Chapter 14

After clearing the rotten grass and the broken tiles above, they also needed to be removed and re-laid. Sun Yushan had worked as a bricklayer, but at best he was an apprentice. He knew the work, but he didn't know the intricacies of the process. He cleared the rotten grass and broken tiles from the top, but he had no idea whether to lay the tiles later or grout them first.

After standing there and scratching his head for a long time, Ye Jia asked him to come down first.

He didn't understand, but Ye Jia did. Ancient farmhouse construction wasn't like that of later generations, but the steps were essentially the same. The basic beam-column framework remained unchanged, with wooden columns supporting horizontal beams, and lower columns supporting diagonal beams. The frames were connected vertically and horizontally, creating a stable structure. Then, the roof panels were smeared with thick mud, commonly known as "big mud," which is actually peach blossom paste. Finely apply the top layer before laying the tiles.

Peach blossom slurry is a mortar made from quicklime, clay loess, and water. Mix 30% clay loess and quicklime with 70% water. You can dig up clay loess in the hills behind, but I'm not sure where to find quicklime.

She muttered something, and Sun Yushan, with his sharp ears, heard it. He said they were for sale in town, fifteen cents a bag.

"That's great." Two bags are enough for wiping the roof.

Ye Jia originally wanted to go with him, but then he thought that without his speed it would be too late, so he simply gave him money and asked him to buy it.

Sun Yushan's pace was so fast he could almost catch up with the donkey cart, and he returned with his purchases in no time. Ye Jia squatted beside him, kneading a handful. Due to technical reasons, the quicklime wasn't as fine as later generations, but it was still usable. Sun Yushan tossed the two bags of quicklime onto the ground and went back to digging in the hills.

This young man was indeed a hard worker and quick in his work. After a while, he returned with two large loads of sticky loess.

Ye Jia was genuinely surprised. This thin-looking man possessed such immense strength. The two large loads must have weighed at least two hundred pounds. She grabbed another handful and ground the soil, finding it incredibly fine. Ye Jia glanced up at the sky and heard from an elderly villager that it might rain tomorrow. She instructed Sun Yushan to mix the mud according to the correct proportions and start repairing the area as quickly as possible. She then left the rest to Sun Yushan.

I was working on the roof at home, so it was not a good idea to cook in the yard. Otherwise, dust would be everywhere.

Yu went to the kitchen and dragged the basket of cleaned radishes to the open space in the backyard, thinking of cooking them later. However, she was stopped by Ye Jia just as she was dragging them. "Mom, let's not cook today. Let's take a day off tomorrow."

After almost two months of making radish cakes, after deducting the food rations for the family of four and various other expenses, the net income was 23 taels and 6 qian of silver. Yu Shi strung these copper coins together with a small string and hid them under the bed in the west room. Originally, Yu Shi wanted to give the money to Ye Jia to keep, after all, it was all her earnings. But Ye Jia refused, asking her to keep it carefully, and she happily put it away.

Zhou Jingchen quietly watched Ye Jia instructing Sun Yushan to mix the paste, and his eyes fell on the gray-faced woman again.

The woman wore no finery, no pearls, no hairpins, and no jewelry. Her bright eyes sparkled in the light. Perhaps it was because time had passed, and his memory had blurred. Or perhaps it was because he had been so lost in his anger in a previous life that he hadn't noticed Ye. He had only just discovered that Ye seemed quite a wonderful person. A far cry from the dull, selfish person he remembered.

Ye Jia felt someone was looking at her, so she turned her head and met the gaze of the person sitting on the bench.

Having just been hit by the rotten grass, he now carried a bench to the fence and sat against it. When their eyes met, he curled his eyes at her. Ye Jia's heart skipped a beat, and she turned away with a stern face. She shoveled the mud into a bucket and turned back to the kitchen.

Since he had asked someone to come to his house to work, Ye Jia naturally wouldn't be stingy. When he left the stall this morning, Ye Jia specially cut two pounds of meat and bought a large red sea bass.

Actually, the Northwest isn't exactly a desolate place. Meat and fish are plentiful. Wild fish include taimen, northern pike, bighead carp, whitebait, black mullet, mullet, red snapper, and arctic fennel. Libei County has rivers, and they're rich in species. Common carp, crucian carp, grass carp, and snakehead carp are all available. It's just that not many locals eat fish, so these river delicacies rarely make it to the table.

Ye Jia is from the south, having grown up in the authentic Jiangnan water town. He loves eating fish and can cook it. He doesn't usually cook it because the Zhou family doesn't have enough seasoning, and it's too much trouble because he has children at home. But now, since he's entertaining guests, he naturally has to make a good fish dish.

