I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With-Chapter 1364: Side Story: Mu Bowen (2)

For people who finally achieved success after having suffered hardships when they were young, some would go to the extreme and were unwilling to recall their once humble selves. However, there were some who would constantly remind themselves to remember those hardships and work hard to prevent others from having to suffer that same fate.

Mu Bowen undoubtedly belonged to the second category.

Smart but not arrogant, Mu Bowen had always known what he wanted. This was why he could steadily advance towards his goal step by step.

Ever since he could remember when he was three years old, he knew that his family was living such a difficult life because of him and his mother.

Seeing his young older sister carrying a bow and arrow as she followed his father into the mountains to hunt in the snowy night, the young Mu Bowen experienced sadness for the first time in his life.

The Mu family was the only hunter family in the entire Nearhill Village. Even if the villagers were kind, the little Mu Bowen could always hear some things about his family.

Those adults thought that he was young and ignorant, so they spoke freely in his presence. Therefore, he knew that hunting was very dangerous, and was an occupation where one risked their life. Not only was it not as stable as farming, but it was also more dangerous.

He also knew that their family could have lived a better life, but because he and his mother had to take medicine all year round, no matter how hard his father and sister tried, the family did not have any savings.

At that time, the young Mu Bowen did not understand why his parents and sister did not choose to farm instead. Wasn’t farming stable and safe?

At that time, although he was puzzled, he did not pay much attention to it. This was because in the child’s heart, the risk of losing one’s life was the same as going on a long trip. He did not have a specific concept of it.

Until he experienced war when he was five years old.

At that time, he finally understood what death was. His old friends had vanished and never returned. His old uncles and aunts had also disappeared after their deaths. In fact, no one mentioned them anymore, as if they had never existed.

On the other hand, their families grieved over the loss of them, especially the children who had become orphans. They might not even be able to survive that winter because they no longer had shelter from the wind and rain. They could only survive on their own.

At that time, Mu Bowen was terrified. He wondered what would happen to him if his father and sister were gone one day.

Would he be like those children who curled up at the foot of the wall and could only watch the people passing by with their big eyes, hoping that someone would be kind enough to give them a bite to eat?

Because of this fear, Mu Bowen had been especially clingy to his sister for a period of time. When he found out that their family was going to enter the military, he was not sad. In fact, he was somewhat happy about it.

Because their family finally had a plot of farmland!

With land, they could plant grains. Their father and sister would no longer have to go into the mountains to hunt every day. That way, they would not be in so much danger.

The naive Mu Bowen thought that their family could be together forever, but then he realized that things were not that simple.

For example, her father and sister could not even differentiate between crops, let alone farm. And farming was also risky.

If a hunter relied on a mountain to survive, then farmers relied on the heavens to survive.

Their luck was not considered good. In the first year, they encountered a drought. He watched as his sister went to get water to irrigate the fields every day. Despite being only ten years old, she would lie on the bed every night and secretly massage her back.

He noted down all of this and filled his little heart with such moments.

Mu Bowen had never been a domineering person. He was more willing to complement others, such as his older sister.

His sister’s wish was to develop good seeds that produced high-yielding grains. However, simply having good seeds was not enough.

Techniques, timing, and geographical conditions were also essential factors.

When his sister was developing good seeds, she started paying a lot of attention to improving planting techniques. However, the timing and geographical conditions could not be controlled. Other than good seeds and techniques, if the farmers wanted to have a good harvest, it would largely depend on the heavens.

That was why Mu Bowen wanted to work on water conservancy projects. He wanted to store water when there were floods and release water when there were droughts. He hoped that one day, even if the weather was not good, the people of the world would be able to make use of the water conservancy facilities to reap a harvest.

Instead of gazing at the skies with tearless eyes and begging the heavens sorrowfully.

And he was indeed talented in this aspect.

Many people would think that it was very tiring to inspect the terrain on the spot, but Mu Bowen derived much joy from doing it. He enjoyed the process of exploring.

Among the mountains and rivers, he found the most suitable place to build the water conservancy facilities and designed the most suitable plan for that plot of land. For the next few decades or even hundreds of years, these water conservancy facilities would always facilitate the people on this land, allowing them to have a bumper harvest of crops and saving them from the perils of drought and floods.

What could be more delightful in this world?

To Mu Bowen, nothing was more delightful than that.

But obviously not many people could understand him. His parents, wife, and friends all felt that he was leading a hard life. Every time he packed his things and was about to go out, everyone looked at him with heartache.

Mu Bowen knew that they were only behaving like this because they loved him, but he actually didn’t need them to feel sorry for him. What he preferred was encouragement and praise.

For example, every time he packed his things and went to the King’s Residence to bid farewell, his sister would congratulate him happily. "Are you going to test the water conservancy facilities again? That’s great. You have to check meticulously. After all, the water conservancy facilities concern the livelihood of the local people for a hundred years."

His sister would happily tell him that this would be the first water conservancy project he had built. She would even say seriously, "Bowen, you will definitely be the person who designed the most water conservancy projects in history. The future generations will be proud of you."

Mu Bowen replied with a smile, "But they will definitely be proud of you first before me."

The name of Queen Consort Rong had spread to everywhere in Great Qi along with the expansion of the Harvest Grain Stores, even spreading overseas. According to what Mu Bowen knew, there were already historians in the court who wanted to focus on recording Mu Yangling’s matters. It could be said that his sister had already made her mark in history.

Mu Yangling laughed out loud when she heard that. She patted his shoulder and said, "Then we siblings have to work hard together to snap up all the glory of our era!"

Smiling, Mu Bowen nodded in agreement. The siblings treated this as a joke.

However, when later generations studied this part of history, the two of them were indeed two of the most dazzling stars.

At this moment, Mu Bowen did not know how highly the later generations would come to think of him. He was vexed about the relief shelters and heating facilities. Though familiar with the construction industry, he was most proficient in water conservancy construction.

Mu Bowen’s emotions were a little chaotic. Seeing that the sky was already bright outside and the dark clouds in the sky looked like it was about to rain at any moment, he couldn’t help but walk out.

When his wife saw this, she hurriedly asked, "Master, where are you going?"

Mu Bowen replied absent-mindedly and continued to walk out.

Seeing this, his wife sighed slightly. She knew that he had heard her but did not take it to heart. She could not help but tug at his sleeve and say, "Mother sent a letter asking us to go back for the new year. Father is holding a grand banquet this year for his birthday1. Are you not planning to go back?"

Mu Bowen was stunned for a moment before saying, "I’ll go and see Sister."

The corners of his wife’s lips twitched as she watched Mu Bowen walk away.