Fu Xin Ci squatted in the grass, slowly channeling her wood element ability to pull weeds.
She had to admit, her proficiency with the wood element was improving. She succeeded on her first try.
However, looking at the single blade of grass pulled from the earth, she felt like rolling her eyes at herself.
If she could only pull one blade at a time, how long would it take to clear this 300-mu expanse of grassland? Would she be pulling from summer to autumn, and then from winter to spring, going through who knew how many cycles of seasons before she was done?
She felt disheartened. Her initial attempt was not promising, and she immediately lost motivation.
"Ah," she spread her hands and lay down on the grass.
Yu Er heard the sound and toddled over. Seeing his sister lying on the grass, he emulated her and lay down beside her.
"Sister, look, that cloud is moving," Yu Er said, pointing at the sky with his little finger while lying on the grass.
"Mmm, I see it," Yu Er, looking at his sister's face, knew she was humoring him by closing her eyes.
"Sister, doesn't that cloud look like a big horse?"
"It doesn't look like a big horse, it looks like our family's donkey."
"Sister is right, that cloud really looks like our family's donkey." Yu Er, with a cute expression, stretched out his small hand, pointing at the sky and continuing to talk to his sister with a smile.
"Our Yu Er is so cute." Fu Xin Ci felt a pang of guilt and sat up abruptly. She glanced around again. Seeing her grandfather, father, and mother digging in the distance, she took out a piece of nougat from her space and placed it in Yu Er's hand.
"Sister." The little glutton, smelling the sweet aroma of the nougat, was reluctant to bite into it.
"Eat it. Sister will do magic tricks for Yu Er again later."
"Mmm, mmm." The little one nodded vigorously, like a chick pecking at rice. He loved it most when his sister performed magic tricks for him, because her tricks always produced delicious food, things he had never eaten before.
The little one took a bite of the nougat, and the instant sparkle in his eyes made Fu Xin Ci, who had been observing his expression, feel much happier.
It was just one failure earlier, what was so terrible about failure? She wouldn't forget that in the place she came from, people often called failure the mother of success.
Besides, if she really thought about it, she hadn't failed. It was just that her success wasn't very obvious.
Thinking of this, her fighting spirit soared again.
Heh heh, if she wasn't satisfied, she'd just consider it practice. She believed that practice makes perfect, and maybe something even more satisfying would emerge from it.
Look, in just this short time, the weeds she had pulled with her wood element ability had increased a little.
Although she was still far from her target, she was confident she would achieve it.
Fu Yu, while swinging his hoe to dig, kept glancing at his father.
Seeing fine beads of sweat on his father's forehead, he reached out to stop him.
"Yu Er, what are you doing?"
"Father, please sit down and rest."
"Yu Er, it's this time of year, and time and tide wait for no man."
"Father, we won't be in such a rush then."
"Yu Er, Yuan Shan said that it snows here in October, and autumn arrives very early. Think about it, several winters of bitter cold. What will we eat then?"
"Father, we have money. We're not afraid of not being able to buy things."
"Brother Fu, you're mistaken there. In the winters here, especially when the snow blocks the mountains, even with money, you won't be able to buy anything."
"Really?" Grandpa Meng, who had come to talk to his second brother, was startled by what Commander Qi said.
"Of course it's true. I wouldn't lie to you about this. So, before winter arrives, you must prepare your winter supplies."
Commander Qi Yuan Shan looked at them, fearing that these formerly pampered gentlemen wouldn't know what to prepare, so he began to remind them: "Besides enough food and vegetables for the whole winter, you also need firewood."
"Food?" Grandpa Meng looked at Commander Qi with some embarrassment.
Thinking of this, Commander Qi felt like throwing in the towel. "If you hadn't dithered on the road, would you be here at this time of year?"
Grandpa Meng: speechless.
"If you hadn't dawdled on the road and missed the planting season..."
Commander Qi Yuan Shan's head hurt just thinking about it. His tone of voice clearly soured. As he continued, he even sounded like he was grinding his teeth.
"Although the higher-ups said they would supplement the garrison with some grain, I've never believed that. So you all need to find your own ways. Otherwise, if you starve in winter, don't come looking for me every day."
Commander Qi Yuan Shan walked away. He feared that if he stayed any longer, he might lose control of his emotions.
Their garrison was short of food every year, and this year with these new arrivals, it was possible...
Alas, it was a cause for great worry.
After Commander Qi had walked away, Grandpa Meng dared to ask Meng Qing Ping with a crying tone, "Second Brother, what should we do?"
"What else can we do? The garrison has already allocated farming tools, seeds, and land to you. If you don't work hard now, who else do you expect to do it for you?"
"But Second Brother, our houses aren't built yet." Grandpa Meng truly knew nothing and had come to his second brother for advice.
Alas, Meng Qing Ping really didn't want to bother with them, but he couldn't just watch them freeze or starve to death.
He said with disappointment, "You should start by tilling the land and planting the seeds for radishes and cabbages."
Thinking that these were the only things they could plant at this season, Meng Qing Ping also sighed.
"As long as you plant them, you will have a harvest. Even if you have to gnaw on cabbage stalks in the dead of winter, it's better than nothing."
"Mmm, we'll all listen to you, Second Brother."
Seeing that he had finished speaking but hadn't left, Meng Qing Ping glared at him. "You're not going back to work, what are you still doing here?"
"Second Brother, we don't know how to plant either. Can you let your eldest nephew come and teach us?" Grandpa Meng dared not ask his second brother to teach them, so he settled for the next best thing, asking Fu Yu to teach them.
"Look at you all." Meng Qing Ping felt his temper had grown considerably lately, especially when he saw that group of people. The back of his neck felt itchy with annoyance.
"Second Brother, don't be angry. You know what kind of people our family is. In the capital, they were good at loafing and bird-watching. But when it comes to farming here, they're all useless. Second Brother, you haven't seen their hands, they're like they've never been split."
"..." Fu Xin Ci quickly covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud. Oh my god, Grandpa Meng's self-deprecating tone and descriptions were quite accurate.
"Puchi." Meng Qing Ping couldn't hold back and laughed quite happily. Indeed, those people were typical good-for-nothings. What else could they do besides eat and drink?
Grandpa Meng: It's good that he's happy. Maybe he'll help them out.