Chapter 854: No Comment

As soon as Mu Xueli heard this, his face lit up with excitement and he said

"Carry clubs? Where are we going to carry clubs, Brother-in-law?"

It was no wonder Mu Xueli was so happy; it was mainly because the old plot the three of them had dug previously had yielded a fair amount of wild ginseng.

With the boost from the wild ginseng, Mu Hua's depleted health had been strongly replenished.

For Mu Xueli's entire family, this was the most joyful thing imaginable.

Wang An said with a chuckle

"There are quite a few places we're going this time, and they're genuinely far. I reckon we won't be back until after the autumn harvest."

According to the records on the deer hide, the closest location was over 200 li away, while the farthest was a full 500 li.

In the context of deep mountains and old forests, this distance was certainly not short.

After Wang An finished speaking, Mu Xueli suddenly said

"Brother-in-law, why don't we just go now? I'll let my dad and mom handle the house building at home. What do you think?"

Wang An's eyes widened. He never imagined that his brother-in-law would be so addicted to digging ginseng.

Thus, Wang An explained with a look of helplessness

"The reason we have to wait for you two to finish building the house before we go is that we need to time it for the 'Red Club' season. Right now it's the 'Green Club' season; the mountains are covered in grass. Even if a club were right in front of you, how would you even tell what it is?"

Wang An firmly believed that those unfamiliar with digging ginseng should not venture into the mountains to look for it lightly.

During the 'Sprouting Grass' and 'Green Club' seasons, even professional diggers didn't have much luck in the mountains, and for amateurs like Wang An and his crew, it was completely pointless to bother.

Whenever they entered the mountains during these times, the most likely outcome was a total lack of harvest—a wasted trip.

As for the old plot the three of them had dug previously, to be honest, in Wang An's view, that was purely a case of a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

Hearing Wang An say this, Mu Xueli scratched his head and said, unwilling to give up

"We already went during the Sprouting Grass season, so I reckon the Green Club season can't be any worse, right?"

Seeing Mu Xueli's current state, Wang An couldn't help but slap him on the forehead, saying irritably

"I think you've gone crazy for money. The damn Green Club season is even harder for finding clubs than the Sprouting Grass season. Even the professional club-carriers aren't willing to enter the mountains now, and you think you can just go in and find one? How are you so damn capable? Do you have something extra that no one else has?"

One slap for every question; Wang An slapped Mu Xueli three times in a row.

Wang An found that whether it was Mu Xueli or Wang Li, they needed to be knocked sense into them frequently, otherwise, these two would eventually start pondering how to fly to the heavens or burrow into the earth.

But surprisingly, after dealing with Mu Xueli, Wang An's mood actually became quite good.

Furthermore, these three slaps immediately made Mu Xueli behave; more accurately, they woke him up.

Rubbing his forehead, Mu Xueli said

"That's true, Brother-in-law. It's safer to wait for the Red Club season."

Wang An waved his hand and said

"Alright, I'm heading home. If I have time, I'll come over to help out. If you need anything, just come find me."

As Wang An turned to leave, Mu Xueli said

"Brother-in-law, why don't you ride a horse back? That way you don't have to walk all that way."

Hearing this, Wang An said without looking back

"Cut the crap. If I take one, I'll have to feed it once I get home."

Mu Xueli watched Wang An's back recede into the distance before turning back to the courtyard.

Walking on the way home, Wang An looked at the surrounding trees and flowers and suddenly realized that he was liking this rural life more and more.

Of course, this was on the premise of having money. If one had no money, it would be better to find a way out as soon as possible.

In the countryside at this time, if you didn't have some capability, there was truly no room for great development.

When Wang An arrived home, the hired workers were eating. Seeing this, Wang An grabbed a bowl and joined them.

Because construction had already begun at Wang Li's house, many of the skilled craftsmen in the village had gone there to help.

Currently, at Wang An's house, aside from two bricklayers and two carpenters, the rest were just a few laborers helping with mudding or odd jobs.

As for those helping with the cooking, only Widow Zhao, Widow Li, and the young widow Shen Wei remained.

To be honest, Widow Zhao and Widow Li could have been let go by now. With only a dozen people to feed, Shen Wei's help was sufficient.

Even if Shen Wei went home, Liu Guilan could have managed on her own.

However, when it comes to people, once they reach a certain level of poverty—where they don't know where their next meal is coming from—so-called "face" ceases to exist.

Of course, once things reach that point, "face" is no longer necessary. To want to save face while starving to death would be pure idiocy.

Actually, in this season, one wouldn't starve to death staying in the mountains, as mushrooms and wild vegetables were already available. As long as one was diligent, filling the stomach wasn't a problem.

But whether it was mushrooms or wild vegetables, none of them were as filling as steamed buns.

Therefore, in order to eat, these two women brought their children to work early every day, and Liu Guilan didn't say a word.

The reason she didn't kick them out was that these two widows were very proactive in their work; it could be said they didn't slack off at all.

Moreover, Wang An's family truly didn't mind the cost of feeding these five people, adults and children included.

Fortunately, with four and a half women preparing meals for a dozen people, it was an effortless task; no one was overworked.

The reason he said "half a woman" was because Mu Xueqing was currently heavily pregnant; in terms of work, she could only count as half a person—or more accurately, perhaps not even half.

At most, she would sit on a stool, helping to stoke the fire or pick vegetables.

Even so, Liu Guilan didn't want her doing those chores, because in Liu Guilan's eyes, her eldest grandson was the most important thing.

It had to be said that regarding the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Wang An was very worry-free.

After eating and seeing off the workers, Wang An strolled over to Wang Li's house.

By this time, the workers at Wang Li's house had also gone home. The family was sitting on the kang, looking as though they were preparing to sleep and rest.

After entering the room, Wang An didn't waste words and directly explained the situation regarding Li Xiuyu.

Unsurprisingly, after hearing this, Wang Li's entire family was stunned.

Mainly because they had all thought this matter was a lost cause, and they hadn't expected such a major turn of events.

After finishing, Wang An ignored the crowd, picked up a cigarette from the kang, and lit it.

Regardless, Wang An was not going to offer any opinion on this matter.

(End of Chapter)