Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

As soon as the little one got up, he called out for his great-grandfather. Chai Zhen picked him up and went outside to take a look. He then looked east at his home and said, "Grandpa, it's right here. We're building it to the east. It smells bad if we get too close." "It's next to the big weir to the east." "Okay, here it is."

"Just make the wall thicker around the weir, and use wooden fences on the other three sides, is that okay, Grandpa?" "Why not? I'm just worried about the cold winter." "Make the other three sides earthen walls, use bricks for the cowshed, and use fences on the outside. There will be haystacks in the winter." "Okay."

Go home and start working in a while. "Grandpa, my little cow is waiting to come out!" "Ah! Ah!" Chai Zhen walked back holding the little cow. "Grandpa, are the flowers on our wall beautiful?" "Yes, they are. The flowers on both sides of the road in our village are blooming beautifully." "Grandpa will carry you for a walk and have a look." "Let's go west from our house. This is the only road without flowers." They came to the river, "Guoguo, look, this is the wasteland we reclaimed. It's close to the water. Guoguo, look, these are peanuts." "Go further south, look, this is a watermelon." Chai Zhen squatted down and said, "Guoguo, look, do you see it?" "Grandpa, big watermelons." "We have big watermelons." Chai Zhen carried Guoguo, walked in, turned around, and saw a big one. The little kid reached out and patted it, "bang bang bang bang", "Grandpa, it's ripe," Guoguo blushed, and opened his big eyes, "Grandpa will pick it and take it home." "Okay, okay, Grandpa will pick it." Guoguo sat on the brick, "Sit tight." Chai Zhen broke off the watermelon, found a vine, weaved it into a net to hold the watermelon, "Let's go home." Chai Zhen picked up Guoguo. "Grandpa, how many watermelons are planted here?" "There are twenty acres, and there are more in the south. There are more than twenty acres planted by other people in the village. Here, there are almost fifty acres of watermelons. In the south of the village, there is rice planted. Our family doesn't plant it. Let's find a piece of land to plant rice." "No need, Grandpa, I'm planting it. I harvested another season and got twenty thousand catties. One hundred and twenty catties equals one stone. There are one hundred and sixty stones." "Grandpa?" "Yes." "Grandpa, can you help Guoguo sell some grain for money?" "Guoguo, save it first and sell it later." "Grandpa, we are not short of grain." "Grandpa knows, even if our family sells so much, we need a way out. Let Grandpa think about it." "There are large tracts of wasteland in the north. We can plant grain on them and sell it at the same time. This is also a way." "We can also build a caravan and do business. In this way, people traveling from south to north can also sell their goods." Guoguo, do you think your second uncle can do business? "Yes." "Go to the capital to sell!" "Okay, okay."

Grandpa and grandson returned home carrying a large watermelon. The children gathered around them. "Grandpa, what's this?" Little Milkbag answered quickly. "A big watermelon. Brother, have some watermelon. It's sweet." "Grandma," Little Milkbag shouted. "Come and cut the watermelon. Everyone, come and eat some watermelon!" "Ahhhh!" the children shouted. Grandma Li brought a cutting board, a knife, and a towel. She wiped the watermelon rind with a single cut and cut it in half. "Ahhhh, red!!!" "It's sweet and ripe," said Little Milkbag. Grandma Li cut it into small pieces for everyone to share. "Eat it," she said, sharing it with everyone. She also picked up a piece. "Sweet," Huanhuan said. "Grandpa's watermelon is sweet," she said. Chai Ye was too busy eating to talk. Wang Min finished and said, "It's so sweet, so delicious." "It will definitely sell well." "Grandpa, to make it easier to sell, sell it by the piece. How much is one?" "This big one today is five hundred coins." "Is it a lot?" "Not much, we sell it to rich people." "I want to sell it for one or two taels of silver." "Grandpa, take it to the capital and sell it for one or two taels of silver each. We'll go in two days." Little Naibao took the lead. "Also, Li Biaotou and the others haven't left yet, let them go too. Let's open a shop in the capital! Make money! We have horses and can take a carriage." "Okay, okay, let's go, talk to Li Dong." "Yes, talk to uncle, and build a carriage first." "Grandpa, let's go," said Old Lady Li. "This child is impatient." "Imitate the fourth child," said Li Ru. "Imitate the fourth child," said Zhang Baohua.

At Li Guang's house in the west courtyard, Chai Zhen found Li Dong. Little Naibao started talking, "Uncle, make lots of carriages." "Okay, if Guoguo wants me to make them, I'll do it." "Brother Jiahe, let's do it together." "Okay," Chai Zhen said. "Make twenty carriages. Make them longer so they can hold more things and have armrests. I'll tell Sun Gui and send some more wood."

