"She's doing well. She can talk about our elder brothers now and said that if she had known us earlier, we would have been married into her family as daughters-in-law, not daughters," Wang Daya said with a smile.
Gu Qingcheng felt relieved upon hearing this and said she would visit Zheng Wuniang when she had time. Zheng Wuniang talking about her sons meant she was starting to face the reality of losing them, and things were improving.
When Gu Qingcheng arrived at the breeding farm, Uncle Kang was busy collecting eggs in a bamboo basket. Seeing Gu Qingcheng, he said, "Young Master Gu, please don't come in, it's dirty inside."
"It's fine, Uncle Kang. This is Hehua. From now on, you'll send the eggs to the canteen for her." After Gu Qingcheng explained her intention, Uncle Kang understood and said, "Eggs can be stored for about a month, then they won't be fresh. The chickens and ducks we raise now lay forty to fifty eggs daily. We'll turn them all into salted eggs and stock them up, then we won't have to worry."
Gu Qingcheng instructed the breeding farm to change the bedding soil every three to five days to prevent it from becoming too dirty and breeding viruses and bacteria, which could lead to livestock diseases. This animal manure couldn't be discarded randomly either. It should be piled in the adjacent valley, dried slightly, then mixed with soil, and layered with an appropriate amount of dry grass. Then, the dry grass would be ignited from the bottom to smolder and kill the insect eggs and pests in the fertilizer. Afterward, it could be used to fertilize the fields.
Gu Qingcheng asked Uncle Kang about their daily tasks. "Uncle Kang, do you have enough manpower now? If not, I can allocate more people to help."
"That would be wonderful! Could you send three more strong young people? It's quite tiring to carry the manure here, and it requires people with good physical condition. We work from morning till night without rest. Besides frequently cleaning the cattle, sheep, and chicken coops, we also need to add fodder and water. We're really busy and short-handed."
Gu Qingcheng promised to send three people to help in the afternoon. Their group, incidentally, took away three large baskets of recently collected eggs, over two hundred in total. Hehua said they could make two barrels of salted eggs and wanted to start immediately.
Gu Qingcheng took them to the communal canteen and introduced Hehua to Meixiang, telling Meixiang to call Hehua whenever the canteen needed to cook. Meixiang, a cheerful person, laughed and said, "It seems our kitchen has gained another good helper. Young Master Gu is truly good at assigning tasks."
The group then began to sort the eggs. First, they washed the eggshells clean with water. After boiling a large pot of water and letting it cool, they added enough salt until it tasted extremely salty. Then, they placed the washed eggs into the brine buckets. As Hehua watched the eggs soak in the brine, she secretly poured some baijiu from the canteen's seasoning shelf into the eggs when no one was looking. Later, she whispered to Gu Qingcheng that the secret to making the egg yolk oily was adding baijiu. After covering the brine buckets, the salted eggs would be ready in 20 days.
Gu Qingcheng watched them work. After the eggs were salted, she went with Migou to check on the millet seedling situation in the fields. In just one night, the millet seeds scattered in the fields had sprouted shoots nearly a centimeter long. From a distance, the ground looked like a green carpet, which was very beautiful. "They've grown so well!" Gu Qingcheng exclaimed joyfully. The vibrant green shoots brought a sense of vitality and greatly lifted her spirits. At this moment, the system rewarded her with 500 pleased points, sourced from the joy of self-sufficiency! Gu Qingcheng noticed that the system was quite generous with pleased points when it came to matters of people's livelihood.
Liuding, with dark circles under her eyes, said, "Young Master Gu, the millet seedlings are fine. Don't worry, they can be transplanted in five or six days." Gu Qingcheng nodded. Seeing villagers plowing the land with oxen on the opposite hillside, she asked, "Have they started cultivating the land over there too?"
"Yes, it's quite far, and the round trip is troublesome, taking at least half an hour. I have an idea," Liuding said. "What idea?" Gu Qingcheng inquired. "I was thinking, perhaps we could allocate some villagers to live over there. There's a valley there with about 10 mu of flat land in the middle, and also a spring. Once it's tidied up, it can be inhabited." The saying "mountains are high and the horses run to death" was proven true here. Although the villagers' shouts from the mountain could be heard clearly, it took at least 40 minutes to actually reach the other side.
Gu Qingcheng pondered for a moment and said, "That's possible. I'll go with Uncle Dai to check the environment there later. Our village will only grow in the future, and it's time to expand our space."
While various aspects were progressing smoothly, Gu Qingcheng was not entirely satisfied with the slow pace of house construction in the village. At least the last batch of villagers who moved up the mountain had not yet moved into their homes. Gu Qingcheng thought of a solution: hiring masons and carpenters from the town below to work on the mountain. For example, in the town of Zhanchun, many such workers could likely be recruited. With this thought, Gu Qingcheng's eyes lit up, and she planned to go down the mountain with Migou to arrange this.
After a stroll around the village, having lunch at home, and a short nap, Gu Qingcheng heard that Dai Fa had returned. This time, he brought back 40 cattle, 100 rabbits, saplings of plum, pear, and lychee trees, and over 100 jin of peanuts. Peanuts could be used for oil, as a vegetable, or made into snacks like spiced or fried peanuts; there were many ways to consume them.
After Dai Fa instructed Uncle Kang to herd the cattle and sheep into their enclosures, he introduced the newly recruited villagers to Gu Qingcheng. This time, he had only recruited 12 villagers, all carefully selected. Some could play musical instruments, some could write and paint, there were two blacksmiths, one veterinarian, and three pharmacy assistants. Dai Fa knew Gu Qingcheng liked talented people, so he had recruited individuals with special skills. These people had become refugees due to the extreme cold and famine. Having recruited people several times, Dai Fa had gained considerable experience. This time, he stated upfront that he didn't want people without special skills, thus selecting these individuals.
Gu Qingcheng asked Meixiang to arrange a good meal for everyone and then had Huang Wenming register them with their names, origins, and specialties. Huang Wenming already had a thick stack of villagers' information and was now adept at this task. Arriving in the deep mountains for the first time, seeing the well-ordered village, the villagers with rosy complexions, and children playing and laughing in the village square, the scene of national prosperity and peace made the new villagers feel dazed. Wasn't this the good life they had in their hometowns before the natural disasters? They all possessed skills, so their thoughts were different from ordinary villagers. They might not be willing to stay permanently just for food. They were looking for better opportunities, and if they found a better place, they would gladly go to the bustling towns down the mountain.