During times of famine: I have a spiritual spring space

Chapter 17 You're Too Weak

Auntie wiped the water off her hands, took the half-bag of corn, and was surprised to find that the corn cobs were still intact. She was amazed at how well the corn had grown.

Finally, Zhuang Liming took out the candy from his pocket and divided it equally between the two little ones.

"This is what your older brother brought back for you, eat up!"

Stone and Little Flower's eyes lit up, and they immediately showed off their treasure to their mother, saying proudly, "Mom, look, this is candy my older brother gave me."

Zhuang Liming thought to himself: He's still too young!

Why not hide it and eat it slowly instead of showing it off to the adults?

Sure enough, the next moment, the candy was taken away by the second aunt, leaving only one for each of them: "Why eat so much candy? Don't you want to lose your teeth? Mom will keep it for you."

The two little ones were dumbfounded, and then burst into tears.

Upon seeing this, Zhuang Liming quickly fled, thinking: "Serves you right for showing off, now look what you've done!"

It's true that making a fortune quietly is the best approach.

He then left without looking back.

No sooner had Zhuang Liming left than his second uncle returned.

After listening to his wife's words, he remained silent for a long time, feeling mostly gratified. Seeing that the two children were still clamoring for candy, he casually said, "If the children want some, let them have it."

Stone and Little Flower suddenly looked at their mother with longing, as if they had seen a hero.

"Dad has agreed."

The two little ones really went all out to get the candy. If it were anything else, they wouldn't have had the courage to ask, and their mother would have spanked them—it really hurt.

Huang Lan stared intently at Zhuang Zhenmin without saying a word.

Zhuang Zhenmin's eyes flickered, avoiding direct eye contact: "Ahem! Whatever you say goes!"

Then, give your children a helpless look.

It's just a matter of time before your mom disciplines me.

It was only because of his two nephews that Zhuang Zhenmin dared to go against his wife and refuse to back down.

Seeing this, the two little ones had no choice but to accept their fate.

What can parents do when they have an incompetent father?

Huang Lan chuckled twice, then walked into the kitchen, her expression dripping with sarcasm. It was almost noon; she needed to cook quickly, otherwise it would delay Zhuang Lihui's house repairs, which would be bad, especially with all the things just delivered.

Stone couldn't help but complain, "Dad, where did your earlier bravado go?"

Zhuang Zhenmin explained, "What kind of authority do I have in front of your mother?"

........

After lunch, Zhuang Zhenmin picked up his tools and headed to Zhuang Lihui's house. It wasn't far; it only took a few minutes to walk there.

Before I even went inside, I saw Chen Jian'an rushing over from the other side.

"Uncle Zhuang, are you here to help too?"

Zhuang Zhenmin nodded: "Yes!"

The two pushed open the door together and entered, seeing the Zhuang brothers coming out with tools.

"Second Uncle, Jian'an, you've arrived."

Zhuang Lihui greeted him.

The four of them took their tools and headed towards the river. Luckily, Chen Jian'an's family had a wheelbarrow; otherwise, they would have had to borrow it from the production brigade. Otherwise, carrying it back by hand would have been a real challenge.

Upon arriving at the riverbank, the river had long since dried up and was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a cracked and empty riverbed. The ground was covered with soft, thick yellow sand, which was gently stirred up by the wind.

The group began to divide the work. Zhuang Liming and Chen Jian'an were responsible for transportation, using wheelbarrows to carry the shoveled sand home, while Zhuang Lihui and his second uncle were responsible for shoveling the sand onto the wheelbarrows.

Of course, at the beginning, Chen Jianan also helped shovel sand, and Zhuang Liming picked out the large stones in the sand.

Chen Jian'an forcefully plunged the shovel into the sand, submerging the entire shovel, and then used both hands to throw the whole shovelful of sand into the wheelbarrow. This kind of work mode certainly couldn't be sustained for long.

Zhuang Zhenmin's approach is much more scientific; his speed is a bit slower than Chen Jian'an's, but he can maintain it for longer.

Zhuang Lihui shoveled sand even faster than Chen Jian'an. Zhuang Zhenmin shook his head when he saw this. He was still young and didn't know how to conserve energy. How long could he keep going like this? At most, no more than half an hour. He would have to stop and rest.

Zhuang Liming saw that the three of them were moving at an absurdly fast speed. In less than ten minutes, the wheelbarrow was full, and he and Chen Jian'an could only push it back with great effort.

Zhuang Lihui and his second uncle did not stop. Instead, they filled the sand into a winnowing basket and waited for Liming and the others to push the wheelbarrow back before loading it onto the cart. This way, they wouldn't waste time.

Uncle Er couldn't keep up with the long hours of intense work and had to stop to rest, but Zhuang Lihui didn't stop and didn't feel tired.

"Lihui, when did your stamina become so good?"

Zhuang Zhenmin was surprised. He was a little tired after working for so long. Seeing Zhuang Lihui's relaxed appearance, he also wanted to know the secret. Maybe it could improve the problem of insufficient physical strength in middle-aged men.

Zhuang Lihui didn't expect his physical strength to improve. It seems that the effects of the spiritual spring are still powerful. If he continues to strengthen himself, will he be able to surpass the captain of a certain country who is evenly matched?

"It's not that my stamina has improved, it's that yours is too poor. You need to train more!"

Zhuang Zhenmin didn't believe Zhuang Lihui's nonsense. He thought Zhuang Lihui was stronger than the people who worked all year round, but Zhuang Lihui didn't say so, and he was too embarrassed to ask.

That's impossible! The production team leader always says he's a skilled worker, how could he be so physically weak...?

If you can't understand something, don't think about it.

After more than ten minutes, Zhuang Liming returned pushing his wheelbarrow. Luckily, he had been eating well recently, otherwise he wouldn't have had the strength to work.

When Zhuang Lihui saw Chen Jian'an coming to help shovel sand again, he said, "Jian'an, my second uncle and I can shovel the sand. You can rest for a while."

You can't treat your brothers like cattle or horses!

Chen Jian'an didn't say anything and did as Zhuang Lihui instructed.

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was dusk, and the last truckload of sand had been shoveled away.

"It's getting late, and we probably have enough sand. Let's go back!"

It's getting dark, I need to hurry back and cook dinner; there's no need to waste a little time. If it's too late, we'll have to turn on the lights to eat, which is even more inconvenient for many families.

Zhuang Zhenmin nodded and put his tools away. "Lihui, it's getting late, I'll head back now!"

He didn't intend to eat at Zhuang Lihui's house. Food was so precious; if he ate too much, his nephew might go hungry.

Zhuang Lihui quickly stopped him, saying, "Second Uncle, no, you've come to help, so you definitely have to have dinner at my house tonight."

We can't let people go home hungry when they come to help.

Zhuang Zhenmin, who originally intended to leave directly, was dragged away by Zhuang Lihui without any room for resistance. He found it strange that Lihui had become so strong.

Back home, Zhuang Lihui didn't rest. He went straight to the kitchen, cooked corn porridge, and added spiritual spring water so that his second uncle and Chen Jian'an could recover their strength. It was precisely because of the spiritual spring water that he did it himself this time.

After the food was served, the four of them, who were starving, began to eat heartily.

"Brother Hui, did you add sugar to the corn porridge?"

The corn porridge tastes sweet.