Chapter 71

Whenever someone faces a task that requires courage, there comes a moment when they want to back out. Fang Yi was no exception. Countless times the words sat on the tip of his tongue, only to be forcefully swallowed back down with every mouthful of plain white rice. In Qingzhou Village, autumn truly was a season of harvest. Under the brilliant autumn sun, every household had bamboo baskets, winnowing trays, and sieves spread across doorsteps, backyards, and front yards alike. Drying inside them were a colorful array of mountain delicacies: black fungus, rock fungus, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, sweet potatoes, wild greens, yams, and all kinds of precious medicinal herbs. Whenever the autumn breeze blew past, a faint, delicate fragrance would gently linger at the tip of the nose. What set Qingzhou Village apart from other villages was that every household also had a few acres of farmland. After the catastrophic flash flood of that year, which had completely devastated the place, the years of tireless toil by these incoming migrants had transformed it into a place of auspicious geomancy. They had even managed to cultivate small patches of rice, rapeseed, wheat, soybeans, and other crops, providing Wuling Town with a rich and varied supply of grain.