They all looked at each other in bewilderment.
Li Lanzhen muttered to herself.
Could it be that God heard our earlier concern about leaving footprints in the mountains and sent a heavy rain to wash them all away?
Xue Laohu laughed heartily.
"That should be it!"
Zhang Songshu scratched the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly.
"Aunt Lanzhen, you are truly a lucky star!"
"Look, it only started pouring rain outside after we all got up here, but it didn't rain here when we entered the valley."
Upon hearing their words, Li Lanzhen laughed heartily.
They walked towards the cave and came to the valley.
From not far away, one could hear the laughter of children, and the loud, cheerful laughter of adults echoing their own.
Li Lanzhen unconsciously curled up the corners of her mouth.
Take a few more steps forward, and you'll see a cheerful and bustling scene.
The children darted back and forth through the reeds and a grove of trees in the valley, carrying either wild duck eggs or several lively fish in their hands.
At this moment, six large iron pots were lined up in a row in this grove of trees.
Flames licked the bottom of the iron pot, the water inside was boiling and steaming.
The men were tending the firewood, while the women were digging for fresh wild vegetables nearby. Every now and then, they would stand up, look at the children's happy faces, and unconsciously chuckle along.
Li Lanzhen walked into the pile of baskets, backpacks, and luggage that people had brought up, searching for something.
Watching the group of people walk away, he waved and put down a pile of things.
She bent down and pretended to look for something in the basket.
Will they call out soon?
"Han Minghai, Han Mingjiang, Xue Bao, you guys come here."
When a few people came over, they saw that the dozen or so baskets on the ground contained grain, wild vegetables, pancakes, basins, water jars, plates, chopsticks, and bowls. There was also a basket filled with small paper bags, the contents of which were unknown.
"Come on, carry all these baskets to the big pot for cooking."
Several people silently carried baskets and walked towards the iron pot that had been set up.
Li Lanzhen walked ahead, calling out to Xue Nizi.
"Second son's wife, come here!"
Li Lanzhen took a small jar out of a basket.
"This is lard. Use this to fry the fish until both sides are golden brown, then heat it up."
This basket is full of Sichuan peppercorns, spices, soy sauce, and salt.
You decide what to do.
Call a few people over to mix several bowls of dough, all made of cornmeal, and then stick cornmeal pancakes around the edge of the iron pot used for stewing the fish.
As Li Lanzhen took out the items one by one, she was instructed on how to do them.
Xue Nizi grinned widely, laughing heartily, and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Okay! Okay! Okay, Mom, I know!"
"Boil the wild duck eggs, peel them after they're cooked, and put them in the pot with the stewed fish. They'll smell delicious when stewed together. You can also add some dried vegetables or potato chunks if you like."
As for anything else, you can figure it out yourselves.
After explaining all this, Li Lanzhen turned to look for Han Minghai.
"Boss, go and gather all the people in charge of the household. We need to have a meeting to discuss what to do next."
When everyone had gathered on the other side of the woods.
Li Lanzhen then noticed that all the people who came were men.
She envisioned the future development of this canyon, believing that women could hold up half the sky.
Therefore, women and children should participate in future work arrangements and important discussions.
But let's take it slow.
She saw Shi Tou and Yan Ming, and the four children, Shan Xing and San Wang, also came over.
Shi Tou and Yan Ming saw Li Lanzhen and said with smiles.
"Grandma Lanzhen, we are here to attend this meeting on behalf of the nine children from the Earth God Temple outside Youzhou City."
Shanxing and Sanwang also spoke.
“Aunt Lanzhen, we are here to attend the meeting on behalf of 11 children from Lishu Village.”
When Li Lanzhen saw Sanwang, he no longer seemed as hot-tempered and aggressive as when they first met.
Now, day by day, he's like a child again; you always see him smiling.
Li Lanzhen also smiled gently and said.
"Come, sit down next to Grandma, let's have a meeting."
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Li Lanzhen said.
"You should also know that this canyon was discovered by Shanxing and Shanxing's grandfather a few years ago."
That day, we took a few children and, hiding from the soldiers searching the mountains, broke into Lishu Village, where we met Shanxing and these eleven children.
So Shanxing brought us here.
After discussing it with him, I wanted to live here, and she agreed.
Originally, I planned to go back to Forget-Worry Valley, explain the situation, and see if the old village chief and the others would be willing to come along.
It's fine if you all want to move here, anyway, this canyon is very big.
As you've already seen, the land here is just as fertile as the land in Forget-Worry Valley.
Moreover, the area near the reed marshes is relatively low-lying, and we can cultivate it to grow rice, so we can have rice to eat.
However, as everyone knows, my return to Forget-Worry Valley with twenty children also caused quite a stir.
Han Shunde and Han Zhaoxiong looked down with their heads down and their faces flushed, appearing very apologetic.
Li Lanzhen said.
"I don't blame anyone. In this time of famine, food is life."
So I chose to leave with my children and relatives.
I am also very grateful to everyone for trusting me, choosing to leave me, and coming here.
Then Li Lanzhen said to everyone.
"It's already late autumn, and the weather will get colder and colder. There are no ready-made caves for us to settle down in, so our first task is to build a house. After we finish eating, we'll all take a look and see where it would be most suitable to build the house and yard."
Seeing that everyone's mood had improved, she continued.
"Oh, and also, it's really troublesome to keep calling each other 'in-laws' all the time."
From now on, you can call me Lanzhen, Lanzhou sister, Lanzhou older sister, auntie, or Lanzhen sister-in-law, whatever you like.
Shi Tou quickly added, "And there's Grandma Lan Zhen too."
Everyone chuckled good-naturedly after hearing his words.
Li Lanzhen looked at Han Shunde and said to him.
I think it's best to leave the task of finding a place to build a house and yard to you, Brother Shunde.
"It depends on how many people you choose to go with you to investigate."
Seeing Li Lanzhen instructing everyone on what to do, Xue Laohu quickly spoke up.
"Lanzhen, sister-in-law, Xue Bao and I will go and check out the surrounding mountains."
See if there are any wild animals, and what kinds of animals are active in this area.
Be fully aware of the situation.
"Okay, you all need to be careful when you go out."
Zhang Deshu immediately added.
“My dear sister-in-law, I’m bringing people to quickly clear some land and plant sweet potatoes and potatoes, and also some vegetables.”
I think the temperature inside this canyon is much warmer than outside, even a bit warmer than in the Valley of Forgetfulness. Perhaps we really do have time to harvest sweet potatoes and potatoes before the snow falls.
Li Erhan coughed and said to Li Lanzhen.
“My dear daughter, I need to open my woodworking shop as soon as possible.”
When building a house or yard, the wood needs to be repaired before it can be used.
Also, we need to quickly gather a batch of bluestone slabs, because after the houses are repaired, each family will need to build a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
"When will all those things for the house arrive?"
Li Lanzhen looked at everyone who seemed to want to know, yet hesitated to speak.
He said, “The cattle, the pigs, the wood, and all the possessions of each of your households.”
They can all arrive tonight.
Alright, everyone, let's all talk about what we're good at and what we're willing to do. Let's discuss it together with the people in charge I mentioned earlier.
After Li Lanzhen finished speaking, everyone started talking and began looking for things to do.
Seeing this group of people eagerly taking on work and responsibilities, Li Lanzhen felt that she could finally live the life she longed for!
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