The journey was surprisingly smooth, and three days later they arrived at Moon Bay Wharf.
Li Lanzhen thought that Bai Houpu was going to take everyone to Sifang Restaurant.
However, Bai Houpu said that if our group of more than 200 people, big and small, went to the fourth and ninth floors at once, it might cause chaos.
Xuan Shen also said that it would be even worse if the imperial concubine's spies found out.
They are not yet ready to do things in a high-profile manner; it is better to do many things privately.
Upon arriving at Moon Bay Wharf, we saw three large ships docked in Moon Bay.
One of the ships was one that Li Lanzhen had seen before; the other two looked very new, probably just built or purchased.
Houses have already been built on both sides of Moon Bay Wharf. They are all two-story buildings with small courtyards, and warehouses are under construction.
When they arrived, it was already afternoon. There was no one at the construction site except for Hua Zixi and five guards who were waiting there.
It looks like he's been waiting here for two days.
Upon seeing them return, Hua Zixi greeted the three of them.
He then hurriedly stepped forward to greet Xuan Shen.
"Young Master, you're back. You must be tired from your journey. Please come into the courtyard and rest for a while."
As he spoke, he pointed to a courtyard.
Then, he turned to Bai Houpu and asked him again.
“Uncle, it’s getting late. Let’s stay here for the night and go to Peach Blossom Spring tomorrow.”
Bai Houpu turned to look at Li Lanzhen and asked for her opinion.
Li Lianzhen paused for a moment, thought about it, and decided that with so many people, it was best to leave as soon as possible.
More than two hundred of them came here after coming down from the official road leading to the south gate of Youzhou City. They were too conspicuous!
If someone with ulterior motives sees this, they might track it down here.
"Mr. Bai, I think we should return to Peach Blossom Spring tonight."
"We'll be safe once we get there."
Bai Houpu had the same idea in mind; he didn't want to stay here for too long.
When he found Xuan Shen, he learned that his brother-in-law had left a letter and told them to return to the Calabash Valley as soon as possible.
He longed to step into Calabash Valley, to go to Dali to process the medicinal herbs, to watch his beloved herbs turn into powder and pills, and to help those who were injured.
"Okay! Let's go then."
Without further ado, the three boats sailed steadily toward Peach Blossom Spring.
The main reason is that people carry a lot of belongings; almost everyone carries a basket.
The men, or the stronger women, carried baskets.
The baskets contained young children or household items that they couldn't bear to leave behind.
Almost every family among them had bows, arrows, and machetes for hunting in the mountains.
Before it got completely dark, the three boats entered Peach Blossom Spring and docked at the small pier with eleven trees.
Han Shunde and his group held torches around the small dock, waiting for Lan Zhen and the others to arrive.
All the horse-drawn carriages, oxcarts, and donkey carts were parked on the dock.
These vehicles were intended to help the people brought by Bai Houpu move their belongings, carrying the elderly and children.
Li Lanzhen stepped off the boat and onto the land of Peach Blossom Spring, feeling a sense of peace in her heart.
Han Yuemei and a group of children immediately surrounded her, chattering, shouting, and laughing.
Li Lanzhen picked up the smaller children two by two and weighed them in her arms, then hugged and patted the older children on the shoulder.
Han Houde himself brought the people who had fled to the small mountain village here without any panic or unease.
Perhaps they have grown accustomed to a life of wandering and fleeing over the past few years, which has cultivated a calm and composed mindset in the face of change.
But the people from the small mountain village were filled with anxiety and unease along the way, sometimes happy, sometimes worried, and they longed for a new life.
Seeing the joyful scenes of Li Lanzhen interacting with the children, I felt relieved.
This is indeed the place they long for.
Li Lanzhen led a large group of over a hundred women and children, along with the children from Peach Blossom Spring, to the dining hall.
As for unloading things from the ship, that was left to the men.
Upon arriving at the dining hall, Li Lanzhen saw that a large shed had been erected outside.
Several platforms, each about half a meter high, were built on both sides of the shed, with wooden basins placed on them.
Next to the wooden shed was a steaming hot water source.
Xue Nizi watched as Li Lanzhen returned with her people.
He wiped his hands on his apron, then greeted them with a hearty laugh.
"Mom, you're back! You've worked so hard. Quickly help everyone wash their hands and faces, then come inside and sit down for dinner."
The warm water and everyone's enthusiastic smiles made everyone who came here happy.
The adults washed the children's faces and hands with warm cloths and patted the dust off their bodies.
Then he led them into the bright dining room.
Li Lanzhen noticed that more than a dozen tables had been added to the dining room.
It's estimated that the carpentry workshop rushed to complete the project after they left.
She gestured for the women, children, and elderly to sit down, and then a noisy commotion arose outside.