She planned to braise this large red sea bass, but she preferred it steamed. However, northerners have strong flavors and aren't used to steamed fish. She braised it, considering they might find it fishy. Ye Jia carried the fish in a basin to the well, knives in hand, and frowned as she looked at it. Yu Shi also followed, holding Rui Jie'er in her arms, and frowned at her, not daring to speak.

After a long while, Yu Shi seemed to notice Ye Jia's distress and asked softly, "Jia Niang, you won't kill me?"

Ye Jia's expression froze: "Mom, can you?"

“…” Yu’s expression also froze.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, one a promising princess, had never touched a woman's feet. Three years of exile had smoothed her edges, and she was groping in every way, but her learning was a mess. The other, a brilliant engineering student who had studied for twenty years, could cook but was afraid to kill a chicken. Staring at the giant red bass in the wooden basin, its tail swishing like a dragon, they exchanged a glance, unsure where to begin.

Ye Jia frowned and thought for a moment, thinking that since she had fallen into this situation, why should she be so pretentious? She prepared to go into the house and get the hammer. She wouldn't dare to kill the fish alive, but she would dare to kill it with the hammer.

She gritted her teeth and stood up, and just as she was about to leave, she heard another light cough.

Ye Jia raised her head irritably. The person on the bench had already stood up and was walking towards her slowly on crutches. Zhou Jingchen's voice was still as pleasant as ever, clear and gentle: "Give me the knife."

After saying that, he walked up to Ye Jia.

Then he grasped Ye Jia's hand holding the kitchen knife and slowly and methodically removed it from her grasp. He squatted down, raised his hand, and struck with a precise blow. Even as blood gushed out, a faint smile still lingered on his face. The sunlight shone on his face, and his raven-feather lashes cast dark shadows beneath his eyelids. He was a man of rare beauty, his complexion like jade, shimmering with a shimmering white light.

What does a smile like a spring breeze mean? This is it. Of course, it would be even more like a spring breeze if it weren't stained with blood. Ye Jia was numb, looking down at the decapitated giant red sea bass. She almost forgot that there was a guy at home who could cut people like melons.

"How do we do this?" The man raised his head, his eyes filled with spring light, so bright and quiet that it dazzled the eyes.

Ye Jia: “…” Since his hands are already stained with fishy things, he might as well do it.

Ye Jia wasn't that pretentious, it was just a fish. In her previous life, she'd been in the kitchen watching her mother grab a fish and slam it to the floor like she was having a seizure, splattering blood all over the kitchen walls and ceiling. This was just the beginning.

So she squatted down and seriously instructed Zhou Jingchen how to remove the gills, gut the fish, and clean the internal organs. She also peeled off the black film on the inner wall of the fish's belly: "This stuff must be cleaned thoroughly. Otherwise, it will taste fishy and bitter."

Zhou Jingchen nodded and cleaned the place very well, very teachable.

Ye Jia, who had been supervising the entire process, nodded in satisfaction. Then he turned around and brought out the meat, placing it beside him with a clatter: "Since it's all done, let's just do it all. Husband, cut the meat into pieces."

After saying that, she measured the thickness with her hand and asked him to cut according to that thickness.

Zhou Jingchen: “…”

He was also very fast at cutting meat. The kitchen knife that Ye Jia thought was not very easy to use was as flexible as his fingers in his hands.

Ye Jia gathered her thoughts and quickly cut the side dishes. Rui Jie'er squatted on the side, tears streaming down her face from the spiciness of the onions. She couldn't open her eyes due to the spiciness, but she refused to move. She clenched her short fists and rubbed her eyes, not forgetting to ask, "Auntie, is it delicious?"

"Yes, it's delicious." Ye Jia really wanted to laugh when she saw it. "Stand away, the chopped green onions are irritating to the eyes."

The child obediently moved back and remained squatting.

Two months later, Rui Jie'er had changed. The little girl, who used to be as thin as a stick of firewood, had become much rounder. Her skin had also become fairer. Her dry, yellow hair wasn't so easy to fix, but she had become as fair and clean as a lucky doll.

After all, no one in the Zhou family is ugly. Yu said Ruijie'er's parents were incredibly beautiful, and she feared only Yun'an's children would ever be able to compare. After saying this, Yu kept glancing at Ye Jia, her meaning obvious to any fool. Ye Jia feigned deafness and dumbness, what a joke! What relationship did Zhou Jingchen's child have to her?

