Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

They drove their horse-drawn carriage to Mu County, spent a day there, and then happily explored the surrounding areas of the county for a month.

Time slowly passed and it was August.

This is harvest season, and they should be going home to collect their grain.

That evening, Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yuhao discussed their plan to go home the next day, but not by the same route they had come from; instead, they would take a different route back to Dafang County.

The more than 1,000 mu of rice paddies in this deserted village have turned golden yellow, and they will be ready for harvest in a few days.

Zhou Fu and Wang Daniu have already arranged for people to make scarecrows in the rice paddies to scare away birds and small animals that might steal the rice.

Meanwhile, the people making the vermicelli in the factory are working overtime. Since that corrupt county magistrate was punished last time, their village's vermicelli has become even more famous.

Many people came from far and wide to buy the fans, and Zhou Dashan and the clan elders were very happy to see this!

Their village made the right choice moving here; the feng shui here is excellent, bringing prosperity to the Zhou family!

The next morning, Zhang Xixi and her group set off from Mu County, planning to travel along the border between Fuzhou and Lingzhou.

We visited some scenic spots along the way and finally arrived in Dafang County in early September.

Because the timing was planned, their second day in Dafang County was a day off.

I've been away for so long, I should go and see Erbao and the others.

They stayed at the same teahouse they always visited, and the next morning they drove their carriage to the entrance of the academy to wait for them.

"Father, Mother, you're back!"

"Big brother, sister-in-law, you're back!"

"Auntie, Uncle!"

Seeing their surprised and delighted looks, Zhang Xixi smiled and replied, "You're back. We've come to take you home."

"Let's go, Da Bao is watching the carriage in that alley over there!"

The group excitedly replied, "Great!"

Zhang Xixi led the children to the carriage. Zhang Xixi drove the carriage from the outside while the children played and frolicked inside.

Zhou Yuhao led the horse ahead until they left the city, then slowly rode his horse behind the carriage.

They got home around noon. When Sun Xiuxiu saw that they were back, she immediately went to the kitchen and cooked some more food.

Zhou Yuhao and Zhou Fu unloaded the items from the carriage.

After the meal, we packed up the things and delivered them to each household.

They stayed at the Zhang family's house until the afternoon. When Chen saw Zhang Xixi and the others return, she pulled them aside and talked to them for a long time.

I had a very free and easy time away from home, but now that I'm back, I really miss my family.

Erbao and Zhou Yujie kept pulling Zhou Yuhao aside to ask about what was happening outside.

Zhou Yuhao had no choice but to explain to them in detail the places he had been and the local customs and traditions.

Upon hearing that Da Bao had been hit by the embroidered ball, the two of them laughed.

Zhou Yujie joked, "Da Bao's journey has been so exciting, he almost became someone's son-in-law!"

They all laughed again.

As it was getting dark, Xiao Jin's family returned home.

As soon as she entered the door, Xiao Jin ran up to Zhang Xixi and circled around her, saying, "Master, you're finally back!"

I miss you so much!

Xiao Hua, along with Tiger Girl and Tiger Cub, looked at her expectantly.

Zhang Xixi calmed the Jin family down with the spiritual spring water before ending her mission for the day.

We went to bed early that night, and the next morning we all exercised together again.

After breakfast, Zhang Xixi went to check on the rice paddies, where the rice had already turned golden.

A gust of wind blows, and the sight of the wheat fields swaying in the breeze is truly beautiful!

Zhang Xixi also went to check on the sweet potato field. These sweet potatoes were planted before their trip and would be ready to harvest in a few days.

We can plant another season of sweet potatoes later, since the factory needs a lot of sweet potatoes right now.

Because the rice grown in their village is very good, the annual yield is not low, and the rice tastes good too.

Since Manager Qian stopped needing grain, Zhou Yuhao opened a grain shop in both the county town and the town center.

The grain shop sells rice and vermicelli, all produced in the remote village. Sometimes they also collect other mountain products to sell.

Because other families here don't have high rice yields, the price is also very high. Ordinary families can't afford to eat it themselves, so they sell it to out-of-town buyers.

Zhou Yuhao's grain shop also collaborates with a boss from another region. When there is a surplus of grain, he contacts that boss to come and pick it up.

The shop owner was quite satisfied with the purchase because the price was fair.

The rice harvest took a total of five days. As before, the Zhang family had Wang Daniu and his men help with the harvest and paid them wages.

Because this rice matured late, no ratooning rice was left.

After harvesting the rice, the land was left to dry in the sun for several days, and then plowed with oxen. The plan was to leave it fallow for the rest of the year.

This allows the fields to recover and is beneficial for the next season's crops.

Some families in the village followed Zhang Xixi's example, since they all had land on the mountainside where they planted sweet potatoes, and the sweet potatoes would be ready to be harvested soon.

Sweet potatoes have a high yield, and the money earned per acre is about the same as that of an acre of rice. However, growing rice is more troublesome, so one crop is usually enough.

Some families, who didn't receive dividends from the vermicelli factory, started cultivating ratooning rice in order to harvest more grain and earn more money.

Within a few days, the rice in the village had been harvested.

That day, Zhou Dashan and Zhou Yuping came to our house.

Zhou Yuhao led them to the main room.

"Big brother, is there anything I can help you with?"

"We would like to discuss the factory expansion with you."

Zhou Yuhao thought about the current scale of the factory and realized that it really should be expanded.

"How do you plan to expand? The factory can only be expanded to the left; there's no room left on the right."

Zhou Dashan explained their ideas, hoping Zhou Yuhao could also offer some suggestions.

Zhou Yuhao discussed with them the expansion site and the purchase of materials.

The next day they started buying materials.

Although the factory is going to be expanded, the production of rice noodles cannot be stopped, because there are still many people coming to buy them.

The rice harvest was over in the village, but the manpower for the expansion was hired from the villagers.

Time flew by, and after the factory was built, some more people were recruited from the village to work there.

This time, at least one person from every household in the village is working there, and the work is paid on a piece-rate basis, meaning they get paid for whatever they do.

During the busy farming season, they were given a few more days off, and Zhou Dashan and his team even hired a dedicated accountant.

Because there were too many people, Zhou Yuping was put in charge of personnel, while Zhang Wenhong continued to manage production. Finances were also managed by one person, who reported the accounts to the village once a month.