Tonight, the Grand Canyon is destined to be extraordinary.
First, Li Lanzhen took advantage of the heat and darkness to place all the sorted items in a shaded area more than 200 meters away from the grove.
After taking the items out of her spatial storage, Li Lanzhen called Han Minghai over.
"Han Minghai, take the torches and call everyone over."
Li Lanzhen shouted this, and everyone who was busy heard it.
Besides the women making pork stew, there were also children gathered around the stove, slurping their saliva from time to time.
The others dusted themselves off and came over.
When the torchlight illuminated the enormous pile of supplies behind Li Lanzhen...
Everyone was pleasantly surprised!
Han Mingjiang let out a loud roar.
"Mother, Mother! The supplies have all arrived!"
"Yes, it's here. Everyone, please find your own belongings and put them aside."
Li Lanzhen saw Han Shunde and the others walking over and asked.
"Are the treehouses all built?"
Han Shengde nodded. "It's all set up, and thatch has been laid inside. The only problem is that we don't have enough reed mats yet; they're being woven."
We still need to build a roof for the treehouse tomorrow, otherwise we'll get soaked if it rains.
Li Lanzhen thought to herself, "There's strength in numbers, and they're quite quick."
"Yes, we'll build a shed on top, and surround it with reed mats first. As long as it doesn't rain, we just need to make sure it lasts until the house is finished."
At this moment, the women weaving mats and the elderly also came over, and the older children forced their feet to step over from beside the fragrant pot of pork stew.
The men couldn't find many of the items in each household.
So the women, grumbling and cursing, gathered all their pots, pans, bedding, and clothes together from this huge pile of things.
Li Lanzhen found it funny; such moments must be what life is all about!
After everyone had tidied up all their belongings, Li Lanzhen addressed them.
"There are bedding here. Everyone, adults and children, will have a mattress and a blanket. Come and get them now and put them in your own belongings or spread them out in the treehouse."
Everyone stood there stunned for a moment after hearing that.
The children were the happiest, cheering and jumping for joy.
"Wow, I have my own blanket now, I don't have to fight with my older brothers and sisters anymore!"
"I have my own blanket now, I don't have to share a blanket with your mother anymore!"
“That’s right, that’s right. I have my own quilt now. It was given to me by Grandma Lanzhen.”
I have a blanket now. That way I can have my own blanket instead of sharing with my parents. My dad's snoring at night has woken me up several times…”
...
The adults quickly pulled their children over, afraid that they might say something inappropriate or offensive.
The women went to get their own bedding, while the men gathered around a pile of construction vehicles and farm tools.
Li Lanzhen watched as their eyes gleamed as they stared intently at the tools, as if afraid the fire in their eyes would burn the pile of farm tools to ashes!
She quickly told Han Shunde.
“Brother Shunde, I’ll leave these nine vehicles to you for safekeeping. They’ll be very useful for transporting stones and sand when building houses and yards.”
Then he looked at Zhang Deshui, who was grinning from ear to ear as he looked at the pile of iron plowshares.
She called out, "Brother Zhang, these plowshares and farm tools are yours, along with these seeds."
These bags are sweet potatoes, and these bags are potatoes. Don't forget to start seedlings for them first.
This small bag contains corn seeds. If we plant a field of corn and it doesn't mature when it gets cold, we can boil and eat the green corn.
These are some vegetable seeds.
Li Lan was taking several packets of seeds out of the bag of vegetable seeds.
"Look, these are pumpkin seeds. Plant more of them. These are winter melon seeds. When the pumpkins and winter melons grow up, they are easy to store in winter and can be eaten as a substitute for grains."
Zhang Deshui held a bag of seeds with more care than he would his own grandson. Every time Li Lanzhen gave him instructions, he would nod happily and say, "Okay, okay, I will plant them carefully!"
Han Shunde frowned as he watched the women pacing around a pile of wood.
