The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

The result of several families coming to deliver meals was that there was no more room for food on the table.

Aunt Zhang and her husband and Mr. Hu looked at the table full of food and kept thanking everyone with gratitude.

Seeing this, Master Yan simply asked everyone who had delivered food to stay and have a welcoming banquet together.

Everyone chatted happily and the meal lasted until about 11:00 am.

Early the next morning, Lu Qingqing drove with Aunt Zhang and her husband and Hu Laosan to Lunpi Town to invite the Zhao family team who were building the half-brick and half-mud house as agreed last night.

The Zhao family team had just finished a job at the foot of Baoshan Town a few days ago. Although it was tiring, they actually made a lot of money.

During these days of rest, the men had most of their time free, except for occasionally working in the fields.

In the past few days, many men under his command came to ask Boss Zhao if there was any work left, and they wanted to go out and earn money with him.

After being asked so many questions, Boss Zhao became worried and was thinking about going to the county to see if he could get some more work.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qingqing and others came with more work.

When he heard that there was more work to do, even though it was not a big job, Boss Zhao was very happy.

He discussed the general details of building the house with Aunt Zhang and her husband and Hu Laosan.

Since he had just finished building a house at the foot of the mountain, he was very familiar with the prices of various materials used in building the house.

Seeing that Team Leader Zhao explained the prices of various materials in detail, Li Fusheng thought about it and asked Team Leader Zhao to help him purchase the materials.

It would even be better if you could just hand over the house to someone else.

There's no way, the two families arrived too late.

When the land was divided yesterday, he went for a walk in the field.

Now, seedlings have grown in the fields of other families in the village.

But their fields are still overgrown with weeds.

If you want to harvest this crop, you have to clear the land and plant the seeds as soon as possible.

As for building a house, he heard a lot about it from others at the dinner table yesterday and knew that it was a time-consuming and energy-consuming task.

Therefore, he decided to outsource most of the house-building work.

After hearing this, Zhao Banzhu hesitated.

He had never encountered such a situation before. After all, the houses that he was asked to build were all thatched houses and half-brick and half-mud houses.

People who build these two types of houses are usually not well-off and would rather spend every penny carefully.

If it is natural, they will feel that they are buying the materials cheaply.

But when Li Fusheng raised this question, Boss Zhao thought about it carefully.

You know, the most commonly used material for building the houses of the two families was sun-dried adobe bricks.

It takes time to dry adobe bricks.

Because he received work at irregular intervals throughout the year, he made a lot of adobe bricks at home in his free time, dried them, and stored them.

In the past, some people who were in urgent need of adobe would come to him to buy some.

As for the prices of other materials, he also knew them all.

For example, when I took Lu Qingqing and others to buy materials, I also had to make a trip.

Team leader Zhao thought about it for a while and agreed to take on the contract of both labor and materials.

Although he won't make much profit from the price of the materials, he will still ask for some money for running errands.

After discussing the price, both sides were satisfied.

Seeing that the deal was finalized, both families paid 70% of the money.

The remaining part was agreed to be settled after acceptance.

Seeing that the house building was settled, Lu Qingqing pulled a few people back.

When the group returned to the foot of Baoshan Town, they heard Tianfu Niang, who was sitting under a tree watching over her child, say:

"Daya, Xiao Meng is here to bring you some silk.

I've been waiting for you for a while, please go back!"

Lu Qingqing agreed with a smile and took a few people back to Master Yan's house.

Her house was next to Master Yan's. As soon as she stopped the car, she saw Widow Meng holding a piece of silk at the door of her house.

She was chatting with Bai Xing'er, and when she saw Lu Qingqing coming back, she greeted her with a smile.

Lu Qingqing also responded with a smile. Seeing that Aunt Zhang and others had gotten off the carriage, she led the carriage back.

After several people entered the house, Widow Meng put down the silk and said:

"Daya, I'll give you one in advance this time, and I'll give you the remaining one at the end of the month."

Lu Qingqing was a little confused when she heard this, and after thinking for a while, she said:

“Sister Meng, why did you suddenly give it to me in advance? I’m short of money.

See how much you need, and I'll help you fill it up first."

Widow Meng shook her head repeatedly when she heard this.

"No, no, Daya, I was thinking that the rental of the loom will expire in the middle of the month.

Thanks to you, I have saved some money these past few months.

The money I saved from selling this piece of silk would be enough to buy a loom in Yining County."

Lu Qingqing didn't expect it to be because of this. She hadn't noticed the problem with the loom before.

When they met, they happened to ask:

"Sister Meng, do all the looms in Baoshan Town rent?"

Sister Meng thought for a moment and replied:

“Not all of them, for example, Wu Hongren and Wu Hongliang’s families, as well as several other Wu clan families, all bought or rented aircraft.

Apart from this, only one or two households in the entire village bought looms.

The rest are basically rented.

You may not know that renting a phone for a month costs half a penny.

Those of us who rent looms dare not rest for a single day.

When you rest, you are wasting money.

Moreover, if the loom is damaged, you will need to pay for repairs.

We usually use it with more care than we would with our own things."

Beside her, Bai Xing'er also spoke:

"Daya, I've been chatting with Sister Meng these past few days, and I'm also thinking about raising silkworms and reeling silk and weaving silk. What do you think?"

Lu Qingqing nodded repeatedly.

"Of course, look at Sister Meng, she's taking care of the child alone.

By raising silkworms and weaving silk, he has not only built a house, but is now even buying a loom. Isn't this a great fortune?"

When Widow Meng heard her say this, she smiled a little embarrassedly.

"Xing'er, if you want to do it, just ask me if you don't know how. I promise to teach you well."

Bai Xing'er came close to Widow Meng and said with a smile:

"Okay, then I'll thank Sister Meng in advance!"

Lu Qingqing looked at Bai Xing'er's smiling face and curled up the corners of her mouth as well.

Speaking of which, Bai Xing'er seems to have been smiling ever since she came to Baoshan Town.

Her house was half brick and half mud, and it was right behind her house, separated only by an alley.

Because they live close to each other, the two families often visit each other.

Bai Xing'er would often send whatever delicious food she made to her home and Master Yan's home.

The same goes for Lu Qingqing and her master's wife. Whenever they make something delicious, they will give her a portion.

In fact, this is how it is these days.

The families in the village are closely connected, and it is common for them to send food to each other.

Sometimes, when you get tired of eating your own food, you can try other people’s food, which is also very good.

The three of them chatted for a while and then got back to the matter of buying and renting a plane.

After listening to what Widow Meng said, Bai Xing'er decided to buy one as well.

Her family had a horse-drawn carriage, which was just enough to take Widow Meng to the county to buy a loom.

Lu Qingqing thought about it and decided to go with him.

She now runs a silk business and occasionally uses a loom.

It's always good to have one ready.

Widow Meng saw that Lu Qingqing also wanted to buy it, and said excitedly:

"Daya, I heard someone say that if you buy more, the loom will be cheaper!

We only have three now, and if we ask around, there might be more people who want to buy them.

How about this, I'll go to the village at the foot of the mountain and ask if anyone wants to buy it.

If you have time, you can also ask at the foot of the mountain.

If there is something to buy, let's go buy it together, the more money we can save, the better!"