Lightning bared its fangs and flicked its red tongue as it saw a stranger approaching.
Bai Sheng patted its head. "Lightning, don't be rude. These are my new master and senior brother."
Lightning immediately retracted its tongue, tilted its head, and displayed a friendly serpentine smile. It had been practicing this expression for a long time under Qingfeng's tutelage and was only now grasping some of its essence.
"Tsk, tsk, junior sister, this snake has become a spirit!" Qingfeng exclaimed in surprise. He reached out to pet Lightning's head, but Lightning disdainfully dodged him. It was fine with being friendly, but touching its head? No!
"It is indeed quite intelligent," Bai Sheng chuckled, starting her usual performance. "Master, senior brother, these animals are all from our family and are being looked after by friends in town."
Lu Ye immediately added at the opportune moment, "We gave them silver to take care of them."
Wu Po Po and Qing Feng had no reason not to believe them. They trusted everything this young couple said.
Upon returning to Hongshu Slope just after noon, Bai Sheng and her group were met with another wave of enthusiastic welcome.
Facing the eager gazes of everyone, who seemed to feel as though a thousand autumns had passed in a single day, Bai Sheng cleared her throat and formally introduced Wu Po Po and Qing Feng.
Upon hearing that the old woman before them was the master of the young lady and young master, and that she possessed superb medical skills, and that this handsome young man was their senior brother, everyone began to applaud warmly and couldn't help but shout, "Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome!"
This welcoming ceremony had been practiced when Tutor Ji visited last time, and it was even more natural the second time around.
Wu Po Po and Qing Feng felt truly at home, their hearts warmed by the reception.
Amidst the crowd, Du Min and Feng Pingyuan stared intently at Wu Po Po, their faces etched with shock. Feng Pingyuan quickly suppressed his unusual expression and secretly tugged on Du Min's sleeve, prompting her to reluctantly regain her composure.
Feng Pingyuan subtly told her that it was not a good time to ask questions with so many people around, and that they should wait for an opportunity to speak with Wu Po Po privately later.
After introducing their master and senior brother, Bai Sheng began distributing gifts and snacks to everyone.
Everyone received snacks, including the well-diggers and the children from Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village, and even the shameless Li Qiang and Lu Fengshou.
As it was a day of rest, Tutor Ji also came, and Bai Sheng gave him a gift as well.
Tutor Ji initially felt embarrassed to accept, but thinking that his bathing towel had degenerated into a spiderweb and he had no money to replace it, he accepted it brazenly.
And that new water pouch with straps – he could hang it on himself every day when he went to work at the town yamen, and no longer fear anyone stealing his water.
Sister Bai Sheng truly thought of everything.
Wu Po Po and Qing Feng looked at everything at Hongshu Slope and could hardly imagine that her two newly accepted disciples (junior brothers and sisters) had managed to build such a small home in this desolate desert.
Building houses, digging wells, and leading so many people to survive together…
Everyone here had smiles full of hope on their faces, with not a trace of the hardship of a poor life visible.
A group of children surrounded Bai Sheng, eagerly and loudly telling her how many characters they had learned, each one afraid that Bai Sheng hadn't heard clearly, insisting they were the most capable and well-behaved children.
After showing off their recent studies, they swarmed to Lu Ye to claim credit, saying they had persisted with morning exercises every day and could now hold a firm horse stance.
Lu Ye did not have Bai Sheng's patience. Listening to them boast about themselves, he said calmly, "Since you are all so capable, go run ten more laps."
The children dispersed with a cry. It was the most lively and festive time at home, suitable for frolicking, not for running. Their master's words could be temporarily disregarded.
Even several tall and strong men came over, excitedly rubbing their hands and telling Bai Sheng that they had learned 20 characters in just five or six days, that they were educated now, and no longer illiterate!
After the strong men finished, it was the women's turn. They utilized their unique advantage in chatting and gossiping, surrounding Bai Sheng and recounting every detail of what had happened at Hongshu Slope during this period.
Bai Sheng felt that with them, even if she were to leave Hongshu Slope for ten years, she would know everything about this place.
Wu Po Po and Qing Feng looked at the thriving scene before them and wished to become a part of it as quickly as possible. They had wandered in the Great Xia Kingdom for ten years, and now, they finally had a place to anchor themselves permanently.
Granny Zhong, seeing an old sister of similar age, immediately went to greet her warmly, pulling Wu Po Po along to chat about family matters.
Wu Po Po was not good at chatting but excelled at nodding, smiling, and saying "mm-hmm, mm-hmm, good, good."
Seeing Wu Po Po listen so attentively and with such focus, Granny Zhong instantly felt: in this world, someone understood her. From then on, she also had her own best friend!
Qing Feng was very interested in the well-digging and, dropping his bundle, went to inspect it.
Lu Ye had already been drawn away by Feng Pingyuan and the other men to discuss the important matters of building houses and digging wells. After dealing with everyone, Bai Sheng eagerly went to see the houses and the well.
The walls of the houses had been built, with only the roofs left to be constructed. Looking at the layered stone walls, Bai Sheng felt that Feng Pingyuan was truly an honest person; this house was built too sturdily, it wouldn't collapse even after thousands of years.
The houses faced north and south, and the general layout of each room was already established. Besides the living room, there were about 12 rooms. The largest room on the east was the master bedroom. Behind the living room were four rooms, and on the west side were four rooms. The warehouse was on the right side of the main house, next to the master bedroom. On the left side were three auxiliary rooms, one serving as the kitchen and two as guest rooms.
There would be enough rooms for everyone in the family to live in.
They could move in in about ten days, and Bai Sheng was so excited she wanted to fly.
She needed to invite Boss Liu quickly to make furniture.
The well had also been dug to a depth of forty to fifty meters, and everything had proceeded smoothly so far, with no safety accidents.
The well-digging masters politely called her "owner" when they saw Bai Sheng, and the children from Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village followed suit.
Li Qiang and Lu Fengshou also shamelessly joined the crowd.
In the afternoon, Bai Sheng asked Tian Guihua and Liu Shi to kill a few chickens and rabbits to treat everyone to a good meal that evening. In a few more days, the chickens raised in her spatial realm would start laying eggs. Then she would find a way to get the eggs out into the open, and everyone could have an egg every day.
Tian Guihua and Liu Shi felt that Bai Sheng must be very tired after her journey and having just returned home, so they absolutely refused to let her do any of the work. Tian Guihua brought a stool for Bai Sheng to sit on, telling her she only needed to supervise and direct them.
Bai Sheng also wanted to train a few people to cook so she could delegate the tasks later. She immediately decided to train Tian Guihua and Liu Shi to become master chefs.
Chicken stewed soup, spicy rabbit meat, and then fried pancakes with dried vegetable pancakes.
The workers, seeing Liu Shi wielding a cleaver, killing chickens and butchering rabbits, thought about the feast they would have that night and immediately felt a surge of strength.