Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

The village chief walked around, banging a gong and shouting, "Meeting has begun." "All gongs, gongs, gongs, gongs." Soon, every man, woman, and child in the village gathered in the village square. Standing on a mound of dirt, the village chief announced, "I'm announcing this now. We have a job in our village. You know the thorny hemp stalks that grow by the river, and even west of the river, can be processed into something wonderful: rope. You can come to my house or to Chai's house in the northeast corner. We have them both. Anyone who works will be paid twenty wen a day. If you want to make your own hemp, you can watch us and do it yourself. Either way, you can earn money by working. Another thing: our village is going to have a school. Of course, I'll be the teacher. We'll build a school soon, and classes will begin once it's finished. Anyone with a child can attend, anyone over the age of twenty. Ten wen a month, and you can buy your own brushes, inkstones, and paper. I can also bring some back for you when I'm in town. Everyone, go home. Tomorrow morning, take your loads and ropes and meet me on the riverside road west of my house." Let's go back. "Village chief, I don't have any rope. Will a straw rope work?" "Village chief, we don't have any other rope? What should we do?" "We can use the rope as a cushion first, and then remove it when we pay you." "Fine, just listen to the village chief!" When a woman whispered something else, the man scolded her, "Don't talk nonsense."

In the afternoon, the village chief carried the hemp and went to Ping'an's house. There was a bustle at the gate, with the entire Chai family gathered there, looking at the ropes. It was a six-split rope, thirty meters long. Old Chai had put five of them together.

The village chief then joined in, joining his family. In an hour, five ropes were ready. If there weren't enough left, he would combine them into strands and put them in a basket. The young man cleaned up the area and sat down to rest. The village chief then explained the meeting to Chai Zhen. He asked if each family should make their own ropes, or if they would all be in one place. Chai Zhen said, "Any family that wants to make their own ropes can do it, or they can earn wages. It's up to them. They can learn how to make ropes from us. Everyone can come here to help with the ropes, and no one wants to pay. If the whole village is working, then we can do it during the day." Sun Gui said, "Okay!"

A lot of bricks had been burned in the past few days, and it was time to build a house. Chai Zhen said, "Let's build the school first. Tomorrow, let Sun Quan bring the bricks. We'll build it next to the square, right in the middle of the village, not far from anyone else's house, not too close." In their village, every house was big, and every family had its own share of land.

Tomorrow, Chai Zhen said, "My house is new, handsome, stylish and safe. Lao Gui, you should find a few more young people to come and see who is the best at building houses. Find more people and build it faster. Build a few more houses so that if there is anything happening in the village, there will be a place. We also need to find people to cut wood. I have carpenters at home, let Li Dong and Jia He come and lay the roof with wooden boards. Carpentry work needs to be paid, and it can be paid according to the kiln workers per day. Let the old people in our village make the straw fans and bring them to me when they are done." Sun Gui went to do it.

Jiayu was digging at the foot of the east cliff, leading a dozen young men. They dug several large holes. Clay clumps formed along the way. He'd been skinny these past few days, yet he was still so energetic. The fourth son felt sorry for the children. He said, "Starting tomorrow, get up early and eat at your own house, and go to his house for lunch and dinner." At noon, the fourth son said to Old Lady Li, "Mom, my dozen kids are so skinny. Can you cook for them for a few days? This is for making bricks for our family. Mom, your cooking is delicious. Let them eat more. It's so heartbreaking." Old Lady Li said nothing. "Go ahead. We still have some meat. We'll buy some in a few days." The fourth son went to his room and tricked his daughter. That evening, his barn had half a pig's back, and a mountain of food: vermicelli noodles, potatoes, beans, eggplant, zucchini, kelp, and a large basket of fish. There was also cilantro, pumpkin, onions, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and so on! Another large roll of transparent cloth was placed in the west room for Jiayu to put under the kang in the main room. Several bags of flour appeared in the house: white flour, yellow flour, and rice. The fourth child moved into the kang hole. There was enough food to build a house.

The next morning, Mrs. Li, Wang Min, Baohua, Runiang, and the handsome wife's wife all came to cook. The two boys went to play with the other three in the west room. Two large pots were set up. One for steaming buns, one for cooking vegetables, and a smaller pot for stewing meat—potatoes today.

