Chapter 1

This was a nameless continent. On a sunny day, there were no clouds or wind.

The scorching sun in the sky projected endless rays of light, as if it wanted to roast the entire continent.

Suddenly, from somewhere in the sky, a faint brilliance flashed extremely abruptly, and what appeared with the brilliance was a strange ring.

This ring came from nowhere, and no one knew where it was going. It appeared so suddenly, as if it had just passed through the void, through time and space. With an indescribable speed, it shot towards the mountain peak below. That strange humming sound was short and light.

Usually, anything that flew in from outer space would leave a trail of thick smoke behind it. It was extremely loud, as if it wanted the entire continent to see it and announce its arrival.

Today, this object was different. It only made a sound for a short moment, and then with a long puchi sound, it drilled deep into the rocks of the mountain peak, disappearing without a trace.

This time was extremely short, and it did not cause any reaction. Even the birds nearby did not have time to fly up.

The birds that were slow to react flew up in shock. They only circled a few times in the air, and then fluttered back down. They were minding their own business, and did not know that a mysterious object had appeared on this continent.

After many years, mulberry fields changed. Things remained the same, but people changed. The mountain peak sank year by year, and turned into a mountain slope. Many places also became flat land. Gradually, there were signs of human habitation, and some people even lived around the mountain slope. And this mysterious ring, what exciting story could it bring?

No one knew!

Until today, a thin and small person stood on the left side of the mountain slope …

Zhang Xiaohua was very happy. His face was full of happiness, and he stood on the mountain slope.

His eyes stared passionately at the wasteland in front of him, as if this land was a piece of delicious pork belly.

In fact, rather than calling it a wasteland, it was better to call it a mountain because this piece of land was in the middle of a mountain slope. It was just that this slope was relatively gentle, and only about four percent of the land could be opened up.

But even this piece of land was the result of Zhang Xiaohua's father painstakingly persuading the clan leader for nearly two months.

Zhang Xiaohua also knew that there were many barren mountains in the village, and there was very little land that could grow crops. So everyone wanted to find a place to grow food outside of their original land.

Most of the other people in the village looked for barren land near the river, and his family did not have the money to bribe the clan leader, so they looked further, and looked for places that others did not want. After looking everywhere, their eyes fell on this piece of land..

Zhang Xiaohua's village was called Guozhuang House.

The area was about four miles, and it was surrounded by mountains on two sides. This mountain was not high, and it was more appropriate to call it a hill.

A large river flowed from the entrance of the village. There was a small bridge over the river that connected to a small road in the neighboring village.

There were about forty families living in the Guo Manor. Half of them had the surname Guo. It was a small family.

The people with the surname Guo lived in the middle of the village, and the rest of the people naturally lived scattered around the village.

The people in the village were very simple, but they were also unscrupulous. Most of the matters in the Guozhuang House were handled by the clan leader of the Guo family. Although they lived in the same village, their surnames were different, and when the clan leader handled matters, it was inevitable that he would be biased towards the clan.

The good residential locations in the village, and the good crops outside the village were mostly in the hands of the villagers with the surname Guo.

However, they were still fellow villagers. Although there were many small matters, big disputes had never appeared in the small Guozhuang House, and the people in the Guozhuang House felt that they were living a peaceful life.

Zhang Xiaohua's mother, Guo Sufei, was a member of the Guozhuang House. It was considered a branch of the Guo family, and it was once "glorious". However, in her mother's generation, other than Guo Sufei, there was no other male in the family. Moreover, Zhang Xiaohua's grandfather, Guo Shan, also had a daughter at an old age, and raised her until it was time for her to get married. It was also when the two of them were old, and in order to support the elderly, Zhang Xiaohua's father, Zhang Cai, married into the Guozhuang House.

In fact, although it was called marrying into the family, Guo Shan viewed Zhang Cai in a new light. He even allowed Zhang Cai's son to take the surname Zhang, and never once haggled with Zhang Cai. Therefore, Zhang Cai was even more sincere towards the Guo family.

It was said that the wealth of a rural family was mostly related to the labor in the family. Guo Shan did not have a son, and before Guo Sufei was born, he had always wanted to have a son as his stepfather. However, due to various problems, it did not happen. Thus, the family was supported by Guo Shan alone, and the family's poverty could be seen from this.

Zhang Cai did not disappoint. After he married into the Guo family, he was an expert in farming. In terms of increasing the family's labor, he far surpassed his father-in-law, Guo Shan. One year after the wedding, Guo Sufei was pregnant and gave birth to a grandson for Guo Shan. He was named Zhang Xiaolong.

When Guo Shan and his wife saw the birth of their grandson, they were very gratified.

