73 Division of Labor and Cooperation
Su Ying glanced at the lunch box in her hands with raised eyebrows and said, “What’s the matter?”
Mei Niang laughed and wriggled her slender waist as she sidled up to Su Ying. “Hmm… Little Miss, you’ve already decided to stay here?”
“Yes, the location is not bad.”
“That’s really great. From now on, you and I will be neighbors, Little Miss. Here are some appetizing snacks. I hope you will like them.”
Su Ying accepted the lunch box after taking one glance. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. From now on, we’ll have plenty of chances to help each other. Little Miss, since you are busy, I won’t bother you anymore.”
“Alright.”
Mei Niang turned around and left.
Su Ying opened the lunch box. There were two plates of dark red snacks in the shape of plum blossoms. They smelled cloyingly sweet.
Su Ying took out the snacks from the lunch box and tossed them in front of the alpha wolf leader. “Here, doggy. This is for you.” She would never eat things that came from obscure sources.
The alpha wolf leader raised its head haughtily. After Su Ying had walked away, it lowered its head and sniffed the snacks. Its eyes lit up as it detected a sickly sweet smell. In the blink of an eye, it gobbled down the snacks into its stomach.
“Mistress.”
Su Ying turned around and saw Tian Mu walking towards her.
“What’s wrong?”
Tian Mu held a piece of drawing in his hand and said, “When Mistress went up the mountain to cut wood, Master asked me to think of a blueprint for building a house. I’m done now. Mistress, please take a look and see if it’s okay.”
Su Ying took the drawing and looked at it. The house on the paper wasn’t beautiful, but it was very practical.
“It’s best to add a fence to the outer perimeter to ensure the safety of the people in the courtyard as far as possible.”
“Alright.”
“We only have wood. Can you build this house without using nails?”
When it came to his field of expertise, Tian Mu nodded confidently. “Yes, and I can guarantee that this house is even more stable than a brick house.”
“That’s good. Take the drawing to Xiao Jin and show it to him. If he thinks there’s no problem, you can start work. If you need anything, just tell me. I’ll try my best to fulfill your requirements.”
“Thank you for your trust, Mistress.”
“Mother, are we going to live in this place in the future?”
Su Ying rubbed the older toddler Ji’s head and smiled. “Yes. After Uncle Tian Mu finishes building the house, we won’t have to eat and sleep in the open anymore.”
“As long as Ling can stay by Mother’s side, Ling will go wherever Mother goes.”
“I also want to be with Mother.”
The two little fellows jumped into Su Ying’s arms and hugged her tightly.
Su Ying’s heart was filled with indescribable gentleness at the sight of the two little ones’ reliance on her.
“Mistress, you’re back. Come over and have something to eat first. Tonight I steamed some mixed-grain buns. I also steamed some eggs for you and your family, Mistress.”
Although Su Ying would take out food and ingredients every day, Hea Shouyi didn’t dare to be too extravagant. Before he fully understood the situation here, he wanted to conserve as much food as possible.
Meanwhile, Wang Su and Zhao Neng, who had been sent by Xiao Jin to check on the base camp, had also returned.
When they returned, the two of them immediately reported their findings to Xiao Jin. “Your Highness, we’ve roughly walked around the whole area and found that the houses here are similar to the ones we saw on the way here. The area here isn’t small either. After taking everything into account, its size is comparable to a small town.”
“That’s right. This place is really not small. There are also shops on the streets that sell grain, oil, salt, and other daily necessities, but the price is surprisingly high. One catty of rice is sold for 100 copper coins here.”
“100 copper coins for a catty of rice?” That was almost twenty times the normal price of rice.
“Brown rice is cheaper, but it’s still a few dozen copper coins a catty. The things in the other shops are also very expensive, and the shop owners are very vigilant. When they see that we are unfamiliar faces, they keep trying to get information from us. They won’t say anything useful to us.”
Xiao Jin nodded. “We’ve just arrived. We can take root here first and then take our time to slowly understand the situation here.”
“Yes, Sir.”
After finishing her dinner at night, Su Ying gathered everyone for a meeting, including those who were injured and could not move.
“I will brief all of you about our current situation,” Su Ying said as her eyes swept over the faces of the crowd.
“Whatever you want to say, just say it, Mistress.”
Su Ying nodded and said, “I’ll use this place as a temporary base. I’m only going to ask all of you once. If you’re willing to stay and follow me, you can. But if you’ve chosen to stay, you will have to follow my orders. If you’re not willing to accept this, you can leave tomorrow morning.”
“I’m willing. I’m willing to stay and follow Mistress and Master.” Tian Mu was the first to speak.
Zhang Cuiniang and the others also responded in a similar fashion.
Madam Sun gritted her teeth and didn’t say anything.
Su Ying’s gaze finally landed on her family. “What about you guys?”
Wang Lang immediately said, “Your humble subordinate will be loyal to you forever, Master.”
Madam Sun was displeased the moment she heard this. “What master and subordinate? We’re all exiles now. What high or low status is there to talk about?”
Su Ying looked at Madam Sun with an ambiguous expression. “It seems like Madam Sun is not willing to stay.”
Madam Sun gritted her teeth. “You got our whole family into trouble. Don’t even think about driving us away!”
Su Ying glared at her icily. “Since you don’t want to leave, then you have to listen to me obediently. Don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”
After that, Su Ying didn’t bother with them anymore and started to assign tasks.
Tian Mu couldn’t build the houses by himself.
“From tomorrow onwards, Tian Mu, you will be in charge of house building. The mercenaries led by Number One will be under your command. If they dare to disobey you, tell me immediately.”
Tian Mu nodded. “Yes, Mistress.”
“Aunt Zhao is in charge of looking after the children. Before we have a clear understanding of Tiger Base, we cannot let them leave this open space.”
Aunt Zhao accepted the task solemnly.
“Bai Shuang, Uncle Hea and Aunt Jiang will be responsible for everyone’s daily meals.”
Cheng Ming took care of the injured people like Jiang Yang. As for Zhang Cuiniang and Lin Zhuyu, they were mobile and could go wherever they were needed.
Zhao Neng and Wang Su’s tasks would be arranged by Xiao Jin.
As for Madam Sun and the other three, Wang Furong and Wang Lang were left behind while Madam Sun and her daughter-in-law went to look for water sources.
Madam Sun was not happy when she heard this. Where were they going to find water sources in this place?
After making the necessary arrangements, Su Ying secretly took out some water from her interspatial store to give herself and her children a simple bath.
Just as she was about to go to sleep, she saw Number One and the others dragging the logs of wood back.
The dozens of burly men were all dog-tired, almost flopping down on the ground.
“Let them eat their fill,” Su Ying said to Uncle Hea. “They still have to do manual work for the next few days.”
“Alright.”
Su Ying was about to lie down and sleep when she realized that someone was taking her shoes… No, a wolf was tugging on them.
The alpha wolf leader’s stubborn but fearful eyes seemed to be asking Su Ying where their food was.
Su Ying gave him a tight slap. “Get lost. Go to the back of the mountain to look for food yourself. If you don’t know to come back… Hah!”
The alpha wolf leader only felt a tightening on his neck. He snorted at her, whimpered a bit, and walked away with his tail between his legs.