A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Mu Nanzhao's miraculous survival and escape from danger should have been a joyous occasion.

However, there was little celebratory atmosphere at Gu Xixi's home.

From that day on, Gu Xixi became very busy.

While tending to the fruit trees, there is also spring sowing.

The eight hired workers, led by Chen Dafu, continued to work for Gu Xixi this year, including tending to winter wheat, spring-sown soybeans and sorghum, and managing fruit trees, covering the period from early spring to late autumn. Therefore, the two parties drafted a new contract.

In addition to managing her own fields and tea experimental fields, Gu Xixi is also responsible for the Pinpo orchards of every household in the village.

After all, it was the first year and no one had much experience. They also used the novel method of intercropping and relay cropping, so at the beginning, all kinds of problems arose one after another.

One minute someone is asking Gu Xixi to go check on the orchard, and the next minute someone else is causing some other problem.

Gu Xixi transformed into a brick, moving wherever she was needed.

Fortunately, all the families were very capable. They immediately sought advice when they discovered problems and strictly followed the methods Gu Xixi instructed. Overall, the situation was progressing as scheduled.

Mu Nanzhao's health also improved rapidly.

He had always been in good health, and in the past six months he had taken countless good medicines from the old doctor.

Once detoxified, it's like a phoenix rising from the ashes; the speed of recovery is simply astonishing.

Only five days later, Mu Nanzhao went out.

During his illness, many things and many people were waiting for him.

Then Mu Nanzhao and Gu Xixi went about their own business.

They all leave home at dawn and return home gradually after dark.

After eating the food Aunt Zhang had left for them, they went back to their rooms and went straight to sleep.

For several days in a row, Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao lived under the same roof, but they never bumped into each other.

The weather has been getting warmer lately, and the Isatis root in Qin's house has sprouted ahead of schedule. Gu Xixi went to her orchard in the evening to guide her on how to handle it, and didn't go home until the moon rose.

There were two winnowing baskets in the kitchen, containing two identical portions of food.

Two sesame salt flatbreads and a bowl of vegetables.

Gu Xixi had checked and knew that Mu Nanzhao hadn't returned tonight.

She took out a meal, too lazy to heat it up, and started eating right away.

Aunt Zhang heard the commotion inside the house, went to the kitchen, and saw Gu Xixi wolfing down her food, which made her feel sorry for her.

"Why are you coming back later and later?"

"Can your body handle this every day?"

Gu Xixi laughed and said, "I'm still young. I'll recover after a good meal and a good night's sleep."

Aunt Zhang looked you over and said, "You've still lost some weight. Tomorrow I'll weigh out a few pounds of pork bone and stew it for you."

She saw another winnowing basket that was still covered and sighed, "None of them are home. Our house is like an inn now. The whole family only comes back to sleep."

Now that the family has hired help, Gu Xixi, concerned about Aunt Zhang's hard work cooking every day, doesn't let her work in the fields.

Since the old doctor came to Huachidu Village, his reputation has gradually spread, and he is often invited to make house calls.

Therefore, Aunt Zhang spent the most time at home alone, which inevitably made her lonely.

Gu Xixi chuckled softly, "Once this period is over, I'll have more free time."

She then asked, "Where's Shi Tou? He's always home and can talk to you."

Aunt Zhang said, "Shitou is still writing right now, saying that the teacher will test him tomorrow morning."

Gu Xixi was taken aback. She had been too busy to pay attention to other things lately. She knew that Mu Nanzhao was also very busy and rarely came home. She thought that the village school had been closed recently.

Gu Xixi asked, "Chen Fang...hasn't he been going out a lot lately? Is he still going to the village school?"

“Yes, I’ll go,” Aunt Zhang nodded. “I’ll go every day except for my days off.”

"After finishing teaching the children, they leave without even going home."

Aunt Zhang paused, then looked at Gu Xixi with a puzzled expression. "What, you don't know?"

Gu Xixi ate her food to cover up her embarrassment, and mumbled, "Oh, I've been busy lately and haven't had a chance to meet."

Aunt Zhang was worried. They weren't even married yet, and the young couple didn't see each other or miss each other. How could this be?

She had intended to bring up the old topic again, urging Gu Xixi to consider marriage as soon as possible.

Seeing the fatigue on Gu Xixi's face, Aunt Zhang swallowed back the words she was about to say.

Well, there are too many things bothering Xixi right now, let's put them aside for now.

Ten days later, the Pinpo fruit tree sprouted its first batch of tender buds.

The other crops intercropped in the orchard are growing well, and the chicks and ducklings have also grown stiff feathers.

The families all wore hopeful smiles, and they worked with even more enthusiasm.

Gu Xixi received a letter.

Seeing that the specific address on the envelope was unknown, one knew that the letter was sent from a military camp in the Northwest.

Gu Xixi handed the hoe to someone else and went to a secluded spot to open the letter.

The handwriting was messy and illegible, and she couldn't help but smile.

No matter how many times you look at General Meng's calligraphy, you can't help but sigh that seeing the calligraphy is like seeing the man himself.

The letter was essentially a reply.

Specifically, it was stated that the Northwest Army's spring land reclamation and planting had been completed.

The planting areas, sowing methods, and water and fertilizer application for oats, alfalfa, and millet were all strictly implemented according to Gu Xixi's instructions.

Meng Chengping also rambled on for two long paragraphs at the end, recounting how he turned the tide several times during his farming process.

He also reassured Gu Xixi, saying that with him overseeing both the Northwest Army's fields and Gu Xixi's fruit trees, nothing would go wrong.

Gu Xixi finished reading the letter and pondered for a moment.

Oh no, seeing Meng Chengping say that only makes me more worried!

Just then, a commotion came from Sister-in-law Qin's orchard.

Gu Xixi put away the letter and rushed over, only to see Sister-in-law Qin grabbing the old bachelor's clothes and cursing loudly:

"You heartless monkey! You stepped on my Bupleurum seedlings and even reached out to break off the buds of my fruit trees. I caught you red-handed, and you still have the nerve to say you didn't see anything. Do you think everyone else is as blind and rotten as you?!"

The old bachelor struggled like a twisted candy, "Who knows what you planted on the ground? I thought it was grass growing in the woods! It wasn't on purpose!"

Sister-in-law Qin's eyebrows shot up. "Not on purpose? Then why have you been sneaking around my orchard lately? And you're still saying you weren't plotting something?!"

"I think you're just jealous of others' success and deliberately trying to sabotage things!"

The older people got, the more people came to see what was going on.

The old bachelor glanced at the onlookers, straightened his back, and said, "Who's causing trouble? Don't make baseless accusations without evidence!"

"Let go! This is the only decent piece of clothing I have left. If you tear it, you'll have to pay for it!"

Sister-in-law Qin took a stick and hit the old bachelor's feet, saying as she did so, "Isn't this evidence? The evidence is right under your feet, get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

The old bachelor was so badly hit that he repeatedly kicked up his feet and hurriedly jumped onto the empty ridge next to him.

"That's better now, it's just a stomp, it won't kill you!"

Others were fine with it, just watching the show, but Aunt Qian was also there. As a fellow fruit tree grower, she became a little wary.

"Then how do you explain your recent habit of secretly watching people around?"

Aunt Qian was the village chief's wife, and the old bachelor didn't dare openly argue with her, so he could only explain:

"I was just curious."

"Everyone says these fruit trees can't be grown, and they won't bear fruit even if you do, so I just wanted to see for myself."