Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 35 Child
On a hot summer day, the villagers were all resting and cooling off.

Now that the busy farming season is over, most people, except for those trying to raise taxes, are living a slower pace of life.

Beijiwu was the same; he was lying under a pomegranate tree, taking a nap.

Xi Dan and Jiang Cao lay sleeping beside her; the two young girls were easily sleepy after eating.

Compared to home, it's cleaner here, there's less work to do, and I can get enough to eat.

The ten-month-old puppy is sleeping in the house. Children also need to sleep often to grow up quickly.

Four young girls, Li Hong, Li Bing, Xiulan, and Xianglan, were gathered around a stone table, busy making straw sandals and trousers.

Gao Conglian and Jiang Rong did not go out to pick wild vegetables like the women and children in the village. The two wives sat at the door of the house, enjoying the breeze, with many willow branches on their laps.

The two women, skilled with their hands, were weaving the processed, peeled willow twigs into square baskets that could hold grain and be used to shake out wheat.

Gao Conglian has been staying here for seven or eight days, and Jiang Rong has also been staying here with her woman for several days.

Since Beijiwu moved grain from Old Man Li's house, the family's meals have improved. Adults and children can eat their fill every day, and they have more time to do other things.

A small stone fell in from outside, attracting the attention of several girls in the yard.

"Mother~"

Gao Conglian looked up and saw a little boy lying on a 1.5-1.6-meter-high earthen wall, looking in her direction.

Gao Conglian was startled and quickly got up to look around.

Seeing that Beiji Wu was still asleep, Gao Conglian put down her things and walked over there quietly and carefully.

What are you doing here? Go back now!

The little boy reached out and put a fruit down, gesturing for Gao Conglian to catch it. "Mom, we've picked some fruit."

Gao Conglian quickly said, "You all eat by yourselves. The food here is very good. Don't come here again. Go back home!"

“Okay.” The little boy glanced at his mother, then at the other girls and adults in the yard who were watching them. “I’ll put you at the door. My brother carried me up here. Brother, put me down.”

The child behind the wall quickly put the other child down, and they both disappeared behind the earthen wall.

Gao Conglian glanced behind her again and saw that Beiji Wu slowly got up and sat on the mat, looking at her listlessly.

"Let's go outside and talk. There's nothing wrong with looking at the child. It's not like the child doesn't have a mother."

Beijiwu lazily spoke up, granting Gao Conglian the freedom to look after the children.

Gao Conglian knelt down gratefully, "Thank you, sir!"

Beijiwu waved his hand, "Bring the puppy over to see him too, don't let the brothers' relationship grow distant."

"Yes, sir!" Gao Conglian stood up and went to the courtyard gate. She opened the gate and saw two children, about four or five years old, who hadn't gone far.

The two children, who had been walking and stopping to look back, saw Gao Conglian come out and ran over.

"mother."

Gao Conglian forced a smile, "We just met yesterday. I told you not to come over, so why did you come again?"

Ai Tieniu said, "My brother and I went out to play and hit some fruit with a stick. We put them all at the door."

The younger brother, Ai Tiezhu, nodded in agreement, looking at their mother who had already been sold by their father.

Gao Conglian patted the two children's heads, "Did you eat well at home?"

Both children nodded. "We're full."

Gao Conglian sighed, "It's good that you're full. The kind-hearted gentleman helped your father harvest twenty acres of land and also provided meals for me, your sister, and your brother. I'm doing well here. Come over if you encounter any trouble, but don't come over at other times. I'll go back to see you. Don't come out after dark. I only visit you during the day. Don't open the door for anyone."

Gao Conglian kept telling her two children to be good and obedient, that this was the best option, and that she could go back to visit whenever she had time, instead of the whole family being so far apart.

In the future, I will definitely continue to live in the Arctic and have children with Arctic warriors.

Gao Conglian now only hopes that her two children will grow up quickly so that she won't have to worry about them in the future.

At this moment, Ai Xidan came out carrying her younger brother who was still sleeping.

"Sister~"

The two younger brothers looked on happily at their sister whom they hadn't seen in a long time.

Gao Conglian always goes home alone and never brings Xi Dan with her. Each time she goes home, she just visits the two children and then returns to continue serving Beijiwu.

