Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

Jiale drove the carriage back, "Grandpa, why hasn't my father come back yet?" "It's okay, let's not worry about him. Let's go home first." The horse clattered... and in more than half an hour, they arrived home, fast and steady. Little Milk Bag said, "Horses are still faster."

Jiale unloaded the cloth, placed it on the stone table in the courtyard, and drove the carriage to the east courtyard, where all the horses were now. There were horses, cows, and sheep, too. Chai Ping'an lived in the stables. He said he felt uneasy about so many living creatures without someone to watch over them. He would get up in the middle of the night to check on them and give them some food.

As the saying goes, a horse cannot grow fat without night grass. Every day during the day, I drive the sheep to the wasteland in the north to graze.

Everyone went to bed early that day. Before dawn, Chai Zhen got up and called all the grandchildren. Jia Le went to Uncle Li's house in the west yard to see how the cart frame was finished. Everyone else went to pick watermelons. "Go call Chai Xin."

Little Milk Bag woke up too. She called her brothers to get up, put on her own clothes, and went to the river. Chai Ye pulled Little Milk Bag, and the other children skipped and jumped towards the river. A few of the little ones dove into the fields to grab big watermelons. "It's so lively in the fields."

The whole village got up early to pick watermelons. "Pick the big ones!" someone said. "We can't go to the capital, but the watermelons we grow will soon be there." "Our village is going to be famous." "Who knows? We might even be able to visit the capital someday." "Maybe." "Early in the morning." Li Guang arrived, pulling a cart with baskets on top. He wanted to test the cart's movement. How did the wheels turn? They seemed fine. The carpenter hurried to build twenty carts. One by one, twenty carts arrived. Everyone picked watermelons even faster. Someone said these watermelons were worth a fortune. "I heard that watermelons sold for one ounce of silver each in the capital." "If they're that valuable, then these watermelons are gold. Isn't this like picking gold?" "That's right." "Everyone, pick them! Whoever picks the most watermelons will have more gold." Haha! Someone laughed joyfully. People chatted, their hands busy. They talked about the bumper watermelon harvest! And the bountiful money! It was as if silver was floating before their eyes.

For the first batch of watermelons, Chai Zhen and Sun Gui agreed to send a cartload to the palace. They would sell the rest. Nine bags of corn seeds, ten thousand pounds of wheat, and several bags of soybeans. Then, the sound of horse hooves clattered from the road—quite a lot. Soon, carriages appeared by the river. Zhang Qingshan, Lao Si, Li Biaotou, and the others arrived, followed by twenty more. "Great! Everyone cheer! Great!" The watermelons were plentiful. Sun Gui said, "Let's load the carts." "Everyone, find nice, sturdy baskets to put them in. We're sending them to the Emperor and to the palace," they shouted. "Don't worry, Village Chief." One by one, the large watermelons were loaded into the baskets and lifted onto the carts. Lao Si brought hemp ropes from home and tied the carts. By the end of the morning, they had loaded thirty carts. Jia Le brought the horses from home and harnessed them to the carts. They loaded nine bags of corn seeds from the school and then went to the Chai family's house to load more wheat and soybeans, a total of forty carts, all tied tightly with hemp ropes. There were twenty bodyguards, two of the four brothers, Sun Quan, and eighteen yamen runners. Forty men drove forty wagons, and two wagons with covered carriages. Chai Zhen, Sun Gui, Zhang Qingshan, Huo Hua, and Xiao Naibao also wanted to go. Chai Zhen said, "Take Xiaodong with you." Old Lady Li had already made two fine suits of clothes for Xiaodong. One was blue cloth, the other snow-white brocade. Xiao Naibao and Dong's brother wore the same clothes. They looked like twins. Xiaodong wore a jade hairpin in his hair, while Xiao Naibao had two red flowers. That was the only difference. Sun Gui was left to Jia He, who was now responsible for the village. Each bodyguard had a broadsword. The four brothers and Sun Quan had long spears, and the yamen runners also wore broadswords. They were dressed in military uniforms. A flag flew from the first wagon, inscribed with Taoyuan County. The fourth brother drove the first carriage, Sun Quan the second, followed by the bodyguards and finally the yamen runners. The last was the covered carriage. "Let's go!" Zhang Qingshan shouted. The fourth brother shouted "Gee!" The carriages slowly started moving, one after another, and the long procession set off. Huo Hua drove the carriage, with Sun Gui and Zhang Qingshan sitting in it. Another secret leader hurried over, showed his badge, set up the carriage, and Chai Zhen, Xiaodong, and Xiao Naibao sat inside. The secret leader had to show up soon, and a team of secret guards followed closely behind.