Chapter 67 Strangeness

 On the way back to the city, in the carriage, Chen Delin sat in the middle seat, and Chen Ying sat on the left side.

Looking at his son who was resting with his eyes closed, Chen Delin's eyes gradually became scrutinizing.

"What happened to you today?"

Hearing this, Chen Ying opened his eyes.

"What do you mean, father?"

Chen Delin narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You are not right today, no!"

"It should be said that things started to go wrong with you after the Cheng family came to Northern Wilderness."

Facing his father's scrutinizing gaze, Chen Ying explained.

"Father, I feel stressed when I think about what I have to do. And you saw what happened just now. The old lady discovered a new kind of food!"

"And it's right under our noses. We haven't discovered it in all these years. The Cheng family has only been here for a few days and they found this good thing."

"Aren't you surprised and don't want to ask for clarification?"

Chen Delin withdrew his gaze.

"It's really surprising."

Then he looked at Chen Ying again.

"Since you mentioned the matter of raising an army, I will explain it to you today."

"If the Cheng family has always been the patron saint of Dayin, I will keep this thought in my heart for the rest of my life."

"But the Pingnan Marquis's Mansion was wronged, and the entire Cheng family was slaughtered. Whether it is for our own justice or for the sake of the friendship between me, the old marquis, and the old lady, who have known each other for many years and have been through life and death together, this matter must be done!"

As he spoke, a look of nostalgia and regret appeared on his face.

"If it weren't for the old marquis, back then..."

"Yes, yes, son, I know."

Chen Ying interrupted him with a helpless look on his face.

"The old marquis is your mentor. He saved your life and showed you a favor. If it weren't for the old marquis, I'm afraid you would have always been just a fireman."

"You have said this so many times since I can remember that my ears are almost callused."

Chen Delin snorted.

"Just remember it."

Thinking of Cheng Shengxuan, Chen Ying lowered his eyes and asked in a low voice.

"Father, since Cheng Shengxuan is not dead, then could it be that Marquis Pingnan and the Crown Prince are still alive?"

Hearing this, Chen Delin felt a little sad and sighed heavily.

"If you can survive, that would be the best, but I'm afraid... it's difficult."

"But fortunately, Sheng Xuan is back. Although he is General Cheng's adopted son, the Cheng family treats him like their own son and has loved him since he was a child. His safe return is a comfort to the old lady and the others."

Chen Ying nodded imperceptibly, his lips moved slightly, and he murmured softly.

"Yeah, he's just an adopted son..."

Chen Delin moved closer and listened carefully.

"What did you just say?"

"No, I didn't say anything."

Chen Ying shook his head and said nothing more.

…

The Chen family father and son returned to Beihuang City with a flock of sheep.

On that day, people in the city saw several new notices on the bulletin board.

"Sheep farm recruiting helpers?"

"One penny of silver and one bushel of grain every month!"

"Look, there's another one, a textile workshop that specifically recruits women who are proficient in needlework and embroidery!"

"Two taels of silver per month, plus three dou of grain!"

A strong man was shouting.

"How come women earn more than us men?!"

Someone next to him replied.

"Then go and argue with Master Chen."

As soon as these words came out, the strong man immediately stopped and shrank his neck.

"I'm just saying it casually."

But no one laughed at his cowardly look, or rather, almost no one noticed him.

Everyone either rushed to the City Defense Department to sign up, or rushed home to tell the women in their family the news.

Winter was approaching, who would complain about having too much food?

For a time, the City Defense Department was overcrowded.

Seeing this lively scene, Chen Ying couldn't help but feel worried.

By then, these people will not be perfunctory in order to go to the sheep farm and workshop, or to work logging, right?

But soon, he found out that he was wrong.

Because for the next month, these people were extremely serious, quick and efficient when they went to work cutting down trees.

What used to take four hours to complete can now be done in two hours.

And after finishing their work, they are all full of energy and rush to the sheep farm and workshop to catch up with the next one.

You must be kidding. There are only about twenty positions in the sheep farm and the workshop combined, and everyone has their own job.

There are so many people in this city watching you. If you get rejected because you are careless and not serious on the job, won't you regret it to death?

After listening to his subordinates' reports, Chen Ying sneered in his heart.

OK, so you guys are always slacking off on my work, right?!

But no matter what, it is always good to complete the task efficiently.

A month later, the first batch of sweaters was knitted.

Five hundred sweaters, a hundred pairs of gloves, and a hundred hats.

Just when the Chen father and son sent someone to give Cheng Jiasong the good news.

The Cheng family is enjoying the joy of the harvest.

"Mother-in-law, we harvested a total of 180 dan of corn this month!"

Meng excitedly clenched the brush and notebook.

Upon hearing this number, Old Madam Cheng also clenched the cane in her hand sharply.

One hundred and eighty stones!

"Okay, okay, we'll plant these as seeds next spring."

They want to turn this place into a granary for the Cheng family army!

Meng sighed slightly and said with regret.

"It's a pity that the secret of this fairy field cannot be easily revealed to others. It's too slow and time-consuming to sow seeds with only people like us. Otherwise, we will definitely be able to grow another crop."

If others heard this, they would definitely think she was ungrateful.

Four harvests a month, what else can you not be satisfied with? !

But even if they harvested five times, it was only more than two hundred stones, which was nothing but a drop in the bucket in front of the more than 300,000 Cheng family troops.

No wonder she was so anxious.

"Take your time. These things cannot be rushed."

Old Madam Cheng patted her hands and said something comforting.

"Old lady!"

"Madam, we have already made the kang you mentioned before. Would you like to take a look?"

Cheng Feng ran over happily with a face full of black and gray.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked at each other.

This kang was made half a month ago when the immortal sent the blueprint for it specially because he was afraid that Yu An would get cold in the winter. Qiu Ruo spent several days tinkering with it.

It actually worked out?

"Then let's go back and take a look!"

When I got home, Cheng Qiuruo was lighting a fire in the stove.

Old Madam Cheng walked into the room, put her hand on the kang, and after a while, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"It's hot indeed!"

Meng was very excited.

"This way, as long as we have enough firewood, we can sleep warmly in the winter!"

"Then it's settled. Ruoruo and Cheng Feng, you guys, please work harder these days and try to build kangs in all these rooms before the snow starts."

After Mrs. Cheng finished speaking, she looked around.

"Why don't you see Yu An?"

Cheng Qiuyun replied from behind.

"I just saw the little guy run into Shengxuan's room."

Madam Cheng nodded when she heard this.

"Keep a close eye on him during this period. There are many wild animals in the mountains during this season. Don't let him run around."

"yes."

On the other side, Yu An opened the door and looked inside curiously.

"Uncle? Yu'an is here to practice calligraphy with uncle."

Not getting a response, the little guy scratched his head.

"Uncle is not here."

"But it doesn't matter, Yu An can practice on his own!"

Leaving the door ajar, Yu An ran to the desk with his legs clattering.

Just as he was about to climb onto the chair, he accidentally kicked over the bamboo basket containing the scroll that was leaning against the table leg.

Having done something wrong, the little guy subconsciously turned his head to look at the door guiltily, and found that no one was paying attention, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

Yu An squatted on the ground and picked up the scrolls again, but one of the scrolls seemed not to be tied tightly and fell apart as soon as he picked it up.

Seeing the familiar face above, the little guy widened his eyes and exclaimed.

"Fairy sister?!"