Traveling through ancient times, storing supplies and not fleeing famine

Before Doctor Zhao left, Village Chief Ma came with 20 selected workers to help build the wall.

"Xiao Xia! These people were notified last night, and they are all good at their jobs. But if there are any who try to be sneaky, just come and tell me, and I will take care of them then."

Xia Shengsheng thought that this was the best option. If something really happened, it would be much better for Village Chief Ma to come forward than for her to do it herself. However, she couldn't say this directly in public.

"We are all from the same village and we know each other well. Village Chief Ma helped us find you, so I can trust you. How could there be anyone who would try to be sneaky and cunning?

Craftsman Chen is estimated to be here soon, so we can just follow his arrangements on the future work. We can build the wall today before Craftsman Chen comes.

Do we settle the wages every night? Or do we settle them all at once after the work is completed?"

"It doesn't matter when you get married. Since you're here to work, of course you have to obey the master!"

"That's right. We trust Village Chief Ma and Sister Xia. We can pay them together after the work is finished."

"Yes, there's no rush for wages. You can pay them all at once after the work is finished."

Most of the twenty people responded.

Xia Shengsheng also smiled and nodded.

"Okay then, I'll settle your wages when the work is finished. Don't worry, I won't let you down by a penny!"

Village Chief Ma also said, "The wages will still be based on the price I told you last night.

You have to know that this price is high whether in the village or in the town.

Xiao Xia, I'll be your guarantor.

But as you have just heard, if there is anyone who tries to deceive them and their children and act cunningly, I will be the first one to catch him.

I have already said the ugly words in advance, so you should think about it carefully.

There is no need to say anything else. It is getting late. Let's start working now. Don't just take the wages without doing any work. There are no such people in our Kaoshan Village."

After Village Chief Ma finished speaking, everyone responded.

Xia Shengsheng told everyone the requirements for building the wall one by one.

The walls are now extremely low, and many parts are in disrepair.

Xia Shengsheng wanted to raise the wall higher, preferably to about four meters, and then insert broken tiles, spikes, etc. on the top.

The donkey shed also needs to be built first. The rainy season is coming soon, and if it rains, the donkey in the family will have nowhere to stay.

While they were studying the construction of the wall, Craftsman Chen and a group of four people also arrived at Xia Shengsheng's home.

Xia Shengsheng temporarily handed this place over to Ma Laoer to help command.

He took Craftsman Chen and his team with him and explained in detail the location and size of each house, as well as the equipment needed in the yard.

"Craftsman Chen, build the front row of houses first! After they are completed, we will move to the front houses and stay there for a while.

Then we will demolish the old house at the back.”

The old house must be demolished, otherwise the space in the yard is not big enough and the original foundation can be used.

When the factory building in front is completed and the weather gradually gets warmer, it will be no problem for Xia Shengsheng and the children to live in the front.

“Okay, let’s go back to town and bring back all the building materials we need.

I had already made the order yesterday afternoon, and I just need to confirm the specific materials needed today.

Let Dayi stay first. Aren’t you building the wall? He can help first.”

Dayi is a craftsman who came with Craftsman Chen.

Although he doesn't look very old, he looks like he's in his twenties, but he's been building houses for seven or eight years, so he's considered an old craftsman.

"Okay, how much silver do you need? I'll go prepare it." Xia Shengsheng asked.

"Prepare 15 taels of silver first! I don't think you will need that much. If there is any left, I will bring it back to you." Craftsman Chen replied.

Xia Shengsheng went back to the house and took out the silver that he had prepared in advance.

When he came out, the boy climbed up from the bed and followed Xia Shengsheng closely, not leaving her side.

Sicheng and Shanshan seemed to be afraid of something? Seeing the boy following their mother, the two little ghosts followed Xia Shengsheng.

Every step Xia Shengsheng took, there were a few little demons following behind him.

Ercheng and Yiyi just smiled and shook their heads at their younger siblings, then went to do what they could to help.

A few people who were making adobe bricks to build a wall were discussing secretly.

"You said his family just split up, where did they get so much money? They need to build a house and such a high wall."

"Yes! Just now I heard Xia and Chen the craftsman say that they want to build a row of houses in the front and another row of houses in the back. It seems that there will be a lot of rooms! This will cost a lot of money, right?"

"My wife said that Xia had collected wild ginseng in the mountains. I guess they sold it for a lot of money. Otherwise, where would they get the money to build the house?

When the old lady of the Liu family divided the family property, she did not give a single cent to her youngest son's family."

"How can he be so lucky? Why don't we go to the mountains and look for some? What if we can pick one or two wild ginsengs? Wouldn't that make us rich?"

"Go ahead if you want to! I still value my life."

Ma Laoer saw a few people gathered together whispering, and walked over from behind.

"Are you going to work or not? Are you here to chat with you guys while getting paid? If you want to chat, go home and sit on the kang and chat. There are many people vying for this job!"

Several people were scolded so much that they dared not say a word. After all, Ma Laoer was several years younger than them.

But who can blame him for being the village chief?

The village chief's family must not be offended, otherwise they will not be able to get any good things in the future.

Xia Shengsheng heard the noise from afar. She couldn't stop the gossip. She did make a fortune, so she didn't care at all about what people said about her.

But seeing Ma Laoer's appearance, I feel that he is a person with great leadership skills.

In the future, maybe I can let him be a small leader and take charge of these people in the village.

This way she can save a lot of worry.

Almost every household has just finished breakfast, and it is still early for noon.

However, Mr. Ma and Widow Wei came together.

"Sister Xia, we are here. This is Liu Zhi. You may not know her well. You two rarely walk around the village."

Widow Wei's maiden name was Liuzhi. Widow Wei's husband was not as old as Liu Laoer, so Mr. Ma introduced them by name right at the beginning.

"Mrs. Xia, thank you for giving me this opportunity to help with the family expenses. I heard from Mrs. Ma that you specifically asked me to come and help with the cooking! I don't know how to thank you enough!"

Xia Shengsheng shook his head indifferently. "If you want to thank me, then do your job well. Our work is not much. The main thing is to make lunch for these twenty or so people.

We eat here together at noon, and after cleaning up, we can go home and do housework.

I will have to trouble Ma Dasao and Guizhi Meizi for the next period of time!"

After a few pleasantries, Xia Shengsheng took them to the kitchen.

There is not much rice and flour at home, but it is enough for today.

Xia Shengsheng will find time to go out and buy rice, flour, grain, oil and other things.

"Let's make steamed buns for lunch today! Mix black flour and white flour, half and half of each.

There is a piece of meat here, not much, about one pound, let’s use it to stew the cabbage!

Add some scrambled eggs with green onions and you have two dishes."

For example, when working outside, the workers are usually fed with coarse grains, and it is good enough to have a black-faced steamed bun to fill them up. The dishes are usually big stews, which do contain meat, but each person can hardly get more than two slices.

The food in Xia Shengsheng's family is better than that of ordinary families, but it is not too excessive.

Because Xia Shengsheng didn't want to be too much in the spotlight, but he was doing physical work, and if the food was particularly bad, it would also affect the work schedule.

So this arrangement is just right now.

"Isn't this food too good, Sister Xia? The steamed buns we have mixed with fine grains are good enough. I would stew a pot of cabbage and don't fry the eggs. You can save them and sell them in town for a lot of money!"