Li Lanzhen knew that the men had brought their things over to wash up and eat.
Li Lanzhen stepped into the kitchen, which was crowded with people today.
Shanxing'er and Lihua, along with the older children, are all here helping with the cooking.
Tonghua saw Li Lanzhen come in and said loudly to her.
"Big sister, dinner is ready. We can set the table once the men have come back, washed up, and are ready to serve."
Li Lanzhen nodded and said, "They're all back now, let's put the food on the table."
Li Lanzhen noticed that the food was quite good today, especially the pot of glistening, bright red braised pork.
She loudly asked Xue Nizi, "Nizi, your father and Xue Bao have gone up the mountain to catch wild boars again."
Xue Nizi laughed heartily, "Mom, you guessed it! They caught quite a lot of prey this time."
They caught two large wild boars, three piglets, and slaughtered one large boar. The rest are being raised in the farm.
The other iron pot was full of stewed pork.
Seeing the sauerkraut stewed with pork bones and pig's blood, Li Lanzhen felt a little hungry and swallowed her saliva.
"Alright, hurry up and serve the food!"
That night, Peach Blossom Spring was unusually lively. The Peach Blossom Spring, which originally had only seventy-odd people, suddenly had more than two hundred people.
Therefore, the dining room was packed with people.
The children giggled and the babies whimpered as they searched for milk; the women chuckled and chatted quietly; the men laughed loudly and talked animatedly.
And then there were everyone's effusive praise for the food, and the children's sweet, munching sounds as they ate...
All the sounds blended together, but it didn't sound noisy or chaotic.
This night in Peach Blossom Spring is both lively and warm!
After dinner, all the children helped carry the bowls, chopsticks, and basins from each table to the kitchen.
Children's world is simple; a smiling look, a helping hand, or a pat on the back can make them good friends.
Now they worked together to clean all the tables and went to the kitchen.
Li Lanzhen looked at the woman and the old woman, who looked exhausted, while the younger child was already sleeping soundly in his mother's arms.
She then realized that with so many people arriving at once, accommodation was still a problem!
Only three of the original courtyards remain. I never imagined there would be so many people in this small mountain village.
Looking at the stunned Li Lanzhen, Madam Ye patted her shoulder with heartache.
"Daughter, are you tired? If you are, go home and rest early."
Li Lanzhen looked up at Madam Ye and smiled.
"Mother, I can hold on a little longer. I'm just thinking that with so many people coming, our house and yard probably won't be enough to accommodate everyone."
Unexpectedly, Han Shunde, who was at the next table, overheard this and turned to Li Lanzhen.
"Lanzhen, don't worry about it. Go back and rest if you're tired."
After you left, we rushed to finish making two courtyards.
However, the courtyard wall has not yet been built; only the three main rooms, the east wing, and the west wing have been constructed.
So the kang (heated brick bed) in the house was smoked for a whole day and night.
It should be habitable now; we'll build more houses next spring.
Bai Houpu and Hong Sange both stood up and bowed to Han Shunde and the others.
"Thank you, village chief, thank you everyone. Thank you for being so considerate."
You don't need to worry about the accommodations; we'll arrange them ourselves.
Bai Houpu continued, "Winter here is very short. As long as the ground doesn't freeze, we can build houses and repair courtyards."
Zhang Deshui listened from the side, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Bai Houpu.
"Mr. Bai, are you telling the truth? In your experience, when does it snow here? When does the ground start to freeze? How long is winter? What is the lowest temperature?"
His barrage of questions left Bai Houpu speechless.
Bai Yuanzhi laughed as well, he hadn't expected that Peach Blossom Spring would have such a group of people.
They are warm-hearted, kind, and hardworking!
After disembarking, we arrived at the Eleven Trees Pier.
Looking south, all you see are individual courtyards.
As it turned out, Xuan Sheng explained to him that those were greenhouses built to grow vegetables and grains.
Vegetables and grains can grow even at temperatures as low as minus ten or twenty degrees Celsius.
He was absolutely astonished, and then Xuan Shen said something that made his jaw drop!
All of these methods were devised and told to them by Aunt Li Lanzhen.
He secretly admired Li Lanzhen, thinking that she was a smart and worldly-wise aunt!
He made up his mind once again that he would respect Li Lanzhen even more!
He explained to Zhang Deshui, “Uncle, the coldest weather here is around minus twenty degrees Celsius. In about twenty days, it will snow here and the ground will slowly freeze.”
But winter is short, and after the New Year, the snow in the canyon will probably melt, and the ground will slowly thaw.
"Bang! Bang!"
Zhang Deshui slapped the table twice and burst into laughter.
"Great, this is wonderful!"
This Peach Blossom Spring is truly a paradise on earth!
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