Chapter 54: Continuing to Exile Dahei
“Wow, where is this? It’s so beautiful. The greenery is unreal.”
“@BigBigOrange, can we camp here?”
“@SummerNightStar @BigBigOrange is this in Xiangshan City? Looks like it’s not far from me, just over two hundred kilometers. I want to take my son there for a trip, would you mind sharing the coordinates?”
“Wow, are those all wild fruits? Can they be picked?”
“I just went to Mountain XX during the Labor Day holiday, and the ticket was 120 yuan. I feel like the scenery wasn’t even as good as this.”
“I think so too. There’s a tourist spot right near my house, but I think the photos Big Orange took look better than the spot near me.”
Of course they do.
Liang Chengcheng felt very proud.
The mountains around Xiaxia’s hometown were almost entirely undeveloped. The trees were so thick that it took a full embrace to wrap around them, nothing like those spindly little branches found at man-made tourist attractions.
As for the grassy clearing outside Jian Xingxia’s backyard, it took two to three hours just to walk to the foot of the mountain. Large swaths of wild grass swayed with the wind; if it weren’t for the lack of cattle and sheep, it really would have resembled a vast prairie.
Liang Chengcheng truly thought Lu’an Village was exceptionally beautiful, and Jian Xingxia was taking excellent care of her.
When night fell, Liang Chengcheng didn’t want to sleep alone.
“Xiaxia, sleep with me tonight, just like we used to back at school.”
The new bed Liang Chengcheng had bought was 1.5 meters wide, which was plenty of space for two people.
Jian Xingxia smiled as she hung up the laundry, asking, “What’s wrong? Are you scared?”
“Hehe, a little bit,” Liang Chengcheng admitted without trying to act tough. “It’s fine during the day, but once it gets pitch black at night, everything is completely dark except for your place. It is a bit spooky.”
Jian Xingxia finished hanging the clothes and brought the newly purchased plastic buckets back into the main hall. “Alright, I’ll sleep with you tonight.”
That night, the two of them chatted until eleven o’clock.
Back in the day, this would have been nothing; what university student hadn’t pulled an all-nighter before? But strangely enough, being in the mountains naturally made one feel sleepy much earlier.
Liang Chengcheng felt drowsiness washing over her even as she browsed her phone.
Only after she drifted off to sleep did Jian Xingxia open her [Estate Management System].
The upgrade progress had shifted once again. On her ninth day back at the old house, she had utilized her single basic daily recruitment allowance. Combined with the high-score rewards from Taoya and Old Man Xu, Jian Xingxia had now hired workers 11 times.
Condition One was met.
The estate’s land had been turned over long ago, and Jian Xingxia had sown quite a few seeds over the past two days, significantly increasing the arable land area.
Yesterday’s chestnut sales brought in 100 yuan.
The system didn’t count the money earned from reselling the walnut cakes and millet crisps; it seemed only produce derived directly from the mountains was recognized as estate output and included in the management revenue.
Adding that to the previous 1,634 yuan, the estate management revenue had now reached 2,121 yuan.
[Current Estate Upgrade Progress:
1. Estate has hired temporary workers 10 times. Progress: 11/10 (Completed);
2. Estate arable land area reaches 1,000 square meters. Progress: 200/1,000;
3. Estate management revenue reaches 10,000 yuan. Progress: 2,121/10,000.]
The upgrade was well within sight.
Clutching her phone, Jian Xingxia sank into a deep sleep.
Her tenth day back at the old house.
As the first person besides Jian Xingxia to spend the night at the old house, Liang Chengcheng was utterly baffled by the fact that she had woken up with the morning light before six o’clock.
“My goodness, how long has it been since I woke up this early!”
In the past, even during holidays, Liang Chengcheng would stubbornly sleep until noon before rolling out of bed. Working drained a person’s energy far too much; after a five-day work week, even a two-day weekend could barely restore her.
Yet today, not only did Liang Chengcheng wake up before six, but she didn’t feel a single shred of exhaustion. Her entire body felt thoroughly refreshed. Because of this, she could get right up the moment she woke up, feeling absolutely no resistance to leaving the bed.
Jian Xingxia had woken up even earlier than her and had already let Dahua out to hunt for bugs. The morning dew easily trapped small insects, and Dahua absolutely loved this texture.
While Liang Chengcheng was still asleep, Jian Xingxia had stepped out early to post the recruitment notice. There was a lot of work to be done in the mountains, and she didn’t want to waste a single day, so after some thought, she simply summoned Dahei.
Terrified that Liang Chengcheng might run into him, Jian Xingxia waited by the edge of the tall wild grass, keeping watch for Dahei.
Dahei came striding out on his massive feet from a cave in who-knew-which mountain.
