Chapter 12

The brick kiln was inconvenient to get to, but the tiles still needed to be hauled. The leaking roof wasn't a big deal, as there weren't enough basins to catch the rainwater. Ye Jia called an oxcart and paid twenty cents to the old man from her usual cart shop to help haul the thousand small tiles. Ye Jia then went to the carpenter's house and actually got a handout. It was when the carpenter asked how tall Zhou Jingchen was that Ye Jia recalled for a long time.

Thinking of standing in front of Zhou Jingchen to his chin, vaguely comparing the height. The carpenter was so rough that he gave a crooked look.

Ten cents, including the wood, is quite cheap.

Ye Jia picked up his crutches and boarded the oxcart, carrying a load of tiles. Actually, this old man and Ye Jia had been friends for a long time. Ye Jia had been traveling between town and village lately, and most people hired his cart. The two of them had become familiar with each other through their frequent visits.

On the way to Lava, Ye Jia casually mentioned that he wanted to find someone to repair the roof.

The old man listened, rubbed his hands, and hesitantly said for a long time that he had a son who could endure hardships. He was very strong, could mix mud and slurry, and was also very good at climbing up and down. He asked Ye Jia if this job could be given to his youngest son.

Ye Jia and the old man were old acquaintances. He was a man of few words, but he was quite honest. He was dark and thin, with a hunched back, and his clothes were tattered and a bit shabby.

He told him that his eldest son was serving in the army at the garrison and never came home year-round. His daughter-in-law couldn't stand it anymore and ran away, leaving their two children crawling on the ground. His wife was ill again, and needed money for medicine. With no one to clean up the house, the family lived in extreme hardship. Ye Jia's own situation wasn't much better, and he felt heartbroken, unable to help. But since he had spoken, Ye Jia hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

"Thirty cents a day, two meals included." Ye Jia wasn't sure about the standard labor costs in this place. She quoted a price based on her previous life's experience and the local price level, then lowered it.

Unexpectedly, when the old man heard about this treatment, tears welled up in his eyes. Labor is not worth much these days.

He drove an ox cart in town, getting up early and working late, but only pulled two or three times. He often worked day and night, earning a few dozen coins a day. Ye Jia offered thirty coins and two meals. Wasn't that thoughtful care? The old man was deeply grateful. He immediately promised his youngest son to work hard.

Ye Jia nodded, asked him to pile the tiles in the yard, paid him the money, and asked his son to come over at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.

As soon as the person left, she took the crutch and went into the east room.

Zhou Jingchen was now able to walk. After lying in bed for almost two months, his leg bones had healed well. He just couldn't bear any weight and needed someone to support him. Ye Jia took the crutches and helped him up. Zhou Jingchen was now accustomed to Ye Jia's proximity, and he didn't feel uncomfortable when she touched his hands or legs.

Ye Jia handed him the crutches. Zhou Jingchen took them and tried walking, but they were too short.

Ye Jia: "...How tall are you?"

"More than eight feet."

The measurement system here is somewhat similar to that of the Warring States period. Eight feet or more is roughly equivalent to 185 or 186 in later times. Ye Jia suddenly approached, and Zhou Jingchen, leaning on his cane, froze in confusion. He stood there motionless, looking down at her as she practically clung to his embrace. So close, they could hear each other's breath, as if he were holding her close.

Ye Jia, who was leaning against him, didn't feel the same way. She was frowning and gesturing with her hands. The so-called random gestures meant that she was moving slowly from the top of her head to the upper side, then stopping at his chin.

Zhou Jingchen's breathing was soft, but he still felt uncomfortable being so close. He coughed and tilted his head, supporting his lips with one hand. Ye Jia looked up. Then he took Ye Jia's hand and moved it from his chin to his Adam's apple: "Here."

Ye Jia was shocked.

It was hard to accept the truth. Ye Jia had thought she was a slender figure with long arms and legs. Now it seemed she was only about 1.6 meters tall? Or maybe 1.5 meters? No way. Her legs were obviously quite long...

Ye Jiamu's face was sullen as he silently collapsed inwardly. "Just make do with it."

After saying that, she walked out with the door curtain closed without giving him a response.

Zhou Jingchen looked at the swaying door curtain and Ye Jia's back that couldn't hide his anger, blinked, and felt a little funny for some reason.

Someone had to watch over the roof repairs to keep the family business going. Ye Jia wasn't sure if the old man's son could do it, so he had to come back and watch over it himself.

