Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

At 3:00 pm, Chai Zhen rose and washed up. Old Lady Li had already prepared dinner and lit candles under the courtyard shed. Jiaxing also rose. Old Lady Li told him to call Uncle Li Guang to come and eat before leaving. Soon, Li Guang arrived, and Jiaxing sat down to eat. Old Lady Li also prepared the leavened bread she had brought with her on the journey, along with a bag of bacon for when she was hungry. She packed the bread and meat together, along with three water bags filled with sugar. Old Lady Li placed them in a basket. She also brought Chai Zhen a coat and placed both in the basket.

A quarter of an hour later, Jiaxing drove the carriage out of the courtyard. Old Lady Li locked the door and went back to sleep. When they arrived at the school, Huo Hua was waiting by the roadside. His family had a carriage and had just bought a horse. Sun Gui sat in the carriage. The five of them set off.

On the way, Chai Zhen dozed off for a bit. Huo Hua asked, "Uncle Sun, we should buy some farm tools and seeds today. If our village wants to get rich, we have to do some business. I know that last winter, we pulled up bamboo shoots, and the villagers made some money, so they didn't starve during the winter. But the first six months have been tough again, and it hasn't rained yet, so the land is really bad. But we have to prepare." Sun Gui said, "First, we'll get some water to plant some vegetables, and then we'll plant as much grain as we can. Uncle Chai is having Li Dong make a tool that can move water from the river to higher ground." Huo Hua was surprised to hear this. "There's such a tool?" "Amazing! If this thing could be made, it would benefit the entire country and be a great blessing and asset to the country. It's no small feat!" What a brilliant idea. What kind of person could come up with it? Sun Gui said nothing more. It's not something you can think of or say, but it's certainly a great thing.

I forgot about the carriage I was taking today. As soon as I said this, it was already here. It's only been an hour, it's still dark, and the county gates haven't opened yet. Just wait. "A carriage is much faster," Jiaxing said. If we were to ride alone, it would take less than half an hour. It's much faster. Chai Zhen also woke up.

The county gate didn't open until the morning. The soldiers at the gate all recognized Chai Zhen and said, "You're here early, sir." "You've been working hard, young man, getting to work so early," Chai Zhen said. "This is our job. Please come in, sir." "Okay, okay."

Pedestrians appeared on the street one after another, and the snack bar had already opened. Huo Hua called out, "Uncle Chai, let's go to my shop first. A batch of seeds has just arrived." Chai Zhen said, "Lao Gui, let's go and look at the grain seeds first." "Okay." Huo Hua's grain shop was not on the busy street, and it took a quarter of an hour to walk there. Everyone got off the car, Li Guang pulled a carriage, and Jiaxing pulled a carriage, but they didn't go in at the door. Huo Hua unlocked the door and opened it. Sun Gui and Chai Zhen also went in. "This shop is not small," Chai Zhen said. Huo Hua said, "It's okay. It's not easy to do business. This shop only sells grain, grain seeds, and vegetable seeds. There is also a cloth shop somewhere else, which is almost the same."

Second uncle, Uncle Sun, look! Huo Hua pointed to a spot. This was newly arrived. "Wow, so many!" Huo Hua opened a bag, and the three of them saw it. Chai Zhen knew his family had unhulled rice seeds. Huo Hua said, "It was a stroke of luck. A friend gave me over ten bags. Let's see if we can grow it in our village." "Let's try." "I heard it's called rice. You need water in the ground." "That's what we eat as white rice." Sun Gui made the decision. "Keep it all and plant it." Huo Hua said. "Okay, we'll take it back today." "I heard only the emperor and the wealthy families in the capital can eat it. It comes from other countries," Chai Zhen said. "You're quite capable, kid." "It's not simple. We grow it in our country, but not on a large scale." "Our village will have a treat too," Sun Gui asked Huo Hua. "How many kilograms are there?" "Ten stone." "There are fifty households in our village, so this is a thousand kilograms." "Who's going to plant it? Let's take it back to the village first." "Nephew Huo, how much is the total? Is it for the seeds?" "Uncle Sun, we'll settle it when we get back to the village. Whoever wants it should pay for it. You don't have to pay for it." "Okay, I'll make a note of it." "Second Uncle and Uncle Li Guang, do you need anything else? I have a lot of coarse grains here." "Not for now," Li Guang said. At this time, the shop assistant also came and saw the shopkeeper and greeted him. Huo Hua said, "I've even taken the rice seeds away. You can take care of the shop. Close the shop early this afternoon and go home before it gets dark." Xiao Yu said, "Okay, shopkeeper."