“Dahei, I’ve placed your wages right here for you. Head into the mountains today, follow the path we took last time, and scout it out again. Clear away the wild grass and dead branches—but you are not allowed to catch any more squirrels.”
During her last trip into the mountains, Jian Xingxia had spent half a day but had only covered a third of the smallest peak. She needed to continue surveying her territory.
Since Liang Chengcheng was currently at the old house, she arranged for Dahei to head deeper into the mountains to secure the path they had forged last time. It would make entering the mountains easier in the future.
Jian Xingxia handed Dahei a bamboo basket filled with several woven sacks, which would be plenty for his use.
Dahei also preferred the mountains. It felt liberating.
Having been “exiled” by Jian Xingxia a few times already, Dahei harbored no negative emotions this time and accepted the task happily.
“Master, I will also gather chestnuts.”
In the chestnut forest that spanned over two kilometers in length and an unknown width, there were still plenty of chestnuts left to be gathered.
Jian Xingxia smiled and handed a bag of dry rations to him. “You need to eat your fill to work. I didn’t pack any fruit for you, but there are six eggs inside. Eat one every double-hour.”
Dahei complied, turning around to head into the mountains.
Jian Xingxia had set Dahei’s working hours to 14 hours today. The system was relatively humane in this regard. As long as the worker arrived and departed on time, it didn’t strictly monitor what they did in between.
Whether it was Taoya peeling a whole basket of peach flesh for Jian Xingxia, Lin Sanniang cooking and eating alongside her, or Dahei walking, resting, and eating wild fruits in the mountains—it all counted toward the “working duration.”
Mmh, this is much better than working part-time at a milk tea shop, Jian Xingxia thought to herself.
She had worked part-time at a milk tea shop for a while. Aside from the work being incredibly hectic, if there happened to be a brief lull and she wanted to rest for a second—not even to play on her phone or leave her post, but just to sit down—she would be monitored by the store manager. For thirteen yuan an hour, they practically wanted to claim half a part-time worker’s life.
Jian Xingxia harbored no such tendencies. As long as the work was completed reasonably, they were all good employees, and she would pay them their full wages.
Dahei didn’t have much food over in the Great Yu Dynasty. There was no concept of “protecting mountain forests” there. The mountains with owners couldn’t be touched, but as for the unowned mountains, whenever anyone lacked firewood, missed a dish on their table, needed timber to make furniture, or even wanted stone to build a house… they would head up the mountains to look for it.
As a Kunlun slave, Dahei didn’t dare cross paths with other people out of fear of being captured and sold again, so he could never forage freely. That was why he had guarded his previous master’s grave for over a year, thinning down to this dry, scrawny state.
Now, on Jian Xingxia’s mountain peaks, she permitted him to pick freely and eat whatever he wanted, which felt liberating and bountiful to Dahei.
Jian Xingxia hoped the temporary workers would like her place, giving them an opportunity—just like she once had—to earn money through labor and improve their lives.
After arranging things for Dahei, Jian Xingxia returned to the old house to prepare breakfast.
There were no restaurants or food delivery services in the village, so if they wanted to eat anything, they had to make it themselves. Usually, for the sake of convenience, Jian Xingxia almost entirely stuck to steaming sweet potatoes, corn, and eggs, which could last her a whole day without forcing her to stop halfway through her chores to cook.
She finally understood why the older generation always had so many siblings in the household. There was simply no other choice. People had to work, eat, wash clothes, and carry water…
Her old house was already equipped with basic modern necessities—water, electricity, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and a water heater—which saved an immense amount of labor. But the single downside of having no food delivery meant a significant amount of time had to be spent on meals.
Jian Xingxia didn’t know that Liang Chengcheng had also woken up early, so she set the corn and eggs to steam first. Then she scooped out some flour—she was still accustomed to eating modern white flour herself, leaving the gray flour for the temporary workers.
Mixing the flour with water and eggs, she stirred it thoroughly before tossing in a handful of chopped green onions to make a smooth batter. Once Liang Chengcheng woke up, she could fry up some pancakes for them to eat.
While she was tidying up, the door to the west wing creaked open.
Liang Chengcheng stepped out in her nightdress, her eyes bleary with sleep, yet her spirit looked remarkably good.
Without waiting for Jian Xingxia to ask, Liang Chengcheng volunteered, “Xiaxia, it’s truly magical. I’ve been struggling to sleep for the longest time due to anxiety over work and the family business, but I actually slept exceptionally well last night!”
Going to bed before eleven and waking up before six amounted to barely seven hours of sleep in total. Yet Liang Chengcheng felt more refreshed than if she had slept for over a dozen hours.
She opened the data on her smart fitness band to show Jian Xingxia. “I can’t even believe it. Out of seven hours of sleep, nearly six hours were deep sleep!”
This single night had practically restored half her life force.
