Armed with a machete and a gun, armed with a system, they fled the famine.

"Yan'er, be careful!"

Yang Sanlang's dark eyes flashed, and he quickly stepped forward and pulled Zhao Yan aside.

Just then, the person opposite suddenly jumped off the carriage and excitedly shouted to Yang Sanlang, "Brother Yang! Sister-in-law! It really is you! I am Chen Chong!"

This person was Chen Chong from Chenjiagou.

When Yang Sanlang saw the person he hadn't seen in a long time, a glint of light flashed in his dark eyes.

He couldn't help but step forward, reach out and strike Chen Chong with a palm strike, then slap Chen Chong hard on the shoulder.

"Well, it's you, buddy. What a coincidence that we've run into each other."

"How are things going? Are you doing alright?"

Just by looking at Chen Chong's current outfit, you can tell that he's living a pretty good life.

Suppressing his excitement, Chen Chong chuckled and said, "Not bad, not bad, Brother Yang, did you and your wife just come out of the mountains? What happened to you...?"

"Oh, we're going into the mountains to take care of some business."

Yang Sanlang quickly offered an explanation, but didn't say what he was doing.

After hearing this, Chen Chong stopped asking questions and instead told him about Chen Hu and Chen Tietou.

"Brother Tie Tou and Brother Tie Dan are both married and have several children. There's also Brother Hu Zi. Sister-in-law Chen gave birth to a little girl for him last year. Brother Hu Zi is very fond of her."

Yang Sanlang rolled his eyes and couldn't help but ask, "And what about you? How are things between you and your aunt?"

Chen Chong scratched the back of his head and chuckled.

"I'm doing well. I got married and we just had a baby boy before the new year, hehe."

Upon hearing this, Yang Sanlang immediately congratulated him.

Seeing that everyone was doing well, he abandoned his idea of ​​going back to visit.

That's fine now.

People can now eat their fill and will no longer go hungry.

Yang Sanlang believed that with Dou Qingran around, everyone's lives would get better and better in the future.

At this moment, Zhao Yan asked Chen Chong, "Little Chong, where are you headed?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Chong hurriedly said to Zhao Yan, "Sister-in-law, I just delivered some goods to Yizhou and am on my way back to Chenjiagou."

During the off-season, he would go into the mountains with Chen Hu and the others to hunt wild animals. They would keep the meat for themselves, and he would collect the hides and furs. Once he had enough, he would make a trip to Yizhou to sell them.

By making this round trip, one can earn one or two hundred taels of silver a year.

The money wasn't much, but it was still much better than working in town.

After hearing this, Zhao Yan smiled and nodded at him.

"Well, your brother Yang and I also need to get going. It's getting late, so let's say goodbye, little brother."

Chen Chong quickly returned the greeting with a cupped hand.

"Sister-in-law, Brother Yang, please be careful on the road."

Yang Sanlang responded softly, "Mm."

Who knows when we'll meet again after this parting? Before leaving, Chen Chong suddenly asked, "Brother Yang, do you and your wife live in Beijing? I'll come visit you there with Brother Hu later."

Yang Sanlang paused for a moment, then said to him, "We don't live in the capital, but in a farm not far from it. If you need anything, just come to Huaihua Village, Shitou Town, Lai County, Daizhou Prefecture. We're staying at the farm opposite Huaihua Village."

Chen Chong memorized Yang Sanlang and the others' exact location, then smiled and waved to Zhao Yan and Yang Sanlang.

"Sister-in-law, Brother Yang, I've written down your addresses. We'll come visit you when we have some free time."

Zhao Yan smiled faintly and nodded, "Okay."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they parted ways and headed in their respective directions.

As Yang Sanlang watched Chen Chong drive the carriage further and further away, he couldn't help but sigh, "It seems everyone is doing quite well."

He used to think riding in an oxcart was a luxury, let alone a horse-drawn carriage.

But look at them now, they can not only ride horses, but even Chen Chong is riding in a carriage.

Life is really good now.

Zhao Yan glanced over lightly, a half-smile on her face, and said, "What's wrong? Do you miss those days when you didn't know where your next meal would come from?"

Why is life so good now?

She felt that a large part of the reason lay with her.

Because she instigated Dou Qingran to lead the Dou family army in a rebellion.

Because she and Sanlang swiftly and decisively cleared away most of the obstacles on Dou Qingran's path to rebellion.