Outside, Jiaxing tied up the carts. Huo Hua drove one, Jiaxing drove another, and the others got in. Chai Zhen said, "Jiaxing, let's go to the blacksmith's shop. Where did you buy the bacon last time? Buy some more." "Okay, Grandpa." The carriage stopped at the cooked meat shop, and Jiaxing got off. "How much, Grandpa?" "Three pounds for the blacksmith, and ten pounds for our family. More, since there are so many of us." "Okay," Jiaxing said. Jiaxing walked into the shop and called out, "Boss, five pounds each of pig's face and pork elbow." The shopkeeper, noticing the wealthy customer, came over with a smile, took out a large piece of pig's face, cut off a slice with a knife, and handed it to Jiaxing, saying, "Try it." Jiaxing chewed it and found it tasty. "Weigh it five pounds." "Okay," the shopkeeper weighed it, wrapped it in paper, tied it with a thin hemp rope, and handed it to Jiaxing. The shopkeeper then took out a few more elbows and said, "Weighed it out, eight pounds," "a total of six hundred and fifty coins." Jiaxing paid, picked up the meat, and walked out. "Come back next time," the shopkeeper said with a smile. "Goodbye, sir." Jiaxing loaded the meat into the basket on the carriage. "Grandpa," he said, "fifty wen a pound of salted pork—that's expensive! Let's buy raw meat. Let's go to another pork shop and have a look." They walked forward again, and everyone got out of the carriage. Chai Zhen said, "Pull over. I'll watch the carriage, and you all go around. Buy whatever's on sale."

Chai Zhen sat down, filled a bag of dry tobacco, and smoked. He watched the people coming and going; the street was still bustling, with shouts echoing one after another. Suddenly, he saw a man selling hair flowers. Chai Zhen got off the carriage and picked out two red hairbands and two small red flowers, silk flowers, just right, as red as fire. Chai Zhen bought both pairs and got back on the carriage. After a while, Sun Gui came back carrying a large bag of things, followed by a young man, also holding two large bags. "What did you buy? So many?" Chai Zhen asked Sun Gui. "Pen, ink, paper, and inkstone for the children's classes. I also bought a few books." I came here mainly to buy these school supplies. Chai Zhen thought that his family also needed them, so he stood up and said, "You stay here and watch the carriage. I'll go buy some paper." A few minutes later, Chai Zhen also came back carrying a large bag.

Half an hour later, Li Guang and Huo Hua returned, each carrying large and small bags. A little later, Jiaxing returned with half a pig on his back. "Grandpa, how's it going?" he asked. "This piece of meat weighs 158 jin (approximately 150 kilograms), and at 15 wen (approximately 150 kilograms), I spent two taels of silver and still have 237 wen (approximately 150 kilograms)." The boy scratched his head, feeling overspending. He looked at Grandpa. Chai Zhen said, "You should buy some. You're right. We all work so hard every day, and it's exhausting. It's bad for our health if we don't eat. Let's go see if there are any piglets. Lao Gui, you and Jiaxing go, and Li Guang, you too." "Okay," Sun Gui said. A moment later, Jiaxing came running back and said, "Grandpa, Uncle Sun asked to check with you. We have a litter of nine piglets. Uncle Sun said he wants one, and Uncle Li Guang wants two. How many do we want?" Chai Zhen asked Huo Hua, "Do you want any?" "We'll buy two too." So, Chai Zhen told Jiaxing to buy all nine, and we'll buy four. Go ahead, and bring the basket. "Hey," Jiaxing picked up the basket and ran away. After a while, the three of them were talking and laughing. Jiaxing was holding the big basket with nine little white pigs. "They are quite fat," Chai Zhen said. "They are growing well. Let's share them when we get home."

"We'll raise them before the New Year." "Laogui, when you get home you should also consider raising some pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks to help the village earn more." "That's right, I almost forgot. Let's get ready when we get home." "That way we'll have meat to eat and sell for money," Huo Hua said. "The whole village should work together, there's strength in numbers."

"Let's go," Chai Zhen said. "It's getting late. I'll drive the cart. Jiaxing will go buy a bag of flour and carry it back to the blacksmith's. We'll have lunch there. Huo Hua will drive the other cart."

The carriage rattled, and a quarter of an hour later, it arrived at the door of the blacksmith's house, where the iron was being forged outside. Chai Zhen saw him from a distance and shouted, "Brother Blacksmith, I'm here to see you." "Okay." Chai Zhen's carriage came closer, parked the carriage on the open space, found a cushion to support the carriage, set up the carriage frame, led the horse out, and went under the tree. Huo Hua also followed suit, led the horse over, took out the feed, and fed the horse. Chai Zhen went home to fetch water, brought it to the horse, and let the horse eat first. The blacksmith said, "Brother, I've finished this, and it's almost done. Go to the kitchen and boil a pot of water to drink." "Okay." "Huo Hua has a good eye, and he helps the blacksmith to add firewood to the fire." "It's almost done, everyone go inside and rest."

