Chapter 108: The Mu Family’s Land (3)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Indeed, as he had said, Mu Shi could not go home after moving to the camp. Instead, he trained in the morning and brought people to build houses in the afternoon. Qi Haoran actually followed them at all times. Although he did not carry bricks to build the houses, he stood at the side and commanded. No matter how late it was, he would stay till the end. During lunch, he would scoop out a black steamed bun and squat down to eat with everyone.
Some people who initially looked down on him because of his young age gradually put away their contempt. Qi Haoran had unexpectedly won over the hearts of the soldiers, and the training situation in the morning was also slowly improving.
Qi Haoran told them very clearly that the Hus would attack south again. When that happened, they would be the first to be affected, followed by their parents, wives, children, and siblings. If they wanted to survive and protect them, they had to double their training and not relax. Otherwise, they would suffer the same fate as the civilians who died in the previous war.
Although the people from the 5th Division were still the weakest compared to the other four divisions, at least their combat awareness had caught up.
Fan Zijin followed Qi Haoran for two days. By the third day, he refused to follow Qi Haoran to the camp no matter what. With a book in hand, he said, “I’ll leave it to you to conduct the training. I’ll help you settle the logistics and ask Cousin when the farming tools will arrive.”
“There’s still two months before spring. What’s the hurry?” Qi Haoran waved his hand nonchalantly.
Fan Zijin took out a farming book from the bookshelf. “That’s what I thought previously, but that’s not what the book says. When spring arrives, they’ll need to start planting the seeds, and many preparation work has to be done before then. In fact, the preparation should be done by late autumn and early winter, lest it’d be too late. We can’t delay the farming tools anymore. Without them, they won’t be able to work.”
Qi Haoran took the farming book in shock and flipped through it. Then, he stuffed it back into Fan Zijin’s arms and said with relief, “Then I’ll leave it to you. Oh right, take care of the Mu family later and choose some good farming tools for her.”
Fan Zijin’s lips twitched. “You don’t have to take special care of such a small matter, right?”
Qi Haoran looked at him in confusion. “Didn’t you say that farming tools are very important?”
Choked, Fan Zijin said indignantly, “But you don’t have to be biased towards them for everything. It won’t be good for you if your soldiers find out. Your current prestige is accumulated by eating and working with them every day. It didn’t come easy.”
“I’m a general. Isn’t it normal for me to be biased?” Qi Haoran said righteously. “Besides, since I want to put Mu Shi in an important position, it’s only natural for me to be more respectful to his family. Moreover, we’re friends with Mu Yangling. I’m a fair person, I’ll let the soldiers under my command know that as long as they follow me, they won’t suffer any losses.”
Fan Zijin: “…Even then, there’s no need to do them these small favors. Didn’t you say that you gave them the best fields? They’ll be more grateful if you only help them occasionally. By the way, which piece of land did you assign to them? I’ll take a look tomorrow while I’m there to understand the situation of the farmers. When I go to Cousin’s place in two days, I’ll compare the situation with that of the other camps.”
Qi Haoran pulled out the map and pointed at the two circles on it. “Here, I drew it myself. One near water, one near the mountains. The two best plots of land.”
Seeing the two plots of land on the map, Fan Zijin: “…”
Fan Zijin looked up with a big smile and praised, “They’re indeed great places. Mu Yangling must be overjoyed. Come with me tomorrow and let her thank you properly.”
Qi Haoran said proudly, “Do I need her to praise me? I don’t have time for the next two days. Let her save the praise for now. When I have time, I’ll go and listen to her praise.”
Fan Zijin forcefully controlled his facial expression as he waved his hand. “Then, I’ll go back first. Take your time to look at the map.”
Then, he hurried out. As soon as he reached the courtyard, he couldn’t help but hold onto the railing and laugh.
“Master, what’s wrong?” Yanmo supported him, feeling both amused and worried.
