Let’s split up if we want to. I have a system, so who should I be afraid of?

Wang Ma, who was sitting next to him, cracked some melon seeds and chimed in, "That's right. War is the country's business. Why should we ordinary people suffer?"

However, some villagers have different ideas.

"We can't be so selfish," said the gray-haired old man Liu. His voice, though hoarse, was full of strength. "When the country is in trouble, we must help. Without the country, where would we be? Once this road is built, it will benefit everyone. Young people who are able should go and build the road. Even if the elderly and children can't work on the road, they can help boil water and cook at home, and deliver water and food to the people who build the road. They are also contributing their part."

"That's right. If we don't build roads, the food won't be transported out. What will the soldiers on the front lines eat?" the young woman, Liu Cui, continued, her eyes filled with determination. "We can't just think about ourselves. The elderly at home can look after the children, and those of us who can afford it can go build roads."

"Hmph, that's a nice thing to say," Li Ergou retorted. "Building roads is exhausting, and I don't see any benefits."

"That's wrong," said Zhang Erniu, who came rushing over. "Once this road is built, our village will be able to develop even better in the future. Besides, the emperor is personally going to the war, so how can we not support him? The elderly and children are at home to take care of the logistics, which will give us more motivation to build the road."

"I don't think those elderly people and children can do the work properly at home," Wang Ma muttered again, "It's just a waste of time."

"Don't say that." Uncle Wang stepped forward and said, "The elderly are experienced, and children can learn how to do things. They cook the meals and boil the water at home, so when we come back we can have something warm to eat. That's great."

Everyone was arguing with each other, and the scene was very lively.

Su Panpan listened quietly to everyone's discussion and was thinking in her heart.

She knew that building roads was a big deal. Although it would be hard work, it was also for the country and for transporting grain.

Shen Ru was a little hesitant. She pulled the corner of Su Panpan's clothes and whispered, "Panpan, this is not easy to handle. We have so many things to do at home!"

Su Panpan looked at Shen Ru and whispered back, "This is a war. We have to follow the orders from above. Whether we like it or not, we have to do it. Don't overthink it. We just have to do whatever the higher-ups tell us to do."

Qin Youwen frowned and said, "We should do our part."

Zhao muttered a lot of words in a bad mood.

The village head watched the people arguing and shouted, "Stop arguing! This is a matter of national importance and we can't afford to refuse. Now everyone go home, grab your tools, and start repairing the road immediately."

Although everyone had their own ideas, under the authority of the village head, they all went home to get their tools and came to the road construction site.

At the beginning, everyone was full of energy.

The young and strong men waved hoes and shovels, digging the soil with great effort.

The women helped carry stones and other debris. However, it wasn't long before some people started slacking off.

Li Ergou wiped his sweat and hid secretly under the shade of a tree, muttering, "This is too tiring, let's take a break."

Uncle Wang was still working hard. His face was flushed and his clothes were soaked with sweat, but his hands never stopped moving.

The villagers were discussing their work. "How long will this take?"

"That's right, it's so tiring, and I don't know if I'll get paid."

"Stop complaining, this is for the sake of winning the battle." The village head was patrolling and supervising. His eyes were stern, and he would shout at anyone he saw slacking off.

Zhang Daniu just got back from delivering the goods and immediately started working on the road. He waved his hoe and dug up the hard soil bit by bit, humming a tune to cheer himself up.

Li Ergou stopped from time to time, looked around, and found a shady place to sit down and rest for a while when no one was paying attention.

He looked at those people working hard and muttered to himself: "Why work so hard and get no pay?"

Qin Mu, Xiaoxiao and Qin Xiao from Su Panpan's family were repairing the road, while Sisi and Yueyue were playing nearby. The children's laughter added a touch of relaxation to the tense road construction scene.

Qin Youwen and his family were also working hard to repair the road. Qin Youwen and Zhang Daniu were carrying large stones together, while Shen Ru took Linlin to help clear the debris on the roadside.

At noon, the elderly and children from every household came to deliver meals.

Wang Hexiang brought some sweet potatoes, a few cakes and a can of water to Zhang Daniu, Zhang Erniu and Lin Xiu'e.

Zhao also gave Qin Youqian and the others some black porridge made with wild vegetables. When she saw Qin Youwen, Shen Ru and Su Panpan walking very close to each other, she immediately became furious.

She pointed at Qin Youwen and cursed, "Did Su Panpan instigate you to split up the family? Look at you, just wait to starve to death!"

Qin Youwen frowned and wanted to refute, but finally held back.

When Su Panpan heard Zhao's scolding, she felt a little angry and wanted to go up and argue with her, but she ignored it for fear of affecting the progress of road construction and delaying the transportation of grain to the front line.

The road construction site was not far from Su Panpan's house. She asked the village head for permission to go home to cook, and the head agreed.

She returned to the house and quickly bought luncheon meat, ham, various hot pot meatballs and a hundred packs of braised beef instant noodles from the space.

She opened the package and burned it on the stove, then filled a large pot with water and started boiling it.

She went to the vegetable garden beside the yard and picked a large basket of tender leaves, washed them and put them aside.

A large pot of water gradually began to boil, making a cheerful "gurgling" sound.

Su Panpan gently poured beef balls, fish balls, pork balls, cheese heart-protecting balls, peeing beef balls, bird's nest dumplings, fish tofu, and fish roe shrimp balls into the pot one by one.

Those meatballs were like lively elves, jumping into the pot with a "plop", and the colorful meatballs rolled in the water.

After a while, the meatballs were cooked and Su Panpan turned off the fire.

She slowly poured the instant noodles into the pot, and the moment the crispy noodles came into contact with the boiling soup, a slight "sizzling" sound was heard.

Then she added the seasoning and stirred it gently with chopsticks.

The instant noodles slowly expanded in the pot, like a blooming flower, and the quantity also became larger.

The rich aroma hits your nose, and your sense of smell is instantly filled with this tempting smell.

Finally, Su Panpan poured the fresh green vegetables into the pot. The green vegetables were so green and tender that they seemed to be able to squeeze out water.

They are cooked through with just a brief blanch in the pan, adding a refreshing green hue to the pot of noodles.

This big pot is full of round meatballs, chewy instant noodles, green vegetables, pink ham and large slices of luncheon meat, which makes people's appetite increase just by looking at it.

It’s ready to be served. In just a quarter of an hour, this pot of fragrant food will appear before your eyes.