Chapter 78: Six-Zero Farm System (44)

There is a period of agricultural leisure after the autumn harvest.

Some other Educated Youth go to the Commune to stroll through the streets and parks, some go to visit the Youth Hostels of other brigades, and some have quietly started dating.

Only Xie Yang has been busy with a major cleanup on Banyue Mountain.

Lai Zhaodi occasionally comes over to help her with the work, mentioning in passing that Lu Jieqiong and Lin Boyu have started dating, and that Feng Xuemei seems to be seeing a young man from the Third Production Team...

While talking, Lai Zhaodi suddenly remembers something: "Yang Yang, did an aunt come to look for you to chat a few days ago?"

Xie Yang does not stop the work in her hands: "It seems there was one. But I don't know why she came to find me; she rambled on for a long time, and I was in a rush to head up the mountain and had no time to shoot the breeze with her, so she muttered a few words and went back."

"Pfft..." Lai Zhaodi cannot help but laugh, "I only heard about it afterward; she probably wanted to introduce her nephew from her maiden family to you."

"..."

"What kind of expression is that? You are good-looking and capable, who wouldn't be tempted? Even if they don't have sons themselves, or their sons already have partners, aren't there still nephews and sister's sons?"

It's just that you keep running to Banyue Mountain, and they've seen that you have enough strength to knock out a large wild boar with one punch, so they were worried that if they married you, your little couple might argue and their children would suffer, which is why they hesitated to act. This time, seeing you get so much grain and so many rewards during the autumn harvest, they started getting tempted again."

"..."

Xie Yang twitches the corner of her mouth.

What do these people take her for? Meat on a chopping block, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder?

Just because they are tempted, does she have to marry?

Not to mention that she hasn't met anyone who catches her eye, even if she did, who says she must marry? Can't she be the one to take a husband?

But since nothing is set in stone, she is too lazy to even mention it; with this time, she might as well talk about something practical.

"By the way, Zhaodi, I plan to build a house at the foot of the mountain during this slack season, and I won't be staying at the hostel then."

Zhaodi misunderstands, thinking that Xie Yang wants to use this method to make those families who are itching to marry her off as a daughter-in-law give up hope on their own.

Therefore, when someone asks her about Xie Yang, she reveals this news.

Those people start to grumble:

"Educated Youth Xie plans to build a house at the foot of Banyue Mountain? A female Educated Youth, why build a house? She'll have to marry sooner or later, isn't that a waste of money?"

"Oh my! Why go over there to build a house? It's not like the brigade doesn't have good homesteads; that area east of the Threshing Floor is so good! If Educated Youth Xie could get a homestead plot there, I would immediately entrust someone to go and play matchmaker."

"Isn't it said that if you perform well, there are still quotas to return to the city? Comrade Xiao Xie isn't planning to return to the city? I was even thinking of introducing her to my nephew so that he could bring her back to the city with him!"

Everyone cannot figure out why a female Educated Youth like Xie Yang would want to build a house, and if she must build it, why choose such an inauspicious place at the foot of Banyue Mountain.

Consequently, one by one, they lose interest.

Xie Yang is happy that no one comes to disturb her.

After she and Song—the little brother—Mingyu, who has become increasingly capable after adapting to country life, finish cleaning up the temple ruins, she digs a drainage ditch from the top of the mountain to the foot, lays down hollowed-out bamboo pipes, and draws water from the ancient well at the summit.

In this way, irrigation for the terraced fields, water for the Pig Pen, and drinking water for life at the foot of the mountain no longer require waiting for rain or carrying water from far away at Yuewan Lake.

The independent little courtyard Xie Yang has been looking forward to is also built before the onset of winter.

The main structure, a combination of wood and stone, is sturdy and durable; the walls, made of adobe inlaid with pebbles, are simple and beautiful; and beneath the Thatched Cottage roof lies a layer of rainproof cloth to block the wind and keep out the cold.

