Xiaoyue sat down next to Uncle Liang. Uncle Liang cracked his whip and said loudly to Xiaoyue, "Hold on tight, we're going to speed up. My house is at the east end of the village, the place where I take the oxcart every day."

"Don't rush off when you get home. I'll find some rapeseed for you before you go home, otherwise it's quite a distance between villages."

Xiaoyue asked curiously, "Uncle Liang, how old are you exactly?"

Uncle Liang turned around and glanced at Xiaoyue, then chuckled and scolded her, "Girl, haven't you heard the saying 'Don't expose someone's shortcomings'?"

Xiaoyue smiled but didn't say anything.

When they arrived at Uncle Liang's house, Xiaoyue was too scared to go in because of the two big black dogs in the yard. Uncle Liang scooped up a shovelful of chives and put them in a basket, and also took a bag of late-season bean seeds and scallion seeds.

Xiaoyue took the basket and asked, "Uncle Liang, can your dog have puppies?"

Uncle Liang smiled: "I'll save two for you."

"Okay!" Xiaoyue excitedly picked up the basket and left happily.

Xiaoyue went straight home and put the things she bought into the shack.

Xiaoyue heard some noise near the shack, but she ignored it and went straight to get a kettle of cold water, take three bowls and go check on how the house was being built.

The house, including the kang (heated brick bed), is perfectly square.

They're raising the roof beam right now.

Xiaoyue looked and saw that there were at least ten people. There weren't enough bowls for all ten, so Xiaoyue poured water for each of them and handed them water one by one.

Finally, it was Uncle Gao's turn. Uncle Gao directed from behind the house, while Brother Yang and Gao Yu were on either side of the roof to secure and stabilize the scaffolding. The rest of the people carried the scaffolding.

After Uncle Gao finished giving instructions, he finally had time to sit down and chat with Xiaoyue.

Xiaoyue whispered to Uncle Gao, "I have prepared the remaining one tael and four mace of silver. Can I give it to you here?"

Uncle Gao laughed and said, "What's there to be afraid of when we're all from the same village? If you give it to me, I'll have the money to pay the workers. I wasn't counting on you, but I didn't expect this girl to be so capable."

Xiaoyue smiled and counted out one tael and four mace from her purse right in front of him, leaving only three coins in the purse. Xiaoyue smiled shyly and handed the coins to Uncle Gao.

Uncle Gao took the silver and shouted, "Come and collect your money when you're done with the work!" Everyone on the roof shouted back.

Seeing that Uncle Gao was about to go to work, Xiaoyue called out again: "Uncle Gao, I found out that a thief broke into the house. When you're done, come with me to the shack to take a look. As a woman, I don't know if it's a man or a woman, and I can't deal with it."