Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

Once home, Chai Zhen instructed everyone to unload the cart, and he and the village chief went to the Chai family's main house. They both burst into laughter, having held it in all the way, too happy to laugh. Chai Zhen asked, "Did you calculate the value of your rope?" Sun Gui replied, "I did. Two hundred and four taels." "Yes," Chai Zhen handed Sun Gui two hundred-tael silver notes. The village chief handed the purse to Chai Zhen. Chai Zhen took out four taels of silver and gave them to Sun Gui. Sun Gui exclaimed happily, "I've never seen so much money in my life." He put the money in his waist bag and tied it shut. Old Lady Li knocked on the door and entered. She set the table, and the six of them came in to eat. Chai Zhen handed the two hundred-tael silver notes to Hongying, saying, "Keep these, my daughter-in-law." He then explained that he had spent ten taels on the tiles. He also gave the remaining ninety-four taels to his daughter-in-law. Twenty taels were copper coins, which he said would be distributed to the others. [People from the village who had brought hemp stalks.] That day, Old Lady Li had her son bring a list of names and notify them one by one. Some people earned 400 copper coins, some earned 500 copper coins, and some earned dozens of copper coins. Old Lady Li said, "Twenty copper coins a day. If anyone wants to soak and retting hemp by themselves, we will teach them. You can earn more than if you do it yourself. Come here and make ropes and work together." "Okay!" Everyone smiled and left after receiving their wages. Some people said, "Next time the village chief goes to the county, I will go with him. I will buy new clothes for my son and daughter, and some white flour so that everyone in the family can eat better." Someone said, "I didn't know I could earn so much, I will go tomorrow too." Two people got along well and said, "Let's do it together. Aunt Chai said that we can make more money by soaking hemp by ourselves, so let's try it. Didn't the village chief teach us last time? Let's go home and dig a pond for soaking hemp too." "Okay."

Old Lady Li handed out twenty taels of silver, seventy taels of silver, and four taels of copper coins. She put them in the box. Old Lady Li looked at the banknotes and saw that there were seven hundred taels of silver and over a hundred taels of cash. She was considered wealthy. Old Lady Li put the money away, locked the box, and left.

Another day passed. Chai Zhen saw that Li Dong and Liang Lingmushi were ready, so he asked the entire family to go up to the roof. He also called in the village chief and his son, as well as the kiln operators Kong Ziwu, Qin Han, and Zhang Bingquan. The roof was completely covered with strips of wood, with wooden planks placed across it and a wooden tripod on top. They also placed wooden planks, and finally, covered it with blue bricks and tiles, ensuring the roof would be warm and leak-proof.

The exterior walls were plastered with mud, a mixture of clay and millet. The exterior beams were smoothed, and the interior walls were red brick. Several rooms had red brick floors. Old Mrs. Li and her wife swept the floors. The house was finished. After more than twenty days of hard work, the family was exhausted. They rested for a day, showered, and changed into clean clothes. They cooked delicious meals: fried tofu and stewed pork ribs, stir-fried pork with mushrooms, and scrambled eggs with chives. They steamed all the white flour buns. Little Milk Bag bought the family some wine, and everyone drank. Even Mumu and Hengheng took a sip.

The south courtyard wall has been expanded by five meters. The inner wall was demolished and cleaned up over the past two days, making the yard much larger. The main entrance has been moved to the east, with access through the southeast gate! The south wall is entirely red brick, making the gate larger and taller. A screen wall has been built directly opposite the main gate, three meters from the entrance. Between the screen wall and the gate, a large room has been constructed, the first floor three meters high, the second floor two and a half meters high. From the outside, the gate is majestic and imposing. Chai Zhen wanted to see the gate from a distance, given its red walls and blue tiles. He designed it higher, so he could see it from a distance. The second floor has large windows on three sides, with a door on the north side. A ladder will be built later for access. Li Dong is busy filling in the windows, but they haven't been filled yet. Only the outer walls have been plastered with mud. The sorghum has been harvested, and the grain has been packed into sacks and stored in the warehouse. Empty sorghum stalks, hemp stalks, bean and millet stalks are hidden at the base of the east courtyard wall. It's been busy lately, so I don't have a broom.

That day, Li Dong came to the west room. Little Milk Bag gave his uncle the blueprint. Li Dong stared at it with wide eyes. This is a window, made of wood, that can be opened. There is something transparent on it, but it is not like transparent cloth, it is hard. Suddenly, there is something more on the ground. Li Dong opened the package. He had never seen paper before. He saw the transparent hard object he saw on the blueprint, and something that looked like a pen but not a pen. Little Milk Bag told his uncle that it was a cutting knife. It can cut through glass. "Uncle makes the window frame and puts glass inside. It is windproof, rainproof, warm, and bright. It has many advantages." She gave her uncle a pair of gloves. "Put them on and move." All the windows were installed. Take your time, uncle!" Little Milk Bag prepared nails, a steel ruler, and a measuring tape for his uncle. Li Dong had never been so happy before. He looked at his niece! He said nothing. Only enthusiasm remained!

In the evening, little Naibao went to look for his great-grandfather. Chai Zhen had been busy these days, but when he saw Guoguo, he picked her up and kissed her! Kiss! Little Naibao was so happy. Great-grandfather was so cute. She touched his face and said, "It's time to pay the family." "That will motivate everyone!" "My granddaughter is right." "Grandfather will pay you right away." Little Naibao smiled.

