After Qian Zhaodi's family left, everyone returned to the dining table.
This was just a minor interlude and did not affect everyone's pleasant mood about moving into their new home, so the banquet continued.
The meal lasted until mid-afternoon, with everyone eating and chatting happily.
Lu Ye got drunk and looked at Bai Sheng with stars in his eyes.
Bai Sheng, afraid he would pounce on her and "nibble" her in front of everyone, immediately had Feng Pingyuan help him back to his room to sleep.
Lu Ye slumped on Chen Pingyuan's shoulder, mumbling, "Good boy, give me a kiss."
Feng Pingyuan, almost unable to stand from the mushy words, shouted, "I am not your good boy!" and threw him onto the bed before fleeing as if escaping.
The people in the living room burst into laughter.
Bai Sheng was mortified and resolved never to let this lecherous man drink again.
Although they hadn't reached the final step during this period, all other steps had been thoroughly executed.
Lu Ye wanted to hug her countless times a day, nibble her countless times, truly a clingy little sprite.
Shaking off her thoughts, Bai Sheng called Feng Pingyuan and Du Min over to discuss how to plan the area around the house.
Feng Pingyuan was still quite surprised to hear that Bai Sheng wanted to plant trees on Red Tree Slope. Even though water had been found in the well, planting trees here was almost impossible.
This was a desert, with sand accounting for nearly ninety percent of the composition. Tree saplings planted here would be unable to absorb any moisture, and the scorching sun and hot sand would soon turn tender sprouts into dry firewood.
Bai Sheng chuckled, "It's good that Brother Feng can think of these problems, but problems exist to be solved. If one always dissuades themselves with imagination before trying, many things will stagnate."
Feng Pingyuan thought for a moment and suddenly felt that her words made sense. He was too afraid of difficulties. Since the madam could dig a well in the desert, what was planting trees?
As a grown man, he was not as resilient as a woman!
Du Min pinched Feng Pingyuan's ear and chided, "Brother Yuan, whatever the madam says, you do it. Why do you have so many questions?"
Feng Pingyuan chuckled, "Min'er is right. From now on, I will never question what the madam says again."
Bai Sheng immediately said, "That won't do. I hope Brother Feng and Sister Du will always tell me the truth. If there's anything I do wrong, you must point it out directly."
Du Min narrowed her eyes and smiled, perfunctorily saying, "Don't worry, we will, we will."
Her precious cousin had no flaws, and even if the cousin wanted the stars from the sky, she would go and get them for her!
Ji Chenghao had a very good tolerance for alcohol; he could drink Lu Ye under the table and still only be slightly tipsy. Seeing that he was clear-headed, Bai Sheng went up to ask him if there was anywhere in Tianshui Town that sold saplings.
Ji Chenghao shook his head with a bitter smile. It had been almost two years of drought, and people barely had water to drink, so who would be willing to use water to cultivate saplings?
Ji Chenghao asked her why she wanted saplings. Bai Sheng smiled and said she planned to plant trees and transform the environment around Red Tree Slope.
When Ji Chenghao heard this, although he greatly admired Bai Sheng's beautiful aspirations, he was skeptical of her methods.
Could saplings survive in this arid desert?
It would probably be a laughing matter if spread around.
However, Ji Chenghao did not dampen Bai Sheng's spirits and promised to keep an eye out for her.
At noon, the children had eaten too much, and their insides had to make room urgently.
Lu Yun suddenly felt a strong urge to defecate and roared to his brothers, "Brothers, who's going to poop with me?"
"Me!"
"Me!"
"And me!"
...
Tian Dou, Tie Zhu, Lu Yu, and the boys from Hongliu Village and Caomiao Village all raised their hands.
Heroism was deeply ingrained in every boy's heart. Going to poop in a line together was very imposing, wasn't it!
Led by Lu Yun, six or seven boys ran out proudly to relieve themselves.
There were no latrines built yet, so everyone went to a secluded sand dune, dug a hole, and buried their waste.
Looking at the army of poopers lined up in the distance on the sand dune, Bai Sheng narrowed her eyes slightly.
What they were pooping out wasn't just waste, it was fertilizer!
To plant trees, the soil quality of the sand needed to be improved first, and fertilizer was essential.
Alas, it was such a shame that six or seven fresh piles of manure were so easily taken by those dung beetles.
She had to build a septic tank quickly!
Bai Sheng planned to build the septic tank rectangularly, with a toilet on each of the two longer sides, a men's toilet on the left and a women's toilet on the right. The excrement from both toilets could be collected in the septic tank.
To prevent the children from falling in, it would be covered with wooden planks.
Feng Pingyuan had strong execution skills. After understanding Bai Sheng's intentions, he immediately led several strong men to start building a septic tank about two hundred meters away from the house.
From now on, not a single drop of everyone's feces and urine would be wasted.
To manage the septic tank well, Bai Sheng appointed Lu Yun, who had strong leadership skills, as the "Chief of Feces," and gave him a monthly salary of 60 copper coins. Other children who found five piles of feces daily would be rewarded with one copper coin.
The children were excited when they heard this, never expecting that finding feces could earn them money.
Lu Yun was delighted to be given such important responsibilities by his sister-in-law, but he felt that the name "Chief of Feces" was not imposing enough and wanted to change it. Bai Sheng's eyes twinkled, and she immediately changed it to "Feces General."
This pleased Lu Yun immensely. Every day, he led his "feces soldiers" to guard the septic tank, keeping a close watch on everyone who went to the latrine to ensure their feces actually went into the septic tank.
The feces soldiers ran all over the village to collect excrement. To make it easier for them to carry the feces, Bai Sheng also asked Grandma Zhong to weave each of them a feces basket.
As the adults at Red Tree Slope were questioned daily by the children asking "Do you want to poop?", Bai Sheng issued a new policy: their own feces would not be counted for money. This finally resolved the adults' daily annoyance of being rushed for their waste.
However, when people heard that the madam was collecting feces, they were reluctant to relieve themselves casually. No matter how urgent the need, they would hold on and go to the latrine 200 meters away to excrete.
Thinking of the many animals and reptiles in her space, Bai Sheng secretly entered it again.
Using stones and mortar, she built a 30-square-meter septic tank in a secluded corner.
The chicken coop and rabbit hutch already had a lot of droppings, so she used her mind to transfer them all into the septic tank and then had Hengen notify all the creatures to defecate and urinate in the septic tank from now on.
To prevent small crawling insects from falling into the septic tank, Bai Sheng built a septic tank cover out of bamboo, leaving a hole the size of a palm on the top as an entrance for feces and urine.
In addition to feces and urine as manure, Bai Sheng also set her sights on the dirt and grime on people.
At Red Tree Slope, except for her and Lu Ye, who bathed in the space daily, everyone else hadn't taken a proper bath in years. The dirt washed off their bodies would surely fertilize two mu of land.
The water well had not yet produced water.
Bai Sheng could not collect bathwater on a large scale yet.
However, the third sister-in-law's could be accumulated first. After moving into the new house, the bedding in each room was new, so the third sister-in-law had to shower diligently every day.
Bai Sheng placed a large jar in each of their rooms to serve as a bathtub.