"Qin Yue, our Phoenix Village is working hard to clear land and grow high-yield grain. We will definitely not let everyone go hungry again in the future.
If you meet a suitable partner, you can consider them. You must believe in our Phoenix Village."
Gu Qingcheng said these words and then left to go home.
Back home, Gu Qingcheng felt a headache and decided to go to her room to take a bath. Perhaps soaking in hot water would help.
After the hot bath, feeling temporarily more comfortable, Gu Qingcheng lay back in bed to sleep.
She woke up in the evening and still felt a headache, indicating a cold from exposure to wind and cold.
So, she called Mi Guo to make her some ginger soup.
When Mi Guo heard that Gu Qingcheng had caught a cold, he became very anxious. He sliced a large piece of ginger and added a heaping spoonful of brown sugar. The ginger soup was so spicy and excessively sweet that drinking it almost sent Gu Qingcheng to her grave.
After drinking the entire bowl of ginger and brown sugar water, Gu Qingcheng covered herself with a quilt to sweat. This sweating session was intense; her whole body became drenched, as if she had been fished out of water.
Fortunately, after sweating, she no longer felt cold, and her headache was gone. Gu Qingcheng felt like she had come back to life.
She quickly got up, changed into dry clothes, and remade her bed before falling asleep.
Gu Qingcheng slept until dawn the next day.
Being young and having a good constitution, she felt no discomfort upon waking up.
She turned over, got out of bed, washed up, and immediately felt refreshed.
Mi Guo, in the kitchen, saw her and asked with concern:
"Sister, how are you feeling? I checked on you last night and saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't wake you for dinner."
"I'm fine. A cold is good for increasing immunity."
Mi Guo didn't understand what immunity was, but he was relieved to hear his sister say she was okay.
Mi Guo had already prepared some preserved egg and lean meat congee. Gu Qingcheng ate two large bowls in one go and sweated again.
After resting for a while, she felt sticky and decided to take a bath, which completely invigorated her.
Just as she was about to drink tea with a refreshed spirit, Yan Xin rushed in, his clothes still stained with blood.
"Yan Xin, what's wrong?"
Gu Qingcheng was startled, thinking someone from the hunting party had been injured again.
"Young Master Gu, at dawn today, that male wolf broke into the village. Fortunately, you warned us early. I had the team members guarding the farm last night and they caught it red-handed."
"How did it go?" Gu Qingcheng asked.
"It was hunted down in time," Yan Xin said with satisfaction.
"The blood on you..." Gu Qingcheng asked with concern.
"It's the wolf's," Yan Xin smiled. "After the team shot it, they dragged it to the communal canteen. I went to butcher the wolf early this morning and got splattered with blood."
"It's good that the threat is eliminated," Gu Qingcheng breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's go take a look."
Several people went to the communal canteen and saw the male wolf. It was enormous, a third larger than the female wolves. If it hadn't been shot by the hunting party, it would have wreaked havoc on several villagers.
Yan Xin had rushed to report to Gu Qingcheng precisely because he knew she was concerned about this matter. Seeing her relieved smile, Yan Xin felt an inexplicable joy.
Gu Qingcheng rewarded the three hunting team members who shot the wolf last night with one tael of silver each.
The hunting team members were pleasantly surprised by their windfall. Their nervousness and fear from the previous night's struggle vanished, and they even wished another wolf would appear so they could earn more.
"It just so happens to be the day for the communal feast. Let's cook this wolf and let everyone eat, and bring out some of the recently preserved meat too."
Gu Qingcheng felt a surge of happiness and instructed Mei Xiang.
A single wolf would certainly not be enough for everyone. Combined with recent game and the cured meat from Gu Qingcheng's storeroom, it would be sufficient.
Usually, during communal feasts, there was plenty of food, but meat couldn't be eaten excessively. Each table would have a basin of cured meat and wild game, and each person could only take one or two pieces to satisfy their cravings, not to eat to their heart's content.
Gu Qingcheng asked Mei Xiang to add preserved eggs to the stewed meat. Since everyone lacked salt at the time, the dishes were quite salty and thus very popular.
While Mei Xiang managed the canteen, Gu Qingcheng and Mi Guo went to inspect the fields.
The millet had already been planted in ten acres of land and was now as tall as chopsticks. On the other hundred acres of cleared land, sweet potatoes and potatoes had been planted, and all had sprouted green seedlings.
If all went well, the harvest from these one hundred and fifty acres of land would be enough to sustain Phoenix Village for this season.
Gu Qingcheng looked at the lush green and neat fields, feeling extremely pleased. The system, in its peculiar way, awarded her five thousand "cool points":
"Host, congratulations on successful land clearing. Upon harvest, you will be rewarded with ten thousand cool points."
Hearing about this huge sum of points, Gu Qingcheng's mood soared.
She now had 59,000 points, enough to handle many unexpected situations, and she was slowly gaining a sense of security.
Speaking of security, she thought of Qin Yue, who lacked a sense of security and was reluctant to find a partner.
How to give the villagers a greater sense of security?
Gu Qingcheng pondered as she walked and made a bold decision.
Liu Ding was leading villagers in weeding.
After the seedlings were planted, some villagers were assigned to weed. The weeds in the mountains grew incredibly fast. If not weeded for a few days, the fields would be covered in wild grass, competing with the seedlings for nutrients.
"Young Master Gu, you're here at the fields again? I feel you're not comfortable if you don't come by at least once a day."
Liu Ding quickly came up to greet her.
"Uncle Liu, have you been sleeping better after drinking the calming grass?" Gu Qingcheng asked intentionally.
"Uh, it'sā¦ okay," Liu Ding mumbled hesitantly.
Gu Qingcheng looked at him deeply for a few moments and said:
"I've heard people in the village saying you like Qin Yue. Is that true?"
"Ah?" Liu Ding, caught off guard by Gu Qingcheng's question, flushed crimson. "Who said that? They're talking nonsense. I'll tear their mouth off."
"It would be good if it were nonsense. If it's not, you should pursue her through proper channels, without making Qin Yue feel troubled or afraid. Persistence can move mountains, but making her feel harassed is not good." Gu Qingcheng said solemnly.
Despite her young age, she was the founding elder of the village, and the entire village relied on her. Liu Ding naturally feared her.
After enduring the hardships of fleeing famine and hunger, who wouldn't want to stay in Phoenix Village?
Sweat beaded on Liu Ding's forehead as he quickly pledged:
"Young Master Gu, I did go to Qin Yue's house to talk to her. Perhaps I chose the wrong time; it was at night, so she got scared.
Actually, I didn't mean any harm. I didn't go during the day because it would be too crowded and I was afraid of affecting her reputation.
I never expected to affect her anyway. I won't go to her again."
Liu Ding quickly guaranteed.
"For now, let's leave it at that. We'll discuss the future later. If I receive any complaints from Qin Yue, you will no longer be able to stay in Phoenix Village."
Gu Qingcheng had not discovered Qin Yue's strong aversion to Liu Ding, which at least indicated that Liu Ding was telling the truth and had not harassed her.
Because of this, the situation had not yet reached the point where Gu Qingcheng had to drive Liu Ding out of the village.
"Yes, I understand."
Liu Ding wiped the sweat from his forehead.