“Hahahaha…” Fan Zijin wiped his tears with his fingers and waved his hand. “I’m fine. I’m fine. It’s just that my stomach hurts. Let’s go. Help me walk. I… I can’t walk anymore. Hahaha… What great places indeed! Mu Yangling must be furious. Hahaha…”
Fan Zijin had been flipping through farming books and booklets that contained information of arable land for two days. With his almost photographic memory, he had some impression of Mu Yangling’s two plots of land. In those two plots of land, only less than 25 acres were high-grade fields. The rest were medium-grade and low-grade, though mostly low-grade.
Indeed, Qi Haoran’s habit of screwing his friends over had not changed.
Mu Yangling got up early in the morning, took the bow from the wall, and placed it in the basket on her back. She carried it on her back and was about to leave.
Madam Ma-Liu had already woken up. Seeing that Mu Yangling was about to enter the mountain before dawn, she hurriedly ran out and said in a low voice, “There’s enough firewood at home for a few days. Since it’s such a cold day, we’ll go in after the sun rises. You’re still young. Don’t tire yourself out.”
Mu Yangling also replied in a lowered voice, “Great-aunt, I want to take the opportunity to go into the mountains. These few days, food has been scarce. My mother still has to breastfeed, and Bowen and the others are still growing up. Besides, I’m craving meat. I’ll go into the mountains to gather more firewood today. Tomorrow, I’ll go to West Mountain Village to take a look.”
When Madam Ma-Liu heard that she was going into the mountains to hunt, she grabbed her and pulled her into the house. She said angrily, “Child, why are you so disobedient? Aren’t you courting death by entering the mountains in the middle of winter? Have you forgotten what your father said? I know you feel sorry for your mother and younger siblings, but this isn’t the time to take risks. Tell me, why are you going into the mountains? Do you want to make your mother go blind from crying? Don’t go anywhere today. Turn over the thatch on the roof for me so that the snow won’t slip through when it snows next time.”
“Great-aunt.” Not daring to shake her off forcefully, Mu Yangling could only let out a cry and agree. “Alright, alright. I won’t go into the mountains to hunt, alright? But I have to gather firewood. Otherwise, how will we survive the cold when it starts to snow in a few days?”
Madam Ma-Liu stared at her as she hung the bow and arrow back before letting her go out.
Carrying the basket on her back, Mu Yangling went straight into the mountain. She found a place that no one had chopped before and started chopping off branches. She snorted. “Do you think I can’t do anything without a bow and arrow? I have many ways to catch rabbits.” Then, she said regretfully, “If there weren’t so many people entering the mountain, I would definitely set up traps.”
Unfortunately, there were too many people. If she set up a trap at this time, it was unknown if it would catch wild beasts or humans.
Mu Yangling hacked for a long time. By the time the sun completely rose and the morning light shone into the forest, Mu Yangling’s back had also started sweating. Seeing that there was quite a lot of firewood piled up on the ground, she put down the knife and tied it up. She pulled out a dagger from her pants and cut a sharp stick.
After hiding the firewood behind the bushes, she determined a direction as she entered the mountain.
Although it was snowing in the mountains making it unconducive for walking, it would leave many traces. Mu Yangling only walked for 15 minutes before she saw obvious traces. Mu Yangling looked at the traces on the snow and couldn’t help but click her tongue. “There are really a lot of rabbits in this forest. We won’t have to worry about food in spring.”
Mu Yangling swallowed her saliva and calculated in her heart. It was just right. When spring arrives, she would go into the mountains to hunt rabbits and sell them in the county. With the money, she could buy more fine rice for her younger siblings to grind into rice soup. This way, they wouldn’t cry in the middle of the night due to hunger.
While Mu Yangling was letting her imagination run wild, two rabbits ran out. Swiftly, she stabbed the sharp stick in her hand through one and kicked the other with her leg.
The rabbit flew out and knocked into a tree before fainting.
Picking up the two rabbits, Mu Yangling was satisfied. “We can finally eat meat.”