There was a stone table in the yard, where Li Guang and Sun Gui sat, drinking water. Chai Zhen walked outside, looked at the finished product in the hands of the older blacksmith, and said, "This is a chisel. It's done." The blacksmith said, "Brother, let's go to my warehouse and take a look." The blacksmith came to a small room in the yard, opened it, and said, "Brother, come and take it." Huo Hua, Sun Gui, and Li Guang all came over. One by one, there were chisels, hoes, hoes, sickles, and rakes.

"Brother, you haven't had a good rest these days. I forgot to ask about finding you a helper." Huo Hua heard it and said, "Second uncle needs help. Can I come? I run a shop and rarely go there. I'm idle most of the time. I don't farm much, so I still have time." "Do you want to do this?" Chai Zhen asked. "Yes, sometimes I want to study something small." "Ask the blacksmith." Huo Hua asked seriously, "Uncle blacksmith, do you want to take an apprentice? Is it okay for me?" Chai Zhen said, "I originally planned to find someone to take care of the blacksmith, cook and wash clothes, and help him with the ironwork." "Then find a child and buy one from a human trafficker." "That's fine," said Chai Zhen. Huo Hua said, "I can also come here to work often." Chai Zhen asked the blacksmith, "Brother, do you think it's okay?" "What's the matter? It's up to you." "Okay," Huo Hua said, "I'll go right away." Huo Hua went out, put on the saddle, and rode to the human market. Half an hour later, he arrived at a remote and dilapidated courtyard. The human trafficker saw someone coming and ran up to him with a smile, "What do you want to buy, sir? We have both adults and children for sale here, boys and girls, middle-aged women, men, it depends on your needs." The human trafficker chattered, "We also have cows and horses, it depends on your needs." Huo Hua looked at the human trafficker and said, "Do you have a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old, honest and hardworking?" "Yes, sir, come with me." The human trafficker shouted as he walked, and a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old came out. The sound faded, and more than a dozen children emerged from several dilapidated houses. The trafficker shouted, "Who told you girls to come out? Go back! We only want boys." A little girl, disguised as a boy, lowered her head and didn't move. The trafficker didn't say anything else, "You choose, sir." Huo Hua said, "Raise your heads." One by one, the boys raised their heads. They were pale and thin, but this girl looked pretty. No, she didn't look like a boy. Huo Hua asked, "Are you a boy?" The child lowered her head and said nothing. Huo Hua looked at the others. There was a child nearby. He walked over, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the dirt off the child's face. She looked so pretty. He asked, "Can you work?" "Yes, I can. Don't look at my age. I can cook, wash clothes, and light a fire. Please buy me." "What's your name? Where are you from? Is there anyone else at home?" The child lowered her head and shook her head. "I don't remember. When I found out, I was bought and sold like this. Sir, please take me. I can work." "Hmm." The trafficker took one look and said, "Give me five taels of silver. I've raised him for years. When he came here, I was still holding him and he couldn't even walk. I think you look kind, so I won't ask for more." "Okay, that's him." The child ran to his room and took his small package, which contained his childhood toys and a change of clothes. It was obvious that the trafficker treated him well. The trafficker said, "Xiaodong has returned to his old master's house. Be obedient and work hard." He patted the child's head and said, "Good boy." "Please wait a moment, sir. I'll go transfer your property." Huo Hua took out five taels of silver and gave it to the trafficker, then took out some change as a reward. "Thank you, sir. I'll go right away." The trafficker rode out on a horse. Less than an hour later, the trafficker returned, smiling, and handed the household registration document to the sir. Huo Hua took a look and saw it was a business certificate from the county government. "Write his name yourself."

"Okay, Xiaodong, let's go." Huo Hua picked up the child and mounted the horse. Like a trafficker, he said, "Ride the horse and run out of here." "Welcome back, distinguished guest." "The rest of you go back to the house."

Howard took the child to the main street, went to his shop, asked the clerk to get two sets of children's clothes, put on one, picked up the other, and went out. "Ah Xin, you should close the shop early and go back to eat. Come back this afternoon."

Howard took the child on horseback and rode back to the blacksmith shop. On the way, he said, "You just wash clothes, cook, sweep the floor, and light the fire. If you're tired, take a rest. If you don't know, just ask. Usually, it's just you and my master. I don't plan to treat you as a servant. I'll do it with you."

