Chapter 50

The seven people by East Lake were a mix of three men and four women, all in the prime of life. They usually fed on the fish in the lake and some roosting birds, truly living off the water.

They didn’t necessarily crave fish and meat, but the moment Yunxiu and the others set the food on the table, the two members of the group picked up their rice and flatbreads and stared blankly for quite a while. Generally, southerners live on rice and northerners on wheat. Here, they had both.

In this place, encountering staple grains put their hearts at ease.

Even though they said nothing, everyone could tell by their glowing, excited, restless faces that the matter of these seven people relocating was a done deal!

But the novelties weren’t over yet; one thing after another caught their eyes. The sets of cups, bowls, and chopsticks on the table were arranged properly. The bamboo chairs were sturdy and pleasing to the eye. The white candle in the center of the table gave off a bright, radiant light. Yet none of this was truly significant. The table was laden with a rich assortment of dishes: dried radish and pickled cabbage as appetizers to whet the appetite, stir-fried shredded potatoes and lotus root slices with the taste of home cooking, and chicken and rabbit meat stewed until tender and flavorful.

This was, without a doubt, the meal that came closest to their modern lives since they arrived in this world.

When they had been well-fed and well-clothed, they would have looked down on such fare. But after plummeting into this primitive world living in the open and eating raw meat for a year and a half, eating this meal again left only one word to describe it: stunning. They couldn’t bear to waste a single grain of rice, scraping their bowls spotless.

After finishing a bowl of rice, the two still craved more but were a bit embarrassed to ask for seconds. Lu Yiwei savored the lingering salty taste in his mouth before finally finding an opportunity to ask, “This shredded potato and lotus root slices have a fresh, savory flavor, exceptionally good. How were they made?”

Yunxiu was a chef by trade and had chosen such a talent. Her most satisfying moments were nothing more than the clean-plate campaign of the group and their sincere praise of the meal.

Hearing this question, how could she hold back? She launched into a detailed explanation, describing how she peeled the potatoes, cut them into shreds, soaked them in cold water, stir-fried them until they were just cooked, then added salt…

The two’s eyes lit up; this was the key point they were waiting for. Xu Lian’s voice rose with joyful surprise, trembling at its peak. “You have salt?!”

Yunxiu nodded.

Lu Yiwei said, “We have a chef on our side too. If he knew about this, who knows how happy he’d be.”

The two told everyone that they hadn’t found salt, only some spices. Their chef had to maintain their salt intake daily while trying his best to make the food taste good, losing countless hairs over it.

The group then asked about the seven’s talents. The two spoke as they thought.

Some talents overlapped with theirs: Carpenter, Chef, Hunting.

There were also talents they didn’t have: Cartography, Shipbuilding, Leatherworking, Drumming.

After hearing these, everyone looked at each other. The first three could be considered foundational, but the latter four talents were each more impractical than the last. Before a solid foundation of food and clothing was established, they were of little use.

The group couldn’t help but be somewhat disappointed. With the talents they currently possessed, they could already meet the basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. They longed for more foundational talents to come—whether Water Conservancy, Breeding, Medicine, or Chemical Engineering—anything that could elevate their security another level.

They were naturally still happy to find these fellow countrymen and wished for them to come; they just felt it was a pity.

Li Cunxin didn’t feel that way. She felt fortunate. Out of thousands of talents, those belonging to the foundational level weren’t many. Even if it were half and half, they could easily encounter a talent that was currently useless. But from the very start, the people she met—Yan Baiyu and the others—had talents that could all be put to use, nearly all of which were essential for building the foundation.

And it was precisely because of this that in just two years, this place had taken on a completely new look.

After dinner, Li Cunxin arranged lodgings for the two of them. They had a clear, quiet sleep, and after breakfast the next morning, they prepared to take their leave and return.

Before coming, they had discussed staying an extra couple of days to observe further. Their hearts were set on living together; they knew the importance of population. The question that gave them pause was whether they would move to accommodate Li Cunxin’s group, or if Li Cunxin’s group would move to accommodate them. But after just one night, they already had a definite answer.

