Su Muqing told the manager that the workers' future meals would be standardized according to this. The staple food was two large steamed buns for each meal, and two dishes would be prepared, preferably one meat and one vegetarian. They were doing manual labor, so they couldn't be treated poorly when it came to food.
Then she added that if they couldn't finish it, they could take it home for their families. However, they were absolutely not allowed to not eat and work on an empty stomach. If anyone did that and was discovered, they would be immediately dismissed and never rehired!
The manager nodded, stuffed a bun soaked in soup into his mouth, and reluctantly glanced at the two pots of fish soup on the table. He gritted his teeth and turned to instruct the workers.
Wan Yan'er and Ke Bína ate with great joy. The taste of the dishes personally made by Su Muqing was beyond words. The most important thing was that they had caught fish together, and perhaps the fish in this pot was one they had caught themselves.
Leng Ren and Leng Feng also ate with great satisfaction. Since meeting Miss Su, eating had become a pleasure. Even Lu Yuzhi, who had once suffered greatly from eating, was sweating on his forehead.
After a meal of steamed buns soaked in fish soup, everyone rested for a while at noon. During this time, the five large pots on the stove kept boiling water. After the water cooled, Su Muqing added a few drops of concentrated mint juice to each pot, making the water more refreshing and thirst-quenching.
After resting for about an hour, everyone resumed their work at half past one.
Once the location of the waterwheel was determined, the workers began laying the foundation. The carpenters divided the labor, meticulously grinding and assembling the parts needed for the waterwheel according to the blueprints. The remaining people demarcated the general routes of the irrigation ditches around the land.
Everyone was working with great enthusiasm and passion. Lu Yuzhi and the others were overseeing the work, and Wan Yan'er found it rather boring to stay there, so she pulled Su Muqing along to visit Mount Qingyang.
Seeing that her help was not needed for the moment, and since she hadn't hunted in a while, Su Muqing decided to see if she could encounter any large prey to bring back for everyone to have an extra meal!
She thought of the two wild boars she had hunted on the mountain earlier and stored in her space, as well as the many animals the eagle had caught. If she couldn't find anything suitable later, she would throw a large prey into the forest and then pretend to encounter it.
Seeing that everyone was busy, the two of them didn't disturb anyone else and had the eagle take them to the foot of Mount Qingyang. Lu Yuzhi saw the two girls being carried away by the eagle and thought they were returning to the manor to rest because it was too hot, so he didn't ask further questions.
The eagle carried them for a while, flying at a low altitude. Su Muqing thought the eagle was looking for the best spot to put them down, but it actually dropped them directly into a patch of rocky terrain at the highest point of the mountain.
Wan Yan'er looked at the bare, strange rock formations, felt the scorching heat from above, and stepped on the hot stones under her feet. She genuinely wanted to say, "Eagle, thank you to your entire family!"
Su Muqing had seen it from the sky earlier. The entire middle part of this mountain was bare, exposed directly to the sun, much like a receding hairline in her previous life, giving a comical and strange impression.
After dropping them off, the eagle flew away cheerfully. Since they were already there, it wasn't worth turning back. The two of them could only walk along the edge of the rock cluster towards the forest on one side, to see if there were any rare treasures inside.
The trees in the jungle were tall and thick, clearly having grown for many years. After accumulated growth, the surrounding open ground was covered with thick layers of dead branches and leaves. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling the decaying leaves with light, and the ground felt soft underfoot, making rustling sounds.
They walked further into the jungle for about half an hour. The environment here was more humid and cold, with green vines climbing everywhere. Wan Yan'er's attention was drawn to some grasses growing by the vines, and she quickly walked to a large tree.
Su Muqing, on the other hand, was completely captivated by the deadwood lying horizontally and vertically in front of her. She glanced at Wan Yan'er, who was frantically digging for grass, and then turned to the deadwood.
She couldn't help but reach out and touch a particularly peculiar-looking piece of deadwood on the ground. The wood was entirely black, and its surface was smooth and glossy, as if it had been professionally polished.
Su Muqing glanced at Wan Yan'er in the distance and, seeing that she wasn't looking her way, quickly collected the piece of wood into her space before continuing to examine the others.