He said loudly, "No one needs to take this wood back. We need to repair houses, build yards, and make furniture anyway, and this wood won't be enough."
"Let's just put them together. If that's not enough, we'll have to go up the mountain to cut some more wood."
Only after he said that did the women come over with a sigh of relief.
Han Youliang's wife slapped her thigh and said.
"Oh, that's perfect! Aunt Lanzhen said she was looking for her own things, but I looked for ages and all these pieces of wood look the same. I didn't know which one was mine. I was afraid of taking the wrong one and taking advantage of someone else!"
Everyone chuckled.
Han Minghai called on several young people to move all the dining tables, chairs, stools, and wooden stools from his home and other households into the woods and set them up stably.
The rich aroma of pork stew wafted through the air.
With Xue Nizi's signature shout.
"Dinner's ready! The delicious pork stew is ready, everyone come and eat."
Dinner has begun.
Adults and children quickly went to the river to wash their hands and brought their bowls over.
First, they served the children their meals and settled them down before the adults found a place to sit down.
Everyone kept their heads down, eating the pork stew in their bowls, and no one spoke.
The pork stew made by Xue Nizi and the others was indeed delicious, without the gamey smell of wild boar.
It contained potatoes, dried vegetables, and wild greens.
After the men finished their bowls of rice, they were served another bowl, and only then did everyone slow down.
Han Dazhong ate with gusto, his mouth greasy and his face beaming with uncontrollable smiles.
He looked around and said.
“I think we should build a shed over these six big iron pots and use it as a makeshift kitchen.”
A canopy was set up over this area to serve as the dining room.
Everyone agreed with his proposal.
The men said, "We don't need to wait until tomorrow. After eating the pork stew, we'll be full of energy and have plenty of wood, branches, and straw mats. Let's just set it up right away."
Everyone chimed in, indicating that they would start working after eating.
Xue Nizi and a few other women went to talk to them.
"You don't need to do anything. Just rest well tonight. Tomorrow, those of you can go farming or repairing houses."
"This is such a small job; we women can build it ourselves. It's not like we need to do anything complicated. We just need to build a thatched hut to keep out the wind and rain."
Li Lanzhen also said, "Yes, you should all get some rest!"
Zhang Deshui said, "We won't need so many men to farm tomorrow."
Now there are iron plowshares that can be harnessed to oxen, making it very fast to reclaim wasteland.
Tomorrow I'll find a place to start growing sweet potato and potato seedlings. Once the sweet potato vines have grown, I can directly transplant them.
Older children and women can do it.
Li Lanzhen thought that since they were already here, someone had to take the lead and manage things; she didn't want to worry about everything herself and get bogged down in these matters.
Thinking this way, I told everyone.
"We've come here, so let's choose a village chief to manage the farm work and other tasks we need to do every day."
Without a leader, the work is not coordinated; one person is slacking off, and the other lacks a clear direction.
Han Zhaoxiong spoke first.
"I think if you, Aunt Lanzhen, were to become the village chief, we would all listen to you and do whatever you say!"
He started it, and adults and children alike chimed in.
"Yes, yes, we agree that Aunt Lanzhen is the best candidate to be the village chief."
"Grandma Lanzhen, you can take charge of us. We'll listen to you. If you tell us to go down to the river to catch fish, we'll catch fish. If you tell us to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables, we'll go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables."
The children's innocent voices once again brought laughter to everyone.
Li Lanzhen smiled knowingly and said to everyone.
“I am very grateful for your trust in me, but I can’t be the village chief. I’m afraid of trouble and I can’t think things through so thoroughly. I think it’s better to call from Shunde.”
Do you all agree?
After listening to Li Lanzhen's words, everyone thought about it and realized that it made sense. Why should they bother Li Lanzhen with her worries?
She should manage her own affairs; let her rest.
Xue Laohu was the first to express his opinion, "I think it's fine, Brother Shunde, you can be the village chief and manage the daily affairs in this Grand Canyon."
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