Liu Shi, however, greatly envied these two small houses. If she and her children could have a place to live like this, it would be more than she could ask for.
Of course, Li Shi and Xiao Li Shi were equally envious.
After a short rest, everyone went to help.
Meng Qinghuai, afraid his second brother would regret it, rushed with his two sons to the house just assigned to them at the garrison and moved all their belongings.
Xu Shi: "After so many years of marriage, this is the first time I've seen you so quick."
Meng Qinghuai: "I'll be even quicker in the future."
Meng Qingping stared at the sky, suppressing the urge to say, "You're like a stubborn stain, impossible to remove once you stick. And the most hateful part is, this stain only sticks to me."
...
Seeing so many people working, Qi He couldn't help much. He glanced at the sky and saw it was still early before dark. He quietly approached Fu Xinci and discussed, "Sister Fu, why don't we go gather mushrooms?"
"Okay. But we can't go alone this time; we need to bring more people."
"Who should we bring?"
Fu Xinci turned her head, "Look." Her gaze fell upon the Meng Qishan brothers.
"Huh? They're all coming?"
"What else can we do? Can just the two of us support so many mouths?"
Qi He immediately replied, "No, definitely not." He didn't say that supporting so many people would exhaust him and Sister Fu to death.
"Then it's settled."
"We'll forage separately, Sister Fu and I will be a team." Qi He said this first to Meng Qishan and the others.
"Yes, from now on, it's family units."
"Sister Fu, what unit?" Qi He didn't understand what Fu Xinci meant by 'unit' and quietly asked her from behind.
"..." Hearing Qi He's question, Fu Xinci realized she had slipped up and quickly tried to cover it.
"Brother Qi, I think I heard something."
"What did you hear?"
"I'm not sure what it is, but it's definitely alive." Fu Xinci finished speaking, put down her basket, and deftly darted out.
However, when she saw the living creature running ahead, she didn't pursue it further.
The small white beast didn't seem to fear people. Seeing she wasn't chasing, it stopped and looked back at her, as if asking: Who are you? Why are you chasing me?
Fu Xinci, with a rare surge of affection, warned it, "You should leave quickly. Everyone here except me is starving and their eyes are glowing blue. If they see you, they'll chase you to the ends of the earth."
The little beast seemed to understand her words, blinked its large, watery eyes, and "whoosh" disappeared into the grass.
My, this little thing is quite smart, it actually understands me.
Fu Xinci was contemplating the little beast, wishing she had such a pet, but alas.
As she was feeling regretful, she heard Qi He speaking to her.
"Sister Fu, did you catch it?" Qi He waited for a long time and, not hearing Sister Fu's laughter, crept closer and asked.
"Catch what? Just a horse snake (a type of lizard)."
"Oh, those things are quite repulsive." Qi He also disliked them.
Fu Xinci: Deceiving Brother Qi wasn't my intention; it was just out of necessity.
By the time the sunset cast its afterglow again, Fu Xinci and Qi He returned laden with their haul.
"Sister Fu, I'm going back to the garrison." Qi He bid farewell to Fu Xinci with some reluctance. They had been together for twelve hours a day on this trip, almost inseparable. Now, having to separate for several hours each day, he still felt a bit unaccustomed.
"Okay." After Fu Xinci responded, she suddenly remembered something very important. "Brother Qi, tomorrow I'm going to town with grandfather to buy grain and farm tools. I'll need you to watch the house, otherwise, I won't be at ease."
"Uh." Qi He had wanted to say that he wanted to go along too. But hearing Sister Fu say she wouldn't be at ease if he didn't help watch the house, he immediately agreed. "Sister Fu, don't worry, I'll definitely help you look after Uncle Fu, Aunt Fu, and Yu'er."
"Yes, I'll definitely bring you back something delicious tomorrow."
"Okay." Hearing Sister Fu say she would bring him something delicious, Qi He's response was noticeably louder than before.
Seeing Qi He about to return to the garrison, Fu Yu took a small jar from Fang Shi and handed it to him. "Xiao He, this is mushroom paste. Take it back and eat it with your father."
"Okay, thank you, Uncle Fu." Qi He's voice was even louder this time. He had only eaten the mushroom paste at noon, but he had already fallen in love with its delicious flavor.
He was sure his father would like it too.
After seeing Qi He off, Fu Yu started to worry again. He sat next to Meng Qingping, pointing at the grass swaying with wildflowers, and grumbled, "Father, at this hour it's manageable, but once it gets completely dark, won't we all become mosquito food?"
Fu Yu's words made everyone present recall the swarms of mosquitoes with lingering fear.
"Big Sister, what should we do?" Before Meng Qingping could speak, Meng Yutang asked Fu Xinci.
"Yes, Xinci, what should we do?" Meng Qitian's eyes also fell on Fu Xinci, waiting for her to come up with a plan.
Fu Xinci certainly had a way, but she couldn't easily reveal it.
Seeing Fu Xinci remain silent, the others thought she had no solution and all drooped their heads dejectedly.
Fu Xinci, however, quietly shuffled over to Meng Qingping's side and whispered mysteriously, "Grandfather, I have something to tell you."
Meeting his granddaughter's mischievous gaze, Meng Qingping guessed she had a way to deal with the mosquitoes. He immediately stood up and walked towards the river with his granddaughter.
Even at this hour, there were plenty of mosquitoes by the river. Fu Xinci swatted away mosquitoes with both hands while whispering to her grandfather, "Grandfather, the old woman gave me some good stuff again, it's for repelling mosquitoes and insects. Should we use it?"
Meng Qingping wanted to say no, but after a slap to his own old face, his palm was covered in bright red blood, and he wavered.
"Ci'er, can Grandfather see the things the old immortal gave you?"
"Yes, of course." Fu Xinci said and took out three rolls of mosquito net screens from her space.
"This?" Meng Qingping picked up one of the rolls and examined it. He was delighted to find, "This is better than thin gauze!"
"Of course, this..." Fu Xinci, in her excitement, almost let slip again.
"Ci'er, how do we use this?"
"Grandfather, this is very convenient." Fu Xinci explained the usage of the mosquito net screens to her grandfather.
Meng Qingping was very pleased after hearing it, but he was a little worried about the origin of this item and wanted his granddaughter to help him think of a way. "Ci'er, how can we prevent them from suspecting where this thing came from?"