When they arrived, Huo Hua carried the child down. Xiaodong waited for Huo Hua to tie up the horse before following him inside. "We've been waiting for you. Wash your hands first and eat first," Chai Zhen said. "Come on, Xiaodong, wash your hands and face. We'll talk after dinner." Huo Hua took him. Jiaxing found a small stool, pulled the child down, and asked, "What's your name?" "Xiaodong." "This child is so beautiful. How could his parents bear to let him go?" "Hey!" Chai Zhen asked. "How old are you?" "I'm twelve." "Where are his parents?" "I don't know. As far as I can remember, they've been sold here and there," Xiaodong lowered his head. "Ah, what a world this is." Chai Zhen thought of the child's fair complexion, his calm demeanor, his logical speech, and his ability to tell the truth. He definitely didn't come from a humble family. "Let bygones be bygones. From now on, you're a member of this family. Tell us what's going on. We'll treat you like one." "Brother Blacksmith, can you look after the child? He's a little young, so I can't cook for you." "That's okay. Just treat him as a companion. I'll do it. He can light the fire. I can handle it." Huo Hua said quickly, "I'll do it myself. I don't want the master to do it. Master, is that okay?" "Why not? I've been doing it all my life. That's how it works." Chai Zhen quickly agreed. "Let's eat." The child stood up and went to the kitchen. Jiaxing said, "Don't follow me, kid. I'll serve the food. You're young." "I'm not young. I'm twelve. I can cook." "Okay, if you want to move, move." "Here, can you take it? Put it on the table." Xiaodong picked up the large basket with both hands. It was full of pancakes. Xiaodong looked so delicious that he couldn't help but drool. He carried it to the stone table in the yard. He went to get the bowl. "The blacksmith asked, can you take it?" "Master, I can. "Why call me master? It sounds awkward. Call me grandpa or master." "Then I'll call you master." Xiaodong said after thinking about it. "Okay," Sun Gui said, "Brother Blacksmith has accepted two apprentices in one day, congratulations! "Let's have a drink today." Chai Zhen also said, and the blacksmith stood up to get the wine. Huo Hua brought a big basin of bacon and said, "It's well-seasoned." He picked up a piece and ate it. It's delicious! It's better than the one in the tavern!" Chai Zhen said, "I made it, everyone is in for a treat." "Jiaxing, take the empty bowl and pour the wine." Xiaodong, you can't drink, go call brother Jiaxing to serve you porridge. "Well, thank you grandpa." There is also a vinegar cabbage, ready, let's eat, Chai Zhen said.

Jiaxing pulled Xiaodong to sit down with him, "Let's eat together." He first scooped a large piece of meat for him, placed it in his bowl, and said, "Eat! Eat more, so you can grow strong and healthy." He then patted his head. Xiaodong looked at Jiaxing, tears welling in his eyes. It was the first time the child had cried. No matter how hard his childhood had been, he had never cried. For the first time, he was deeply moved by being treated as a family member. "Eat, Xiaodong, eat. Rest after eating, and don't rush back to work. Treat this place as your home and settle down. No one will betray you," Chai Zhen said. "Brother Blacksmith, do you think this will work for this child? Or—I'll register him as my third grandson. We don't know when he'll be back. I don't want him to be left alone. Of course, he'll still be your apprentice. He'll live here with you." "Okay," Blacksmith Li readily agreed. Chai Zhen chuckled to himself and said, "Xiaodong, from now on, you'll have my surname, Chai. You need to think carefully about a name. Let's eat first." Sun Gui smiled and said, "You're in luck, kid. Let's eat." Blacksmith Li ate his meal in a cheerful mood; he suddenly had two more apprentices.

Everyone enjoyed the meal. Afterward, Jiaxing boiled some water, cleaned up the kitchen, and boiled another large pot of water. "Xiaodong, come take a bath."

Xiaodong said, "I'll wash it myself." "Okay." The blacksmith looked around the house and cleaned up the warehouse. It was quite clean. He made a bed out of a few planks and made do with it. He found a quilt, short enough to cover himself. "I'll buy some later," the blacksmith said. "That's fine," Chai Zhen said.

A moment later, Xiaodong emerged, dressed in new clothes. "Wow," Jiaxing exclaimed, "What a handsome boy!" "Grandpa, look!" Everyone was stunned when they saw him. They'd known he was good-looking, but after washing, they hadn't expected him to be so dazzling. His complexion was flawless, with an oval face, big eyes, double eyelids, and two dimples. It was hard to describe how he would charm countless young girls when he grew up. Jiaxing thought he had to stand up for his niece, but he accidentally let it slip, prompting his grandfather to glance at him. Chai Zhen said, "It's just that this child is too skinny." So, he said to the blacksmith, "Brother, I'll take him home and raise him for a few days. Once he's stronger, I'll send him back." The blacksmith, realizing he had no place for the child to live or a blanket, said, "Okay, wait until I get him a room and a blanket ready, and then we can come back." Little did he know, he'd already built another room. Even after all that preparation, the child still hadn't arrived.