Fu Xinci, having thought it through, casually said to her grandfather, "Grandfather, can the sand from those beaches be used to pave roads?"
"Yes, it can." Hearing the little girl's question, Qi Yuanshan slapped his thigh, "If Xinci hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have thought of it at all."
Grandpa Meng also chimed in, "I didn't think of it just now either."
"Xinci's idea is truly excellent. Once we build this road, we can also pave the dirt road from the garrison to the village with sea sand. That way, we won't have dust on sunny days and mud on rainy days."
"Alright, this is a good thing. Otherwise, this washboard-like road, every time we drive the donkey cart, it jolts as if the whole body is falling apart."
Listening to her grandfather and Uncle Qi talk, Fu Xinci watched the white clouds drifting across the sky, secretly smiling. Their lives would only get better, and their path to happiness would be long and enduring. She accepted no arguments.
Perhaps it was because she was in a good mood today, but the treasures found while gathering seafood were all good things.
In the first tide pool, Qi Yuanshan caught over a dozen large fish.
In the second tide pool, there were another seven or eight big catches.
By the time they found the third tide pool, not only was Qi Yuanshan's mouth grinning, but Grandpa Meng's wrinkles also deepened with laughter.
Several young boys were also eager to help catch fish.
Qi Yuanshan was indeed a little tired, so he agreed to let the boys go into the water.
Seeing that Commander Qi had agreed, the group of boys, led by Meng Qishan, completely let loose.
They all took off their outer clothes, wearing only undershirts, rolled up their trousers, and ran into the tide pools.
Meng Yuluo also wanted to go into the water, but Grandpa Meng stopped him. "Yuluo, you can't go into the water today."
"Second Uncle-Ancestor, I'm already better. Look." Meng Yuluo stretched out his arms to show his second uncle-ancestor, fearing he wouldn't believe him.
"Second Uncle-Ancestor knows you're better, but you still shouldn't overexert yourself. You're still young. This is a lifelong matter, and you must not be careless."
Meng Yuluo knew his second uncle-ancestor was looking out for him, so he didn't insist and watched with Yu'er on the beach.
However, when Meng Qishan and Meng Yutang teamed up to catch a mackerel weighing eight or nine jin, neither Qi Yuanshan nor Grandpa Meng could remain calm.
"Uncle Meng, look at those two boys wrestling with that big fish. I'll go down and help these kids catch fish."
"Go ahead. There seem to be quite a few big fish today. I'll feel more at ease if you go."
As they were talking, they heard Qi He shout, "Dad, hurry up and help me! There's another big one here."
"Son, wait, Dad's coming to help you." Qi Yuanshan said, then waded over to assist.
Fu Xinci: "Grandfather, would you consider this a school of fish stranding?"
"I don't think so. This is nothing."
Fu Xinci quickly nodded in agreement, "Grandfather knows best."
"Grandfather saw this in a travelogue. It's a shame that travelogue wasn't brought out when we left the Duke's mansion."
Grandpa Meng didn't say that, given the personalities of his stepmother and elder brother, anything he left in the Duke's mansion would likely have been thrown away long ago, especially since the Duke's mansion had been ransacked.
Grandpa Meng's slight melancholy, which had just begun to surface, was shattered by Qi He's loud shout.
"Dad is indeed amazing. If I were catching them alone, it would be even worse than Qishan and the others. I might get soaked through and still not catch one."
Qi Yuanshan chuckled at his son's words, "Haha, Dad is an adult. If I were like you kids, this commander would have to abdicate."
Before they could finish speaking, they heard Meng Yutang shouting from the other side, "Uncle Qishan, hurry over here! There's another big one."
"Coming, coming!" Without caring that they were soaked, they waded through the water with splashing sounds, continuing to catch fish.
Seeing this, others lost interest in collecting other seafood and kept shouting on the beach, "There's one over here! There's one over there!"
Even Grandpa Meng was tempted. If it weren't for his little grandson needing care and the fear of Yu'er running off, he would have rolled up his trousers and gone to catch fish himself.
Fu Xinci, however, did not join the excitement. Instead, she went with Xiaobai to pry open oysters.
Alas, Miss Fu had no choice. Xiaobai suddenly wanted to eat those things, and it couldn't pry them open itself. So, it acted cute and begged for human help.
Thus, Fu Xinci, with Xiaobai, hid beside a large reef. She secretly took a screwdriver from her space.
Well, it must be said, a screwdriver was quite handy for prying open oysters.
Seeing plump oysters being pried open one by one, Xiaobai's eyes widened. "Squeak, squeak." It absolutely had to have one of these.
"Where would you put a screwdriver? Are you going to carry it around every day?"
"Squeak...?" It really had nowhere to put it.
"You have nowhere to hide it either."
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." It seemed so.
"Xiaobai, what should we do? We've pried so many, but we have nothing to put them in," Fu Xinci chuckled, having posed a difficult question for Xiaobai.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." Could this stump it? After saying so, it darted away and disappeared.
Fu Xinci: Why did this guy disappear in the blink of an eye? As she was wondering, she saw something rolling from the direction of the pine forest.
As it got closer, she was surprised to find that Xiaobai had somehow found a gourd.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." Use this to store them.
Fu Xinci saw that the gourd was quite large, no smaller than the gourd she used to store eggs.
She curiously asked it, "Xiaobai, where did you get this gourd?"
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." Over there.
"Over there, where is 'over there'?"
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." Over there is over there.
"Alright, I admit you're amazing." Fu Xinci finished speaking and stopped arguing with Xiaobai. She picked up the gourd and went to find Uncle Qi for help.
Grandpa Meng looked at his granddaughter holding a large gourd and was also puzzled. "Ci'er, where did this big gourd come from?"
"Grandfather, I don't know. Xiaobai found it."
Grandpa Meng said "Oh," and his gaze towards Xiaobai became even more inquisitive.
Qi Yuanshan also heard the little girl's words. He glanced at the little girl holding the green-skinned gourd and then at Xiaobai, who was squatting at the girl's feet. He smiled and asked, "Are you planning to make a calabash head, or a ladle?"
"A ladle."
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." A calabash head.
"A ladle. Can you even carry a calabash head?"
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." The calabash head is stable on the ground.
"It's stable on the ground. I'm asking if you can carry it away?"
"Squeak, squeak, squeak."
"But have you considered if it's safe for you to use such a large calabash head after it's hollowed out?"
"Squeak...?"
"It would be great to cut it in half to make two ladles. One for eating, one for sleeping."
"Squeak, squeak, squeak." What the human says seems to make sense.