Chapter 229: Never Admitting Defeat in Her Endeavors

Gu Xixi walked unsteadily, making onlookers tremble with fear; they repeatedly reached out, afraid she would fall.

Gu Xixi shook off her arm forcefully and said, "I'm not drunk; if I were, how could I work? I must have gone home to sleep just now."

The soldiers' dependents didn't know Gu Xixi well enough, so they looked to He Jinglan for information.

He Jinglan shook her head in confusion, then pointed at Gu Xixi, indicating they should follow her and see what happens.

Originally, the fields allotted to the Dependents Village were all near the village.

Just around the village bend, not far out, one could see oat field after oat field.

At that moment, Gu Xixi suddenly sped up and began to run.

He Jinglan jumped, thinking Gu Xixi had gone drunk-mad and was up to some new antic, and she hurriedly chased after her.

"Gu Xixi! Gu Xixi!! Where are you going? Stop right now!!"

The villagers, not knowing what had happened, were shocked and had no choice but to break into a run, closely following behind.

But unexpectedly, Gu Xixi slowed down after not running far, turned, and entered the oat field.

When the crowd followed and looked, they saw Gu Xixi squatting on the ground, sometimes lying flat to examine an oat stalk's roots from left to right, sometimes bending down to dig at the soil, then pinching a bit with her fingers.

They couldn't understand, really couldn't understand.

Aunt Lin spoke with difficulty to He Jinglan, "Otherwise we should still persuade Boss Gu to go back……"

He Jinglan, however, pressed her index finger to her lips, making a hushing gesture, "Shh……"

"Looking at this, she is indeed working, not drunk-mad."

The soldiers' dependents laughed embarrassedly and nodded.

"Boss Gu isn't just drunk."

He Jinglan watched Gu Xixi busy at work and thought, "She is really working, but she might also really be drunk."

After a while, Gu Xixi spoke, "The soil activation is still insufficient."

"However, the earlier method of applying fertilizer in small, frequent doses worked fairly well, and with ample rain during the irrigation period, this season's oat growth basically meets the standard."

"After the harvest is finished, there will still be a major move to continue improving the soil."

"It's too late to plant millet a month from now, but we can plant sweet potatoes and pumpkins; these store well and can also supplement the food supply."

Aunt Lin listened carefully, tried to make sense of it, and extracted the key question:

"When can we start harvesting?"

Gu Xixi turned her head, "Now, we can start anytime; the timing is just right!"

Aunt Lin asked again, "What is that major move you mentioned, and what do we need to do to improve the soil?"

"No rush." Gu Xixi waved her hand, "First harvest; the rest I'll think about later."

Then Gu Xixi stubbornly walked through every field in the Dependents Village.

The conclusion drawn was essentially the same.

The oats were ripe just in time, and could be called a bountiful harvest.

On the way back, Aunt Lin and the others were all happy, noisily discussing the harvest arrangements.

"I need to hurry and sharpen my sickle!"

"Back home I was skilled at reaping rice; if any of you can't do it, I'll teach you."

"Hey, have you ever eaten oats? I heard the Hu people feed oats to horses. Won't it be too coarse to swallow?"

"If horses can eat it, people can too; oats, no matter how coarse, are still grain—ground into flour, they'll definitely taste better than sorghum flour."

……

Gu Xixi chuckled a few times and said, "You can also rest assured about this."

"After the wheat is cut, I'll tell everyone how to handle it."

"If the oat flour is made well, its noodles won't be any worse than wheat noodles; it just takes more effort."

The women heard this and were overjoyed.

"Besides teaching us how to grow oats, Boss Gu, are you also going to teach us to make foods we've never eaten before?"

Gu Xixi shook her head firmly, "No, I can't cook; I only know how to eat it."

The women looked at each other, wondering what the difference is.

Just as they were about to ask, they saw Gu Xixi, like a puppet with its strings cut, suddenly collapse softly to the ground.

Thanks to the quick eyes and hands of the few people nearest to He Jinglan, they simultaneously caught her,

He Jinglan wiped sweat from her heart, thinking, "Really, nothing was delayed at all."

Gu Xixi indeed seriously examined every field.

Having finished the pre-harvest assessment,

after going through the oats in the field from start to finish and saying everything that needed to be said, she only then collapsed.

That's exactly not delaying anything at all.

In a half-asleep, half-dreaming state, Gu Xixi heard He Jinglan's voice.

"You've already worked hard; rest easy and sleep."

The next morning, soldiers from the Provisions Battalion came to the small courtyard to deliver supplies.

Besides a handful of common greens, there was also a basket of wild leeks and a piece of fresh, ruddy venison.

The provisions soldier apologetically said, "Recently the sun has been too strong, fresh vegetables are scarce, and it's inconvenient to go far to purchase them."

"All we could do was prepare some wild leeks to make up for it."

"However, this venison was hunted last night; it's still fresh."

Gu Xixi said, "For just the two of us eating, having meat and vegetables is already enough."

He Jinglan took the vegetable basket, her eyes flickered, and she said with a smile:

I see you've been busy enough these past two days, and you still want to find time to dig wild vegetables. Why not just give me the place, and we'll dig ourselves.

She paused, then with a worried look said, "The Grand General's side has already opened hostilities; we really can't cause trouble for the army."

He Jinglan's politeness left the messenger soldier flustered.

No, no, we were actually planning to go dig wild vegetables anyway; it's just a handy task.

You two ladies have come to help our Northwest Army reclaim land and stockpile grain; you are honored guests, so please don't stand on ceremony.

Gu Xixi and He Jinglan exchanged a glance without leaving a trace.

No denial—it looks like hostilities have indeed begun.

Although the Northwest is temporarily stable, once Huo Jiang openly breaks with the Imperial Court, the situation could change at any moment.

Gu Xixi immediately decided on two things.

First, compress the stay at the border to three days, quickly finish what needs to be done, and return to Huachi Du Cun.

Second, the portion of our newly harvested wheat that was originally intended for sale must be quickly liquidated and converted into portable banknotes.

If chaos erupts and roads are cut off, preventing us from returning home and selling the grain, that would be disastrous.

If the war truly reaches the Northwest, having stored grain at home to sustain us and banknotes on hand to rely on, even if we unfortunately have to flee our homeland, we would still have some confidence and something to fall back on.

Gu Xixi solemnly told the messenger soldier, "I need to go to the fields now; I don't know which general is in charge of this—could you please show me the way?"

The messenger soldier seemed relieved and said happily, "Boss Gu, just follow me; actually General Liu has been waiting there for you two honored guests since early this morning."

After they left the gate, He Jinglan laughed and asked, "You said General Liu was already waiting, so why didn't you mention it earlier? Instead, you waited until Boss Gu said she wanted to go before you spoke up."

The messenger soldier scratched his head, "General Liu only had me come take a look and warned me not to rush you. Everything is up to your own wishes."

He Jinglan chuckled, "General Liu is really interesting; even if he doesn't mind delaying his own affairs, we're worried about staying too long and not being able to return home."

The messenger soldier gave an awkward smile.

But He Jinglan suddenly asked, "With hostilities about to break out, has the Grand General's side immediately sent any major news? For example, is someone long thought dead actually still alive?"