The family of four reunited at the entrance for a moment before Gao Conglian urged her two children to go home quickly. Only after her two sons left did Gao Conglian take her daughter and children into the courtyard.

Beijiwu jumped onto the courtyard wall to admire the scenery, and pondered the layout of the houses and backyard.

Gao Conglian walked to the backyard wall and said, "Sir, I'll tell the child not to come here anymore."

Beijiwu said nonchalantly, "When a child has a problem, he will definitely look for his mother. It's normal for him to come to you. Don't be afraid of this. Just take good care of me. Do things for me here. If you want to go back and visit after you've finished, just tell me. If your son has any problems in the future, just tell me."

“We’re all from the same village, so I’ll help out where I can.”

Arctic Martial added, "Let them call me chieftain from now on."

"Yes, sir!" Gao Conglian breathed a sigh of relief.

Arctic Martial pondered how to expand the space, "Go get busy."

"Yes, sir." Gao Conglian went back to work, and her daughter Xidan took the child and went back to sleep.

Jiang Rong has a son and a daughter. Besides her daughter Xiaocao, who was sold along with her, she also has a son named Mulin.

Upon seeing Gao Conglian return, Jiang Rong whispered, "Sir is such a kind person."

Gao Conglian also responded softly, "Yes, she's kind-hearted and capable."

Both wives smiled, and their mood brightened considerably without them even realizing it.

Beijiwu squatted on the wall, looking at the woods in the backyard, which were overgrown with annoying weeds and trees.

Behind the house are apricot trees, as well as pine, willow, locust, and elm trees.

Beijiwu had no intention of protecting the trees. Looking at these hundreds-of-years-old trees, he pondered how to keep a few.

“Leave one big one in the yard to sleep in the shade, leave another tall one to scout, and cut down the rest to make oxcarts.”

"In a few days I will be busy harvesting crops. After harvesting the two acres of millet, I will also help others with some work. After I finish this, I will find someone to help me build a house."

"Since I have some time, I'll go to Hutou Town tomorrow and ask about tax matters."

Arctic Martial discovered that things might get much busier in a while, and since he had already rested for several days, he decided to do a little work and then go out again.

After jumping off the wall, Beijiwu felt that his courtyard wall was too low.

When there are more people in the future, we'll build a large courtyard with two-meter-high walls!
However, let's take it slow for now; the immediate priority is to solve the problem of having enough to eat and wear.

"Let's cook," Beijiwu called out.

"Yes, sir!" Li Hong replied and began tidying up to prepare a meal.

It gets very hot inside when cooking. Beijiwu went to the shed to give the cow water. There was also hay that had just been cut at noon next to the healthy yellow cow.

"Moo~" The yellow ox recognized Beiji Wu and called out when it saw him coming over. It then leaned over to the wooden basin that Beiji Wu was holding and lowered its head to drink water.

Beijiwu has given up on his plan to ride a cow out. He feels more free to travel alone now, as having a cow with him would be too much of a hindrance.

The ox's legs should be healed, but we don't have a suitable oxcart at home. We do have the plowing tools, though, which saves us a little money.

With nothing else to do, Beijiwu went to collect manure, dumping two half-buckets of water-mixed manure into the wheat field.

With no wheat left in the fields, there's no need to worry about the seedlings getting burned.

The soil is tilled in autumn and ferments, then covered and melted by the snow in winter, making it much better when wheat is planted next spring.

Now we have twenty acres of land, and the fertilizer we have at home is simply not enough; we have to rely on livestock manure.

It was hot, so Beijiwu went swimming in the river on his way home.

There are fish in the river, and they're huge, about the length of two hands.

However, Arctic Wu wasn't hungry, and seeing the two freshly cleaned manure buckets and the nearby sewage, he ultimately decided not to go into the water to catch fish.

"I'll spare your lives, but we'll talk after you've washed yourself clean."

I leisurely go home for dinner, then help the children learn to read, and after it cools down a bit, I go inside to sleep.

The children still slept in the haystacks, while Beijiwu, the young women, and the older girls slept on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the cows were driven into the cowshed to rest and sleep.

The two married women were particularly energetic tonight, and the two young women were not to be outdone.

(End of this chapter)