It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 213

Thinking of the two hard-earned croton seeds in her hand, Jiang Yan politely declined Kui Niang's offer: "This thing is too expensive and hard to buy. I have to keep it and take it home to try planting. I'd better take the unused rhubarb."

As soon as Kuiniang heard this, she knew Jiang Yan was just trying to fool her. Earlier, when Jiang Yan was cooking chicken, she'd thrown two of her tiny, blackened croton seeds into the pot and boiled them together, only to fish them out after a short while. It was hard to say whether they were effective, but the beans were definitely dead.

Others didn't pay much attention, and they also thought rhubarb was good. It grew in large patches in the fields, was cheap and easy to use, and almost everyone who worked in the fields knew about it and would pick it and eat it when needed. But they couldn't eat too much, as uncontrolled dehydration could be fatal.

In the afternoon, they squeezed out the juice and spread it layer by layer on the chicken, then added some crushed sugar and sweet root juice to reduce the bitterness. You are guaranteed to have stomach pain and diarrhea after eating a few bites.

It’s just… “We don’t have meat or sugar right now, how can we possibly get them to eat rhubarb on their own initiative?”

"Then let's think of another way."

At Chouzheng, Jiang Yan and his group stopped stealthily at the foot of a section of the city wall, vigilantly observing the movements around them while their men kept prying the yellow bricks apart.

After walking along the city wall for nearly half an hour, they stumbled upon a narrow hole. The entrance wasn't large, and Jiang Yan saw it was only wide enough for a six or seven-year-old child or a small animal to crawl through.

Given the choice between forcing their way out of the city by subduing the gatekeepers or climbing through a dog hole, the crowd unsurprisingly chose the latter. A head-on confrontation with the county government officials would require immense courage and strength, and they weren't confident of that yet.

Mr. Fang and two of the new members had been recruited to build city walls when they were young, so their expertise was relatively relevant and they took the initiative to take on the task of demolishing the wall.

Facing Jiang Yan's questions like "Is the city wall particularly thick?" and "Are there any hidden trenches outside the city?", Mr. Fang thought carefully for a long time before finally answering with certainty, "I haven't seen any. The city wall is at most three inches thicker than a farmer's house wall."

Jiang Yan felt relieved. She still remembered the extremely thick and tall city walls of Heding Prefecture. Although they ultimately failed to withstand external attacks, just looking at them did give people a full sense of security.

However, the demand has changed now, and the sense of security provided by thin walls means that it is less difficult to pry them open.

The "wall-demolishing gang" took turns working under guidance, working until dawn, and only then did they enlarge the hole to a point where even the largest member could crawl through.

Jiang Yan wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, and then Madam Li went out of the city.

After Kui Niang, who chose to take the last action because she didn't want to be seen crawling in a panic, came out successfully, Jiang Yan thought for a moment and picked up the yellow bricks scattered on the ground, trying to close the hole again.

The others did not understand Jiang Yan's behavior, but since they had been tired for a long time and it was not safe to travel before dawn, they simply sat down against the wall and rested.

The yellow bricks at the original hole could not be removed, so Jiang Yan searched along a short section of the city wall and found some broken yellow bricks that should have been discarded or left over from the previous wall construction, as well as some flat stones, which he used to fill the hole.

Unless you look at it closely, it can barely be called "flawless".

Jiang Yan was very satisfied with her restoration results. She picked up a slightly sharp stone and wrote four big words that she had been thinking about for a long time under the flamboyant inscription above the cave entrance - "Safety Exit", and casually drew three little people holding hands and jumping for joy.

Jiang Yan's calligraphy immediately attracted everyone's attention. It was truly remarkable for ordinary people to be able to recognize a few characters these days, let alone write so fluently.

The praise group, represented by Mr. Fang, was immediately ready, and they gave Jiang Yan simple praise one after another, praising her so much that she was digging her toes into the ground.

Help.

She wanted to set off back to Dongshan Village immediately.