Li Dong built a few more tables and chairs, enough to seat over forty people. At noon, the entire Chai family arrived. Lao Si even invited the kiln workers to come for lunch. He left three firemen at the kiln, while the rest, over forty in total, came. Everyone who ate here was overjoyed. They all knew the food was delicious, and they were all happy to come to the Chai family!

Everyone sat around the table, happily eating. Old Lady Li filled a large pot of food, packed nine steamed buns, and took three bowls, asking the fourth child to take them to the kiln for the kiln workers to eat.

Most of the Chai family members were present at the square, along with many villagers. In one morning, the foundation was laid, and almost every household had someone there. After the autumn harvest, there wasn't much work to do in the fields. The older workers worked as masons, laying bricks and mixing mortar, while the younger ones passed bricks around. Below the flat ground, there was bluestone, the gaps firmly padded. A row of five large houses stood to the north, leaving a large square in the middle for village meetings and children to play. A toilet had been built in the corner. Li Dong and Jia He were nearby, flushing wooden boards. A young wife came to watch with her child in tow, while several older women watched from the side, also wanting their grandson to go to school, and even their granddaughter to come if asked. They all wanted their children to learn more. It's always good to have many skills, and they wanted to improve their lives. An old woman said, "My son, we went to Ping'an's house for dinner a few days ago. It was so delicious, he kept raving about it when he came back." "My eldest grandson said it was delicious too! His family hasn't had it before." "Didn't our village chief say at the meeting that we need to find work? I was thinking, let everyone who can work go and earn some money, and then I'll go to the county with the village chief to buy some good food so the child can have something good to eat." "With more money, I can make the child some warmer clothes." "I feel bad for the child, even though he's still young." "Look how cold it is." "Well, let's go home." "You go, I'll go get some firewood and heat the kang. We need the child to be warm at night," he said, hunched over and walking away. Chai Zhenhe looked at the village chief and turned back to work. Not far from the house, someone had already gathered firewood and set it aside, waiting for the children to go to school and burn it for warmth. Others were cutting trees in the fields to build the house. No one was lazy.

On the kiln, everyone was sweating profusely, those pulling soil and bricks were all smiling. The whole village was bustling with activity.

Three days later, the entire village arrived at the square, putting up the wooden roof beams, laying them vertically in rows, laying strips, laying planks horizontally, and filling the gaps with mud. They paused there. The village chief said, "Rest. Everyone who's working on the buildings will go to Chai Zhen's uncle's house, Ping'an's, for dinner to celebrate the successful school renovation." He then arranged, "The men will weave straw fans, and in the afternoon, they'll lay the roof. The women will help with the cooking." Chai Zhen returned home and called Hongying inside. He said, "Cut a piece of transparent cloth and lay it on the school roof." "See if it can be connected; a single piece is best." Old Lady Li pulled it out from under the kang. She took a ruler and measured the width; it was enough for the house, only the length was needed. Chai Zhen said, "Forty meters long." Five rooms. Old Lady Li took the measurements, wrote them down, and put the rest away. Chai Zhen went to get sacks, loaded them, and carried them on his back. By the time he arrived at the school, it was time for dinner, and everyone else was invited to eat, leaving only the village chief and his family behind. They were all rushing off to eat. Family congratulations, family prosperity, family honor, Li Dong. The four of them went up to the roof, took out a transparent cloth and spread it on the roof, smeared mud around it, and also spread a thin layer of mud on it, and finally covered it with a straw fan, "Put three layers." The village chief said. Some branches and thick sticks were placed on the straw fan, bricks were placed on the sides, and bricks were also placed in the middle. The roof was ready. Everyone went back to eat. Of course, the village chief was going to eat at Chai's house, it was delicious! Now the village chief would go there to eat at any time. Hehe chuckled. On the way, he talked to Chai Zhen, "We still have to build a small house as a kitchen to boil water for the children to drink, and then build a small house to live in and run the school." "Yeah." Chai Zhen nodded, "Then find someone who can dig a well and dig a well." "Nothing is easy."

