Shen Xiaoyan was helpless. With people like this, any more words would be a waste. "You should go back. It's all mud and water here. What if you trip and fall?"
Hearing Shen Xiaoyan's words, Xu Shi rolled her eyes. Although Shen Xiaoyan was speaking for her own good, it sounded so awkward.
"Mom, let's go. Since Sister doesn't appreciate it, why should we make ourselves disliked?" Xu Xiao'e said, stroking Xu Shi's arm as they walked towards the village.
Xu Shi had been pregnant for less than three months, but she felt she was no longer young and feared any accidents. She always had Xu Xiao'e accompany her wherever she went and did none of the household chores, handing everything over to Xu Xiao'e.
Although Xu Xiao'e was dissatisfied with this, she thought about her upcoming marriage and the dowry preparations that Xu Shi would have to manage. At this time, she absolutely couldn't give Xu Shi any reason to find fault with her.
Therefore, during the more than ten days that Shen Xiaoyan and her younger brother left the Shen family, Xu Xiao'e was the one doing all the housework.
However, after doing housework for more than ten days, Xu Xiao'e found it unbearable. Every time she washed her hands and looked in the mirror, she felt she became a bit uglier.
This time, Xu Shi came to Shen Xiaoyan at Xu Xiao'e's instigation, mainly to see if Shen Xiaoming had recovered, so that he could hurry back to work.
To her surprise, when she arrived, she saw Shen Xiaoming lying on the bed with a sallow complexion. Looking at him, it was hard to say whether he could even get out of bed, let alone work.
Her hopes dashed, Xu Xiao'e didn't want to stay there for another moment. She stroked Xu Shi and headed back into the village.
Shen Xiaoyan watched the two figures receding into the distance, a sneer rising on her face. Fortunately, Luoluo had told her that these two mother and daughter were coming, and she had quickly told Xiaoming to lie down and pretend to be sick. Otherwise, these two wouldn't have left so easily.
Thinking of this, Shen Xiaoyan looked gratefully at the people who were working. It was also fortunate that these people were all kind-hearted and didn't spread the word that Shen Xiaoming had been working. Otherwise, Xu Shi probably wouldn't have left so easily today.
It could also be said that they were truly lucky, as five days later, the courtyard wall was finally completed.
The black bricks were not enough as anticipated. Zheng Wei brought more people to buy another 15 cartloads of black bricks before the courtyard wall could be barely finished.
With the courtyard wall, a new main gate was naturally needed. The new gate was 3 meters wide and 2 meters high. The red-painted wooden door, coupled with the 3-meter-high courtyard wall, looked quite imposing.
According to Shen Xiaoyan's requirements, a small door was added to one side of the main gate for convenience. Otherwise, opening the main gate every time they entered or exited would be too much trouble.
The day after the courtyard wall was completed, a light drizzle began to fall. Looking at the spring rain, Shen Xiaoyan's mood also brightened.
In this backward ancient era, there were no water pumps like in her previous life. If it didn't rain before the spring planting, they would have to carry water to irrigate the fields. Watering their barren land would be even more arduous.
Fortunately, the spring rain came in time. After this rain stopped, they would be able to start planting.
During the past few days of building the courtyard wall, Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming couldn't help much. However, the siblings were not idle. After meals, they would weed. Within a few days, all the weeds were cleared.
"What are you thinking about?" Zheng Wei appeared behind Shen Xiaoyan at some point. His sudden voice startled Shen Xiaoyan.
"You scared me to death," Shen Xiaoyan said, clutching her chest.
Zheng Wei looked at Shen Xiaoyan's appearance and couldn't help but chuckle. "What are you thinking about? I only said one sentence, and you're this scared."
Shen Xiaoyan gave him a glare and then said, "I'm thinking that after the rain stops, we should start planting."
Hearing Shen Xiaoyan mention planting, a hint of embarrassment flashed across Zheng Wei's face, but he quickly masked it.
"What do you plan to plant?" Zheng Wei asked casually.
Shen Xiaoyan's eyes lit up at the question. She counted on her fingers, "We definitely need to plant all sorts of vegetables. We can't go out to buy vegetables to eat. Then there are watermelons and strawberries. I've already decided that these two might earn us a lot of money. Also, I'm wondering if we should plant grains?"
She asked Zheng Wei the last question, but also asked herself.
They only had dry land here, no paddy fields, meaning their main staple grain was wheat.
Of course, it wasn't all wheat; there were also various coarse grains, corn, soybeans, and so on.
However, the yield of these things was not high. If Shen Xiaoyan wanted to make money, planting these things was definitely not an option.
"How about we take some time to go to town again and see if there are any unusual seeds?" Zheng Wei asked for Shen Xiaoyan's opinion.
Shen Xiaoyan thought for a moment and shook her head. There were only three of them, and Shen Xiaoming was still a child who couldn't do much work. Planting fruits and the like required too much care.
For now, watermelons and strawberries were enough. When she earned money, she could plant whatever she wanted.
The spring rain was not heavy and didn't last long. It stopped on the morning of the third day.
Shen Xiaoyan had already soaked all the seeds in warm water, which would help them sprout.
First, they tilled a piece of land and scattered the watermelon and strawberry seeds for germination.
Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei began to till the land. It took them two days to loosen all the soil and clear out the small stones and dried grass roots.
After discussion between Shen Xiaoyan and Zheng Wei, the courtyard was roughly divided into two parts. The land on the east side was tilled into plots for vegetables.
The western side had furrows dug at intervals, leaving the land between two furrows raised above the ground.
When the watermelon and strawberry seedlings grew, they would be planted on these raised beds.
Shen Xiaoyan did not dismantle the fence around the courtyard. She was thinking of finding an opportunity to go into the mountains and perhaps secretly transplant the flowers from her space to plant along the fence, which would surely be very beautiful.
Most vegetable crops did not require seedling cultivation. After tilling the land, Shen Xiaoyan sowed the vegetable seeds one by one.
While sowing the seeds, Shen Xiaoyan kept a secret eye on Zheng Wei's actions, as she noticed Zheng Wei was secretly watching her, or rather, watching her actions.
It turned out Zheng Wei didn't know how to farm.
Shen Xiaoyan chuckled inwardly but didn't show it on her face.
She thought she was hiding it very well, but she didn't know that Zheng Wei had already seen her suppressed smile. However, Zheng Wei was best at maintaining a poker face, which was why Shen Xiaoyan didn't notice.
Although there were many varieties of vegetables, Shen Xiaoyan only planted a plot for each type. If there were more, the three of them wouldn't be able to eat it all.
After spending two days planting all the vegetables, the strawberry seedlings and watermelon seedlings had also grown.
Each seedling had two small leaves, looking very cute.
Shen Xiaoyan carefully dug out the seedlings and then instructed Zheng Wei and Shen Xiaoming to be careful when planting, ensuring they left enough space.