Although only three rooms were built, the courtyard is very large—

The fence made of woven bamboo strips is covered with wild vines transplanted from the mountains.

A small stone path is laid from the courtyard gate to the main house.

The stones used for the path were picked up for her by Little Brother Song from the shores of Yuewan Lake; they come in all sizes, and their only commonality is that their edges have been washed away by the lake water.

These pebbles are embedded in the mud one right next to the other, so shoes won't pick up mud when entering or leaving on rainy days.

A vegetable patch is opened on the left side of the stone path, and a Chicken Coop is built on the right, where two chicks are raised.

A stone path is also laid behind the house, leading to the entrance of Banyue Mountain.

The space in the backyard is also not small, and a circle of wild fruit trees transplanted from the mountains is planted along the fence.

Although the fruit is sour and astringent, if she finds a way to graft them later, the wild fruit trees can also welcome their spring!

Sub-system: 【Host, your little courtyard is very similar to the one in my space! It's just missing a small stream and a saltwater pond!】

Xie Yang rubs her chin and ponders: The stream is already covered by the ancient well water drawn through bamboo pipes, so it doesn't matter if there is one or not. A saltwater pond is unrealistic, but a freshwater pond is worth a try.

Thus, she digs a small dirt pit at the edge of the homestead near the foot of the mountain.

She introduces stream water from the space into the pit and incidentally keeps a few Fish and Shrimp from the stream.

She builds a frame around the pond and plans to go into the mountains next spring to see if there are any old wild grapevines to transplant.

If all else fails, she can also plant climbing melons and vegetables like luffa, Cucumber, gourds, and flat beans.

By the time the New Year arrives, the little courtyard has been tidied up by Xie Yang into something quite decent.

Many commune members and Educated Youth have gossiped behind her back, feeling that her going to such great lengths to build such a house is a pure waste.

As a city person with parents who are both dual-income workers, accustomed to the convenient and comfortable life in the city, how could she get used to the hardships of the countryside?

Even if she is strong enough to handle any farm work, the countryside lacks everything; just wait and see, after a long time, she definitely won't be able to stay!

When there is a chance to return to the city in the future, will she not go back?

If she goes back, hasn't this house been built in vain? What a pointless struggle!

Almost no one believes that Xie Yang will stay and remain in the Yuewan Brigade for her whole life.

Most people feel that as long as there is an opportunity, she will definitely return to the city.

They even make bets in private, betting on when Xie Yang will be unable to stand the life in the countryside and trade her great contribution of "a thousand catties per mu" for a quota to return to the city.

However, until the brigade receives its first quota to return to the city, until the Commune issues several recommendations for worker-peasant-soldier university students, until the College Entrance Examination is restored...

Batch after batch of Educated Youth leave the Yuewan Brigade one after another; some manage to return home, and some are admitted to universities in other cities.

Even Song Shuhe and his grandson are picked up by a military jeep.

Only Xie Yang goes nowhere.

She gives up the opportunity to return to the city that the Brigade Leader brings to her, gives up the quota to attend a worker-peasant-soldier university in Shoudu that Comrade Lao Song helped her fight for, and even gives up the College Entrance Examination!

For years, she lives leisurely in the farmhouse courtyard she built with care, welcoming and sending off the orderly four seasons.

Every day, she followed a regular schedule of going to work and finishing work.

The Experimental Field she was responsible for continued to steadily produce plump, full-grained seeds every season.

From the mountainside up to the summit, the scorched ruins were reclaimed by her during her spare time; the southern slope was turned into a tea plantation, and the northern slope was gradually planted with pine saplings transplanted from the deep mountains, eventually developing into a small pine forest.

She had originally intended to roast some tea leaves and get some pine nuts, truffles, and grouse to eat, but while digging pits, she inadvertently discovered a secret chamber containing stacks of several chests filled with gold and Silver Ingots, pearls, jade, and agate left behind by some unknown dynasty.

"!!!"