Whether in numbers or living conditions, Li Cunxin’s group far surpassed them. Moving here wasn’t so much an accommodation for them as it was taking advantage of an opportunity.

So much so that before they left, they hesitated and asked Li Cunxin, “Village Chief Li, to be honest, compared to you, our ‘family assets’ are not substantial. Most of our rations come from that East Lake, a place you had long ago discovered. You treat us with sincerity, we dare not hide anything. The resources we can bring are hardly worth mentioning compared to what you have here. Taking us in would actually be more of a burden.”

Li Cunxin smiled. “Resources aren’t important. Talent is.”

Experience is said to be the test of a horse’s strength over a long road, and time reveals a person’s true heart. Although the two had only spent one night with Li Cunxin, judging from Yu Muyang and the others’ attitude towards her, they could tell that this person, this village, was not difficult to get along with. Li Cunxin’s words were most likely not empty flattery.

The two sighed in relief simultaneously. Lu Yiwei said, “At the latest, the day after tomorrow, even if our final discussion results in deciding to live separately, we will still send someone with a gift of thanks to visit.”

After seeing the two off, Li Cunxin’s face crumpled, and her head drooped.

Yan Baiyu smiled slightly. “You’ve found people, so why do you seem unhappy?”

Li Cunxin glanced at the direction the two had left and muttered, “They didn’t say they’d definitely come. They said there’s also a chance the final decision might be to live separately.”

She had to admit, she felt a bit smug about the village’s current conditions. Under their circumstances, they had achieved their utmost.

Yan Baiyu said, “They’re just leaving themselves room, not wanting to speak too definitively. In case something unexpected truly happens, it’ll still be easy for us to meet in the future. The day after tomorrow, they will move here.”

Li Cunxin tilted her head to look at her. “Really?”

“You’ll find out the day after tomorrow, won’t you?” Yan Baiyu smiled. The sun rose from her direction, its rays broken by her dark hair.

Sometimes, Li Cunxin truly liked this composed attitude of hers, feeling both envy and helplessness. Yan Baiyu was like a measuring stick, measuring her own shortcomings. Whether it was trying to emulate someone virtuous or feeling ashamed of her own inadequacies, she didn’t know. But from the initial indifference, she had now begun to worry about showing weakness in front of Yan Baiyu.

Li Cunxin didn’t respond, silently keeping her thoughts to herself. Two days later, those seven people indeed arrived, bringing all their worldly possessions with them to seek refuge.

At that time, the group’s holiday had ended, and the fiery construction of houses had begun anew.

The seven people led a donkey, carrying all the dry provisions they had stored for the winter—mostly smoked fish, dried bird meat, lotus roots, and water caltrops.

All seven had animal pelts. The large ones draped over them, falling past the knees, the smaller ones like vests. But without exception, the pelts were thick and smooth.

Li Cunxin and her group also had quite a few pelts, but perhaps because they hadn’t been treated properly at the start, or because of damp, stuffy storage conditions, many had balded in large patches, looking like mangy dog skins, nowhere near as nice as the seven’s pelts, and their ability to ward off the cold was greatly diminished.

The people working on the new houses looked curiously at the seven, bearing the calm and experienced attitude of old-timers surveying newcomers.

The seven gazed around with fresh wonder at the orderly houses of the village, which had just begun to take shape. Their hearts were split in two: one half carried the apprehension of a strange environment, the other half was full of envious wonder. The village described by their two companions was no castle in the air; it truly existed.

This village, carrying a distinctly modern style, filled with charm, redrawing a corner of their homeland here—it was real.

Their chests felt stuffed with rotten cotton, their throats clogged with bitter mud. Their lips twitched, teeth chattered, the corners of their eyes and brows convulsed. Their eyes reddened, tears brimming, yet they were ashamed to cry in front of others.

They puffed their cheeks, blinking rapidly, clearing their throats, forcing the tears back, unwilling to lose too much face.

Li Cunxin invited the seven into the guest hall of the new house. The donkey hadn’t been led to the donkey shed yet. The dry provisions, tools, and pelts the group brought were also temporarily placed in the guest hall.

