It's strange, really. Ever since those good-for-nothing bastards from the village, Zhao San and Zhang Wulai, were arrested and taken to the county jail, the long stretches of gloomy, snowy weather suddenly cleared up.
In the morning, a soft ray of sunlight illuminated the entire village. The gentle light fell on the pristine white snow, giving it a silvery sheen.
The early risers were thrilled to see this.
Holding a wooden basin, Zhao Yanniang excitedly went from house to house to spread the word.
"Everyone come out and see! God has opened his eyes! The sun is out! There is hope for our Changfeng Village!"
Those who were still half asleep in bed were excited and quickly got out of bed when they heard such a noise outside.
"Heavens above! There's hope for this year's planting! Headman, headman, quickly gather everyone to make adobe bricks and build houses!"
He Tiantian was also woken up by the commotion in the village in the morning, as Sister-in-law Yulan excitedly returned from outside.
"Maruko's mom, Maruko's mom, there's hope for us to build a house!"
A ray of light refracted from the exposed roof of the dilapidated temple into the room, and He Tiantian was also very excited. She had been in this world for so long, and this was the first time in her history that she had seen the sun.
For more than half a year, He Tiantian hadn't even been able to dry her underwear.
"Then I need to hurry up and find the village head to measure the land, so as not to delay planting beans." He Tiantian said, and went out without even having breakfast.
The children were also excited to see the sun, cheering and running around at the door.
Zhao Wanzi's four little rabbits have grown quite big, and she's putting them out at the doorway to bask in the sun. Wujin and Coconut are also climbing over the threshold.
He Tiantian arrived at Zhao Tingzhang's house. On the way, she secretly bought ten cross-stitch kits from the mall to give to Liu Shi. She would leave the other two for Sister-in-law Yulan.
However, she can now sell a cross-stitch piece for ten taels of silver, so she plans to raise the wages.
The initial price is set at 100 copper coins per set, though she could actually pay 1 tael of silver per set. The only concern is that raising the price from 20 to 1000 copper coins is too drastic; starting too high might be difficult to manage later.
He Tiantian hurried to Zhao Tingzhang's house. She handed the cross-stitch to Liu Shi, and after discussing the price, she urged Zhao Tingzhang to take her to measure the land.
She had to go to work at the mine later, so she couldn't be late.
Liu was still holding the cross-stitch in her hands, too excited to react. She watched as the old man led his two sons out with Wanzi's mother.
One hundred coins... that's enough for their whole family's food, clothing, and other necessities for two months.
The land that Zhao Tingzhang wanted to give to He Tiantian was not far from the village, even closer than the back mountain.
This place is flat as far as the eye can see, and it only connects to the foot of the mountain behind it at the very end.
"Maruko's mother, this is the most fertile and best land in the wasteland. The only drawback is that it's far from the other land in the village." Zhao Tingzhang sighed as he looked at all the empty land. He really hoped that the villagers could buy and make use of it!
He Tiantian looked around and saw that the snow piled on the ground had not yet melted, so she couldn't see what the land looked like.
However, since her land is far away from that of other villagers, this is actually a good thing. After all, she doesn't want her land to be connected to other people's land, and she plans to grow beans and wheat, which is different from the other families in the village.
"Alright, Pavilion Chief, please take the measurements quickly. I need to go to work later, so we can't afford to waste any time."
Measuring the land was a major event in the village; there were ten mu of land in total. Zhao Tingzhang, along with his two sons, got to work in the fields with ropes.
After the land was measured, Zhao Tingzhang took out the land deed that had been written beforehand. He Tiantian signed it, and the matter was considered settled.
Before leaving, Zhao Tingzhang suggested, "Wanzi's mother, these ten acres of land are all dry land, you can't grow rice on them." Besides, if you plant sweet potatoes on these ten acres of dry land, you won't be able to finish them all.
If you can't finish it, it will spoil and that's a waste.
"Have you ever considered switching to a paddy field where you can grow rice? Then you'll have rice to eat at home."
He Tiantian shook her head; she naturally knew that paddy fields were good too. Growing rice, raising rice-field fish, raising crayfish…
Just thinking about spicy crayfish made He Tiantian's mouth water.
She also wants to plant them, but now she feels she has the will but not the strength.
"No, Pavilion Chief, let me figure out how to manage these ten acres of land first, then I'll buy some paddy fields to try."
“Yes, yes. Maruko’s mom, once all the snow on the ground has melted, it’ll be almost time to plant. You definitely won’t be able to manage all ten acres by yourself, so I’ll have Dahai and Xiaohe help you out.”
"Yes, Auntie. The planting season can't be delayed. I'll come help you in a few days," Zhao Xiaohe said warmly.
He remembered the kindness of Aunt He's meat buns.
"Okay, thank you in advance."
After finishing her work here, He Tiantian hurried off to work at the mine.
Zhao Tingzhang was deeply moved: No wonder Wanzi's mother was able to live a good life; she was intelligent and hardworking.
If everyone in their village could be as hardworking and resilient as Wanzi's mother, the entire village would have been lifted out of poverty and become wealthy long ago.
He Tiantian arrived at the mine rather late.
Erhua's mother had already started peeling radishes while sitting on a stool. When she saw He Tiantian come in, Erhua's mother forced a smile onto her face.
"Wanzi's mother, how are the two children at home injured? My Erhua has a bad temper, just like her father! Please don't take offense."
Actually, it's normal for children to fight and roughhouse. Erhua's mother knew that her child was always very resilient; the little bruise on her face healed in just a few days after they got home.
She didn't think it was a big deal, but she was worried that Wanzi's mother would mind. So that very day, she took Erhua to He Tiantian's house to apologize.
Looking at Erhua's mother's smile that was more like a grimace, He Tiantian said unconcernedly, "What's the big deal? Lantern and Dumpling also made mistakes. It's good for them to learn a lesson."
Seeing that Maruko's mother didn't take it to heart, Erhua's mother was completely relieved.
"Maruko's mother, you are so generous." Erhua's mother smiled and suddenly felt more energetic to work.
After the start of spring, there were two more light rains, and everything seemed to have gathered its strength all winter long.
The river water melted rapidly in the blink of an eye, the snow on the ground had long since disappeared, and even the mountains, when viewed from afar, were lush and green.
He Tiantian truly understood what it meant to experience the scene described in the ancient poem, "The drizzle on the street is as soft as butter, the grass looks green from afar but is barely visible up close."
On my way home from work, I saw small grasses sprouting on both sides of the path beneath my feet.
This feeling of hope was wonderful, and He Tiantian immediately felt much more relaxed and at ease.
Upon arriving in the village, they saw Zhao Tingzhang leading the men, women, and children of the village gathered under the old locust tree, talking loudly about something.
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