The Blessed Farm Girl Has a Spatial Storage

In the end, Zhao Dong decided to add a cattle and horse stable in the backyard. He might not need to buy horses for now, but cattle would definitely be essential. In ancient times, this was a symbol of having a vehicle. Moreover, with cattle, their farming work would be less tiring as well.

Once Zhao Dong had roughly arranged the structure of the courtyard, he started to measure the dimensions and drew it up with a ruler.

Zhao Ya and Zhao Cheng approached, watching curiously.

Zhao Ya leaned on the table, her eyes wide as she stared at the lines and rectangles Zhao Dong drew on the blueprint; she couldn't understand any of it.

So, she asked, "Uncle, are all these rectangles houses?"

Zhao Dong nodded. "Yes. When it's built, each of you children will have your own room."

"Wow, there are so many rooms!" Zhao Ya's eyes curved into crescents, and she was absolutely thrilled. "Uncle, can I live next door to my sister?"

Zhao Dong laughed. "Of course. You two can live in these two rooms, how about that?"

Looking at the rectangles Zhao Dong pointed at, Zhao Ya's eyes sparkled as she nodded in agreement.

As he spoke, Zhao Dong continued to plan the layout of the house. Sun Mei wanted to incorporate some modern design elements into the interior, as it would be more convenient. After all, they were building this house for themselves to live in comfortably.

Zhao Cheng, who had been watching intently, would occasionally glance out the window at the sky. When he looked out yet again, he suddenly said, "Aunt, it's almost time for my sister to be dismissed from school. I'll go pick her up." As soon as he said this, he stood up, and Zhao Ya immediately jumped down from her chair. "I'll go too!"

After Sun Mei gave her permission, the two children skipped excitedly out of the room.

Watching the two of them leave through the main gate, Sun Mei said with a smile, "Although Zhao Cheng isn't good at expressing his feelings, he's very attentive. He always remembers the exact time Tongtong gets out of school, fearing she might have to wait for him if he were late."

Zhao Dong looked up and replied, "Yes, all three children from my eldest brother's family are good kids."

Then, after glancing at the blueprint, he called out, "Hey, dear, come over and have a look. Which side should we put our bathroom on?"

Sun Mei said thoughtfully, "How about the north side? It seems toilets are usually on the northern side of houses here. By the way, make sure to plan the sewage system well. Otherwise, frequent repairs will be a real hassle. Oh, and let's use stone slabs for the bathroom floor; it's easier to clean..."

The couple discussed the details of the room design together.

Meanwhile, at the school, Zhao Zhitong was in the Teacher's study, listening to a lecture. This was a special class the Teacher was holding for them. This time, it wasn't just Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen; Zhao Yue and Wei Shulan were there too.

This special class was prompted by the death of Zhao Yue's dog, Da Huang. When Zhao Yue came to school today, he mentioned that Da Huang had suddenly died last night, and he was very sad.

The children had all seen Da Huang before. Although the dog was fierce, it only showed aggression towards strangers and bad people. When they visited Zhao Yue's house, Da Huang was always friendly and playful with them, seeming to understand human nature exceptionally well.

The news of Da Huang's death saddened all the little ones.

So, during their break after lunch, they all ran to Butcher Zhao's house, wanting to pay their last respects to the dog.

However, when they arrived, Butcher Zhao had already buried the dog under a large poplar tree behind the house.

There was a rural superstition: after a cat or dog died, its legs had to be cut off immediately and the body buried under a tree. Otherwise, it was believed the creature might become a spirit, having absorbed too much human energy. Of course, this was a superstitious belief, but most rural people believed in it.

When the children arrived asking about the dog, Butcher Zhao didn't explain this to them and just urged them to hurry back to school.

Back at school, the children sat under a tree with their books. They had originally intended to read, but as they talked, they began discussing the heavy topic of 'death.'

Zhao Zhitong, who had recently experienced the pain of separation, was particularly affected and had many thoughts on the subject. As they discussed, they came to the realization that all living creatures, whether animals or humans, would inevitably face death one day.

At this thought, Zhao Zhitong burst into tears. The idea that her relatives, friends, and even herself would one day die and leave this world forever filled her heart with a sudden panic, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

The other children didn't fare much better. When Zhao Zhitong started crying, they all began to cry too.

So, the four of them sat under the tree, wailing loudly, each seemingly trying to cry harder than the last.

Scholar Meng, who had come looking for them, was startled to see this scene and hurriedly approached to ask what was wrong.

Scholar Meng spent quite some time comforting them before the four little ones finally quieted down, their cries subsiding into sniffles.

Zhao Zhitong looked at Scholar Meng with red-rimmed eyes and asked, her voice still thick with sobs, "Teacher, will you die too?"

Startled, Scholar Meng asked, "Why would you ask such a question, girl?"

Zhao Zhitong, still sniffling, proceeded to describe the discussion they had just had.

Wiping the tears from her face, Zhao Zhitong looked at Scholar Meng with clear eyes and asked, "Teacher, why do people have to die? If we die, what should we do?" Her lower lip trembled as she spoke, fresh tears welling in her eyes, and she struggled to keep from crying again.

Qiao Muchen's father had passed away when he was young, so his understanding of death wasn't very deep. Whenever he asked his mother where his father had gone, she would tell him that his father had traveled to a very, very distant place. She'd say they would all meet him again when they grew old. He had always believed that his father was simply in a faraway place and couldn't return.

Feeling just as overwhelmed, he too asked, sniffling, "Teacher, if we are all going to die anyway, then why are we born?"

These were not easy questions to answer.

Scholar Meng stood with one hand behind his back, the other stroking his beard as he fell into deep thought. He had initially thought the children were crying because they had quarreled, but it turned out they were frightened by the concept of 'death.'

'Death' was a heavy and often taboo subject, one that almost everyone avoided discussing. However, avoiding the topic wasn't necessarily the best approach, especially for children; it might not even be a good thing for them.

Standing under the tree, Scholar Meng looked up at the treetops, then bent down to pick up a fallen leaf from the ground. "Children, what do you see here?" he asked.

"A fallen leaf," the children replied together.

Zhao Zhitong asked, "Teacher, is it dead?"

Scholar Meng handed the leaf to Zhao Zhitong and said poignantly, "Yes, it seems dead now. But it will fall to the ground, and over time, it will turn into nourishing soil that sustains the tree. When next spring comes, new, tender leaves will sprout on the tree, and this fallen leaf will live on in them."

The children listened, only half-understanding. Scholar Meng didn't rush them to grasp the meaning of life and death right away. Instead, he said, "Come to my study after school."