Rewinding back to the hour of noon.
After baking under the scorching sun for the entire morning, the half-meter-high silt could finally be stepped on without sinking in easily.
Su Jiancheng went to the crossroads at the earliest moment. Looking at the barrier formed by the collapsed mountains on both sides, he let out a click of his tongue.
Li Si followed right at Su Jiancheng’s heels, attentive and eager to please.
The person he believed in was, of course, not Su Jiancheng, but Su Nianyuan.
There was no helping it, however; Su Jiancheng was Su Nianyuan’s father—ah, well, love me, love my dog.
“Village Chief, should we clear this path out first? We ate every last bit of our grain for lunch.”
The two brothers, Zhao Qingzhu and Zhao Qingming, agreed as well.
In truth, not much had been left to begin with. Coupled with their trust that Su Nianyuan’s group of three would return with grain, Hu Niang took it upon herself at noon to cook up all the remaining food, including the chicken leg that belonged to Tiger.
Tiger was still hiding in a wall corner crying right now.
Hu Niang’s confidence stemmed from her husband.
Qu Hu had kept quite a bit of dried meat up on the mountain; even if they failed to buy grain, Qu Hu would still bring back dried meat.
The blood of a general’s descendant flowed within his veins; it was impossible for him to stand by and watch people die.
Su Jiancheng looked at the dense, cluttered debris. After thinking it over, he nodded nonetheless: “Indeed, we should clear it out early. It will also make going into town for buying and selling easier in the future.”
Now that the decision was made, Su Jiancheng didn’t hesitate.
He immediately gathered all the labor force in the village—even Hu Niang, Old Lady Lin, and Tiger all came. The only person not permitted to come down was Deng Yinghe.
After learning that Deng Yinghe was pregnant, everyone naturally began protecting her. The child was hope—not just for the Qin family, but for the entire Qingzhu Village.
In fact, Su Jiancheng’s initial plan was simply to throw all this debris into the river and be done with it. Recalling Su Nianyuan’s instructions to save wherever possible, however, he arranged for them to start stacking things separately.
Though they hadn’t discussed it beforehand, father and daughter shared a tacit understanding.
The sun gradually began to set, and both sides had advanced a hundred meters. There was no need to clean it completely spotless; the main priority was to clear out a path, even if it was only wide enough for one person to pass at a time.
When there were still several dozen meters remaining between them, Su Nianyuan’s ears twitched. She seemed to hear commotion coming from the other side. Overjoyed, she couldn’t resist running over toward Qu Hu.
She climbed directly onto Qu Hu’s shoulders.
Qu Hu was somewhat bewildered, reaching out to hold her calves to keep her from falling, and asked in confusion, “What is it, Little Village Chief?”
Su Nianyuan didn’t answer him, however. Instead, she shouted with all her might toward the other side of the barrier: “Daddy!!!!”
A loud yet not piercing shout echoed across. Su Jiancheng, who was still hard at work hauling on the other side, paused mid-motion, his face immediately switching to a look of delighted joy.
He too shouted loudly toward Su Nianyuan’s side: “A-Yuan! Is that A-Yuan?”
“It’s me!”
Not only was Su Jiancheng happy, but everyone in Qingzhu Village was overjoyed as well. Tiger couldn’t help shouting, “Little Village Chief! Little Village Chief!”
Thus, everyone on this side listened as the other side repeatedly shouted “Little Village Chief,” every call brimming with their faith in Su Nianyuan.
The town’s commoners who had come to work looked at Su Nianyuan with even more complex expressions in their eyes.
Qingzhu Village seemed far more united than they had imagined.
After his bout of delight, Su Jiancheng chuckled and interrupted, “Everyone, put your back into it! Welcome A-Yuan back!”
“Welcome the Little Village Chief!”
Having worked all afternoon, everyone had been largely depleted of strength. At this moment, however, knowing that Su Nianyuan was right on the other side and had already dug through nearly half of it from her end, strength began to gather within their bodies once more.
On Su Nianyuan’s side, Qu Hu was also extremely happy, unable to refrain from calling out, “Everyone, put your back into it! We’ll dig through in just a moment, and then we’ll eat! And hand out wages!”
