Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Li Qiang and the others watched him kneel for seven days and seven nights without eating or drinking before he finally stood up. After resting for a day, he led them back to the military camp.

From then on, Zhou Yuhao became even more daring and fearless, because only by climbing higher and gaining more power could he find his younger brother and wife in the vast sea of ​​people!

Zhang Xixi and the others were completely unaware that Zhou Yuhao had actually come back to life. At this moment, they were happily eating their first meal in their new home.

Zhang Xixi and the others slept soundly through the night, while the mountains and forests behind the deserted village were thrown into chaos by Xiao Jin and his wife!

As the sun rose, Wu Dagui, accompanied by another yamen runner surnamed Liu, arrived at the deserted village with surveying tools.

Last night, everyone discussed the amount of wasteland each family needed, and Zhou Dashan also led the person in charge of each family to the riverbank.

"Sir, we've already discussed it and decided to choose land by the river. We'll start measuring from the riverbank."

"Okay, send a few people over to help!"

Zhou Dashan arranged for several people to help Wu Dagui pull the rope to measure, while another yamen runner recorded the measurements.

Following the order arranged the previous night, they took turns announcing their names and the number of acres they needed. Families with fewer members announced seven or eight acres, while those with more members announced more than ten acres.

The villagers reported the acreage based on their current labor force, thinking that they should cultivate the land now and continue to reclaim it if needed in the future. After all, the reclaimed land was free, and they only needed to pay one-tenth of the grain tax in the second year.

The measurements were being taken in an orderly manner, and around noon, they arrived at Zhang Xixi's house, which was also the last house.

Zhou Dashan's family asked for 20 mu, Zhang Dacheng's family asked for 15 mu, and Zhang Xixi thought for a moment and said, "Sir, measure out 300 mu for me!"

Everyone stared at Zhang Xixi in shock, while Zhou Dashan's lips twitched. "Sister-in-law, have you thought this through? Can your family of so few people really manage all this wasteland?"

Zhang Dacheng also advised from the side, "Girl, your family is so small, a few acres will do, how can you manage so many?"

Zhang Xixi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have a way to speed up the land reclamation. There won't be any left unplanted."

Wu Dagui also spoke up, saying, "Woman, have you thought this through? You should know that if the wasteland cannot be planted with grain next spring, a fine of one tael of silver will be imposed per mu."

"I've made up my mind, sir, please take the measurements!" Zhang Xixi thought to herself. If she weren't afraid of scaring them, she would have wanted a thousand acres of wasteland!

She has made many plans for her future life, and farmland is the most important one, so the more land she has, the better!

Seeing Zhang Xixi's confident smile, Zhang Dacheng and Zhou Dashan wanted to raise their hands to stop her, but then they remembered something and swallowed their words.

The constable Liu, who was standing nearby, asked, "Whose name is on the land deed?"

Zhang Xixi thought for a moment and asked, "Sir, is it acceptable to write half as Zhou Yujie and half as Zhang Xixi?"

Liu, the constable, nodded, and Zhang Xixi immediately said, "Then let's write it like this!"

After the field measurements were completed, it was lunchtime, and Zhou Dashan had already arranged for his family to prepare a sumptuous meal.

Wu Dagui and his group were startled when they saw the venison and wild boar meat on the table, but then they came to their senses.

Under Zhou Dashan's warm hospitality, the two constables enjoyed a sumptuous lunch, rested briefly in the afternoon, and then went to continue measuring the homestead.

After measuring the homestead, Zhou Dashan gave each of the two yamen runners a piece of venison and an ounce of silver before politely seeing them off.

Although the contracts were all written, in addition to being registered in the town, they also needed to be registered in the county and stamped with the official seal. Zhou Dashan was to go to the town to pick them up and take them to the county government in a few days.

In the afternoon, the men in the village went to make mud bricks to build walls, while the women and children went to clear stones and weeds from their own fields.

Zhang Xixi was thinking of buying blue bricks to build a house, so she didn't let Zhou Yujie go with her. Instead, she asked him to go with Zhang Dacheng and the others to the foot of the mountain to collect some firewood.

The two treasures then led the family's mule and horse to the other side of the river to graze.

Chen's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, along with Zhang Xixi and the others, went to the river to wash their clothes and bedding, which hadn't been washed for so long and were starting to smell.

"I wonder how expensive these blue bricks are!" Chen said worriedly, glancing at the villagers who were busily making mud bricks.

“Mother, how much more expensive can it be? You have several hundred taels of silver, that’s enough to build a house.”

"We can't use it all; we have to save some for our future."

Zhang Xixi shook her clothes and offered a suggestion: "Mom, didn't Dad pick a few Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms from the mountains? If it's not worth it, he can just sell them. Keeping them won't save money, and they might get eaten by insects."

Chen rolled her eyes at Zhang Xixi, "You really don't know how to manage a household. Good things should be saved for emergencies, not squandered."

Despite saying this, Chen was still thinking that one day she would go to the county town to sell a Ganoderma lucidum. In addition to building a house, she would also need to buy some farming tools and a cow so that the men in the family wouldn't overwork themselves.

Zhang Xixi smiled and said, "Mom, you're right!" She decided not to argue with her mother anymore, since her mother was right.

Chen looked at her daughter, who was grinning foolishly, and asked again, "Daughter, do you really have a way to deal with that wasteland?"

“Mother, when have I ever lied? I plan to go to the county town in a few days to buy more than ten cows and hire some people to come back and clear the land.”

The young Mrs. Chen standing nearby was astonished. "Little sister, this is quite a generous gesture!"

"Do you have the money to buy so many cattle? You'll also need to hire people. Isn't this a waste of money? You might as well not have so much land."

Zhang Xixi smiled and explained, "Although we don't have that much silver right now, we can sell the medicinal herbs!"

"As long as I take good care of the land, I can earn back the money I spent on hiring people and buying cattle next year many times over. Farming requires investment to have a good harvest."

Mrs. Chen laughed and scolded, "You're full of twisted logic!"

Zhang Xixi smiled but didn't say anything. She simply put the washed sheets into another wooden basin and then took some clothes to wash.

The riverside was filled with warmth, and Zhang Xixi and the others continued their casual conversation.

Meanwhile, deep in the mountains, the Jin couple encountered a formidable foe: they were surrounded and attacked by a group of wild boars.

The wild boars were large, numerous, and very fierce. The two tigers originally planned to hunt a wild boar to take back as a tribute to their master after they had had enough of the mountains. However, they thought that the meat of large wild boars was not good. They happened to see some piglets and wanted to catch them. Little did they know that they had kicked a hornet's nest and angered a large group of wild boars.

The wild boars relentlessly pursued and intercepted Xiao Jin and his companions. Xiao Hua was clearly struggling to keep up, and in a moment of carelessness, she was gored by a wild boar's tusks.