In ancient times, buildings were divided into three levels according to regulations: rough masonry, whitewashing, silk seam and dry laying.

Generally, low-rise rural earthen houses use rough masonry, as is the case with the Zhou family. When laying bricks, care should be taken to ensure horizontal and vertical alignment, with wide mortar joints. After each layer of mortar is laid, peach blossom mortar is applied to strengthen the wall's integrity. Peach blossom mortar is a grayish-white yellow earth mortar. Repairing the roof is also simple: even after the broken tiles are stacked, peach blossom mortar is also used to secure them firmly.

Only when it is strong enough will rain, snow and hail no longer damage the roof and cause leaks.

That night, Ye Jia told Mrs. Yu about having Zhou Jingchen go with her to the stall tomorrow. Mrs. Yu hesitated a little, "I'd better go with you. Yun'an's leg isn't fully healed yet, so even if I go, I won't be able to help. I might have to ask you to take care of him, which would delay things."

"My husband can walk now." Ye Jia frowned. "I just gave him some crutches and he tried to walk. He can do it."

Yu was still a little worried, but she went to the east room to ask, and her son also planned to go: "Mother, this place is in chaos. Women and children are often lost or kidnapped. Are you worried about Jia Niang setting up a stall outside with no man by her side?"

Yu Shi knew this. Today, when she went to the brick kiln and ran into that fat, big-eared man, she wanted to have his eyes gouged out with those lustful eyes of hers. If she hadn't fallen into this situation, she wouldn't have been targeted by such a villain.

After much thought, she decided it wouldn't be as convenient for her son to go with her. She wasn't as strong as her daughter-in-law, so if anything really happened, it would be up to her daughter-in-law to protect her. Yu Shi stopped trying to persuade him, but instead worried, "Although our village isn't far from town, it's not easy for you to walk with crutches. If we had a carriage, it would be easy. We could get there in a quarter of an hour. But you can't just sit in a carriage and ask Jianiang to push you, right?"

"Don't worry, mother. Jia Niang will make the arrangements." Zhou Jingchen said calmly, "Besides, I can still walk this distance."

After saying this, Yu thought about moving again. They had been married for so long, and although it wasn't as grand as the weddings of the rich and powerful, it was still a formal marriage. A proper couple wouldn't always sleep in separate rooms. She hesitated for a long time, then asked, "Yun'an, Jia Niang may not be good at saying soft words, but she's actually quite nice. She's sensible and generous. You'll see how she is once you move in and get to know her. You see..."

Yu had expected another rejection, but after she finished speaking, her son dropped his eyes and remained silent. Her heart stirred, and she scrutinized his expression. But a mother knows a child best. Yu knew that while he might appear gentle, he was actually the most stubborn of the brothers.

Knowing it would be bad to push too hard, Yu lowered the curtain and said, "Forget it. Think about it again."

The next day, Ye Jia got up before dawn as expected.

Yu had become accustomed to waking up early with her when she went to the stall. As soon as she moved, Yu would be up too. While Ye Jia quickly washed up in the house, Yu had already gone to the kitchen to move things in. By the time they were unloaded, Zhou Jingchen was already in the main room, having packed up.

Outside the yard, an old man was waiting with a bullock cart.

Ever since Ye Jia decided to have Zhou Jingchen go with her to set up shop, she hired the old man's ox cart. She asked him to work harder, picking them up from the Zhou family's stall every morning and then taking them back home after they finished. He would also be responsible for any deliveries the Zhou family needed. Ye Jia paid him a monthly salary of one or two taels of silver, and told him not to take on any other work, so that he could focus solely on the Zhou family's affairs for the month.

This request was a bit overbearing, but it was actually an overpay. The old man's legs were swollen from running all month and he couldn't even earn a tael of silver. Ye Jia was taking care of him. Naturally, he accepted the job with many thanks and was now helping move the stove, pots, and pancake dough in the yard.

After packing up, Ye Jia asked Zhou Jingchen to get on the ox cart and sat down next to him.

In mid-March, the earth revived, and the daytime weather was no longer cold. However, the early morning hours were still quite chilly without the sun. Ye Jia had found a homespun towel from somewhere and, like many other women in the village, she covered her head and face with it.

Noticing Zhou Jingchen's gaze, her knotted hands paused. After a moment of silence, she asked, "...Do you want it too?"

