Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

"Okay, then I'll leave it to you!"

Zhang Xixi led them into the factory and told them to wait in the reception room while she went to find Zhang Wenhong and Zhou Yuping herself.

"Manager Liu has a big order; they need 100,000 jin of vermicelli in a month. Would you like to take it?"

Zhou Yuping was thrilled upon hearing the news and exclaimed excitedly, "Of course I'll accept!"

Zhang Wenhong was excited for a moment, then frowned and said, "The time is too tight, we don't have enough manpower."

"If we don't have enough people, we'll just add more!"

Zhang Wenhong shook his head, "No, the factory already has enough people. We don't have the space or tools to add more."

Zhang Xixi quickly offered her suggestion, "How about we adopt a shift system, with one group of people during the day and another group at night, and the night shift getting extra pay? What do you think?"

"Yes, that's a good method!"

Both of them agreed to this approach.

"You can discuss how much to increase your wages yourselves."

Upon arriving at the reception room, Zhou Yuping and Zhang Wenhong exchanged a few pleasantries with Manager Liu and then showed them the produced vermicelli.

The two sides also signed an agreement.

After seeing Manager Liu and his group off, Zhang Wenhong thought of another question.

"At night, we can't see anything, so we have to use oil lamps in many places. And lamp oil is not cheap."

Zhang Xixi thought for a moment and said, "I have cheap candles here, five for one coin. And you can try to do what you do at night in one place, which will save on candles."

"Third Aunt, are your candles really that cheap? Give me twenty packs first!"

Zhang Xixi nodded, "Okay, I'll bring it over to you in a bit!"

After returning home, Zhang Xixi found candles in the household supplies section. They cost 500 luck points per box, and there were exactly 20 packs in each box.

She bought three boxes directly, keeping two for the factory and the other for her own use.

Zhang Xixi doesn't have to worry about things at home or in the fields anymore; she only has to step in when medicine is needed.

Bored at home, Zhang Xixi decided to research the production of cosmetics, underwear, sanitary napkins, and other products.

However, she only works sporadically because she's terrible at handy things.

After harvesting this batch of sweet potatoes, Zhang Xixi's luck stat increased to over two million.

She's eating well, sleeping well, and is strong enough to kill a bull. How should she manage all this good fortune?

Or maybe we should go out and get some treasures to pass down as family heirlooms. Who knows, she might be able to rely on these things in her next life!

A month later, the factory finally produced the fans thanks to the hard work of Zhang Wenhong and his team, who worked overtime.

When Manager Liu and his family came to buy vermicelli, they also bought a million catties of sweet potatoes from Zhang Xixi's family because they had too many sweet potatoes.

Manager Liu offered two coins per pound. Zhang Xixi thought that the next batch of sweet potatoes would be ready to be harvested soon, and there was no room at home for so many sweet potatoes, so she sold them.

In the warm spring of March, when the grass grows and the orioles fly, Zhou Yuhao returned, bringing with him a cart full of things and a box of land deeds and silver notes.

Upon returning, he handed the small box containing the land deed and banknotes to Zhang Xixi.

"This is?"

"This is all the wealth I've accumulated over the years. It's all going to help with your household expenses. You can't refuse. Otherwise, how can I, a grown man, be supported by my wife? What face would I have left?"

Zhang Xixi had no choice but to accept it, considering it as a way to keep it safe for the children until they got married and then she would give it to their wives.

Zhou Yuhao was secretly pleased, thinking that Zhang Xixi accepting the box meant she was slowly accepting him!

Little did Zhang Xixi know that the thick-skinned girl didn't think much of it and only assumed that Zhou Yuhao was a chauvinist.

"Why are you the only one who came back? Where's Da Mu?!"

Zhou Yuhao thought to himself, "Why does it feel like my wife cares about other people but not about her husband?"

Is it because my presence is too insignificant?

"Da Mu and a few of his brothers stayed in the Northwest and aren't coming back!"

Zhang Xixi nodded, "Oh!"

Zhou Yuhao also unloaded the items from the carriage, including clothes, food, and toys.

He also summarized which items were bought for which recipients.

Zhang Xixi had no choice but to help him move all the sorted items inside. "Where should we put this pile?"

Zhou Yuhao looked up and said, "These are for my parents-in-law and Brother Dashan. I'll go to Brother Dashan's place first, and then we'll go to your parents' house together when I get back."

"No need, this is too much of a waste!"

"Yes, wait for me."

Before leaving, Zhou Yuhao said, "I bought this carriage too. Zhou Fu, take it to the stable and feed it some hay."

"Okay, sir!"

After Zhou Yuhao returned this time, he didn't go out again.

He spent all his time with Zhang Xixi and the others, sometimes going hunting in the mountains with Zhang Dacheng, and sometimes inspecting the fields with Zhang Xixi.

Leisurely days always pass quickly, and two years have already gone by in the blink of an eye.

The village has also undergone tremendous changes, the most noticeable of which is the expanded factory.

It has already reached a considerable size, being the largest house in the deserted village, and is divided into several sections, with each section almost separate from the previous one.

Not only were there many people working inside, but there were also horse-drawn carriages and oxcarts coming and going outside, all to buy vermicelli.

The vermicelli processing plant has brought great benefits to the village, and efforts are being made to attract more people to the village.

At Zhang Xixi's call, the villagers of the deserted village contributed money and labor to repair the road from the village to the town.

Now it only takes less than half an hour to get from the village to the town, and the road is wide enough for two cars to drive side by side.

In the past two years, the fans have become popular all over the country, and more and more people are growing sweet potatoes.

In this deserted village, apart from the rice paddies along the river, the rest of the mountain land has been reclaimed into terraced fields, most of which belong to Zhang Xixi's family and are planted with sweet potatoes.

The emergence of fans has boosted the development of Dafang County, and many farmers have improved their lives by growing sweet potatoes.

The county's tax revenue steadily increased, the people lived in peace and contentment, and Magistrate Sun was promoted.

The village school has also developed very well, enrolling more children from other villages.

A year ago, Zhang Wenbo passed the provincial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). He then returned to the village to teach, and many people came to learn from him.

Both Zhang Xixi's and Zhang's families are very busy today because Zhou Yujie and his friends are going to take the preliminary examination for the imperial examination.

Zhang Xixi got up early and prepared the things Zhou Yujie and Erbao needed, while Zhou Yuhao told them about his previous exam experience again.

"Dad, you've said it so many times, my uncle and I are sick of hearing it!"

Seeing that Zhou Yuhao was about to repeat himself, Erbao quickly interrupted him.

Zhou Yuhao smiled. "Isn't Dad a little nervous?"

"Alright, everyone get in the car, let's go!"

Zhang Xixi quickly called on everyone, which also helped Zhou Yuhao out of the predicament.