He has a spatial ability and saves three children on his escape route.

Chapter 66 Farming Earthworms

"Dad, I've brought you a holiday gift."

Wen Zibai walked into the courtyard with a bundle slung over his shoulder, a large piece of pork belly in his left hand, and two old hens in his right. He was all smiles.

The bundle contained new clothes that Zhang had sewn for Wen Dashan.

Thanks to Wen Yuxia, the Wen brothers earned a lot of money from burning charcoal, and Zhang was willing to spend money on New Year's gifts for Wen Dashan.

"Father, Father, where are you?"

As he entered the courtyard, he saw Old Lady Wen sitting in the main room, lost in thought. However, Wen Zibo didn't want to pay her any attention. He called out to her as he walked towards the backyard.

Old Mrs. Wen rolled her eyes in dissatisfaction. Although she and her husband had moved into Wen Dashan's house, the Wen brothers never greeted them directly.

"Second Uncle!" Wen Yunhong skipped and hopped out of the room, calling out cheerfully.

Wen Zibo turned around and smiled, "Your second aunt made new clothes for you and your brother. Go to your second uncle's house and try them on to see if they fit."

"Second Uncle, Grandpa is in the backyard. My sister and I will go find Second Aunt right away," Wen Yunhong said, then turned and called into the house, "Sister, come out quickly, let's go to Second Uncle's house to try on new clothes."

"They've arrived," Wen Yuxia said, carrying the New Year's gifts she had brought for Yang Shi and Wen Zibai from the main room.

When Old Lady Wen saw Wen Yuxia carrying away three pieces of pork and three pieces of mutton, she said with heartache, "Da Ya, why are you taking so much?"

Wen Yuxia said calmly, "I've prepared four New Year's gifts. I'm going to my second uncle's house to try on new clothes, and I'll also deliver the gifts to my eldest aunt and third uncle while I'm at it."

After saying that, he shouldered the sack without changing his expression and walked out. After carrying away the three sacks of grain, he carried away three baskets of vegetables. Wen Yunhong also helped to take out three bolts of cotton cloth and six boxes of pastries from the main room.

After the siblings drove away in their mule cart, Old Mrs. Wen muttered angrily, "Ungrateful wretch! All they know is how to take things out. They can easily carry a 50-pound bag of rice. I don't know where they got their superhuman strength from..."

"Old woman, what are you nagging about again! Be careful what you say," Old Master Wen said, hearing his wife's grumbling as he entered the room.

Grandpa Wen knew that he and his wife had favored Wen Zhihua in the past and owed Wen Dashan a debt. He wouldn't care how Wen Zibai and the others treated them now.

The old woman usually doesn't talk about Wen Dashan's children and grandchildren behind their backs, but today she dared to gossip about Wen Yuxia. Doesn't she know that Wen Yuxia is the most precious person in Wen Dashan's family?

Old Mrs. Wen said aggrievedly, "Old man, Da Ya took away all the grain, meat, vegetables, cotton cloth, and snacks from the house. Wen Zibo's wife made new clothes for Da Ya and her siblings but not for us..."

Grandpa Wen said nonchalantly, "The things that Daya brought back must have included Wen Zibai and the others. When have they ever considered us when buying new clothes for the second son?"

The Wen brothers weren't filial to them, but Wen Dashan was. Every time the Wen brothers bought Wen Dashan new clothes, Wen Dashan would take out money to buy them ready-made clothes in town.

Old Master Wen was afraid that Old Lady Wen's temper would flare up and she would argue with Wen Zibo and the others, so he kindly comforted her.

Then he said, "Go cook, Da Ya and the others are back, make a few more dishes."

Old Mrs. Wen was no longer upset. She carried the remaining piece of mutton to the kitchen, muttering, "I'm making mutton hot pot tonight. Old man, help me carry the bamboo basket into the kitchen."

Yang, Zhang, and Hua all made new clothes for Wen Dashan. Wen Yuxia felt she should also give him a ready-made garment, so she closed the door and searched through her storage space for clothes her grandfather had worn before.

Thermal underwear, sweaters, wool coats… none of these were suitable. Finally, her gaze fell upon the three neatly folded fur coats on the top shelf of the wardrobe.

Mink coats were too conspicuous, so Wen Yuxia indeed gave up on the two mink coats and reached for the pure black dog fur coat instead.

After dinner, Wen Yuxia avoided Grandpa Wen and his wife, quietly slipped into Wen Dashan's room, and took out a dog-skin coat.

He whispered, "Grandpa, this is a leather coat I had someone sew for you. Try it on and see if it's warm enough."