Sun Yushan worked quickly and efficiently, and within the morning he had already plastered half the roof. By the afternoon, after a meal, he could finish.

Ye Jia cooked a large red-braised fish and then heartily stewed two pounds of red-braised pork. He also prepared a plate of vinegar-fried white cabbage and made some radish balls. Adding a few cold dishes, he filled the table. Although lunch was a mixed-grain meal, Ye Jia steamed a pot of large white-wheat steamed buns. Ordinary people couldn't afford to eat white-wheat steamed buns every day; flour was expensive. The success of Ye Jia's shredded radish pancakes was also due to the flour.

Sun Yushan jumped down from the rooftop, covered in mud. Ye Jia got him some hot water to wash him up, and then set up a table in the yard.

Country people only see meat on the table during the New Year. Sun Yushan was grateful that the Zhou family treated him to fish and meat.

After tasting the meat, he couldn't even take his eyes off the bowl. Sun Yushan had never tasted such delicious food before, and even Zhou Jingchen raised an eyebrow when he tasted the fish. Ye Jia's braised fish was cooked using the traditional Jiangnan cooking method, and he liked to add a little sugar to enhance the flavor.

The sweet and fresh taste made Ruijieer want more fish. Even Yushi, who always disliked the fishy taste of fish, took a few more bites.

Sun Yushan worked even harder that afternoon. Seeing him panting with exhaustion, Ye Jia hurriedly called him down to rest for some tea before returning to work. However, he sat down for a short while before returning to work again. By nightfall, the Zhou family's roof was finally finished.

Ye Jia stepped back and looked up from a distance. The tiles were stacked very densely. He thought he wouldn't have to worry about leaks tomorrow.

That night, Sun Yushan had dinner at Zhou's house, and Ye Jia paid him his wages. Actually, he could have done the roof repairs alone in two days. But this man was truly honest and finished it in a single day. Ye Jia, thinking of the lunch, had also prepared a bowl of meat and asked Sun Yushan to take it back.

"How can I afford this?" Sun Yushan had received 40 cents as wages and had two good meals, and he had long felt that he had received too much. Now he waved his hands repeatedly and dared not take it. "The boss lady is very kind, I can't eat and take it at the same time."

Ye Jia wasn't being polite to him. The meat was really for Old Man Sun. Call her kindhearted, Ye Jia just felt that the old man was skinny and pitiful. Country people are honest, so she was happy to give people some food: "Just take it back when I tell you to. Tell your father not to come over tomorrow morning. We didn't make any pancakes today, so we won't set up a stall tomorrow. We'll see the day after tomorrow. If it rains, tell your father to stay home for a day. Come back when the rain stops."

Sun Yushan was both grateful and ashamed, and thanked Ye Jia repeatedly before leaving.

Zhou Jingchen watched from the side for a long time, then suddenly said, "Jia Niang, is that Sun family the Sun family from Hejiaqiao in Gan County?"

"Huh?" How could Ye Jia know where Hejiaqiao in Gan County was? He was stunned for a moment, not quite sure, "I think so."

Zhou Jingchen stared at her for a moment, and seeing Ye Jia's face slowly blushing under his gaze, he lowered his head and smiled again.

"..." Ye Jia's blush wasn't due to anything else but shame. For some reason, talking to Zhou Jingchen always felt like he was outsmarting her. Watching him walk away slowly on crutches, the ease he felt made the feeling even stronger.

Forget it, why is she always arguing with this guy about who has a higher IQ? She could have some other ideas instead.

Thinking of this, Ye Jia turned around and went back to the house.

You know what, Ye Jia was right. The weather was fine that night, but it started raining before daybreak the next day.

The tile market doesn't open on rainy days. Ye Jia slept until dawn, staring at the roof with a hint of worry. She wondered if the mud on the roof had dried completely last night. Would the repairs be in vain if it rained? She came out with an umbrella. Fortunately, the tiles were stacked tightly. Fearing it wouldn't be enough yesterday, she specially added another 500 tiles. They were stacked so tightly that the raindrops hit the tiles, sliding down without soaking the mud underneath.

The whole family breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was a good thing that Jia Niang was willing to spend the money, otherwise the roof would have been repaired in vain.

Who knew the rain would continue on and off for four days? With no business for four days, Yu began to worry on the fifth day. With nothing else to do at home, she'd been washing radishes and mixing stuffing. She'd accumulated three or four hundred pancakes and brought them to town to sell.

Unfortunately, when I arrived in town today, I saw two new pancake stalls at the entrance of Wa City.

Coincidentally, they all make radish cakes.