Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Zhao Yongbo is fine; after all, he's too young.

Wang Guixiang had just uttered a curse when Zhao Tiegang said, "Mom, Yongbo is still young, just a child. He doesn't understand..."

Actually, in terms of age, Zhao Da'e is still a child...

But Zhao Da'e knew he wasn't popular.

Wang Guixiang wanted nothing more than to beat Zhao Da'e up, but she couldn't find an excuse.

Besides, Zhao Da'e is quite mature. Nobody treats her like a child.

More importantly, Zhao Da'e is a girl. Her mother, Cheng Jinxiang, has a gentle personality, and nothing Zhao Da'e says can change her mind. Cheng Jinxiang is also not assertive.

However, it is quite obvious that Zhao Yongbo's mother is Zhang Cuilan.

Even though Zhang Cuilan ran away and went back to her parents' home, Wang Guixiang still couldn't afford to offend her.

First, Zhang Cuilan was indeed domineering; second, Zhang Cuilan really did have a heart condition.

They're simply not to be trifled with.

Zhang Cuilan had inexplicably returned to her parents' home after her fight with Zhao Da'e. Her reason for returning was rather weak.

She ran away simply because Zhao Da'e said a few words to her. That's completely unreasonable.

After all, Zhao Da'e is young. Even if she scolded Zhang Cuilan a few times, she wouldn't run back to her parents' home.

This isn't a fight between husband and wife, or a fight with the parents-in-law. Using this as an excuse to go back to one's parents' home is understandable.

However, Zhang Cuilan returned because she hadn't built a house yet, which was the main reason.

Although there aren't many people in the village who haven't built houses, I've never heard of anyone going back to their parents' home for this reason; it's extremely rare.

The only exception was Zhao Da'e's aunt... who is also Zhao Tiebao's wife.

That's why Zhao Da'e sometimes says that his family is unfortunate.

Because neither Zhao Da'e's aunt nor this third aunt, in theory, were easy to deal with. They were quite taken aback when dealing with Wang Guixiang.

Therefore, even though Zhang Cuilan had run away to her parents' home, Wang Guixiang didn't dare to deal with Zhao Yongbo.

If Zhang Cuilan comes back one day, Zhao Yongbo might say: "My grandma hit me."

Well, forget about that, we'll just have to fight.

Zhao Da'e understood Wang Guixiang's psychology perfectly, so he sent Zhao Yongbo to sabotage the project.

Sure enough, Wang Guixiang stood there dumbfounded, looking at her third son who was drunk and confused, and then looked at Zhao Yongbo: "The child is young, he can't... he can't be so naughty."

赵大鹅啧啧嘴：瞧瞧，瞧瞧。王桂香大型双标现场。这特么要是我砸的锅，王桂香敢追我二里地揍我一顿。结果我这小兄弟砸的，就成了淘气……

However, Wang Guixiang immediately scolded Zhao Da'e: "Zhao Da'e, you're not a child anymore. You're always giving Yongbo bad ideas. You...you...you'll get your comeuppance."

"Heh..." Zhao Da'e chuckled, "Grandma, I can't afford to suffer any retribution. What if someone curses my whole family to die a horrible death? I'd drag everyone down with me..."

Wang Guixiang, her face contorted with rage, slammed the door and went inside.

Zhao Tingxu also grumbled: "The pot's gone, how are we going to eat?"

They really took away their livelihood.

Zhao Da'e nudged Zhao Tiegang: "Third Uncle, go back to your room and go to sleep."

Zhao Tiegang was so sleepy that he staggered into the house to sleep.

Zhao Da'e led Zhao Yongbo to his aunt's house, where he was served a large bowl of sauerkraut with some pork. It was still warm, and Zhao Yongbo ate quite a bit of it.

Inside the house, Cheng Jinxiang sat on the kang (a heated brick bed). After finishing her meal and clearing away the dishes, she sat there, holding an awl, sewing shoe soles.

While he was working on it, he was also teaching Zhou Chunhong how to do it.

In this era, most people still have to support themselves financially to afford their clothes. They might buy shoes, but most still make them themselves. Making shoe soles is also a skill.

In his previous life, Zhao Da'e wanted to learn, but he didn't succeed. He only studied for a few days before losing interest.

However, as times changed too quickly and machines became available, many things disappeared from the historical stage.

After seeing that Zhao Yongbo had finished eating, Cheng Jinxiang put some more meat on his plate: "Eat more."

Zhao Yongbo nodded: "Second Aunt is so kind."

Construction then began.

Cheng Jinxiang asked Zhao Dage, "Did you bring the dog back?"

Zhao Da'e nodded.

"Tie it up in the backyard and feed it every day. You're just pretending to care about the dog, you don't actually feed it at all. It'll be good enough if the dog doesn't run away on its own."

