Chapter 66: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 66: Farming on the Road of Exile
To be honest, Chen Xue had never made hot pot base before. Whenever she wanted to eat hot pot, she would just buy a ready-made pack.
Fortunately, she had seen the process of making hot pot base during her confinement, so she knew a little about it. She shared everything she knew with Xiao Die.
However, there were some details she couldn't quite remember, so she had to rely on Xiao Die to figure it out herself.
But instead of complaining, Xiao Die silently experimented with it. Each time she made a batch, she would taste it, even if her mouth turned red from the spiciness, she wouldn't stop.
Chen Xue took out some fruit to help ease the spiciness for her, and told her not to rush, to take it slowly. She assured her that it was okay if they didn't get it right in one day, or even two or three days, or even ten days or half a month.
But Xiao Die insisted. She felt that she had to complete the task entrusted to her to be worthy of herself.
Helpless, Chen Xue could only let her be and went to her mother to help make chili sauce.
Besides making chili sauce, she also wanted to dry some chili peppers.
Chili sauce was a condiment for meals, while dried chili peppers were ingredients for cooking and were indispensable.
However, there was no sunlight in the space, so they couldn't dry the chili peppers. Of course, they could take them outside to dry, like on top of the carriage.
But since everyone else was in exile, if they openly dried the chili peppers, it would seem like they were preparing a feast, which would only attract resentment.
"We need to expand these vegetable fields!" Chen Yuan walked over with a hoe, covered in dirt from head to toe, including his face.
"Since we've started, let's plant more." Chen Yuan pointed to the vegetable fields. "We have ten fields now, less than an acre of land. Although we have provisions in the space, we must consider what will happen if we don't harvest enough grain when we reach the Southern Barbarians."
At that time, if they didn't hand over enough grain, they would be punished.
And most importantly, they didn't submit grain by family, but by headcount, or they could choose to submit two-thirds of their production.
In other words, if they calculated by family, and they had to hand over ten catties, if they calculated by head, each person would have to hand over ten catties, which would be hundreds of catties.
The problem was, their area was all uncultivated land, and the grain yield in the first year wouldn't be high. Even if they calculated three hundred catties, each person would have to hand over ten catties, which would be hundreds of catties for a dozen people.
Of course, some people might say that choosing to submit two-thirds of the yield could avoid this.
In that case, even if the yield was only ten catties, they would only need to submit six catties. However, the bailiffs there weren't so accommodating.
When they said two-thirds, they meant two-thirds of their standard, which was three hundred catties.
In other words, no matter which option they chose, they would have to hand over hundreds of catties of grain in the end.
So, if they didn't harvest in the first year, they would have to find other ways to make up for it.
Chen Yuan's idea was to plant more grain in the space. If they didn't harvest enough later, they could use the grain from the space to make up for it and avoid punishment.
Moreover, it would take at least six months to reach the Southern Barbarians, which meant that by the time they arrived, they would have harvested one crop of grain.
When the Southern Barbarians started farming, they could continue to farm a second crop in the space. This way, they wouldn't lack grain and could avoid the trouble caused by insufficient submissions.
"So, from now on, all of us will come to work in the fields at night." Mr. Chen looked solemnly at Chen Xue and the others.
"Ah..."
Chen Xue opened her mouth wide. It was okay to plant a little, but planting dozens of mu of land was really tiring, especially since she had hardly worked in the fields since she grew up, so it was hard for her to bear.
"Dad, we're all in exile, why don't we just enjoy ourselves?" Chen Xue wanted to act coquettishly, but was interrupted by Chen Yuan, "You said it yourself, we're already in exile, so we must be prepared for anything. Our fate is no longer in our hands."
"Besides, even if we don't prepare for exile to the Southern Barbarians, we should still prepare for other things. If we encounter an unstoppable crisis, this is our last refuge."
"Furthermore, didn't you say you wanted to lose weight?" Chen Yuan said, glaring at them, "Farming is the most effective way to lose weight."
"Are you glaring at me?"
Madam Chen glared back instead.
Chen Yuan's imposing manner disappeared instantly, replaced by a smile. "I'm glaring at Xiao Xue!"
"Are you glaring at my daughter?"
"No, I..."
Chen Yuan was about to explain, but was interrupted by Madam Chen, "Alright, let's plan later on how to farm. I'm not very familiar with it, so it's necessary to make several preparations."
Since both parents said so, Chen Xue had nothing to say. Although she had only crossed over into this world for less than a month, she had intended to enjoy her life as a wealthy young lady, but who knew...
Who knew she would be exiled? Even though she had the space now and could enjoy the life of exile, who knew... she still couldn't escape farming...
In her past life, she farmed since she was young, studying hard just to avoid farming. She worked hard to earn money, giving up on enjoying life just for a better future, but unfortunately, she hadn't had a chance to enjoy it before crossing over.
However, in this life, it was also nice to meet parents who loved her.
...
Night fell, and everyone fell into a deep sleep.
The Chen family's servants stood guard beside the carriage, while the Chen family worked in the fields in the space, working hard.
At this time, a figure emerged from the woods and crept towards the Chen family's carriage.
The Chen family's servants were sleeping on the side and were completely unaware of the impending danger.
The figure stared at the Chen family's carriage, thinking about which one to set on fire.
If possible, he planned to burn them all.
After all, why should they enjoy such comfort while everyone else was in exile, suffering wind, sun, rain, and hunger, with nothing to drink when thirsty, and only book covers to eat, even if the bailiffs distributed food, it was just hard buns and coarse cakes, not fit for human consumption.
Although Chen Yuan was not corrupt and wasn't the mastermind, since he was exiled, he should receive the same treatment as everyone else.
Unfortunately, others were afraid to act against the Chen family, but he was not. Otherwise, he would have definitely burned all the carriages before the Chen family caught him.
Forget it, I don't want to think about this.
Now, he could burn one carriage, and that would be enough. Since he was having a hard time, they shouldn't have it easy either.
A look of hatred flashed in the man's eyes as he squatted down, picked up a small stone, and threw it towards where the Chen family was, "Ping," in the quiet night, the sound was very crisp.
One of the Chen family's servants seemed to hear something and made a move. The hidden person was immediately scared stiff, hiding in the bushes.
After a moment, he saw that the Chen family's servant had just turned over, and he breathed a sigh of relief, realizing it was just a false alarm.
The man breathed a sigh of relief and then quietly walked over, picking up a burning stick from the nearby fire pit.
Then he walked towards the carriage where Chen Xue and the others were, and threw the torch in his hand towards the carriage.
Although there was no oil, as long as the curtain was lit, the carriage would soon be engulfed in flames.
The man grinned triumphantly.
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