Chai Zhen had been busy all morning. He went to the school and said, "Gui, go cut some more wood. I'll pay you fifty coins a day." "Okay." "My granddaughter said she wants to go to the capital to sell her things. She wants to take our village melons and sell them there for one or two taels of silver each." "Can you sell them at such a high price?" Little Milk Bag said, "Of course, Village Chief. We'll sell them when every household has enough food." Sun Gui said yes repeatedly. "Okay!" They held a meeting that evening to encourage everyone to work hard.

Chai Zhen put the little girl down and let her walk. Sun Gui looked at her and said, "Guoguo, you're almost a year old, right?" "Almost, another month." Sun Gui brought two stools for Chai Zhen to sit on. He said, "We'll need more people to make bricks. The rice should be harvested, and the melons are almost ready. We need people too." Chai Zhen said, "I heard from my nephew that the fighting on the front lines is fierce, and there are many seriously injured. How about we find disabled people to come to our village?" They said they would build some houses east of the village. Sun Gui said, "That's fine. Even if we have to reclaim wasteland, they won't starve to death. Our village just has a lot of wasteland." "Then I'll let Chai Hua do it." That night, Chai Hua went to the general's mansion.

After dinner, Chai Zhen was free and began to play with his granddaughter, pulling the little nanny with him, saying, "Guoguo, let's go for a walk." The little nanny waddled and walked. "Almost there, you'll be able to walk soon." After a while, Chai Zhen grew tired and picked up the little nanny again. "Gui, I'm leaving." Sun Gui saw Chai Zhen out the door and watched her walk away before returning to the school.

When Chai Zhen arrived home, everyone at home started digging the foundation. He called Jiaxing, Jiale, Jiayu, Chai Xin, Paipai, and Shuai Shuai. They moved fifty meters out from the weir and dug to the same level as the front of their house. They started digging on the east side first. Chai Dong came over to take a look and said, "Uncle, are you going to bring in bricks?" Go ahead and bring it in. Chai Dong drove out his own ox cart, loaded it with bricks, and drove it over himself. He unloaded the cart himself. They moved closer to the foundation. A few young men moved the bluestone nearby, and Chai Zhen, Chai Xin, and Chai Ping'an arranged it. The wall was two bricks thick, and the foundation was wide. It took two days to complete the foundation. It was still just one wall on the east side.

That morning, on a country road, a shabby old carriage wobbled along. The driver said, "Grandpa, look, it's so beautiful." Old Master Li lifted the curtain of the carriage, his face filled with joy. He had come to see the emperor, publicly demoted, but secretly to teach the prince. The rest of his family had returned to their hometown, and he had brought a grandson to Taohua Village. The court had been unstable in recent years, and he had wanted to retire, so this was the perfect time. The emperor said it was a place of enjoyment, and he wanted to spend a few years in leisure. Now he saw it, "Not bad."

As the carriage drove in, the view became more and more beautiful. The flat road was clean and neat, with red flowers and green willows. Opposite the village entrance was a school. The sound of reading could be heard from afar. "Yu..." The carriage stopped. "Grandpa is here, get off." Old man Li Jingwen got off the carriage and walked to the gate. Seeing that the flowers on both sides were in full bloom, Li Qi went to ask. The old man guarding the gate came over. Li Qi asked, "Grandpa, may I ask where the Chai family lives?" "Are you looking for the Chai family?" "It's Chai Zhen." "Look to the north, there are a lot of people?" "Yes." "That's the Chai family, but the road to the north is blocked. Go west from here to the west end, then go north. Then go east and you will see it. The Chai family is at the easternmost end." "Thank you, Grandpa." Li Qi pulled the carriage. "Grandpa, get in." Li Jingwen: "Grandpa, go ahead. You drive the carriage in front." "Okay."

Old man Li walked and looked, "Oh, what is this? Vegetables, right? Can I eat it?" The trees are green, the flowers are red, and the birds are singing. It's nice here. After school, a group of children are chattering. Li Jingwen

He saw some girls carrying backpacks, bags he had never seen before, bags slung over their backs. He asked, "Little girl, are you going to school too?" "Yes, Grandpa." "How old are you?" "Five." "So young to go to school?" "Yes, Grandpa. You have to start medical school at five. You learn literacy, then medicine." "Tsk..." This tiny village even had a medical school, and they even taught girls. "Goodbye, Grandpa," the little girl ran off. The little backpack bounced.

At the west end, he could see the river from afar. A waterwheel stood nearby. He hurried a few steps and peered closer. Water was flowing slowly into the ditch beside the bank. "This, this..." He had never seen anything like this village in his entire life. The children returning home weren't dressed very well, but they weren't bad either. The village chief was managing well. Looking back, he saw a vast expanse of lush green. He had never seen it before and wondered what it was growing. He saw someone pulling bricks and asked, "Excuse me, what are they growing?" "This is a large expanse of watermelons. Fruit." Chai Dong, driving an oxcart, was hauling bricks for his cousin.