Just as the family was looking forward to a bright future, Guo Shan fell ill from overwork, and could not leave his bed …

Illness was undoubtedly a disaster for a poor family. In order to treat his father-in-law's illness, Zhang Cai sold all of his valuables. However, he still could not save Guo Shan's life, which was like a candle in the wind. When Zhang Xiaolong was two years old, he passed away suddenly. What made Guo Shan rest in peace was that his second grandson or granddaughter was about to be born. For this reason, before his death, Guo Shan named his children. The boy would be called Zhang Xiaohu, and the girl would be called Zhang Xiaohua.

After Guo Shan passed away, Zhang Cai's mother-in-law's health also deteriorated. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaohu's birth slightly reduced the old woman's grief, and thus, the family's peaceful life was preserved.

The life of a farmer was not about working in the fields or going home to eat.

Their lifeblood was the land. In the past, Zhang Xiaohu's family was not very prosperous, so the land could be used. As Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu grew up, Zhang Cai had always been worried about the land. At the very beginning, he and his wife, Guo Sufei, took Zhang Xiaolong and Zhang Xiaohu to the patriarch's house to kowtow and pay their respects. Perhaps because of Guo Shan's face, the patriarch gave them a small plot of land by the river, which could be considered as solving Zhang Xiaohu's "urgent problem".

Zhang Xiaohua was born when his eldest brother was seven years old. At that time, the family already had two and a half laborers, and the family's poverty situation was slightly alleviated.

Speaking of Zhang Xiaohua's birth, it was quite magical. The weather was originally dry for more than two months, but on the night of Xiaohua's birth, there was a sudden rainstorm. The rainfall in the mountains increased sharply, and the small river outside the village did not even cross the small bridge. The scene was very frightening.

When Guo Sufei gave birth to Xiaohua, she also saw a sky full of flying flowers.

Therefore, Zhang Cai's expectations for Xiaohua were very high.

When he was naming her, he even asked the teachers of the neighboring villages for reference. There were many names such as Zhang Zhen, Zhang Yu, Zhang Xueyou, and so on. However, after picking and choosing, he was dazzled and did not know which one was better.

In the end, when he thought of the sky full of flying flowers and his deceased father, Guo Sufei went against the objections of others and gave Zhang Xiaohua such a popular name. Although Zhang Xiaohua was a standard boy.

At this time, Xiaohua was already twelve years old. Children of farmers always matured early. As early as a few years ago, Xiaohua had already been busy with the affairs of the farm with her father and two brothers.

It was not that Zhang Cai did not think of sending the children to school to learn how to read and write. When they grew up, they would be literate and seek scholarly honors.

However, Guo Village was a small village, and there were not many scholars in the village. They could not afford a small school. The school in the neighboring village belonged to another big family, and the fees for Guo Village's children were high. Xiaolong and Xiaohu could not think about it. At that time, the family was poor, and Zhang Cai wanted to but could not.

When Xiaohua was young, he also sent her to school for a few days. According to the teacher, Xiaohua's aptitude was only average in the school. Even if she tried her best, she would only be literate. If she wanted to seek scholarly honors, it would be like the moon in the water.

Zhang Cai weighed his wallet and looked at Xiaohua's thick eyebrows and big eyes. He gave up on his hopes and brought the children back to Guozhuang House, which was the main occupation of the farmers.

However, Xiaohua's mother seemed to remember the auspicious omen of Xiaohua's birth. From time to time, she would ask the young literate people in the village to teach Xiaohua some things.

Although Xiaohua liked to follow her brother to do farm work, her mother forced her to learn a lot of words. She could read some things, and she could be considered the literate person in the family. As long as it was related to words, Zhang Xiaohua would take care of it.

Today was Zhang Xiaohua's first day of farming alone. Her father had told her yesterday that this piece of land was for her. It was a rice bowl that belonged to her.

Although it was still a piece of land that did not show any signs of farming, Xiaohua remembered that a scholar in the village once said that once you have a goal, you can start. Once you have a start, you are halfway to success!

Once you have success, you are not far away from your hope. And Xiaohua's hope was to eat a piece of pork belly to her heart's content.

The November day was already the beginning of winter. The sun cast a bleak light and heat on the head. The mountain wind blew through the slope, causing the treetops to rustle.

Everything showed the silent desolation.

However, Zhang Xiaohua did not have the time to pay attention to these.

He held the hoe and only blindly worked on this piece of land, working hard to reclaim the land.

According to Zhang Xiaohua's plan, first, they would dig an oval or quadrangular boundary around the land in the middle of the hillside. Then, they would remove the mountain rocks in this piece of land, clean up the small stones, and then deal with the weeds. When it gradually grew into a large scale, they would cultivate the entire field carefully, laying a good foundation for planting seeds.