Jiang Beibei, who was weaving inside the house, rose and greeted the seven with a gracious smile. “Hello.”

The voices of the seven were uneven as they nodded to Jiang Beibei. “Hello, hello.”

All seven were restrained, not knowing how to stand, too embarrassed to sit. To ease their awkwardness, they huddled close to each other, rubbing their hands and exchanging glances, trying to distract themselves.

Li Cunxin said, “Have a seat.”

The seven smiled awkwardly, looking left and right, wanting to find a spot to sit. The stools and chairs were placed against the opposite wall; as guests, they were too embarrassed to go over and get them.

Li Cunxin went to move the chairs for everyone, and only then did they follow her lead, pulling over the chairs and stools to sit down.

Perhaps in an unfamiliar environment, they needed to be near familiar people to ease their inner unease. The seven squeezed together in twos and threes, sitting down, staring at their feet in a daze, curiously examining the loom to one side, looking towards the bedroom door, occasionally glancing at this young, approachable village chief who didn’t quite seem like a village chief.

Yunxiu brought over some water and handed it out.

Li Cunxin asked, “Have you eaten yet? Are you hungry?”

Lu Yiwei said, “We’ve already eaten.”

Li Cunxin smiled. “Surely you didn’t eat on the road. It takes a good half day to walk from East Lake to here. If you ate before setting out, you must have digested it by now. Yunxiu, go make some food.”

Xu Lian said, lacking confidence, “No need…”

Li Cunxin said to the group, “How about gravy noodles? We don’t usually eat at this hour. You can have a little to tide you over.”

Yunxiu answered and went back to the kitchen to start the fire and boil the noodles.

The group looked at each other, then suddenly exchanged knowing looks and shook their heads, laughing. They were all thinking of the past, scenes from when guests came to the house and were urged to stay for a meal.

This silent understanding made them feel close, made them feel familiar, letting them drop their guard. The atmosphere relaxed.

A short while later, Li Cunxin went to the kitchen once, helping Yunxiu bring the noodles over.

Everyone looked at the hand-rolled noodles in the bowls. The white noodles steamed with heat, the minced meat on top carrying the aroma of the braising sauce. Apart from Lu Yiwei and Xu Lian, who had eaten here before, everyone’s eyes went wide.

They had been reflexively polite earlier, but in truth, they were famished. Seeing Lu Yiwei and Xu Lian pick up their chopsticks, they couldn’t wait any longer, mixing their noodles and slurping down a large mouthful.

Once everyone was full and had wiped their mouths clean, Li Cunxin told them about the village rules. Currently, they didn’t have many people. To save time and effort, resources were managed collectively. Their grain was gathered together, livestock reared in one place, meals eaten together, and everyone had to contribute to the work.

The seven voiced no objections. Only then did Li Cunxin ask Jiang Beibei to call people over to lead the donkey to the donkey shed and put their dry provisions and tools into the storehouse.

The seven also got up to help. As everyone walked out of the house, Li Cunxin said, “Right, one more thing.”

Everyone stopped and looked at her. Li Cunxin said, “The adobe houses and bamboo rooms in the back are where we used to live. Beside them are the new houses we’re building. We’re building everyone’s new houses according to the order they arrived here. That means your new houses will likely be at the very end, probably not until next year.”

Everyone’s expressions froze. They stared blankly at Li Cunxin.

Li Cunxin said, “I wonder if you have any issues…”

The seven snapped out of it, blurting out excitedly, “No! Of course no problem!” Before coming, they hadn’t even considered the issue of new houses. They hadn’t dared to hope they could immediately build brick and tile houses. They felt it wouldn’t be so fast, that it would take at least two or three years. Who knew they were already in the queue.

Li Cunxin smiled. “That’s good then.”

The seven looked at the sturdy house before them. It was like a fresh, handsome youth, at its most beautiful and vibrant moment.

The seven felt that everything before their eyes seemed a bit too good to be real, dreamlike and unsteady.