Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Xiao Jin and the others returned in the afternoon, as if they had come back specifically to congratulate Zhang Xixi on the completion of her new house. They brought back three pheasants and three rabbits, which they cooked as an extra meal tonight.

Zhang Xixi led Xiao Jin and the others to the room furthest to the west wing. Half of the floor of this room was covered with thick thatch, and the other half contained two wooden basins.

"Xiao Jin, Xiao Hua, these are your rooms. You'll be staying here every night from now on!"

Little Jin rubbed against Zhang Xixi's leg before raising its big head and barking at Zhang Xixi a few times, "Master, you're so kind, you even prepared a house for us!"

Zhang Xixi understood what Xiao Jin meant and continued, "But you can't relieve yourself in the house or in the yard. If you need to, go to the stable. I'll be angry if you make the house dirty."

Little Jin roared a few more times, "I know, Master, we are clean tigers!"

Zhang Xixi was in a good mood today, so she bought two bottles of intermediate-grade spiritual spring water, which she usually couldn't bear to buy, for Xiao Jin and the others, as a way to celebrate moving into their new home.

Upon entering the courtyard, Zhou Yujie and Zhang Wenhong were processing pheasants and rabbits.

"Second Brother, Yujie, you two keep one of each after you've finished processing them, and take the rest to Cuihua so she can stew them all to give to the workers as a treat."

"Little sister, it must be so nice to be your family's long-term worker, you get to eat meat every day!" Zhang Wenhong joked.

Zhang Xixi said with a smile, "Second brother, if you come and help me with the work, I'll let you eat meat every meal!"

As soon as Chen came in, she heard this and quickly said, "Stop joking, come and take these clothes inside."

Zhang Xixi smiled at Zhang Wenhong before walking over to Chen Shi and taking the large bundle from her hands.

"Mom, the clothes are all done!"

"It's done. I'll have Da Bao and the others try them on another day. If any don't fit, let me know and I'll make some alterations."

"Mom, you guys are amazing!" Zhang Xixi nodded and praised.

Chen smiled modestly and went into the kitchen. Rice was steaming in the pot, and Little Chen was picking wild vegetables next to it.

After the sun went down, Zhang Xixi's family and her relatives sat around the round table for dinner. On the table was a pot of bamboo shoot and pheasant soup, two plates of stir-fried rabbit meat, a pot of cold wild vegetables, and bowls of white rice.

Life is so comfortable now. Suddenly, I feel like my previous life of fleeing famine was just a dream!

After today, they will have a home of their own in this deserted village.

Wang Daniu and his men were also eating with gusto. Their employer was really kind, feeding them meat every day. They were sure their wives wouldn't feel sorry for them being so thin when they went back to their hometown!

I guess I've been living in a tent for too long and I'm not used to sleeping in a bed. I tossed and turned all night and didn't sleep well.

The next day, although she was still yawning, Zhang Xixi got up early to cook porridge and make breakfast.

Sitting in front of the stove, Zhang Xixi was selecting pasture seeds from the system store. Planting pasture on wasteland can not only suppress the growth of weeds, but also improve the soil.

The first batch of organic fertilizer is ready, so we can plant a batch of pasture grass first, and then we won't have to cut grass for the cattle anymore. It's a win-win situation.

After browsing for a while, Zhang Xixi chose a type of forage grass called purple sweet potato. This forage grass is not only loved by chickens, ducks, and fish, but also by cattle, horses, and sheep. It is also inexpensive, costing 500 lucky points for 100 jin (50 kg), which can be used to plant about 20 mu (1.3 hectares) of land.

After finishing breakfast, Erbao wiped his mouth and asked, "Mom, will we be eating at home from now on?"

"From now on, we'll have breakfast here, and lunch and dinner will be the same as before, we'll go downstairs to eat."

Zhang Xixi thought she could sneak some nutritious food into her family's diet in the morning, such as milk and white fungus soup. These were foods that could nourish the body, and since they couldn't be exposed to light, she could only secretly give them to her family.

When Zhou Yujie returned from the low-lying area, he saw Zhang Xixi staring blankly and went up to ask, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about what to plant in the field!" Zhang Xixi said casually, making things up. It was so embarrassing that she always got caught when she was daydreaming!

"You can't grow much crop on wasteland in the first year!"

"I know, that's why I'm going to plant grass!"

Zhou Yujie exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! Aren't there plenty of those on the mountain?"

"It's not that kind of grass, it's a kind of forage grass. Well, I don't know how to describe it, you'll know once you grow it!" Zhang Xixi said, scratching her head.

"I've already collected the seeds; they're in the yard outside. Please take them to the field for me in a bit."

Zhou Yujie nodded; he never refused his sister-in-law's decisions.

Wang Daniu and his group have been here for almost a month, and they have already reclaimed one-third of the 300 mu of wasteland. At this moment, they are working in the field while chatting.

Wang Damu: "Brother Da Niu, don't you miss home?"

"Of course I do!"

Wang Erniu: "I don't know if the employer will let us go back for a few days. It's been a month and I want to go back and see my family."

"I'll ask the boss later, but everyone has to work hard!"

"We know!" the people in the field replied happily.

Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yujie each carried a carrying pole to the field. Each basket on one side of the pole contained a bag of purple sweet potato seeds, and there were several empty burlap sacks underneath.

Upon seeing them, Wang Daniu immediately called over a few people to help take over the carrying pole.

Zhang Xixi stretched her shoulders before saying, "Wang Daniu, first take the sacks out of the basket and put them on the ground, then go back and bring all the water buckets from home, and come find me by the river."

"Okay, boss!"

After making the arrangements, Zhang Xixi led Zhou Yujie down to the depression. They removed the tarpaulin, used a hoe to loosen the organic fertilizer in the pit to let it cool down, and then headed towards the river.

Zhou Yujie went to check the fertilizer in the other pits. He first tested the temperature with an iron rod, then checked the moisture content to see if water needed to be added to cool it down.

When Wang Daniu and the others arrived at the riverbank, Zhang Xixi had already bought ten buckets of soil conditioner and placed them on the ground.

She pointed to the green water in the bucket and said to Wang Daniu, "This is the medicine I prepared. You take it to the field and leave it there first, then come back to fetch water. Add a ladle of this medicine to each bucket of water, mix them together, and then sprinkle it on the already cultivated land."

Although Wang Daniu was curious about the effects of the potion, he still nodded and replied, "Yes, boss!"

It took Zhang Xixi and the others a whole morning to spread all the soil conditioner on the ground. In the afternoon, they asked Wang Daniu and the others to carry up the first batch of compost and spread it on the ground to mix with the original soil.

Finally, all the seeds in the sack were scattered on the ground. By then, the sun had already set, and the digging of ditches to irrigate the land would have to be done the next day.

"Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully cultivating 100 acres of land! Reward: 10,000 Luck Points!"

Hearing this voice, Zhang Xixi thought to herself, thankfully her efforts hadn't been in vain.

"System, how is luck calculated after the hay is harvested?"

"Ten pounds of hay will earn you one luck point!"

It seems a bit low, but she didn't originally grow pasture grass to earn luck points!