Chai Zhen held Guoguo in his arms and called Hongying over. He said he was going to pay the family wages, mainly to Li Guang and Li Dong.

After calculating, Old Lady Li invited everyone in. She said, "We've all been busy for so many days, it's time to celebrate. We've already earned seven hundred taels of silver from the hemp rope we sold. That's one tael and seven per person per day. It's not about how much you pull per day, just the number of days. Let me tell you: Jiahe sixty days, Jiaxing sixty days, Jiayu sixty days, Chai Ping'an sixty days, Chai Xin thirty days, Chai Dong thirty days, Shuai thirty days, Pai thirty days, Li Dong twenty-five days, and Li Guang fifteen days. You can do the math yourself." After a pause, Old Lady Li continued, "Jiahe one hundred and two taels," and gave him a silver note for one hundred taels. "Jiaxing, Jiayu, and Chai Ping'an each received a silver note for one hundred taels." She didn't even give away two taels. The three sons said, "Mom, we don't want it. Let's take a look at the note and have some fun." They had their wives take a look as well. They returned the note to Old Lady Li, but Chai Ping'an didn't even take it. Old Lady Li continued, "Dad's wages are calculated by the day. Dad worries five hundred wen a day, and thirty days is fifteen taels." Chai Zhen: "You take it." "Chai Xin fifty-one taels, Shuai fifty-one taels, "Brother, you two father and son give me a silver note of one hundred taels and two taels of loose silver." Old Lady Li handed it over to the eldest brother. Chai Dong fifty-one taels, Chai Pai fifty-one taels, and also took out a silver note of one hundred taels and two taels of silver and handed it to the second brother. Li Dong got forty-two point five taels of silver for twenty-five days. In addition, Li Dong did carpentry work for three hundred coins a day, and nine taels of silver for thirty days, totaling fifty-one point five taels of silver. Brother Li Guang, fifteen days for twenty-five point five taels, you two father and son got a total of seventy-seven taels of silver. Old Lady Li took out a ten-tael silver ingot and gave it to Qi Yuan, and then took out seven taels and gave it to Li Guang. Li Ru also gave the money she had spent on buying a cow last time to her brother.

The next thing she said was, "We'll give some of the money we have now, so we can share it with everyone. Wang Min got 60 days, which is two months, 20 wen a day. Don't think it's too little. Old Lady Li gave two taels of silver. Zhang Baohua got 2 taels of silver for 60 days, but Mother doesn't want it. Runiang, you got 300 wen for 15 days, so I'll give you one tael of silver too," Old Lady Li handed it to Runiang. "Tell me, sister, take it. Our family has to be rich. Even if you don't touch it, I have to give it, not to mention you're busy all day long." "Keep it." Runiang Li had never seen so much money in her life, and she and Rundie cried with joy. The whole family tried to comfort her. Chai Zhen said, "Nephew, our family will be richer from now on. It will get better and better." Li Ru gave her mother a bag and put the money in it. Chai Zhen said, "Nephew, when you have some free time, weave baskets. You can make brooms from the sorghum stalks on the east wall. We'll take them to sell next time we go to the county."

I've been preparing these days, gathering wood, bricks, and stones to build your house. The village chief's family has enough bricks, and they're burning some for yours now. While everyone's happy, we still have to focus on our business: plucking, collecting, and ripping hemp. We've already received the deposit. If we have time, we can reclaim some wasteland and plant more crops next year."

Chai Dong watched the kiln during the day and pulled hemp stalks at night. He'd never slept well, and was skin and bones. Chai Xin worked silently, uncaring. He assigned Lao Si to dig beneath the east cliff. The three brothers dug a hole, heading west. Lao Si had seen this hole during the day, leading directly to the vegetable patch outside his family's north wall. The east wall wasn't close to the east cliff, so he figured he'd stop digging at the northeast corner of his house. He dug holes upwards, uncovering new earth. They were both making bricks and digging holes.

On the way home, I'll take another cart of bluestone. There's some in the ditch to the north. It's uphill on the way back, so many people have to push the cart. They pull two carts a day. The village now has four ox carts, but the Chai family uses one, and the other ox has been plowing the fields with Chai Xin these days. The villagers plowed the fields they'd prepared for the winter, and whoever asked would do it. At Sun Quan's house, the village chief went to the county these past few days, and the villagers bought winter supplies. Those who had earned money also went to the county with their wives. Sun Quan was harvesting hemp stalks. The other day, he saw his father bringing home so much money, and he was jealous. He wanted to work more. When he went to buy again, he didn't feel comfortable asking his father for money, and Sun Gui didn't give him any. He wanted to buy things for his wife and children. Actually, Zhang Qing had told Sun Gui to give some money to his children. The children had already started families, and Sun Gui had never seen so much money before, and he wanted to keep them warm, so he remembered. Sun Quan worked furiously, the whole village harvesting, but the stalks were dwindling, and the farther south he went. There were plenty along the river, but it was far. In the past, no one touched the hemp every year, unless they ran out of firewood. Now it's a treasure. The more they pull, the wider the river becomes, and the view becomes farther. The river stretches endlessly, stretching from south to north. It's just so quiet. Aside from the hemp pullers and his fellow villagers, there are no outsiders on the road. Sun Quan feels desolate. He wants to build his own house, a small family of three. His father makes him sad. The village is so desolate. It's winter now. This brings Sun Quan sadness and grief.