Zhao Da'e said he understood.

After Zhao Yongbo finished eating, Zhao Da'e took him home and then told him, "Little brother, you know, only your eldest sister gives you money, right? That's why your eldest sister treats you the best."

Zhao Yongbo: "The eldest sister is the best."

Zhao Da'e took out another ten yuan and gave it to Zhao Yongbo: "Hide it away later, you can use it to get a wife in the future."

Zhao Yongbo was overjoyed. Although he didn't know why he needed a wife, ten yuan could buy a lot of candy...

"Tomorrow morning, you throw a brick down the chimney. Got it?"

Zhao Yongbo immediately perked up: "Don't worry, big sister, I'll be there in a bit."

Zhao Da'e tugged at Zhao Yongbo: "Keep your voice down, do it secretly. Don't throw anything too big. It wouldn't be good if your grandma caught it."

Zhao Yongbo quickly nodded: "Understood. Big sister, just watch whether I deal with that old codger or not."

Zhao Da'e patted Zhao Yongbo's head: "You're a quick learner. It's not for nothing that your older sister cares about you. Go back to sleep."

Zhao Da'e then moved the dog to the backyard. Afterwards, she tidied up the area.

Zhao Da'e wandered around the backyard, sometimes here, sometimes there.

He muttered to himself, "This piece of land is good for starting a small business in the future."

"It's a new era now, we need to incorporate some mechanization."

Just then, Xiao Bao came over and rubbed against Zhao Da'e, and Zhao Da'e realized: Oh no, I forgot to feed the dog again.

Zhao Da'e ran to his third uncle Zhao Tiegang's house and looked around, but there was nothing there. Even if there was food, it was either sour or rotten. The dog basically wouldn't eat it.

Having no other choice, I went back to my aunt's house, grabbed a few leftover bones, some vegetables, and leftover rice, and fed them to the dog.

The dog, having eaten its fill, snuggled up to Zhao the goose.

It is said that all things have a spirit. Dogs, in particular, are said to have an even stronger spirituality.

In his past life, when Zhao Da'e was all alone, the happiest thing for him when he came home every day was to talk to his dog for a few minutes.

At first, Xiao Bao was still alive, so we talked to him. Later, the older dog got old, and only the younger dog, Da Bao, was left.

Da Bao is a male who often goes out to play and sometimes doesn't come home for days. But when he does come back, he stays with Zhao Da'e.

Zhao Da'e doesn't actually feed the dog very often. Dogs are the easiest animals to raise. In the countryside, they're rarely fed; sometimes they go hungry for three days after a single meal, and sometimes for half a month.

Anyway, they didn't starve to death.

When Zhao Da'e doesn't like to cook, he just puts some cornmeal there. Sometimes when he's not too busy, he steams some cornmeal pancakes, steaming a big pot at a time and leaving them there.

Da Bao knows the area, and when he gets hungry, he goes and grabs something to eat.

However, most of them will hide. Buried in the ground or in a woodpile.

Feeling somewhat ashamed, Zhao Da'e took the dog and its mother out for a stroll.

It just so happened that Madam Ni was strolling outside. Her eyesight wasn't very good; she was practically blind. Hearing the noise, she came out to ask, "Is anyone there?"

"I am Big Goose." Zhao Big Goose chuckled.

"Second Aunt, you're taking a stroll?"

"I heard some noise over here, and I was wondering who it was," Ni said. "It's been quite a while since I've seen you. What have you been up to?"

"I don't like to move around, it's cold," Zhao Da'e said. "By the way, is my second brother home?"

“It’s at home,” Ni said, then called out into the yard, “Second son, come out.”

A moment later, Wu Er came out and saw Zhao Da'e, saying with a smile, "Wear more clothes, your face is all red from the cold."

Zhao Da'e chuckled.

It wasn't that she was wearing too little clothing, but rather that she had been wearing too much when she came out. After all that fuss, she'd been out for three or four hours. She was exhausted and covered in sweat.

"Second brother, could you build me a doghouse? I'm thinking about it, and I feel more at ease leaving the dog here, but I don't know how to build one."

"Okay," Wu Er said. "So what kind of structure do you want to build? We can't build anything in winter, so are you going to just use stones, or get some pieces of wood?"

Zhao Da'e scratched his head: "I don't know either. Second Brother, you decide."

Zhao Da'e didn't stand on ceremony; they were neighbors, and being too polite would only make them seem distant.

Wu Erxian went over to take a look at the place and felt that there was a suitable spot in Zhao Da'e's backyard, close to his own wall.

However, Zhao Da'e felt that it would be warmer near the earthen slope at the very back.

Since he was a guest, Wu Er followed Zhao Da'e's lead.

