Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

In Taohua Village, Sun Gui called out to a few people and said, "Follow me." Chai Zhen also called a few people home, saying, "Everyone, get started. Let's check the warehouse for food first." Some went to the kitchen, rummaging through pots and pans. Chai Ping'an went to the east yard. The cowshed, horse stable, and sheep pen were all collapsed. He cried, "It took so much effort to raise all these. Woo woo woo..." Little Milk Bag heard the crying and came running over on his short legs, saying, "Grandpa, don't cry." Guoguo looked up at the sky, which was dark. "It's going to rain." Chai Ping'an wiped his tears and got to work. He picked up the wood and bricks and put them together. "Grandpa, look!" Little Milk Bag brought out a pile of goods. "Tents, tarpaulins, let's set up the tents. It's going to rain soon." Chai Ping'an, not caring about being sad, went out to call for help and took out the things. He said to the people, "One person from each family, one tent." Those who knew how to help helped set up the tents. Young people are good at hands-on work...

Sun Gui also returned with his men, carrying pots and bags of food... Sun Gui arrived and said, "Young men from every household, come and look for things! Hurry! It looks like it's going to rain." Old people and children were setting up tents, each bustling with activity. Women also went to find sticks to make tents, while others went home to help with the walls of their homes. Many women were more careful, carrying large bags filled with money and food, and were not in a hurry. Others were so full they wanted to pack everything they had. Old Lady Li watched, but she was foolish enough to only take the food. The veterans knew how to set up tents, and soon several of them had formed. Li Dafa, on behalf of the veterans, said, "Auntie, you stay first. Go in and rest." Old Lady Li said, "Thank you, brother. I won't be shy." Li Dafa helped Jia He into the tent, "If you need anything, call everyone." "Okay, I won't be shy." Wang Min found a straw fan and spread it on the ground, and Jia He sat down. His leg was injured, so he couldn't do much, so he took the child and held him. "Min, go see if Mom can help you out?" Wang Min said, "Yes, I'll go. You should be careful too. The weather looks bad!" Then Wang Min ran back home to look for something. Her family found a few pots and pans. Wang Min went looking for water, but couldn't see a well. She burst into tears, "Oh, oh, oh, God! How are we supposed to survive? There's no water! We're dying of thirst!" Chai Zhen hadn't noticed anything yet and ran looking for water. The well was gone, covered. The greenhouse vegetables were gone too. People were clearing bricks, cleaning the vegetable plots, the warehouse, and the kitchen. With so many people, the bricks and wooden shelves on the warehouse roof were soon moved, and the grain was spilling out. Bags of grain were dragged out. Chai Zhen said, "Move it all to the tents outside." Even the one-armed veteran wasn't shy. He picked up a bag of grain and went outside to join the others. The grain alone filled three tents. Someone said, "We have food now. We won't starve to death," with a smile on their face. Many people watched, some even ran back to their homes to look for food, looking for something useful.

There was a rumble, lightning and thunder, and a torrential downpour. Sun Gui and his men ran back, each carrying their belongings as they entered their own tents. A few people still hadn't pitched their tents yet, so Chai Zhen sent people over to help. He personally visited Huo Hua's wife and her family, asking them to help until they could get into their tents and take shelter from the rain. Chai Zhen asked, "Niece-in-law, do you have any food?" Huo Hua's wife said, "Thank you, uncle. I brought some food, and now we have a place to stay, so it's good." Chai Zhen took a look and saw that they could squeeze in, so he said, "Let's make do for now. I'll find a way for you when the rain stops." Huo Hua's wife said, "Okay, uncle, go do your work." Chai Zhen said, "Barricade the doorway later." Chai Zhen taught her how to close the tent before leaving.

In the tent, Huo Hua's wife said, "We can make do with this for now. It's good enough, we won't get wet." The maid said, "Master, that's all right." The two women found a piece of cloth and used it to divide the tent into two rooms, with the family staying on one side. Huo Hua's wife took out some food for her son and said, "Sister Li, did you get any food? I have some for you guys." "Master, I brought some food. Please eat it." "Okay, we'll talk if you don't have any."

The rain was pouring down, and the people in Taohua Village were sitting in their tents, looking outside. They felt sad. It had only been a few days since they had gotten better, and their houses were gone.

