Chapter 81: The Goddess Indeed Had Foresight

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: The Goddess Indeed Had Foresight

The villagers eagerly discussed how to set up the tents, their voices overlapping in a lively chatter. The earlier lifeless gloom had completely vanished, replaced by a renewed hope that lit up their faces. They couldn’t wait to move into their new homes.

Yun Zhen suddenly remembered something incredibly important. That afternoon, she and Li Mei had gone to pick up a delivery, bringing back the five large bags of crochet materials they had purchased earlier. Right now, those materials were safely stored in the Blessed Land in her mind.

She had forgotten to buy the crochet materials the day before yesterday. Then, yesterday, disaster struck, and all their houses collapsed. As a result, the village hadn’t seen any income from the crochet dolls for two whole days. And a single crochet doll sold for a hundred yuan!

Looking toward the crowd, she called out, "Aunt Cui Lan! I asked Uncle Village Head to let you know that from now on, you’ll be in charge of the village’s crochet business."

Li Cuilan had been in the middle of an enthusiastic discussion about their new homes, so she was caught slightly off guard when the Goddess called her name. She quickly snapped back to attention and hurried over to the Goddess’s side.

"Second Uncle mentioned this to me," Li Cuilan said. "Please don’t worry, Goddess. I will definitely lead everyone well in making the crochet dolls. I won’t let you down."

Not too long ago, when Second Uncle had approached her about this, Li Cuilan had been deeply flattered. The Goddess entrusting her with the village’s crochet business meant she valued her craftsmanship and character. She was determined to do an excellent job.

Yun Zhen smiled. "Of course I trust you, Aunt Cui Lan."

She made the crochet materials appear out of thin air. Li Cuilan’s breath hitched. Though she had already witnessed the Goddess’s incredible power, experiencing her magic at such close range was still awe-inspiring.

Yun Zhen handed her the material bags and instructed, "I forgot to buy the crochet materials the day before yesterday, and yesterday everyone was too devastated by the collapsed houses to work. Here are five bags of materials, enough to make fifty or sixty crochet dolls. We need to make at least thirty tonight. Gather a dozen or so people who know how to crochet, and arrange for them to work in shifts."

This was Li Cuilan’s very first task. She didn’t dare to be careless.

"Please wait a moment, Goddess. I’ll call everyone over," Li Cuilan said.

Walking into the crowd, she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Anyone who has learned how to crochet, come over here! The Goddess has assigned us an important task!"

Li Cuilan believed that there was strength in numbers, so she wanted to gather everyone available. As soon as the skilled villagers heard that the Goddess had an assignment, they immediately rushed over, staring at Yun Zhen with eager eyes.

Yun Zhen told them, "Whenever I go to the Immortal Realm from now on, Aunt Cui Lan will be in charge of the village’s crochet business. If you have any questions about crocheting, ask her. If she can’t solve it, then come to me."

The crowd stared at Li Cuilan with deep envy. Goodness! From now on, she was going to be the Goddess’s spokesperson. Any future crocheting problems would have to go through her.

Li Cuilan took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. "The Goddess wants us to make at least thirty crochet dolls tonight. We haven’t had any income from the dolls for two days, so we need to make extra tonight. That way, the Goddess can take them to the Immortal Realm to exchange for money."

This reminded everyone that they had taken a day off the day before yesterday and suffered a terrible disaster yesterday. It truly had been two days without any earnings.

Tian Ergou spoke up, "Cui Lan, hurry up and hand out the materials! It’s warm inside the room now, so our hands won’t freeze. I think I can make four all by myself!"

"Alright, then you make four," Li Cuilan said as she began distributing the material bags.

Yun Zhen realized that while they had enough thick yarn, they were short on the small accessories. "Mother, when the house collapsed, did you and Father manage to grab the crochet hooks and the other miscellaneous supplies we were using before?"

Yun Old Lady nodded. These tools were their livelihood. After the house had collapsed, the very first thing she did was find the old crochet bags. Aside from the thick yarn, which was all used up, everything else was still inside. "I brought them out. I’ll go find them for you."

