes and loquats.

Xia Huoqu has been very busy, and has not taken care of the front and back of the house. There are weeds and ants in a large open space in front of the house.

Sometimes he would pour the water used to wash his face and vegetables in front of the door. The weeds in this area grow particularly well.

Xia Lunong started to clean it up, and then he realized that the open space in front of the house looked small, but in fact there was everything in it - broken porcelain pieces, concrete blocks, tree roots, grass roots, ants, insects... There are so many miscellaneous things that make people's scalps numb.

Among them, the most difficult to clean are those grass roots.

From the ground, the grass was not very tall, only reaching the knees. However, when it was pulled up, it was discovered that the grass roots were densely packed. A grass that was only a few inches tall could cover half a square meter, and could even go two or three meters deep. Without tools, it was impossible to pull it out!

Xia Lunong squatted in the front yard with a straw hat to clean the grass. Every now and then, his face would turn red because of pulling out a grass.

He had eaten too much in the morning, and because of the exhaustion of cleaning, his appetite opened up at noon, and he drank a large bowl of mixed grain porridge.

Xia Huoqu helped on the side, and the two brothers spent the whole morning to clean up only a small part of it.

When Lao Liu delivered the rice seedlings at noon, he saw the land they had cleared and bent down to twist the soil. "Plant it here? The soil is not fertile enough."

"There is no other choice but this." Xia Lu Nong took the dustpan in his hand and said, "Thank you, Brother Liu."

"Why are you so polite?"

Lao Liu helped him take out the seedlings and asked, "What are you going to plant here?"

"Watermelon, strawberry, cantaloupe, loquat." Xia Lu said, "Winter melons and pumpkins are planted under the tree, and lentils are planted on the side of the house."

"Oh, that's even worse. Fruits are harder to grow than vegetable seedlings. You need to get some fertilizer." Old Liu said, "Chemical fertilizers are hard to get right now. Why don't you go to the cafeteria and exchange some ash and some manure? Your brother has a lot of face, so let him go. Exchange some of their fermented pig manure. Mix it with ash, and it will be enough."

Xia Lunong nodded, straightened up, raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He felt his forehead was wet and hot. He touched his cheek with the back of his hand, and his cheek also became hot and itchy.

Old Liu also straightened up, looked around their yard, and asked, "Where's your brother?"

"Someone came to call him, saying that there was something going on at the base, and asked him to go to a meeting."

"What kind of meeting is this?" Old Liu was surprised, "The captain is back?"

Xia Lunong shook his head. He didn't know.

Old Liu smiled, "Forget it, the news will be out soon. You can plant the seedlings today when the sun is setting. After planting, water them once to help them take root. The soil should be watered thoroughly."

Xia Lunong took careful notes.

Old Liu said, "Then I'll go back first. My family lives across the street. Your brother knows where it is. If you don't understand something, just come and ask."

Xia Lunong saw him off and went back to continue clearing the land.

He had just recovered from his illness and didn't dare to get too tired. When he finished cleaning most of the land and felt dizzy and weak, he stopped cleaning and went into the house to take a nap.

Xia Lunong set the alarm. He

still missed the alarm this time and slept until after four in the afternoon.

He got up, got dressed, walked around the house, and found that his brother was not at home.

The rice seedlings in the living room were gone, and the hoe and spanner behind the door were also missing.

Xia Lunong looked around the house, guessing that his brother might have gone to the fields, so he quickly picked up the hoe, put on his hat, and rushed to the fields.

When he got to the fields, his brother was indeed working in the fields.

The original greenhouses in the fields had been dismantled by the people who rented his fields, and now the fields were bare, with only weeds and newly turned soil.

Xia Lunong called out, "Brother."

"Are you awake? Slow down." Xia Huoqu saw him using his hands and feet to get down from the ridge to the field, and came over to help him.

Xia Huoqu was working barefoot in the fields. Xia Lunong also wanted to take off his shoes, but was stopped by his brother, "Come down with your shoes on, be careful not to get your feet pricked by splinters."

Xia Lunong hesitated. The fields were covered with mud. If she wore shoes, the soles of her shoes would be covered in mud after just a few steps.

Xia Huoqu's eyes followed and fell on his feet. He said, "Shoes are cheap, but medical treatment is expensive. Wait until you are fully recovered before you learn from others."

Xia Lunong nodded and raised the small hoe. "Is the weeds here easy to pull?"

"It's much easier than the ones in the yard." Xia Huoqu said, "This field was planted only last winter. There are not many weeds and the soil is fertile. Whatever we plant this year should yield a good harvest." Xia Lunong

stuck out her tongue. "That's not necessarily true. If I don't have the skills, everything I plant will die."

"Then consider it as paying tuition fees and do something else in the second half of the year."

The two brothers pulled weeds and turned the soil side by side.

Xia Lunong remembered, "Brother Liu asked us to go to the cafeteria to exchange some manure and ash to fertilize the fields."

Their family used the toilet left over from the disaster, and they had to go outside to exchange fertilizer if they needed it.

Xia Huoqu nodded, "I'll bring back two loads tomorrow."

Xia Lunong said, "I want the fermented ones."

Xia Huoqu smiled, "You know a lot."

"That's right, if you decide to farm, you have to ask more questions."

After turning over, Xia Lunong pounded his lower back, feeling tired and almost breaking it. He stood up and stretched hard, taking a deep breath, "Brother, can't everyone transform into beasts now? Why don't you work in beast form?"