Although the color of this wood was not as dark, the trunk was decayed yet intact, with amber-like resin solidified on it. A faint scent of wood could be smelled from a distance.
Su Muqing thought of something and couldn't help but feel a little excited. Could these be the legendary agarwood?
She opened the detector in her space, selected "detect other species," and scanned the deadwood in front of her one by one. The results made Su Muqing very satisfied.
She even suspected if she had been a koi spirit transformed into a human. Otherwise, why would she encounter rare treasures wherever she went?
These deadwood had indeed condensed into agarwood, and the detector also indicated that the overall quality was very high after hundreds or thousands of years of sedimentation.
It was known that this item, whether in ancient times or modern times, was extremely expensive. Moreover, much of what was on the market in the modern world was fake. Therefore, genuine thousand-year-old agarwood could be considered priceless.
Now that she had obtained so much at once, if she sold even a small segment of it, it could fetch tens of thousands of gold. It was easy to imagine the immense fortune she would make if she sold all of it.
It seemed that she would have to find trading partners in modern dimensions when she had time and sell some of these good items.
With this thought, Su Muqing looked up at Wan Yan'er again and saw that she was still digging for grass. With a wave of her small hand, she also collected the few largest pieces of wood with the best sedimentation into her space and then stood up to return to Wan Yan'er.
As she walked, she also tested the pitch-black piece of wood from her space. The results of the test made her even more overjoyed.
This piece of wood turned out to be ebony! Moreover, even the detector could not accurately determine its specific tree age, meaning it was at least a thousand years old!
Looking at the pile of wood in her space, Su Muqing grinned from ear to ear. She could see that mountain of wood turning into a mountain of gold. She was truly rich today!
Su Muqing suppressed her inner excitement, then walked over to Wan Yan'er and squatted down to look at her. "Yan'er, what are you digging for here? You've been digging for so long!"
Wan Yan'er replied to Su Muqing while digging the soil with her dagger. "Look, this is Rhodiola. It's a very precious medicinal herb. My maternal grandfather had a serious illness a long time ago, and half of his body couldn't move. If it weren't for this medicine, his life might not have been saved. That's why I have firmly remembered the drawing of Rhodiola the doctor made."
"So that's how it is. However, your maternal grandfather's family is in Withers City, which is one of the top noble families. It shouldn't be difficult to find a few medicinal herbs there, right?" After hearing Wan Yan'er's words, Su Muqing also took out a small dagger from her satchel and began to dig with her.
"It wouldn't have been difficult! But you don't know, there's no Rhodiola in Withers City. The first time I saw it, I thought I was mistaken. Those noble families aren't like you imagine; there are too many dirty things inside... Oh! Let's not talk about that! Today is really lucky! I want to take all of this back to Withers City for my maternal grandfather." A complex expression flickered across Wan Yan'er's face, then she changed the subject and smiled happily.
Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, Su Muqing didn't ask further. "Okay! Then I'll dig with you. Let's dig more, and after we get back to the city, we can find a pharmacist to process it for you, so it's convenient for you to take it back."
"Yes! Okay. I was a bit upset that the eagle dropped us here earlier, but I really need to thank it later." Wan Yan'er thought about how she had wanted to beat the eagle just now, but now she had changed her mind. She found herself amusing.
The two of them squatted and dug for a while longer. Su Muqing tied up all the Rhodiola she had dug and placed it aside, then took out her water bottle from her waist and washed her hands.
After the two of them washed and dried their hands, Wan Yan'er carried the bundled Rhodiola and continued to walk deeper. "Has someone been here? Look, these imprints on the ground are still fresh."
Wan Yan'er pointed to the ground, and Su Muqing turned her head to look. Were these not the imprints left by the deadwood she had just collected into her space?
"Oh, maybe!" Su Muqing glanced casually and then continued forward. Wan Yan'er also just asked casually and didn't take the matter to heart.
They walked further ahead for a while, and suddenly! A rustling sound came from the grass in front. Su Muqing frowned and reached out to stop Wan Yan'er, who was still walking forward.
Wan Yan'er: "What's wrong?"
Su Muqing: "Wait! There's movement ahead..."
Wan Yan'er tied the Rhodiola to her back, took out her long whip from her waist, and stared sharply at the grass in front.