Furthermore, after the establishment of the Great Nguyen Dynasty, she contributed the high-yield sweet potatoes, and through Dou Qingran's policies, sweet potatoes quickly became popular among all the people of the Great Nguyen Dynasty.

However, she wasn't after any personal gain; rather, she felt that if it weren't for her, an outsider, pushing things along, ordinary people would still be living in poverty and hunger.

If she eats lavishly every day while everyone else eats coarse food, she'll feel uncomfortable watching that.

That's why she insisted on making things so complicated.

She may look cold, but she actually has the softest heart.

Fortunately, everything is moving in a positive direction, and hopefully things will get better and better in the future.

Yang Sanlang recalled the hardships of the past and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, "Of course I don't want to go back to the past. Life was too hard back then, and besides, you weren't in those days."

what--

Zhao Yan was speechless after hearing Yang Sanlang's words.

It does not make sense?

She really wanted to tell Yang Sanlang, "You sound so slick when you say that."

However, she glanced at Yang Sanlang one last time before riding off on her own.

"Enough talk, we need to find a place to spend the night before dark, let's go!"

After saying that, she shook the reins, and the horse immediately took off running forward.

Yang Sanlang's dark eyes flashed, and he quickly chased after them.

The two traveled during the day and rested at night.

They traveled along the official road for about twenty days, and finally returned to the farm more than a month later.

The day after returning to the farm, Yang Sanlang rode away again.

He needed to hurry to the capital to meet Dou Qingran; he needed to inform him about the salt mine and hematite mine as soon as possible.

Since returning to the farm, Zhao Yan has stopped going out altogether.

Traveling for long periods of time is no joke, especially since transportation was underdeveloped at that time. Sitting on horseback every day, her thighs were chafed and sore.

She lay in bed at home for several days before the pain subsided.

Just as she was in the mood to go out and chat with someone, Dou Xingyan returned from the restaurant in town.

So Zhao Yan started taking Xiao Fu Niu and Xiao Fu Bao to Dou Xing Yan's place every day to play with her youngest son.

The capital city, the imperial palace, the imperial study.

Dou Qingran pulled Yang Sanlang to sit down on a chair and casually asked, "Sanlang, I heard from Yu Hao that you have something urgent to tell me? Tell me, what is it?"

Yang Sanlang said without any hesitation, "Brother Dou, Yan'er and I have discovered a salt mine and a hematite mine in Yulin Mountain. Both of these sites look quite large. I think Brother Dou could send some people in to dig them out."

Upon hearing this, Dou Qingran jumped up from her chair.

He asked with a slightly excited expression, "Sanlang, you're not lying to me? You and your sister-in-law really discovered hematite in Yulin Mountain?"

He was just wondering where to get a large quantity of iron ore, when he was feeling sleepy, he found a pillow for him.

And then there's that salt mine—you can tell it's related to salt just by hearing the name.

OK, great.

Saburo really solved a difficult problem for him this time.

Yang Sanlang narrowed his dark eyes slightly and said solemnly, "Of course it's true. Brother Dou, please arrange for people to come and see the place as soon as possible. I'll take them to see it tomorrow."

He was only responsible for leading the way and pointing out the location; as for how to proceed, that was up to Dou Qingran.

"Okay, you go and rest first. I'll arrange for you to set off first thing tomorrow morning."

Dou Qingran was decisive and ruthless. That very day, he named several people, including Yu Hao and Zhang Liang.

Early the next morning, Yang Sanlang led them south in high spirits.

There's not much to say about what happened next.

Yang Sanlang led his men to the location of the salt mine and the hematite mine. After Dou Qingran gave the order to start excavation, he came out of the mountains and sped back to the farm.

The day he arrived home, Zhao Yan and several other children, including Xiaomi, were playing in front of their house.

Little Fu Niu saw him first, broke free from Zhao Yan's embrace, and ran towards him while shouting.

"Daddy!"

Hearing the sound, Zhao Xiaomi and Xiao Fubao quickly turned around and saw that it was Yang Sanlang returning. The two of them shouted and ran towards him.

"Father, you're back!"

"Dad, Daddy."

Yang Sanlang quickly threw off the reins and stretched out his arms to hug Xiao Fu Niu and her two siblings one by one.

Zhao Yan strolled up to him and looked at him with a smile.

"You're back."

【End of text】