Hearing about wages, strength surged forth in the remaining people as well.
Besides, today was actually a gain for them, because they had only worked for half a day yet would receive a full day’s pay. How could they not put in a quick burst of effort?
Su Nianyuan watched everyone striving hard, unable to hold back a sigh of admiration.
They truly were honest ancient folk—not a single person slackened off for the whole afternoon; everyone was working with all their might.
What Su Nianyuan didn’t know was that quite a few people had actually wanted to slack off. Every time they turned around, however, they saw Su Nianyuan propping up her little chin, staring at them eagerly with wide eyes.
This overseer was simply too diligent and present, so they abandoned any thoughts of slacking off.
After another half an hour, as the orange-yellow sunset flooded the earth, the last large boulder was pushed aside by Qu Hu. The two groups met face to face, looking at each other in what seemed to be a brief silence.
The commoners on Su Nianyuan’s side didn’t know what to say—everyone was covered in mud and dirt, so who could tell who the village chief was?
As for Su Jiancheng’s side, it was because they didn’t know who these people were, either.
Didn’t they go to buy grain? How did they bring back so many helpers?
And who would possibly help Qingzhu Village?
Qu Hu looked over here and then over there, scratching his head.
Fortunately, a small figure squeezed through the crowd, diving straight toward Su Jiancheng.
Coming back to his senses, Su Jiancheng hurriedly wiped the silt on his hands onto his clothes. Bending down, he caught Su Nianyuan securely and lifted her high up into his arms.
“Aiya, my darling daughter! Dad missed you to death!”
The best thing about Su Jiancheng was that his emotions were completely outward, never holding back his love for his daughter.
Su Nianyuan had never experienced such parental affection in her past life, so she cherished it deeply in this life.
She giggled softly: “Dad, I missed you a lot too.”
“Daddy, you’re so amazing! If not for you and the uncles and aunts working together, this road wouldn’t have been opened up today.”
Praised by her, Su Jiancheng and the others straightened their backs.
Proud!
Tiger hopped up and down trying to catch Su Nianyuan’s attention. Su Nianyuan looked down and saw several children looking at her with eager eyes, so she praised them as well: “Brother Tiger, you guys are very amazing too! Helping out at such a young age!”
She gave them a big thumbs-up.
Tiger and the other kids raised their chins proudly, sharing in the glory!
Su Jiancheng inquired, “And these people helping out are…?”
Su Nianyuan patted her small chest and said, “Commoners arranged by County Magistrate Zhou for disaster relief! Twenty copper coins a day to build a new countryside!”
“Ah? County Magistrate Zhou?”
Everyone in Qingzhu Village was shocked. Could County Magistrate Zhou really be this kind-hearted?
However, in front of the town’s commoners, no one spoke their doubts aloud.
Qu Hu’s eyes flickered slightly. Turning around with a smile, he shouted in a loud voice, “Let’s call it a day here! Line up to receive your pay, and everyone will also get an extra two catties of coarse rice! Apologies for the rough arrangements today; starting tomorrow, our Qingzhu Village will also provide meals.”
“Gather at Qingzhu Village at the hour of the Dragon tomorrow to have breakfast.”
“Great!”
Receiving twenty copper coins per person, plus using their own clothes to scoop up a bundle of coarse grain to carry back, the heavy copper coins gave them a tangible sense of reward, and smiles lit up everyone’s faces.
Xiao Qi lined up at the very end. Qu Hu was somewhat gentler with this child, saying, “Will you be alright heading back alone? You can stay with us tonight if you like.”
Xiao Qi tucked the money away properly, shook his head with a smile, and said, “Thank you, Uncle Qu! I still have younger brothers and sisters waiting for me at home to return; I’m going back to buy steamed buns for them to eat.”
Qu Hu let out a sigh and patted his head: “Go on then.”
Xiao Qi waved at Su Nianyuan and ran off to catch up with the main group.
The people of Qingzhu Village watched them depart, a complex mix of emotions in their hearts.
Pouting his cheeks, Tiger tugged at his father’s shirt hem and demanded, “Dad! Is that your illegitimate son?”
Qu Hu: ???
Hu Niang: ???
Su Nianyuan: !!!