Chapter Fifty-Seven: There’s No Escaping Hard Work

When Gu Xiaoyao saw how delighted Da Hua looked, she understood her joy well. After all, she herself felt the same way whenever she got to eat meat.

“No need to thank me; it’s what you deserve. If we venture into the mountains again, would you like to come with us?” she asked.

Although Da Hua did not possess many skills, her strength was truly commendable. Such might could be of great help at critical moments.

“Of course I want to go! Next time, we must bring more supplies with us. We can’t show up empty-handed again, just carrying a hatchet,” Da Hua replied enthusiastically. The thrill of the hunt still surged in her heart—she wished she could go back into the mountains that very day.

But recalling the dangers of yesterday, she thought it wiser to rest a few days, especially since there was a more important task at hand today.

“By the way, sister-in-law, let me warn you: Chengjin’s mother and younger brother are always looking to slack off. You’d better keep a close eye on them.”

“They’ll be heading down the mountain soon. After working for a short while, I guarantee they’ll try to sneak back home. Just watch!” Da Hua scoffed. Of all the Chu family, she only thought well of Chu Chengjin. As for Madam Liu and the two brothers, she had nothing but contempt.

They never did any work, just leeching off Chu Chengjin day after day. She wondered how they could be so shameless.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they work properly—they wouldn’t dare run off.”

Gu Xiaoyao had long anticipated that they would not willingly labor. People who expected to be waited on hand and foot were hardly likely to do hard work.

The group from Lotus Blossom Village did not descend all the way to the foot of the mountain. Instead, they stopped in a hollow. The village chief halted, pulled his cane from the basket, and leaned on it.

“We’ve arrived at the land we’ll be clearing. Let’s make things clear: whoever has the strength to clear more gets more land. This patch isn’t far from our village, and it’s the best spot I could secure for us.”

He had argued long and hard for this piece of wild land, even to the point of raising his voice and losing some of his beloved beard in the dispute.

“We understand, chief. It’s not like we’ve never cleared land before. We know how this works,” one of the men at the front called out. The rule of ‘more work, more reward’ was familiar, and the fact that the land was so close to the village made everyone happy.

Gu Xiaoyao gazed at the wild field below, ambition burning in her heart. She wished she could claim the whole plot for herself.

If only her body were as strong as it once was, she wouldn’t leave a single patch of soil for anyone else’s hoe.

“Sister-in-law, where should we start digging? How about this corner? It looks pretty good to me,” Chu Qingsong asked, sidling up with a cautious look, unable to meet Gu Xiaoyao’s gaze.

She walked around, finally picking the most fertile patch. Though the weeds grew thick and wild, it was the best spot for planting.

“Today, we’re going to dig up the entire area I’ve marked. If we don’t finish, we’ll come back at night and keep digging,” Gu Xiaoyao declared resolutely.

Her words left Madam Liu and the others dumbfounded. Finish such a large plot in one day? That was asking for the impossible!

“Eldest sister-in-law, don’t talk so wildly. There’s no way we can finish digging all that in one day,” Madam Liu protested.

“There are five of us working. Why shouldn’t we be able to finish? Are you two grown men weaker than the others?” Gu Xiaoyao shot back.

“If you’ve eaten the meat I gave you, then you must work. If not, see that tree over there? That’s where you’ll be hung!” she threatened, leaving them no room for argument.

Without another word, she got to work herself, cutting down the tall weeds and piling them to the side in neat bundles.

Those weeds would come in handy later—once dried, they could be used as firewood or woven into mats.