Gu Qingcheng happened to walk by and overheard the conversation, feeling a pang of sadness yet also a touch of comfort.
She took out a handful of brown sugar from her pocket and put it into the child's pocket.
The child asked in surprise, "Young Master Gu, what is this?"
"Brown sugar, for you to eat. You're so good!"
Gu Qingcheng patted her fluffy head and smiled.
She herself was not old, but her mindset had long surpassed her age. Looking at this child, she felt she was particularly young and particularly cute.
Watching Gu Qingcheng leave, the child said with a face full of admiration,
"Young Master Gu is so kind. I must work hard to repay him."
The preserved meat in the rice was in large chunks, not just a little bit. After being steamed with the rice, the fat from the preserved meat oozed out, making the rice grains appear crystal clear and exceptionally smooth to the taste.
The child closed her eyes happily as she ate.
"Wow, Young Master Mi Guo is so generous with his cooking! He put in a lot of preserved meat, all in large pieces, three fingers wide. He also added a good amount of salt, making it quite savory. I've eaten more in this meal than in the past month."
"These past two days, I've had salt to eat, and I feel strong enough to walk. Before, I would get winded after just a few steps, and my feet were swollen. I thought I was going to die. Luckily, I joined Phoenix Village."
The two men chatted as they ate.
In modern society, with abundant resources, eating too much salt would be bad. But now, having salt to eat felt like reaching heaven. Because they had salt, their words were somewhat exaggerated.
"Good thing we didn't follow those fools earlier. Those are lazy slackers. I saw them always staying behind and conserving their energy when clearing the path in the team."
"Yes, if we had been fooled by them, we wouldn't have rice to eat."
As they ate, the two discussed what had just happened.
Gu Qingcheng walked past them from behind and smiled faintly upon hearing their discussion.
Although most common folk were illiterate, they possessed observant hearts and the wisdom of life experience. No one was truly foolish.
They say one's livelihood depends on their providers.
Those who can feed and clothe them are their benefactors.
Gu Qingcheng circled around and returned to sit by the bonfire.
Mi Guo quickly brought her rice and said,
"Brother, eat quickly. Don't go hungry."
Because she was disguised as a man, Mi Guo had to call Gu Qingcheng "brother" when outside.
At first, Mi Guo had almost made a mistake several times and called her "sister." Now, she had finally gotten used to it.
Gu Qingcheng ate from the same large pot as everyone else. After a few mouthfuls of rice, Gu Qingcheng gave a thumbs-up and praised,
"As expected of the divine chef. You can make such simple food taste so delicious. No wonder everyone praises you. Your cooking has played a significant role in building our reputation!"
Mi Guo chuckled and said,
"Brother, stop praising me. Oh right, will those people who were driven away come back to harass us?"
"Don't worry. Besides, we have legal documents from the authorities. If they dare to harass us, we'll tie them up and send them to the officials."
At this moment, Gu Qingcheng realized more and more the importance of gaining the support of the authorities.
"Yes, we can do that too!"
Mi Guo was relieved upon hearing this.
In the afternoon, after half a day's trek, they finally reached an altitude of 550 meters.
To Gu Qingcheng's pleasant surprise, although there was still one-third of the journey to the summit, there was a large, gentle slope forming a flat area of at least fifty mu. Furthermore, a spring flowed through a mountain hollow nearby.
"This is perfect for settling down! With mountains behind us, we don't fear surprise attacks. In the front, it's a strategic chokepoint. The flat land before us can be used to build houses, and there's water nearby for use. The mountainside below can be cultivated into terraced fields."
Dai Fa was also overjoyed upon seeing the environment.
"Alright, let's establish the village here!"
Gu Qingcheng said with satisfaction.
At an altitude of 550 meters, with mountains, water, and flat land, it was an ideal location.
Gu Qingcheng pointed to the flat area, stopped, and said loudly to the approximately 200 people following her,
"Fellow villagers, this will be your home from now on. We have arrived!"
"Great, we're finally here!"
Everyone cheered.
Although it was still a barren hillside before them, Gu Qingcheng's confidence and her inspiring words made them feel as if they had returned home, instantly instilling a sense of belonging.
Gu Qingcheng said, "After a short rest, we'll need to get to work. We don't have better living conditions yet, so we'll build triangular sheds for now. The leaders of the seven teams, come here for a meeting."
These people had never attended a meeting before and found the word "meeting" quite novel.
Gu Qingcheng already knew the names of these seven team leaders: Wang Lei, Zhao Hu, Liu Gou Cai, Qian Wang, Wang You, Wu Xiao Long, and Qing Yang. These seven individuals had performed well so far and had been quite active throughout the journey.
Moreover, they had not been swayed to leave midway.
Gu Qingcheng had measured their loyalty and found it had not dropped below the passing grade, which she was quite satisfied with.
Under Gu Qingcheng's summons, the seven team leaders, along with Dai Fa, Mi Guo, Wang Da Ya, and Luo Juan, sat down around Gu Qingcheng under a large tree on the grassy slope for a meeting.
Gu Qingcheng got straight to the point, carefully outlining the village's future plan.
On the left, near the mountain stream, would be the residential area where everyone would build their houses. The central area would be the public service zone, and the right side would be for animal husbandry and latrines. Humans and livestock would not be mixed, and villagers would not be allowed to defecate indiscriminately, polluting the environment.
This area, if fully developed, could house around 3,000 people, but now there were only a little over 200. Thus, there was ample room for development, but everyone could not build randomly. The size of residential houses would be determined by the population.
A family of three would not exceed 80 square meters, a family of five not exceeding 100 square meters, and a family of ten not exceeding 150 square meters...
Within two days, the triangular sheds on the left would be completed for everyone to live in. Then, within a month, wooden houses would be built, allowing everyone to move into warm, large houses.
Concurrently, construction of latrines in the sanitation area on the right would proceed simultaneously, with at least five latrines to be built to meet everyone's needs.
This was the initial plan. Once the fields were developed and the settlement stabilized, tile-roofed houses would be gradually added, though this was a long-term vision.
Gu Qingcheng had covered most of the points but not all, as there was too much to say. She first announced the immediate plans so that everyone could get to work.
The seventh team, composed entirely of women, would be responsible for bamboo weaving crafts and also for cooking and other logistical tasks.
Teams one through four would be responsible for building houses on the left, and teams five and six would be responsible for building latrines on the right.
As building materials were scarce, all teams would go to cut trees and gather thatch, which were the basic materials for construction.
While meals were still prepared by everyone individually, the public would provide a mid-day meal three times a week. The standard would be meat and vegetables, with rice as the staple.