"Dani'er, did you take all our money?" Li Dayong asked. "I took everything the head of the household brought, and I also took all the food and nice clothes. I also carried out some good fabrics, thanks to putting them all together so they were easy to carry. I took some dry food, but not much. And the grain... woo woo woo..." Ma Dani cried, "I didn't take out any of our grain, I only carried a little." Li Dayong said, "I don't blame you. Don't cry. We'll figure it out. We'll get through it. Uncle Chai has plenty of grain. Let's ask if we can buy some. As long as our family is doing well, we can build the house." He hugged Ma Dani and her daughter, comforting herself that she had married a good man. He was a strong man. Although he could be a little harsh, he was not a bad person. He knew how to work and had never hit her. Their family was doing well.

Qin Han's family was in the tent, looking outside. Qin Binbin said, "Dad and Mom, don't be sad. Your son has grown up and can work. When it stops raining, your son will find someone to help us build a house. We'll move to a new house, a big house to live in, and build it like Jiayu's house, with bright glass windows. We'll also ask Sister Guoguo to design the style of the house and change it to a new style." Qin Han was no longer so sad when he heard his son talk. His family also made a lot of money and they would not spend it all on building a new house. His son had become sensible and capable. His son had made a lot of progress this year. He had heard Chai Zhen say that his son was very brave! Qin Han was no longer frowning. He said, "Okay, listen to your son and build a new house." Qin Binbin took out a bag of dry food and gave it to his parents. "Mom, eat it. You don't have to worry about it. You have your son." Qin Han's wife was no longer frowning when she heard what the two men in the family said. She said, "Okay, Mom knows. Your son will eat dry food."

The rain was pouring down outside. Inside each tent, the family was eating dry food and discussing what to do next! The Chai family was large, so they built a shed outside the tent with a tarpaulin to prevent leaks. They also set up five large pots, with the tarpaulin next to the tent, protecting a large area from the rain. Li Ru, Wang Min, Ma Xiaohong, Old Lady Li, Jia Le, Li Dafa, and several soldiers helped wash vegetables and cook millet porridge. Three large baskets of bowls were placed under the tarpaulin, clean and equipped with chopsticks. They found vegetables on the fallen fields, and there were many edible vegetables, which were rinsed clean with water. Five large pots were filled with rice porridge with vegetables and salt. The rice was ready, and each person received a bowl. The Chai family and the veterans all ate the rice porridge. The dry food was running low, so some people drank a few extra bowls of porridge to fill their stomachs.

Seeing that it was raining heavily, no one could sleep. The water flowed north along the west wall of the Chai family. Sun Gui went to check with a basin on his head, and Chai Zhen put on a rain cloth and followed Sun Gui. The two came to the river, but the river was gone and the water was flowing all over the ground. Sun Gui said, "Uncle, where is the river in our village?" Chai Zhen looked and said, "Let's go south and have a look!" The two waded through the rain, and the river in the south of the village changed its course and flowed straight east. Sun Gui: "This? No, we still have to divert the water to the west of our village!" Chai Zhen: "Wait until it stops raining, and then dig the west river ditch. Let's go back!" Sun Gui: "Uncle, let's re-plan the village and build neat rows of houses. Don't just have a family here and a family there."

Chai Zhen: "We're going to have to cover ourselves anyway, so that's fine." They said as they returned to the tent. Sun Gui: "Hey!"

Zhang Qing: "Agui, Dad hasn't come back yet!" Sun Gui: "Father-in-law will be fine. He's with over a dozen martial artists from our village." Zhang Qing's mother sighed and said, "I want him to resign, but he doesn't want to. He's exhausted working outside every day." Zhang Qing: "Mom, Dad will be fine. Don't worry." Sun Qing: "Grandma, Grandfather will be fine. I'll go look for him tomorrow morning. He's only the head of a county. He'll definitely have to take care of the things caused by the earthquake. He'll definitely be busy, don't worry." Zhang Qing's mother: "Qing'er, Grandma isn't worried, he's just tired. It's okay, everyone rest." Zhang Qing also took out a large piece of cloth and hung it in the middle of the tent to provide shade. They then divided the tent into two halves to rest. She and her mother were on one side, and her son and Sun Gui were on the other.

