In a short while, many villagers were standing under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village, and they were all whispering and wondering whether something had happened that the village chief had called them together.

Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, the village chief cleared his throat and said, "I'm gathering everyone today for good reason. The Xu family is planning to build a new house, and they've asked me to ask if anyone in the village has any laborers who haven't found work yet. I'll pay you 20 cents a day, and lunch is included. If you're interested in working, come and sign up!"

The villagers below started talking about it, and they whispered to each other, "What, Old Xu's family is going to build a new house? Twenty cents a day, so much wages, is it true?" Another person said, "I don't think it's false. The village chief said so, it must be true. Twenty cents is not a small amount! Anyway, my family has signed up." Then he raised his hand and shouted to the village chief, "Village chief, I'm signing up, count me in!" When the other villagers saw someone signing up, they all shouted that they wanted to sign up.

The village chief pressed his hand and said, "Everyone, be quiet for now. Those who want to sign up, please come to my house and I will do the registration first. It's getting late, so everyone should go home and discuss it. I will send the list of people who want to work to Lao Xu's house before dinner. Now you can all go!" Everyone walked towards their own homes. They and their companions were puzzled as to why Lao Xu's family was going to build a new house. It seemed that they had money, and they all looked envious.

At this time, the Xu family had already prepared dinner and were ready to eat. At the dinner table, Qibao said to his grandfather, "Grandpa, I plan to build a courtyard house. I will go to the master later to see if there are any blueprints for the house construction. I wonder if there is anyone in our village who can understand the blueprints?"

Old Master Xu said, "A few years ago, Chunsheng, the son of your village chief's grandfather, was helping people build houses in town. But there weren't that many houses to build in town. He was worried about his family, so he didn't go out to help build houses. He returned home to farm and would do odd jobs in town in his free time. I think he can understand the blueprints."

After hearing this, Qibao said, "Okay, then when the village chief comes to our house later, you can talk to him about this. As long as the village chief agrees, let Uncle Chunsheng come to our house at noon tomorrow to get the blueprints." Grandpa Xu agreed.

After dinner, Qibao found time to slip into the space. Xiaoling was very happy to see its master. It was usually alone in the space and must be very lonely. Thinking of this, Qibao played with Xiaoling for a while and said, "Xiaoling, my family is going to build a new house. I wonder if there are any blueprints in the study?"

Xiao Ling said, "Yes, I know where it is. I'll take the master to get it." As he spoke, he skipped in front and entered the study. Xiao Ling pointed to a row of bookshelves and said, "It's right up there." Qi Bao waved his hand and took down the stack of drawings, put them on the desk, and sat at the table to look through them one by one. Most of the houses in the drawings were more modern in style. They looked good, but what was lacking in this ancient time was the materials. There was no wallpaper and no latex paint.

Just when Qibao thought he couldn't find the style he wanted, he saw that the drawing at the bottom was very similar to the house type he had in mind, so he took it out and observed it carefully. The whole yard was in the shape of a "mouth", and the whole structure was made of blue bricks, and the beams were made of wood. It looked very ancient and low-key with a sense of grandeur. The floor would be paved with bluestone slabs, which were clean and easy to clean. Moreover, the materials for building a house could be bought in this era, so he immediately decided to build it like this.

After choosing the blueprint, he went out to see how many vegetables Xiaoling had collected. He saw all kinds of vegetables piled up in piles on the ground in the warehouse, classified by category. He was very satisfied and praised Xiaoling. When Xiaoling saw his master praising him, he was so happy that he wagged his tail like a fan. Qibao felt that Xiaoling's tail would be broken by itself in the next moment. He explained to Xiaoling again and then left the space with the blueprint.

When Qibao arrived at the main hall, he saw that the village chief had finished discussing with his grandfather. When they were about to get up and leave, Qibao hurried forward and said, "Grandpa Village Chief, please take this blueprint back to Uncle Chunsheng, so that Uncle Chunsheng doesn't have to make a special trip tomorrow. If he has any questions, he can come to me." The village chief agreed, took the blueprint and left.

Qibao then gathered the brothers together and said seriously, "Brothers, I will start training you tonight. Let's start with the basics. Follow my moves and learn together." When the younger brothers heard their sister say that they were going to practice martial arts, they quickly answered in unison, "Yes!"

Qibao opened his legs shoulder-width apart, lowered his body, and placed his fists on his waist. He said, "Brothers, do this like me. Stay still. After a quarter of an hour, rest for a while, squat for another quarter of an hour, and then run ten laps around the yard. Only then will tonight's training be over!"

Several boys followed their sister's posture and learned it. After a few breaths, Xiaoliu lost his balance and fell on his butt. He quickly got up and continued to squat.

I don’t know how long they squatted there. The brothers were already unsteady, their legs were shaking, and sweat was oozing from their foreheads, but they were still struggling to hold on.

Qibao nodded repeatedly. It seemed that her brothers were very determined. Squatting in horse stance was nothing to her. Many trainings in her previous life were many times more cruel than this. But now she had the soul of an adult and the body of a five-year-old child. Sometimes the body was far less responsive than the brain, so she had to start all over again.

"Okay, quarter of an hour is up, brothers, take a break!" Qibao had just finished speaking when several of his brothers collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Seeing this, Qibao said, "You can't lie down right after exercising. It's not good for your health." The brothers didn't understand what he was talking about, so this was the only way to express it.

The brothers immediately stood up again. After a short rest, Qibao said, "Okay, it's time to rest. Keep doing the movements you just made." He then took the lead. When the time for squatting was up, Qibao instructed, "Rest for a while, then run ten laps around the old house. You are just starting. You can gradually increase the amount of exercise later." The children agreed.

After Qibao and his brothers finished running ten laps, they were already sweating profusely, panting heavily, and unable to speak a word. Wang Shi then said, "You guys are sweating so much, hurry into the house and wipe yourselves. Ask your mother for some clean clothes, or you'll catch a cold from the wind." She wet a handkerchief and helped Qibao wipe herself, saying distressedly, "Qibao, do you really have to practice? You're a girl, why are you practicing all this? Let your brothers practice, and then you'll have them protect you in the future!"

Qibao replied, "Grandma, I must practice. This is what my master told me. My master said that practicing martial arts can strengthen my body. Besides, my brothers won't be able to stay by my side all the time in the future, so it's better for me to have some self-protection ability." After hearing what Qibao said, Wang had no choice but to give up.

By the time everyone finished washing up, it was already completely dark, so they all went back to their rooms to sleep...