These people wore their thoughts on their sleeves, and He Tiantian couldn't be bothered to look.
Fortunately, no one was offering insincere flattery, which saved her a lot of trouble.
The oxcart swayed and rattled through the mountains and forests. He Tiantian saw that the land near the city was cracked and parched, and the weeds by the roadside were withered and dead.
He Tiantian lowered her eyes. She hadn't been out for so long, and she hadn't expected the changes outside to be so severe.
It seems that Changfeng Village is probably in the best condition in the entire Quanzhou.
He Tiantian was deep in thought, but Zhao Guihua, who was beside her, showed no sign of resting.
"Maruko's mom, your cross-stitch business is failing. Are there any other good businesses you can start now?"
He Tiantian gave a wry smile and then shook her head.
"Oh...that's a pity. There's drought everywhere, but our village is doing okay. It's a pity that the situation isn't so optimistic on my mother's side; the livestock have all died of thirst..." Zhao Guihua said to herself.
He Tiantian didn't know what she meant, so she just smiled and didn't reply.
Zhao Guihua was a little embarrassed; this was not what she had expected!
“Guihua, isn’t your family from Peach Blossom Village? That place is so wealthy, how come you married into our poor village?” A woman chimed in, responding to Zhao Guihua’s question.
Zhao Guihua's original surname was Tao, and her given name was Tao Guihua.
She took her husband's surname, Zhao, after marrying into Changfeng Village.
“This…this…the matchmaker said so,” Zhao Guihua stammered in response.
Actually, she met Zhao Youqian while working in the city. Back then, she was young and naive, and was deceived by Zhao Youqian's sweet talk and vows of eternal love.
The two young people were deeply in love, and she accidentally became pregnant again.
Her parents disapproved of the marriage and wanted her to abort the child. In the end, she had to threaten suicide to force her to marry Zhao Youqian.
After marrying into the family, Zhao Guihua regretted it. Life there was so poor, even worse than her own family's.
But she didn't dare go back to her parents' home to complain, so she could only swallow her bitterness.
Five or six years after getting married, Zhao Guihua has never returned to her parents' home.
She was extremely worried after hearing about the situation in Peach Blossom Village. She was thinking about whether she could bring her parents and younger brother over, so that at least they would have something to drink.
She hasn't told Zhao Youqian about this yet; she'll have to talk to him about it properly when she gets back.
"Speaking of this drought, with so many disaster victims now, could it really be true, as Zhao Yanniang said, that someone is coming to our village to steal water?"
The journey back was so quiet that a few women were chatting together.
"Didn't our village chief say that the water supply in the village is a secret? Anyone who leaks it out will be banned from drinking water."
"Tsk tsk... You're right. Anyway, I don't have any relatives, so I just need to take care of my own family."
Although it was just casual conversation, it served as a wake-up call for He Tiantian.
The people of Changfeng Village are not just from this village. As far as she knows, there are also Chengjiazhuang, Wanjiacun, and the young wives who have married into Taohuacun, which she just heard about.
In the face of disaster, who can stand by and watch their loved ones suffer?
This is indeed a tricky problem.
He Tiantian carried the goods she bought back home. As soon as she entered the door, Zhao Xiaolü came up and took the things from her.
“Hey…you can’t carry that.” He Tiantian was about to refuse when she saw Zhao Xiaolu carrying the bundle in her hands, looking at her with a relaxed yet puzzled expression.
Um... okay, let's pretend she didn't say anything.
“Auntie, I’m used to doing farm work, I’m very strong,” Zhao Xiaolü said.
He Tiantian followed behind and called the children over. She handed over the groceries she had bought to Zhao Denglong.
Then she took out all the clothes she had bought for the children, saying, "Here, two sets of clothes for each of you, enough to last until the end of summer. I'll buy you two more sets for each of you when the season changes."
"And these snacks, and you can take the lantern and study it. Once you're done, the four of you can share it and eat it as soon as possible, because it's hot now and good things don't last long."
After giving her detailed instructions, He Tiantian went back inside to check on Xiao Mingzhu.
It was the first time she had been away from her child for so long, and she really missed him terribly.
Zhao Denglong was the happiest, carrying so many things to the kitchen. She probably won't be coming out for at least a day.
Zhao Wanzi was already used to new clothes, so she calmly put them away and went to look at the little rabbit.
Hardware and Coconut followed her around happily. The two big guys were fat and strong, and recently they had developed a particular fondness for rabbits.
If Zhao Wanzi hadn't been keeping a close eye on things, the two big guys would probably have had a very close encounter with the little rabbit.
Inside the main room, only Zhao Xiaolu and Zhao Xiaolan remained, looking at each other in silence.
Both of their faces were filled with disbelief and excitement.
They... they have new clothes too?
These clothes are so pretty, they feel so soft to the touch. Zhao Xiaolu's is a pale yellow and light blue one, while Zhao Xiaolan's is a light pink and grass green one.
It's brightly colored and brand new. What child wouldn't love that?
Moreover, they had never worn new clothes since they were little, and the only two pieces of clothing they had were both dusty and gray.
"Sister, am I dreaming?" Zhao Xiaolan asked in disbelief.
Zhao Xiaolu pinched herself hard and answered firmly, "No, we must work harder in the future to repay Aunt He."
Zhao Xiaolan nodded vigorously with delight.
He Tiantian coaxed Xiao Mingzhu to sleep in the room, and then she lay down on the bed to rest herself.
Now, the only source of income for the family is Zhao Denglong. Although thirty taels of silver a month is enough for their family's expenses and there is still some left over.
There were so many places where she would need the money later, and she was still thinking about how she had managed to book the cafeteria at the academy.
No, she had to figure out another way to make money.
Also, she was still worried and wanted to go to Zhao Tingzhang's place to ask how the water source search was going. She also wanted to talk to Aunt Liu about the cross-stitch project.
If the business deal can't be done for the time being, I should let them know in advance.
This year, due to drought, the sweet potatoes in the fields are not growing well.
He Tiantian's two mu of sweet potato fields grew quite well because they were irrigated in a timely manner and were close to a water source.
These past few days, Zhao Denglong has been going to the field to dig sweet potatoes every day. Since the green beans couldn't be eaten because they were sprayed with pesticides, they can only eat sweet potatoes.
In her previous life, He Tiantian remembered that her family grew sweet potatoes and could eat sweet potato porridge, roasted sweet potatoes, steamed sweet potatoes, and so on every year...
She told Zhao Denglong about more than a dozen ways to eat sweet potatoes, and by evening, candied sweet potatoes were successfully served on the family's dinner table.
This is a dessert. He Tiantian bought a lot of sugar from the mall earlier, and now it has come in very handy.
When Zhao Denglong brought out the desserts, she said, "I also sent some to the old lady at noon. Brother Mozhu said that the old lady liked them very much."
"This stuff uses too much sugar; a whole jar of sugar can only yield such a small amount."
Zhao Denglong seemed lost in thought. Candied sweet potatoes were too precious. This was the first and last time he would make them.
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