The rain poured down, the water gurgling. It wouldn't stop. In the middle of the night at the Chai family's house, Chai Zhen woke up and sat at the entrance of the tent. Little Naibao pulled out a flashlight and handed it to him, saying, "Grandpa, take it." He also had a raincoat. Chai Zhen put it on, turned on the flashlight, and walked out. But after a few steps, he was startled. Before him was a deep ditch, surging with water. He hurried back to find Sun Gui. "Guai! You're up!"

Sun Gui heard him being called out, and Chai Zhen said, "Come out and take a look."

Sun Gui found a tarp and threw it on, then followed Chai Zhen. "Here?" Chai Zhen said, "What should we do? We need a new water source. Otherwise, it won't be long before we're all out of places to stay." Sun Gui said, "I'll get everyone up." Chai Zhen said, "Oh, we don't even have shovels. We didn't find many farm tools during the day." Little Naibao called Chai Zhen over and went to the back of the tent to get forty or fifty iron picks. Chai Zhen carried Little Naibao back into the tent, saying, "Go to sleep, Guoguo. Grandpa's here."

Sun Gui shouted, "Everyone, wake up! Young men, come out, put on your raincoats, and get to work! Protect the whole village. Protect our home. Those who have pickaxes, bring them! Grab your tools and divert the river. Those without tools, get some help too." Chai Zhen brought out forty or fifty pickaxes and said, "Grab them! If you don't have any, grab some sticks." Sun Gui said, "Everyone, follow me." Jiale also got up, and many of the veterans woke up too. Little Naibao took out a bunch of raincoats and distributed them to everyone, saying, "Uncles and brothers, put them on and protect yourselves. Disasters can bring illness, so don't get sick." Uncle Chen Jun, "Make some ginger soup for everyone. Come back soon and drink it." Chen Jun smiled, "Okay, I'll go." In the large basket outside the tent, among the vegetables, there was more ginger and brown sugar.

Sun Gui followed the others along the river to the south of the village. Something had happened in the south, so Chai Zhen looked at it and said, "Gui, let's go to the southwest corner of the village and change the waterway to flow directly from south to north, so that the water will flow north again." Sun Gui: "The original flow direction is better. It will be convenient for irrigation in our village. Second uncle, let's leave a river to the east as well. This way, our village can open up wasteland and cultivate land in the east." Chai Zhen: "Okay, let's do it. Let's check the water first. It's too high. Let's open the river channel from the west to the north." Sun Gui: "Okay. Let's go quickly." Chai Zhen held up a flashlight and said, "Watch your step." Little Milk Bag asked Jiale to hold the night-shining pearl for light. The silk thread was in a bag and could be hung on a tree branch.

Strength lies in numbers. As dawn approached, many people went to the river, and more than half of the villagers were there to dig a canal.

In the rear, Old Lady Li led the women in the village to cook, and when the food was ready, she sent people to deliver it to the river. At noon, the river channel was dug and the water was diverted, but it returned to the original river.

However, large rocks were placed along the riverbank, the riverside was firm, the elderly people were doing delicate work, and the riverbank was firmly built. The torrential waters flowed north along their original course. To the north of the village, the waters forked into a small river that flowed eastward and surrounded the village.

There's also a small river running east from the south of the village. There's also water flowing eastward below the weir east of Chai Zhen's house. But a deep ditch has been created in front of the house, which needs to be filled in, and the road needs to be smoothed. That's what's going to be hard work later.

It rained heavily for two days straight. Sun Qing rode his horse in the rain to find Zhang Qingshan. When he found him, Zhang Qingshan was busy directing the erection of a shelter and treating patients. He told him to go back and left. Sun Qing had no choice but to return home.

Zhang Qingshan led the entire county government to inspect every village, helping to build shelters and provide food. He had already written to his superiors to report the situation. The provincial government was also very busy. The entire Pingjin Prefecture had been struck by the earthquake, causing devastating losses. An urgent report had been sent to the emperor over 800 miles away, but rescue efforts had not yet arrived. The people were suffering greatly. Taohua Village still had food and shelter, but other villages were struggling. Some people were already sick. Zhang Qingshan could find a doctor, but medicine was hard to find, buried in the ground. He was now going to collect herbs for treatment.

……