Then I went back to get a pickaxe, shovel, and saw, and then came over.

Zhao Da'e also helped out.

Xiao Bao was very well-behaved; he just lay quietly not far away and didn't bite Wu Er.

Da Bao was crouching under its mother's body. It was a tiny, fluffy little thing, very cute.

Zhao Da'e and Wu Er first leveled the ground, trying to make it as flat as possible. Then they made the hillside more vertical. After that, they started piling up stones.

There are many loose rocks nearby, so try to find some flat ones, add some soil when piling them up, and try not to make the gaps too big.

Soon they had built up a space about one square meter in size. Finally, they cut some branches, and Zhao Da'e planned to put some millet stalks on top to keep it warm.

A layer of millet straw was laid underneath. After leveling it, Zhao Da'e patted it with his hand; it wasn't too rough to the touch, so he considered it done.

And so, a doghouse was born.

Zhao Da'e patted the doghouse: "Little Baozi, come here."

The dog obediently came over, as if it could understand what Zhao Da'e was saying.

Zhao Da'e pointed to the doghouse: "This is your home from now on. You're not allowed to go out and have fun... well, you can go out to find food, but remember to come home."

Then Zhao Da'e put the puppy inside.

He stood up and thanked Wu Er, saying, "Oh, Second Brother. I feel so bad that you're always asked to do all this work."

Wu Er didn't seem to care: "It's nothing. Have you eaten? Why don't you come to my house for a meal?"

"No, I have to go back."

"That's fine."

Wu Er then left.

Zhao Da'e arrived at his aunt's house.

A few days passed in a flash, and nothing much happened.

That day, Zhao Da'e had just gotten up, eaten something, and was walking back and forth in the yard.

Zhou Chunwen got angry: "Big Goose, what are you doing? You seem distracted."

"I'm worried. I have no money..."

"I've heard that sentence so many times. Selling water over there seems to be quite profitable..."

"No. We need to plan ahead. I'm thinking of starting some other projects in a few days. Otherwise, the chances of my house ever being built are extremely slim."

Zhao Da'e did make some money, but it was only enough for food and drink. He seemed to have some, but it didn't last long. Zhao Da'e didn't know what he spent it on; the money just disappeared like water flowing away.

Zhao Da'e has actually been frugal with her money. She's young and doesn't eat much. Besides, she doesn't eat candy, and usually just has an apple. Maybe her meals are a little better, but she hasn't done much else lately.

But the money is gone.

So worried.

Zhou Chunwen frowned, tossed her braids behind her, and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Big Goose, one should be content with what one has."

"I'm content with what I have. But I'm broke, I can't afford it..." Zhao Da'e was quite worried: "Big sister, what do you think about me opening a winery?"

"Forget it. You can't do that job. Would you even make money hiring someone?" Zhou Chunwen immediately rejected the idea.

After walking for a while, Zhao Da'e said, "Actually, I've been thinking about opening a shredder shop. I can specialize in shredding grain and make some money."

“This idea is alright. But in reality, you still can’t do it,” Zhou Chunwen said. “However, it’s a bit better than the first one. You can just keep an eye on things and then not worry about anything else. Let the people who grind the grain do it themselves. You can charge less money. The downside is that you don’t have a good place. You can’t go to your backyard, that place is too remote. You can only go to the edge of the village, but you don’t have any land there.”

Zhao Da'e also felt that this was a problem.

Zhou Chunwen is right. This might not require much physical labor, but it definitely needs a good location. Land, electricity, machinery—that's a whole host of things to consider.

In that era, most people still used stone mills to grind grains, so a pulverizer was indeed a very advanced mechanized device.

In her past life, Zhao Da'e should have known about this, but she only knew that, for example, a 3000W motor was used for secondary grinding. A 11,000W motor would be ideal for primary grinding. In that case, it would consume about 15 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour, costing approximately two cents in electricity bills.

In other words, excluding losses, the theoretical cost per hour is about three yuan. About ten bags of grain can be crushed per hour, and the charge is usually between one and one and a half yuan. This varies depending on the type of grain.

Corn costs one yuan, and sorghum costs one yuan and fifty cents. Millet is more expensive.

However, most of it should be corn, so theoretically, the profit per hour would be seven yuan. The profit isn't very high. On a good day, you could make around fifty yuan.

The profit margin isn't huge, but the demand should be substantial and stable. Most importantly, this can be combined with pig farming.

During the crushing process, a lot of dust is produced, mostly from the grain being blown out. Zhao Da'e remembers that in his previous life, other villages had crushers. After a day's work, they could save about twenty catties of cornmeal, enough to feed several pigs.

Of course, theoretically, there could be two or three machines. It's just that I don't know if there will be that much work.

Zhao Da'e shook his head, deciding to find out how much a shredder costs another day.