Zhou Jingchen: “…”

After so many years of herbal treatments, he's no longer the gaunt, cold-faced man he once was. A month of cooped-up confinement has left his complexion as pale as snow. To describe his appearance now, it's no exaggeration to say he has "autumn water for spirits, moon for bones." He had just emerged, and the old man, seeing the man for the first time, nearly popped his eyes out, muttering repeatedly, "He looks like an immortal."

What immortal or not, whose immortal pants have two holes? Ye Jia heard it and muttered quietly behind him.

Zhou Jingchen couldn't help but look down at his knees, wanting to laugh. There were indeed two holes on his knees, patched up. Although his clothes were a bit tattered, they were clean and didn't look shabby.

When the two of them arrived in the town, people who wanted to buy cakes immediately surrounded them.

Over the past month and a half, more and more people have been eating pancakes. They'd like to make them at home, but they don't have the skills to make them taste this good, so they crave them every day. Look, the stalls are already set up, and a crowd is already waiting. Watching them, Ye Jia sometimes feels a bit like when she was in middle school and high school. Back then, there were only a few stalls outside the school, and the one that made the best pancakes would always be crowded with people early in the morning. The greedy look on their faces was always the same.

Zhou Jingchen came back for the first time and found it quite interesting.

Unlike Yu, he couldn't let go of his pride the first time. While his demeanor retained the elegance of a noble family, he was even more shrewd than Ye Jia at collecting bills. Ye Jia had originally called him in just to help out, but unexpectedly, he'd found a helper. After that, she didn't have to do the accounting anymore; Zhou Jingchen handled everything by himself, leaving Ye Jia to focus on making pancakes.

Ye Jia first made the cakes that the group of people around him wanted, then turned around and pointed at the two strong men in front of Luzhai.

Now they were quite familiar with each other, and the two elder brothers were taking good care of Ye Jia's stall. The fact that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had been doing business for so long without any problems was also related to these two elder brothers.

Zhou Jingchen didn't even need Ye Jia to tell him specifically, he just packed a few and sent them over.

He was leaning on a crutch and walking slowly. The two strong men who had brought him there heard that he was the husband of the Xishi stall owner. They took the cakes and looked him over carefully: "Why are all the people in this family so tall?"

Zhou Jingchen went to deliver the cakes while Ye Jia was busy here. Coincidentally, he looked up and ran into an acquaintance.

Ye Jia was making pancakes for someone when someone arrived in the open space nearby. A tall, square-faced man, carrying several hundred pounds of radishes, dropped the two loads next to the stall with a thud. It was the Zhang brothers. They didn't recognize Ye Jia. After carrying about three hundred pounds of food to town, they were hungry and had sent Zhang Chunfen to buy two pancakes.

The Zhang family planted a lot of radishes this year and couldn't finish eating them, so they took them to the tile market in town to try their luck.

I don't know how Zhang Chunfen persuaded her brother to come to town with her. She was dressed in a brand new outfit and had even put on rouge and powder on her face. If it weren't for the short sleeves of her dress and the ill-fitting skirt, she would have looked quite charming. She asked for two cakes. Ye Jia was busy and didn't look up, so he made two for her. After the cake was finished, he wrapped it in oil paper and handed it to her. He looked up and happened to make eye contact with Zhang Chunfen.

Ye Jia held a shovel in one hand and chopsticks in the other. He was wearing old gray clothes and looked even poorer than the old woman at the entrance of the village.

Zhang Chunfen glanced up and down at Ye Jia, and he laughed. "Oh, so you're selling things because you can't make ends meet at the Zhou family? Why are you alone? Where's your husband? Oh, that's right. I heard your hard-working husband is lying in bed, half dead."

Ye Jia was too lazy to pay attention to her and said with a dull face: "Ten cents."

Zhang Chunfen laughed heartily and was about to pay. But when she saw the owner was Ye Jia, she didn't want to pay. What a joke! She needed to pay for Ye Jia's things? She put the copper wrench in her pocket, grabbed the cake and tried to leave.

After taking two steps, Ye Jia grabbed his arm and said, "Ten cents, can't you hear me?"

The commotion immediately alerted everyone nearby, and everyone from Luzhai looked over. Zhou Jingchen had been talking to two burly men, but when he saw something was amiss, he hurried back. Zhang Chunfen, used to being a bit overbearing, immediately accused Ye Jia of being stingy. "Sisters, why are you charging money?" she said, as if Ye Jia's demands were unreasonable.

Ye Jia was about to retort when a light and pleasant male voice came from behind him: "Madam, what's wrong?"

Zhou Jingchen opened his mouth, but before Ye Jia could react, Zhang Chunfen turned her head, stunned.