The next day, a ray of golden sunlight shone into Liang Shuyan's front yard.
The workers were all busy at work. The carpenter was sawing wood, with two people pulling on a saw, making a hissing sound!
The bricklayers held trowels, applied mud to the base, and began laying the bricks layer by layer!
In ancient times, people used huji to build walls, which were made of rammed earth and resembled bricks!
In the open space in the middle, there was a pile of soil with some wheat straw inside. The village head and several strong men from the village were constantly turning it over with shovels.
Sanwang was in charge of carrying the mud, and serving the craftsmen was no easy task; he was panting heavily from exhaustion!
Da Shan was scraping the bark off a piece of wood with a rusty sickle!
Old Jiang, the foreman, was wearing a hat and a straw hat, with a pipe tucked behind his ear. He walked towards Liang Shuyan.
Holding a blueprint in his hand, he said, "Master, take a look, should we separate this area?"
"Yes, we need to make a separate wooden trough here, specifically for mixing the recipe, and its length, width, and height must all be made according to the dimensions I provided!"
Liang Shuyan quickly wrote down the planned dimensions and handed them to the foreman: "Just build the roof according to the drawings."
Wang Daikui arrived, carrying a shovel on his shoulder. He entered with a grin and said, "I told you we're all from the same village, why didn't you call me?"
A few days ago, when Liang Shuyan went to Wang Daikui's house, he was still lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) looking very thin. Now that Xuehua has come back and drunk a lot of wine, how come he has suddenly recovered?
"It's not that I didn't want to call out, but when I went to your house the other day, I saw you were still lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) sick. Even if I wanted to call out, I was too embarrassed to say it."
The village head was also surprised to see Wang Daikui arrive.
"You old codger, you were half-dead just a couple of days ago, and I was even planning to drink your rice noodle soup (locals say that rice noodle soup is only served when someone is at a funeral!). But in just a few days you've become as strong as an ox."
"Isn't it because Snowflake is back? I'm so happy. Snowflake was trained by Mother Mountain, and she's like a completely different person since she came back. She's been so kind and caring towards me. Oh, I'm so happy that I've become like this."
Liang Shuyan did not expect that Wang Daikui's health would improve so quickly after Xuehua returned. It seems that she not only saved Xuehua, but also Wang Daikui.
When Zhang saw Wang Daikui arrive, she brought out a plate of stir-fried mushrooms and meat, as well as a plate of steaming hot steamed buns from the kitchen.
"Uncle Wang, please put down your tools, come over and have something to eat before you get back to work."
Da Kui didn't stand on ceremony and sat down on the bench to start eating.
Rural men don't have many fuss oversights. He looked at his hands, grabbed a soft, fluffy steamed bun, and took a bite!
"Yes, these steamed buns are really soft and fluffy! I guess the old lady in our village is living the best life, being able to eat white steamed buns every day."
Zhang pointed to the dishes on the table and said, "Uncle Wang, try the dishes my mother made."
Wang Daikui picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of food.
"Mmm, delicious! The same ingredients taste so much better when your mother-in-law makes them! Compared to your mother, the women in our village aren't even cooking; they're just wasting food."
Wang Shuyan was so flattered by Wang Daikui that she didn't know what to say!
"Since you're already here, why didn't you call Xuehua over too?"
While eating, she said, "My Xuehua said she's tidied up the house and will be here soon. She said she wants to help Aunt Jin with the chores!"
As they were talking, Xuehua, dressed in a pure white long dress, walked in and glanced at Liang Shuyan's work shed.
"Auntie is really amazing! In our village, some families can't even afford to eat, let alone build a shed!"
Xuehua looked like a completely different person. Not only was Liang Shuyan somewhat incredulous, but no one in the village could believe it either.
"Didn't Snowflakes disappear a while ago? How come they're like a completely different person after they come back?"
"That's right. He used to never talk to anyone. He always had a stern face, like someone owed them something."
"Snowflake, since you're here, don't be shy. Have something to eat first, and then see if your two sisters-in-law need any help."
Xuehua took the chopsticks from Liang Shuyan and nodded slightly: "Thank you, Auntie. Xuehua won't be polite then!"
By noon, lunch was already prepared inside the house with clanging and banging. Da Shan called out, "Everyone has worked hard. The sun is very strong right now, so hurry up and come down to eat."
Originally, Liang Shuyan hadn't planned to provide them with meals, but seeing how hard the workers were working, and with the village head leading the villagers to help, she was so happy that she decided to provide them with meals instead!
Liang Shuyan's rooms were all full of people, and the craftsmen were also sitting in the tents!
For lunch, they ate noodles. Liang Shuyan carried a plate of noodles to the side room!
The village head sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed).
“Let me tell you, in our Daling Village, it’s rare to see someone like Dashan’s mother who can take the lead in building sheds. So we all need to work hard. Once the sheds are built, Dashan’s mother might be so happy that she’ll let you work in them.”
The village head was right. After the shed was built, we needed to hire people, right? These strong men in the shed could only earn a few coins a day working on the construction site.
Yang Shuyan came in carrying a bowl of noodles and placed it on the kang table.
"Everyone has worked hard. We haven't prepared anything fancy, just these plain noodles, and there's plenty for everyone."
Several families in the village who were not well-off widened their eyes when they saw the white flour: "Isn't this white flour delicious? We've always eaten millet."
"Lizheng, thank you so much for bringing everyone to help us. I don't know how to thank you enough!"
The village head actually had his own plans. Building sheds in the village was equivalent to giving Daling Village its own workshops, so that the people of Daling Village would not have to go out to work!
In the surrounding villages, people often go hungry and rely on government relief grain. If Daling Village becomes wealthy first, the county magistrate will surely reward him for his integrity.
"Why are you being so polite? We're all from the same village, so we should help each other out!"
A light drizzle started falling in the yard, and the foreman suddenly shouted, "Hurry up and cover up the wood in the yard right away!"
Freshly peeled wood will develop water stains if it gets wet in the rain, which looks particularly unsightly.
Jin Dashan pulled Sanwang along and took out some burlap sacks from the small hut next to them to cover the wood!
"Oh no! A master has arrived at the martial arts school and knocked Erniu down!"
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