Farming always took time. When Xiaohua finished cleaning up the surroundings and was ready to remove the large stones in the field, it was already noon.

Xiaohua stopped farming and wiped the sweat on his forehead. He went to the field and took a jar of water prepared by his mother. He gulped down half of the water in the jar. Then, he stretched his body and patted his waist that had not been straightened. He felt a burst of comfort.

Also, although he used to work with his father and brothers, after all, because he was the youngest, everyone did not let him do too much work. He did not feel too tired. Now that he was shouldering all the work, he knew the hardships.

However, when he thought about his grandmother, his mother, his home, and his future, his heart felt that it was very worth it.

Zhang Xiaohua learned to read from the young scholars. Although he was not serious, he often heard them talk about the future, life, love, and so on. He had some impressions. When he was working on weekdays and had nothing to do, he would occasionally think about his life. But soon, he would be defeated by reality and bow his head to face the ground.

Thinking about these at this moment, it was probably a daydream and a leisure time in the midst of work.

Just when Zhang Xiaohua's imagination was running wild, his stomach kept growling. It seemed that it was time to eat.

In the past, he would eat at home with his mother. Now, he was independent and started farming. When he came out in the morning, his mother said that the food would be sent to the field at noon. Looking at the time, it should be here.

Sure enough, a voice came from the bottom of the hill, "Xiaohua ~ Come and help your mother."

There was a steep slope from the bottom of the hill. It was very slippery. The last time he came to see the field, Zhang Cai fell.

Zhang Xiaohua quickly replied, "Mother, wait a moment. I will go down immediately. You don't have to come up first."

When Zhang Xiaohua walked down the hill, he saw his mother. She was holding a bamboo basket and standing on the side of the road waiting for him.

Zhang Xiaohua took the bamboo basket and carefully helped his mother walk up the hill. He let his mother sit on a stone and then lifted the cloth on the basket. Inside was a bowl of streaky pork and a few pieces of coarse flour steamed buns.

Xiaohua sensibly asked his mother if she had eaten. His mother's answer was not unexpected. She had already eaten.

Seeing Xiaohua wolfing down the food, Guo Sufei felt a little distressed. She said to Xiaohua, "Eat slowly. Don't choke. Drink some water quickly."

"Mother, why did you suddenly make streaky pork?" Xiaohua asked.

"Today is your first day working. Your father told me yesterday to make streaky pork as a reward for you."

Xiaohua's mother lovingly looked at her youngest son and said, "It's been hard on you. Xiaohua, you are only 67 years old this year. Look at the children in the neighboring village who are your age. They are still studying in school. You are working in the field alone."

“

Didn't my eldest brother also work separately from my father when he was 65 years old? What am I doing?

Moreover, this land is mine. My second brother shares a piece of land with my eldest brother.

I can't be happier. "

Xiaohua saw that his mother was starting to nag and quickly asked, "What about my grandmother? Did she eat streaky pork?"

"Your grandmother is in her eighties. How can she eat this? I made millet porridge for her."

Xiaohua's mother said, "You only thought of your grandmother now after eating. Your grandmother was thinking about you all morning."

Xiaohua scratched his head embarrassedly. It seemed that he really didn't think so much.

Speaking of Xiaohua's grandmother, Guo Sufei's face was clouded over again.

As the children grew up, the family's life gradually improved. However, Little Blossom's grandmother's health was getting worse and worse. Although eighty years old was considered a rare longevity for people in the countryside, who wouldn't want their elders to accompany them for a longer period of time?

Recently, Xiaohua's grandmother was blind. Guo Sufei and Zhang Cai discussed getting a doctor to take a look. However, Xiaohua's grandmother strongly disagreed. She said that it was normal for someone so old to be blind. She didn't want to spend any more money on it.

The couple couldn't stand the old lady, so they agreed.

Now, the old lady worked hard at home every day. She fed the chickens and pigs in the dark.

Seeing that Xiaohua had finished eating and drinking, Guo Sufei said, "Xiaohua, don't work so much in the afternoon. Come home early. Grandmother misses you.

I still have to send food to your father and brother. "Xiaohua was stunned." Mother, then … I finished the streaky pork. What will Father and Brother eat? "

"It doesn't matter. There are other dishes.

Remember to work less in the afternoon. Don't catch a cold! "

Guo Sufei stroked Xiaohua's head lovingly. She looked at her little son who was so anxious that his face was red. It was as if he was still the little boy who acted spoiled in front of her.

When Zhang Xiaohua helped her mother down the slope and looked at her mother's back, she felt very guilty. Sigh, why did I eat all the streaky pork?