Fortunately, the house’s collapse hadn’t crushed the large cabinet in the corner. Even the mirror on top of it had miraculously survived. Yun Old Lady retrieved the crochet bags from the cabinet, revealing a stash of small accessories.

She handed the items over to Li Cuilan. "Cui Lan, hand these out to everyone as well."

Tian Ergou took a set of crochet hooks from her hands, grinning happily. "Sister Yun Duo, your timing is perfect! I was just worrying about not having a hook to use."

Yun Duo was Yun Old Lady’s given name. After being sold to human traffickers by her heartless parents, it was the Yun Family who had bought her back and paired her with a scholar husband. She had abandoned her original surname and taken the surname Yun. Her name was given to her by her old man, who had said he hoped she could be as free and unburdened as the clouds in the sky. Normally, everyone just called her by her first name.

Since she lingered to watch for a moment, Tian Ergou assumed she wanted to crochet too and kindly advised, "Sister Yun Duo, this might be easier than regular needlework, but it still drains your energy if you do it for too long. You should rest. Don’t tire yourself out."

Yun Duo replied with a smile, "I’m not going to make any. I’m just watching."

Everyone’s hands moved quickly, churning out crochet dolls one after another.

Late into the night.

Yun Zhen finally spoke up. "Everyone, let’s stop here. You can finish the rest when you have spare time. Tomorrow, you’ll need to help my father and Uncle Village Head set up the tents. Go to bed early and get some rest, or you won’t have any strength to work tomorrow."

Yun Xiu, the Village Head, and the others—who had been studying the tent blueprints and sketching on the ground—looked up. Without them realizing it, the night had grown deep. They had just finished reviewing tomorrow’s workload for the third time.

The crochet brigade led by Li Cuilan also stopped their work. She quickly put the leftover materials back into a basket and brought over another one. "Let me count how many we made."

Yun Zhen crouched down to inspect them. Each doll perfectly met the standard for a one-hundred-yuan item.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone," she said.

Tian Ergou smiled blissfully. "Goddess, this is for our village. It’s not hard work at all."

Li Cuilan counted out loud, "One, two, three, four, five... thirty-six. Goddess, we made a total of thirty-six crochet dolls."

She then sighed. "There were too few crochet hooks. Everyone had to take turns, and some people didn’t even get a chance. Otherwise, we could have used up all the materials."

Yun Zhen nodded in understanding. "Thirty-six is already great. I’ll check tomorrow if they sell crochet hooks separately. Since there are sixty people in the village who know how to crochet, if they are sold separately, I’ll buy two sets for each person so you can alternate using them."

Hearing this, everyone beamed with joy.

Li Cuilan had initially assumed they could make more, so she had called over everyone who knew the craft. But because there weren’t enough hooks, they were forced to take turns. Even after a full rotation, more than half the people hadn’t gotten a turn.

The Goddess had truly been far-sighted. She had asked for a dozen or so people, and in the end, it was exactly a dozen or so people who actually got to make the crochet dolls.

Li Cuilan packed the dolls securely and handed them to Yun Zhen, who stored them away in the Blessed Land in her mind.

"I’ll be heading to the Immortal Realm now. Everyone, go get some sleep," Yun Zhen said.

The Village Head chimed in, "If you want to move into your new houses early, you have to work hard. Get plenty of rest; no one is sitting idle tomorrow."

The thought of their new houses filled everyone with eager anticipation.

Yun Zhen added one last thing. "Father, Uncle Village Head, I bought the tents based on everyone’s living arrangements in the village. For example, since Uncle Village Head has sixteen people in his family, they’ll need seven tents."

Yun Xiu nodded. "I understand. Just like our family, we’ll need two tents. For the Dashan Family, since he and Cui Lan share a room, they’ll just take one tent."

The Village Head was deeply moved. "Rest assured, Goddess. I’ll assign the tents exactly how everyone lived in their own homes."

With her mind finally at ease, Yun Zhen departed. After tossing and turning in anxiety the previous night, having resolved her worries tonight meant she would sleep soundly.

The next day during class, Mr. Gao glanced at her several times and gave a satisfied nod. Yun Zhen checked her reflection; the dark circles under her eyes were completely gone today.

At the crack of dawn, the villagers woke up one after another.