"Auntie Zhao, is this enough for one jin?"
"Auntie Zhao, my elder sister and I picked a whole basket. How many chicken eggs do you think we can exchange for it?"
"I also picked a basket. My mother said it's two jin, so can I exchange it for two chicken eggs?"
Cheng Loanloan looked at the three or four large baskets, seven or eight small baskets, and more than ten bags in front of her, all filled with huashi seeds. Visually, it was at least twenty jin.
The labor capacity of these children was truly astonishing. It seemed that in the future, if there was this kind of work, she could directly hire some children from the village.
She called Zhao Sanniu over and told the boy to help carry the huashi seeds back. He carried one basket on his back and one in front, holding four small baskets in each hand. The rest were given to Zhao Sidan to carry. The two brothers had quite a harvest to bring down the mountain.
Cheng Loanloan smiled and said to the children in front of her, "Our hens can only lay four eggs a day, so only four children can come to collect eggs each day. How about we let the younger children collect the eggs first, okay?"
Wang Damai was very sensible. "I'll take mine last."
Wang Xiaomai also nodded. "I'll also take mine last."
Zhou Huzi licked his lips. "Then I'll also wait until the last day."
Cheng Loanloan thought she would have to spend a lot of effort persuading them, but she didn't expect these sensible children to be so humble on their own initiative.
She smiled sweetly and said, "Then, if Auntie needs to pick lantern grass again in the future, I'll come find you all."
One egg for one jin of huashi seeds was truly a great deal.
If ice stones could be sold for money in this era, she wouldn't mind increasing it to two eggs for these children.
Night gradually fell.
Some children who couldn't endure it followed their older brothers and sisters down the mountain, while the women remained on the mountain holding torches.
Cheng Loanloan stayed by Zhao Dashan and Zhao Ergou's side the whole time, occasionally offering them some water to drink. Although they weren't her own children, she still felt a little heartache.
The village chief also stayed with everyone, sharing their hardships. After all, he was old, and his eyes were strained red. He stood on a large rock and loudly encouraged, "Dig three more zhang and then rest! Everyone, keep going!"
Everything was going very smoothly.
Just as the work was about to conclude, an unexpected incident occurred.
Wang Yongcheng plunged his shovel down and hit something hard. This wasn't the first time this had happened. There were many rocks on the mountain, so hitting something hard was very normal. Just move to the side and clear the rock out, it wasn't a big deal.
Wang Yongcheng changed positions and continued to dig, still hitting something hard. It seemed this rock was a bit large. He moved several steps in a row but still couldn't get past it. This rock was much larger than he had imagined.
With this obstruction, the entire process was affected. A group of elders gathered around, digging vigorously with their shovels, and ended up digging out five zhang.
Five zhang, that rock could be about sixteen meters large, which was equivalent to a boulder that couldn't be moved by human strength.
Cheng Loanloan's expression was a little serious.
If digging a ditch in modern times encountered a large rock, machinery would be used to break it. But in this era, there was no machinery; everything relied on human strength, and it was fundamentally impossible to move the rock.
There was no way around it either, because to the east was a cliff, and to the west was an ancient forest, with every tree so massive that it would take at least three people to encircle one. Chopping down these trees was simply not an easy task.
The weary workers, who thought they were about to see the light, realized that the difficulties had only just begun.
A ripple of resentment spread through the crowd, then turned into shouts of condemnation.
"I told you, Auntie Zhao is just an ignorant woman. I don't know why we have to listen to her."
"How old is Er Gouzi? Can we really listen to what he says? How can he tell the whole village to dig a ditch?"
"Such a huge rock, even the Heavenly King himself wouldn't know what to do. Village Chief, quickly think of a solution!"
"What other solution could there be? Just go back, wash up, and go to sleep. Let the crops in the fields be. Besides, it's not just our village that's suffering from drought; everyone will starve together..."