Su Muqing nodded at her lightly. Wan Yan'er swung her long whip fiercely. The whip made a "swish~" sound as it cut through the air, and then it forcefully struck the grass.
Immediately after, an angry and ferocious cry came from the grass, and then a rampaging wild boar, with a striking blood-red whip mark on its head, leaped out of the grass and charged headlong towards the two women.
"Be careful!" Su Muqing, seeing the enraged wild boar, put her arm around Wan Yan'er's waist and leaped onto a large tree in front.
The wild boar, unable to hit the attacker, let out angry "grunt grunt~" roars, frantically digging its hooves into the ground and spinning around to search for them.
"Don't move around, I'll deal with it." Su Muqing instructed Wan Yan'er and quietly moved behind the wild boar.
The moment her feet touched the ground, two sharp short knives fell from her sleeve. Su Muqing, holding the knives in both hands, quietly leaped up from behind the wild boar and fiercely stabbed its back.
The wound on the boar's face was still stinging, and a sharp pain came from its back. Under such heavy damage, the wild boar's resistance became even more intense.
It twisted its body at a strange angle to look behind, its eyes bloodshot, and it panted heavily, exhaling saliva with each breath. Su Muqing could see the saliva sprayed with its breaths.
The wild boar quickly changed direction and charged towards Su Muqing. Its scarlet eyes, coupled with the scar on its face, made it look like a ferocious beast from hell!
As it charged, Su Muqing did not dodge. Instead, she bent her knees, lowered her body, and leaned back, raising her pair of daggers above her head, crossing them, and stabbing towards the wild boar's softest spot, the abdomen. She slashed the daggers twice in the opposite direction of the wild boar.
The moment the wild boar landed, its steps were unsteady, and it staggered a couple of steps before crashing to the ground, lying diagonally on the thick dead branches and decaying leaves, panting heavily.
Seeing that the fight on this side was over, Wan Yan'er slid down from the big tree. She patted the dust off her clothes and peeked cautiously, asking, "Muqing, is it dead?"
"Not yet, but it looks like it will be soon."
Su Muqing stepped forward and kicked the wild boar to turn it over. Its cut-open belly was exposed to the two of them. Although the wound was quite deep, it was not very long, so the wild boar's internal organs had not fallen out.
Seeing the blood splashing on the ground, Su Muqing was worried about attracting other wild beasts in the forest, so she blew her whistle to call the eagle.
The two of them waited by the wild boar for a while. Strangely, the eagle did not appear as quickly as before. Su Muqing felt a bit strange. Had something happened to it?
"Let's go," Su Muqing turned and pulled Wan Yan'er's hand towards the rocky terrain.
"Muqing, what's wrong? Aren't we waiting for the eagle?" Wan Yan'er was pulled and stumbled, not knowing what had happened.
"I don't know, it might be held up by something. Let's wait for it over there!" Su Muqing pulled her along, walking and flying.
Suddenly, she pulled Wan Yan'er up onto a large tree. "Wait for me here! I dropped something. Don't wander off! I'll be right back."
"What did you drop? Where are you going?" Wan Yan'er shouted after her, but she had already flown far away.
Su Muqing sped up to the place where she had encountered the wild boar earlier. Just as she was about to collect it into her space, a "chirp~" sound came from the sky.
It was the eagle's voice! Su Muqing raised her hand, collected the wild boar into her space, then flew into mid-air. She took the wild boar out of her space and threw it into the sky. The eagle swooped down, its claws digging fiercely into the wild boar's flesh and skin.
Seeing that it had a firm grip, Su Muqing instructed it, "Take the wild boar back first. I'll go find Yan'er, and you can come to the rocky slope later to pick us up."
The eagle obediently grabbed the wild boar and flew away. Su Muqing flew to where she had left Wan Yan'er.
"Muqing! You're back! You don't know, a particularly thick black snake just slithered past here, it scared me to death!" Wan Yan'er patted her chest with lingering fear, thinking of the thick black snake, as thick as a thigh.
"Are you alright? The eagle has already taken the wild boar away. Let's go, we'll wait for it to pick us up at the rocky slope." Su Muqing stepped forward, put her arm around her slender waist, and then flew to the boundary between the forest and the rocky slope.