Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

The heavy rain finally stopped on the third day. The people of Taohua Village emerged from their tents and, looking at the scene before them, many wept, especially the women and children. Their homes and schools had been gone. For days, the Chai family had cooked rice porridge for everyone to share. Everyone ate their own dry food, and if they didn't have any, they'd just eat more. They weren't starving. The porridge was thick and delicious, with vegetables. There were carrots, pumpkin, and spinach, and that was enough to fill everyone up. Even as the rain continued, the young men worked alongside Sun Gui and Chai Zhen, digging ditches and building bridges. None of the villagers complained of being tired. Someone even found a dead pig at the Hexi farm, and Sun Gui had the butcher Zhang slaughter it for the meat. Now the whole village cooked and ate together. Jia Le had people go to the north yard and bring in five more large pots. He already had a shed set up for cooking, so his pots and pans were still in good condition, so he brought them in for everyone to use.

Sun Gui found someone to bury Grandpa Li Dabin. Jia He and a few carpenters helped build a coffin. They were worried that the body would change over time and bring plague, which would be bad. They buried the man in just half a day.

Sun Gui said, "Everyone take a half-day break and work in the afternoon."

Little Naibao called her great-grandfather and said, "Let's burn some lime and mix it with clay to build a house." She took out the recipe and read it to Chai Zhen, teaching him how to burn it. Just using lime to plaster the inner walls was white and bright. Chai Zhen, upon hearing that white lime was easier to burn, decided to just calcine the large bluestone.

In the afternoon, Chai Zhen arranged for the veterans to go to the north to burn lime. He and Little Milk Bag came to the east yard, looked at the mess, and felt bad. Little Milk Bag said, "Grandpa, horses, cows, and sheep, if you raise too many, they will smell bad. Let's move to another place!" "This needs to be taken into consideration. The more we raise, the more we should move! Let's go to the north. There are fewer people living there and the place is bigger. Grandpa has to talk to the village chief, and then we can build a cattle farm." Little Milk Bag: "That's right, let's build a house here for our family to live in. Great Grandpa and Guoguo will both be converted into suites." Chai Zhen's eyes lit up, "Okay, you draw the blueprint." Little Milk Bag: "This time, everyone will have a house, and it must be bigger and more comfortable. Guoguo wants a luxurious and comfortable one." Chai Zhen smiled and asked, "What kind of house should we build for Great Grandpa?" Little Milk Bag: "Luxury and comfortable. Great Grandpa should enjoy life." Little Milk Bag looked at Chai Zhen and said, "Great Grandpa, you are so young, why not find a great-grandmother for Guoguo!" Chai Zhen: " "You kid, don't talk nonsense. Grandpa just wants you to be well. Grandpa is old now and doesn't want to think about anything anymore. He just wants to earn money and work." "Well, Guoguo was thinking about finding a good woman for Grandpa when we got to the capital. But I won't look for one anymore!" Chai Zhen: "Well, I won't look for one anymore."

They both stood in the east courtyard, talking about the future. "Grandpa, clean up the southeast corner." Chai Zhen watched the cowshed and simply cleared it to the side. Guoguo waved his hand, and a large pile of black stuff appeared. Chai Zhen asked, "Guoguo, what is this?" Little Milk Bag: "This is coal. Anything that can be burned can be used to smelt iron and steel, for heating, and for cooking. In short, it has many uses." "Add a little loess to make a fire for cooking."

Chai Zhen: "We'll clean up the house tomorrow. Spring planting is almost here, and there's a lot to do! Xiao Nai Bao brought out a few cows and horses. Chai Zhen built a stable to temporarily raise the horses and cows." Chai Ping'an also came to help. Li Dafa followed Jia Le and the old soldier and first followed Sun Gui to do village work, cleaning streets, filling ditches, etc.

The women of the Chai family, along with Zhang Qing, led the women of the village in cooking. Old Lady Li's rice and noodles were shared with everyone, and most families also contributed their own rice and noodles. There were only a few families who cooked together for the whole village to eat. Xiaokou was reluctant to give up her own food, and Old Lady Li didn't mind. As long as it wasn't a big deal, she wouldn't say much.

That night, Zhang Qing returned to his tent and spoke to Sun Gui, letting him know what was going on. Sun Gui took note, having to mention this. Zhang Qing sighed and said, "No one can escape natural disasters. It's only been a few days, eh." Zhang Qing wiped away a tear. The main issue was food. Sun Gui said, "Tomorrow, let's arrange for everyone to go home and look for food. See how much we can find. It's still early before the next harvest, and spring planting is a good time to plant crops! Stay in tents for now, so you won't freeze to death. We can build the house later and solve the food problem first. Get some rest, and get up early tomorrow."

After dinner at the Chai family's, Jiale and Li Dafa went to the north courtyard. Looking at the brick and tiled house scattered across the ground, Jiale felt sad. This house had taken over six months of painstaking effort, costing manpower and resources to build, and yet it hadn't been occupied for long. "Hey..." "Let's go in and take a look," Jiale said. "Some of the beams, wood, and stone are still usable. We can pick them up and use them. Some of the tables and benches are intact. The bed can also be used, with a little repair. Let's have everyone come and clean up tomorrow." After looking around, the two of them went back to rest.