There are the sounds of chickens crowing in Hexi, it seems that there are quite a few chickens there.

"Good, good." "Grandpa, let's go soon. It's already noon." He was hungry. Let's go. Li Qi stopped the car and Grandpa got in. "Let's go." Go... "The horse is hungry too." "You're hungry, right?" "Grandpa, aren't you hungry?" "Oh, I'm hungry and tired. I'm old."

Li Qi drove the carriage to the easternmost end and stopped, "Grandpa, please get off." Chai Zhen had already come up to him and said, "Excuse me, old sir, where are you from and who are you looking for?" Li Jingwen clasped his fists and saluted, "I came from the capital to Taohua Village to look for Mr. Chai Zhen." "It's me, Chai Zhen." "Who are you?" "My surname is Li, and my courtesy name is Jingwen. I was asked by Prince Ye to come here to teach, and I heard that you are looking for a teacher." Upon hearing this, Chai Zhen hurriedly said, "Yes. Please come to my house. Follow me." Chai Zhen entered from the west gate and opened the door wide, "Drive the carriage in." Li Qi drove the carriage in. They stopped under the stable in the east yard and unloaded the horses. Chai Zhen brought horse feed to feed the horses and fetched water. Then he said, "Come with me to the house." Chai Zhen called Li Hongying to the water and said, "Wash and eat first." "Okay, okay."

Old Lady Li and Zhang Baohua brought two large bowls of rice and a basin of vegetables. "Eat, let's eat first."

In the courtyard, people came back one after another. Xiaodong put down his schoolbag and went to the west room to pick up the little baby. "Brother, Dong brother, what did you learn today?" "Brother learned the Analects of Confucius today." "The Master said: 'Is it not a pleasure to learn and practice it from time to time? Is it not a joy to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is it not a virtue to be not angry when people do not know him? '" The little baby followed along and read with a cute baby voice. Li Jingwen listened. How young is she to learn this? Xiaodong explained it to her. The little baby repeated it, "Yes, sister is right."

"Brother, let's go eat. White rice!" "Okay, sister hasn't learned to walk yet?" Little Milk Bag blushed and said, "I'm still young. I'll be able to when I grow up." "Yes, yes. Guoguo is still young." "It's time to eat." Guoguo sat down and picked up the small bowl and shoveled it into her mouth. "Sister, eat slowly. Brother will feed you." "No, I want to eat by myself." "Okay, then you eat slowly." Li Dong made a small stool specially for her, which was arranged in a circle, with a mouth in the front. Li Ru made a thick cushion for her. The table was full of children: Mumu, Huanhuan, Hengheng, Chaiye, and Xiaodong. Gouzi was circling around. No one would feed him because the floor was dirty. Grandma Li had prepared a bowl for him, just like people, with boiled water next to it. Little Milk Bag wanted to be held, but Grandma wouldn't let her, saying she was too young and should be held when she was older.

Li Jingwen finished his meal and drank tea. Li Qi went to the courtyard and sat with the children. "Who are you?" Little Milk Bag asked him. "My name is Li Qi. What's yours?" "My name is Little Baozi." "Hahaha, my sister changed her name." "No, no, it's Daddy's fault. I said it wrong. My name is Guoguo." The children laughed and talked.

Inside the room, Chai Zhen and Li Jingwen were talking. "Mr. Li, do you want to live in the school or at my house?" "Your house is the best. It's lively there." Haha. "As long as you don't mind. I'll make the arrangements."

Chai Zhen called over Old Lady Li and asked, "Where are you going to live?" Li Hongying said, "Talk to Guoguo about it and move into her house. We have to build a few more houses this year."

Chai Zhenlai said, "Guoguo, great grandfather told you that a teacher is coming to teach your brothers and they have no place to live. Would you like to live in your new house? Grandpa will build you a house later." "It's okay, Grandpa, I'll go to your house to play." "Okay, good Grandpa got it."

"Mr. Li, please come with me." Old Mrs. Li made the bed, the quilt, and the pillow. Li Qi picked up his bag and packed his things. Chai Zhen packed Little Milk Bag's things and took them to his room.

Li Jingwen looked fine. Okay. Chai Zhen said, "You've come such a long way, take a break for a couple of days. Just let me know if you need anything." Old Lady Li brought a pot of tea and placed it on the table. She also brought a plate of apples and left. Li Qi closed the door. "Grandpa, take a nap." "Yes, you too." "Here's the bed, perfect for two people." "Grandpa doesn't have room for a wardrobe." "We'll talk later."