"Warm, warm," Wen Dashan said happily as he put on his leather jacket and gently stroked the dog's shiny black fur.

"Grandpa, how are you getting along with Great-Grandpa and the others?" Wen Yuxia asked with concern.

Wen Dashan smiled and said, "They're both treating me very well now."

He was telling the truth. Every day, Old Master Wen would go with him to the fields to weed and loosen the soil, while Old Mrs. Wen would stay home to do laundry, cook, feed the chickens, and occasionally go to the hillside to collect firewood.

What made him happiest was that Wen Zhihua had secretly gone to see Old Lady Wen to ask for food, but was scolded and driven away by her.

Wen Yuxia knew that the old man and his wife's condition for Wen Dashan was that Wen Dashan's family was better off than Wen Zhihua's family.

If one day Wen Zhihua and Wen Zicai both pass the imperial examination and become scholars, or if Wen Zhihua earns more money than Wen Dashan, the old man and his wife will definitely leave Wen Dashan without looking back.

"Grandpa, we're going back now. We'll come back to see you again when we have time."

After the New Year, Wen Yuxia couldn't stay still. There were still a lot of things to do at the farm. So, after breakfast, she left Xinghua Village with Wen Yunhong.

"Miss, you're back!" Upon learning that Wen Yuxia and her brother had returned to the farm, Yang Zhuangtou hurried to the main courtyard to pay his respects to Wen Yuxia.

Before the Lunar New Year, he had already contacted the village chiefs of several surrounding villages. Lingyuan Village, Lingdong Village, and Lingtong Village each needed 250 pear trees, 250 apricot trees, 1 wild grapevines, and 50 jujube trees. He asked the village chiefs to inform the villagers to go into the mountains to dig them up.

In recent days, the pear trees, apricot trees, jujube trees, and grapevines donated by the villagers have been planted on the designated hillside according to the spacing requested by Wen Yuxia.

The grapevines covered ten acres, the pear and apricot trees each covered five acres, and the jujube trees were not planted in a separate area but were planted around the main courtyard and the mud-brick houses where the servants lived.

"Chief Lin, you did a great job," Wen Yuxia praised without reservation.

Lin Zhuangtou asked in a simple and honest manner, "Miss, could we use the space of about ten feet between the trees to grow vegetables?"

In the past, mountainous areas didn't require special management. Every year, some vegetable and grass seeds were sown and allowed to grow freely. The vegetables were used to feed chickens, and the grass was used to feed pigs.

Now that the mountainous area has been developed into a unified planning park, what will we use to feed the chickens and pigs? We can't just send people to the barren mountains in the surrounding villages to harvest crops every day!

Yesterday, Wu Gang, the head of Lingdong Village, and Huang Dali, the head of Lingtong Village, came to Lingyuan Village to ask if the spacing between fruit trees could be used to grow vegetables.

Greenhouse vegetables, fruit trees, and pig farming are Wen Yuxia's three paths to wealth. She doesn't want to prioritize one over the other, and in order to save land, she's planting vegetables in her orchard.

"The fruit from wild fruit trees is small and sour; only grafted fruit trees can produce large, sweet fruit... Vegetables must not be planted in the orchard, and weeds must be completely cleared away."

Wen Yuxia instructed Lin Youmu to scatter grass seeds along both sides of the official road outside the manor. She then told Lin Youmu that she had seen a plant on the mountain whose leaves could be used to feed chickens and pigs, and whose roots buried underground could provide sustenance.

"Miss, what does that plant look like? Could you draw a picture for me? I'll take some people into the mountains to find it," Lin Youmu said excitedly.

The plant Wen Yuxia was referring to was sweet potato, which does indeed grow on the mountain. She had seen it in the mountains when she lived in Dawan Village before, and she even dug up several dozen kilograms of it and put them into her spatial storage.

“This plant will only sprout seedlings after the spring equinox. I’ll personally lead a team to find them then,” Wen Yuxia paused slightly before continuing, “I’ve heard of a method for cultivating earthworms. Would you like to try it?”

"Yes," Lin Youmu replied excitedly.

“Wu Zhuangtou and Huang Zhuangtou should also be interested in raising earthworms, right? Why don’t you ask them to come over and learn together?” Wen Yuxia planned to teach them all at once once everyone arrived.

They grafted fruit trees, raised earthworms, and prepared daily eye exercises and radio calisthenics for the children. They also made all sorts of unusual pastries and a clay oven.

The young lady is young but has many ideas. Perhaps, following her will really ensure a good meal. Lin Youmu thought to himself as he drove the oxcart out of the farm.