"No calculation." Xia Huoqu massaged his lower back and said, "If you work in human form, three bowls of dry rice per meal are enough. If you use beast form, you will have more than ten bowls per meal. Normally, you can't afford to use beast form. Only when you are in a dangerous environment outside, you will use beast form to save your life."

Xia Lunong was stunned. She didn't expect that this was the reason why everyone didn't use beast form.

According to the law of conservation of matter, the beast form is so big and requires a lot of energy. In farming, you can do a lot of things in human form. It's really not a big calculation to use beast form.

As expected, in an era of scarcity of materials, Xia Lunong sighed silently. She didn't expect that even this would be saved.

The two rested for a while and then worked hard again.

They had to plow the land where they wanted to plant the seedlings before the sun went down. A total of four plots of land had to be plowed: one for peppers, one for eggplants, one for beans, and one for tomatoes.

A plot of land is about seven or eight square meters, which is a lot of work.

The two brothers worked hard and finally turned the land before the sun went down, dug the holes, and planted the vegetable seedlings.

Compared with turning the land, planting vegetables is not that tiring, but you have to bend over all the time, which makes your waist very uncomfortable. Fortunately,

the water ditch flows slowly under the field, making it very convenient to draw water, and it doesn't take long to water the roots.

Fortunately, by the time the two of them finished their work, it was already dark.

Xia Lu was sweating all over from the heat. He took off his coat and tied it around his waist, and walked home with a hoe on his back.

His brother let him cool off for a while, but he asked him to put his coat back on after he had taken two steps. He would rather wash clothes than let him catch a cold, for fear of catching a cold.

They got home late, but most people also finished work at this time.

Everyone carried a hoe and walked slowly back home along the path.

The night dew had already fallen, and the grass on both sides of the road was wet. When it touched people's legs, it was wet and itchy, because there were small cuts on their legs that were accidentally scratched by the grass.

In addition, as night fell, there were more mosquitoes and insects, buzzing and circling over people's heads, biting people from time to time.

Xia Lunong felt a little itchy all over his body.

His brother reached out and took the hoe from his back, saying, "Just go back and take a bath."

Xia Lunong wiped the sweat from his neck and said listlessly, "Going to the bathhouse to take a bath will cost a lot of food."

Xia Huoqu laughed, "How did you get so bad in just a few days?"

Xia Lunong glanced at his brother with his black and white eyes, and turned back in frustration.

Life at home is too difficult now, and he is the one who holds back. He cannot afford to be thrifty.

The two walked back home.

Xia Lunong was sticky and smelly, and was really uncomfortable. He could not care about the little food at the moment. He took the soybeans and dragged his brother to take a bath.

The bathhouse is on the east side of the cafeteria.

The water inside is boiled with excess heat from cooking. It is not expensive. Generally, a handful of food can be exchanged for a bucket, but you have to carry it yourself.

Although hot water is not expensive, many families are reluctant to spend it. Most people would rather use cold water, even on snowy days.

Such situations are still relatively rare in Xia Lunong's family.

There is no one in the bathhouse.

Xia Lunong went to get a bucket of hot water and came back, while his brother went to fetch a bucket of cold water. The two brothers got the water and took a bath in the dark in the bathhouse, and rubbed each other's backs.

Xia Lunong always had a monk's head, and he rubbed from head to toe, rubbing it clean and refreshing. Then he changed into clothes that smelled of sunshine, went to the cafeteria to get food, and the two walked back slowly.

A few days later, it was already March, and the temperature could reach more than ten degrees Celsius at night. The weather was cool, not cold, and it was very comfortable to walk in such a night breeze.

Xia Lunong looked up at the crescent moon in the sky, and a sense of satisfaction surged in his heart, and he talked to his brother in a casual manner.

When they got home, Xia Lunong found that the dark house next door finally had a warm yellow candlelight coming out of the window.

Xia Lunong poked his brother and turned his head and said, "Brother, look, is Brother Yan back?"

Xia Huoqu raised his head, put down his burden at the door, and said to Xia Lunong, "I'll go and see."

Xia Lunong hurriedly followed him, "I'll go too!"

The two brothers went to the next door and knocked on the door.

Soon, a tall young man came to open the door. He first looked at Xia Huoqu, then looked at Xia Lunong behind him, and said with a smile: "Xiao Nong is awake?"

"Brother Yan!" Even though Xia Lunong knew that Yan Xinian lived next door, when he really saw him, he couldn't help showing surprise in his eyes, a bit like the joy of meeting an old friend in a foreign land, and said first, "It's really you, I've been awake for more than ten days!"

Yan Xinian smiled and made way to the side, "Come in and talk, have you eaten yet."

Xia Huoqu said: "No, I'm getting ready to eat, how about you?"

"I'll wait for you." Yan Xinian and Xia Huoqu spoke casually, in a low voice that sounded very gentle. "I don't know if you have eaten yet. I was just planning to try my luck. If not, we can eat together."

Xia Lunong put down the lunch box in his hand and said happily, "That's perfect. We bought buns this morning and haven't finished them yet. I'll go get them."

As he said that, he ran away without waiting for the two to react.

Yan Xinian looked at his back, "Xiao Nong has recovered better than I thought, and has adapted well."

"It's a blessing in disguise." Xia Huoqu's eyes were soft when he talked about his brother. "Before, when he was sick, I always blamed God in my heart, why did he have to suffer? Now looking back, it's a good thing that he didn't experience the huge changes at the beginning of the disaster."