In the afternoon, two more small rooms and a kitchen were built, and not far from the kitchen was the main house. The floor inside the house was also paved with bricks. The windows were made and installed. The doors were also fixed! The new house was clean and tidy, with straw fans hanging on the windows. The inner walls were smoothed with yellow mud. This house was so nice! Every house in the village had a mud floor. This one had a brick floor. There were only a few thin wooden sticks in the window. Chai Zhen said to Lao Si and Jia He, "You two should find time to put up transparent cloth on the windows."

"The remaining mud was smoothed and laid on the ground, and the remaining bricks were taken to Chai Ping'an's house. The wood was also taken away." said the village chief.

Li Dong can't go out to pull hemp stalks now; carpentry work piles up all day. His father goes alone, following the villagers. He works during the day and weaves baskets at night, sleeping only three hours a day. He hasn't lost weight, he eats well! Ma Xiaohong is also busy all day long. She tears hemp strips, twists hemp ropes into thin ropes, and makes soles for the family, making cotton shoes.

At night, I went to my daughter's room and watched the children play. She sat on a small stool, twisting ropes. She didn't heat the kang in her room during the day to save firewood, but only heated it before bed. Old Mrs. Li and her two daughters-in-law were making shoe soles, the men each making two pairs. Li Guang was outside under the window, happily weaving baskets. Chai Zhen and the village chief were going around the village, and his husband was still out pulling hemp at midnight.

The village chief and Chai Zhen returned to the kiln factory for the night shift. The night shift consisted of only a few people, watching over the kiln fire. They would get up early to unload and load the bricks. Chai Zhen said, "Let my family use the bricks first. Let my son build my house." Sun Gui replied, "You use them first. I'm not in a hurry. I'll build after your family uses them." The two chatted as they made their way to the school. "This school will need a wall sooner or later." "If people start living there, there'll be room." "How about we use sorghum stalks to enclose it first?" "That's fine." "Make a wooden fence." "Later, when there are enough bricks, we'll build a brick wall." "Take your time." After a while, the two returned home. The village chief had to go pick hemp stalks that night, then went back to sleep.

Chai Zhen came back and went to the west room to hold Guoguo. "It's better to hold my child and sit on the warm kang." He said to the child! The little milk bag looked at the great grandfather, "Ah ah." Yes! Reached out his little hand and touched the great grandfather's face! He whispered, "Great grandfather!" Chai Zhen smiled and narrowed his eyes, "Hey hey", and agreed repeatedly. Enjoy the happiness of playing with grandchildren. Chai Zhen said to Hongying, "Hongying, it's cold, let's collect the cabbages in the field tomorrow, leave the small ones and pick the big ones first." Old Lady Li said, "Okay. All women will go tomorrow."

At midnight, the men promptly went to pull up the hemp stalks. The women went back to rest. Chai Zhen watched the door. Li Guang also went to bed, as he had to get up early the next day.

Old Mrs. Li felt sorry for the heavy work of her family members, so she didn't sleep. She went to the kitchen to stew a few fish and make fish soup. She put hot steamed buns in the pot and asked whoever was hungry to come back and take a steamed bun. After the soup was done, she served a bowl to her father and another to Ru, and let them eat. Then Old Mrs. Li went to bed.

Chai Zhen sat in the kitchen, eating fish and drinking soup, feeling so delicious that he didn't know what time it was. What a good wife! Chai Zhen ate the delicious food, thinking about these things, he needed a place to put them, so he dug an underground tunnel and entered from the kang hole in the main house. He walked north and dug underground. Dig out his own home. Under three meters. Deeper! Be prepared for danger in times of peace! Dig the exit to the bottom of the east cliff. He will tell the fourth brother tomorrow that the clay hole should be dug deeper. His family knows about it, so he can't tell anyone else. He saw some people's eyes today, which was not good. He didn't say anything and took note. His silly son didn't care about anything. Not as good as Hongying. He washed the dishes after eating and put them away. He boiled hot water and waited for his children and grandchildren to come back to wash them.

It was almost dawn, and everyone in the family had returned. The fourth child washed up first and went to bed. He ate two steamed buns in the middle of the night, so he wasn't hungry. The others ate the fish before going to bed.