Zhao Shuli was surprised that everyone in Xujia Village was building houses. The other villagers who were performing corvée labor outside were unaware of this and were even more surprised when they saw a house suddenly rise up.
The war had been going on for almost two years. Some relatives and friends who had fled to the mountain villages for refuge spread the word that they naturally knew what had happened in the villages along the official road.
Moreover, the looting by the chaotic soldiers and bandits that night in Pear Blossom Town was even more terrifying, as it was passed down by word of mouth.
If it weren't for the forced labor service, these migrant workers who had escaped the chaos of war would never have dared to come to these places.
On their first day in Xujia Village, they saw that every family lived in a shack and sighed at the plight of these refugees. Although their own village was also struggling, they had never escaped death like this before.
But after only a few days of digging ditches and building up the edges of the fields, they saw the roof beams being raised in Xujia Village...
No way! No way!
In the village, people would hire help to repair houses, but there was no such thing as lining up to carry soil and working through the night with torches lit.
They're not even from the same clan; they're all different surnames and not related by blood. If they're willing to work so hard, how much money must the employer spend?
When they realized that working like this meant not only would they not receive wages now, but it was also uncertain whether they would receive wages in the future.
More importantly, the host family didn't even provide food, which left me speechless.
People are scrambling to do jobs that are free? That's truly eye-opening.
Some people wanted to come in and see what was going on, but they were stopped after walking only a short distance.
Xu Changming was sitting in the thatched hut, bored. When he saw figures moving around outside, he quickly called out, "Hey, hey, where did you come from? What are you doing?"
Two migrant workers who came in to see what was going on then discovered that there were people inside the haystack.
Turning my head, I saw an old man wearing a dark, coarse cloth coat with patches, huddled in a sheltered corner with a brazier between his legs. If you weren't paying attention, you might mistake him for a large, curled-up dog.
"Grandpa, let's go check on the house repairs!" the two said casually, continuing to walk inside without stopping.
"Halt! Our village is under construction, the work is heavy... No unauthorized personnel allowed!"
Xu Changming had heard Li Laoshi recite "Warehouse, restricted area, no unauthorized personnel allowed" every day, and now he casually said it as well.
The two migrant workers chuckled: "Grandpa, you're joking. We're not idle people at all. We're so busy we're practically running around, we just squeeze in a little time to come and check on things."
Xu Changming was cornered by Li Laoshi's words. It was only his first day presiding over the groundbreaking ceremony, and he had been stuck here all alone for the past few days. He had been feeling anxious all along, hearing the villagers shouting and horses neighing. Only now that he had finally stopped people did he feel a sense of belonging.
"No, no one is allowed to see this in our village!" Xu Changming refused to let them pass.
Although there didn't seem to be many people at the inn these past few days, he knew that over a hundred migrant workers had arrived, but they were scattered along different sections of the road and would stay together at night.
If you let one person in today, two people will go in tomorrow, and eventually people will go in every day.
He had given Jiang a guarantee that no outsiders would be allowed to wander around the village.
The two migrant workers were not exactly mild-mannered either. Faced with an old man in front of them, and with such a foul temper, their words became harsh: "Old man, what's there to be so arrogant about? We've heard that your village is full of migrant workers and outsiders, and even the village chief is a woman! You can't even elect a decent person. It's just a rotten village."
Xu Changming's face darkened: "What our village is like is none of your business! Come on, come on! If you don't come, I'll go and report you to Zhao the clerk!"
Life in the village became more stable, and he began to admire Jiang somewhat.
Farmers are hardworking, but they are not good at taking losses.
People would curse someone for three days and three nights if they cut an extra handful of grass. Going hungry and doing petty theft were commonplace.
It's even less likely that people will work together like this; most will just slack off and skip tasks.
But now, everyone is scrambling to get ahead, afraid that someone else will take their place.
In short, they were more enthusiastic than ever working for their own families, making these migrants even more reliable than the old clans.
As for being ridiculed as the "female village chief".
Xu Changming has a complex about the term "female village chief," and only people in the village can talk about it; it's not up to outsiders who come to perform corvée labor to discuss it.
Hearing someone talk about his female village chief, he was furious and immediately chased them away.
The two migrant workers had sneaked in, and when they realized they couldn't enter the village and that the old man was going to accuse them of stealing work, they quickly said they would just stay put and wouldn't go in.
The two stood on a high place outside, watched the noisy villagers, muttered to themselves for a while, and then left.
Xu Changming stopped the people himself, and his boredom of the past few days was rekindled.
He put down the drying basket, then picked up some straw from the side and squatted down to weave a straw mat.
When repairing a house, you can build rammed earth walls and buy wooden pillars and beams, but it's impossible to buy tiles to cover the roof; you can only use straw.
He now needs to weave more straw mats, which can be used to cover pigsties and woodsheds, or hung outside earthen walls to protect them from rain.
Meanwhile, in the village, Tian Gui's family had to walk a distance to get soil, and Qin Shi was working among the people carrying soil.
Xu Genqing was a strong laborer, so he naturally had to climb the high wall to ram the earth, and he could see his mother's figure from afar.
Thinking that it would soon be his turn to repair his own house, he felt full of energy.
Ever since Aunt Jiang pinned my mother to the ground and scolded her last time, and after Aunt Jiang left, my mother and Lianhua were also scolded, she never brought up Lianhua's pregnancy again.
During this collective house repair, her mother asked Lianhua to fill baskets with soil for people. She told Lianhua to do the carrying of the soil herself, and not to bump into things while doing so.
Xu Genqing knew that this was what Aunt Jiang had said: if anything happened to Lianhua, she would tear her mother apart.
My mother would carry soil all day, and even when she was tired at night, she wouldn't get up to sleep; she would sleep until dawn.
My mother has become better. As long as there is no quarreling or commotion at home, even the hardest days are bearable.
Xu Genqing was happily imagining the future, but Qin Shi only felt pain in her waist, legs, and shoulders, and felt uncomfortable all over her body.
She rarely worked so diligently for several days in a row. Seeing several women carrying soil ahead, she stamped her foot, turned to the side, put down her soil basket, sat on the ground, and touched her feet.
As Tian, carrying soil, passed by, she asked, "Aunt Qin, what happened to your foot?"
Qin cried out in distress, "Oh dear, oh dear, I accidentally stepped on a stone and twisted my ankle!"
Tian quickly put down her earthen basket: "Is your injury serious? The village chief has some herbs at Uncle Li's place. If you twisted your ankle, apply them right away!"
With so many people and so much to do, especially with all the bumps and bruises, Jiang Zhi kept several kinds of herbs that could treat bruises and sprains in the storeroom so that anyone who needed them could use them.
Qin was still pretending to be in pain, but as soon as she heard Li Laoshi's name, she instantly felt that she didn't feel any pain at all: "Haha, it's okay, no need to apply medicine, I'll be fine after resting for a while!"
Tian was very honest and advised, "Aunt Qin, don't try to tough it out. It's almost time for your family to build the wall. Although everyone will be helping with the work, you, as the head of the household, will be even busier. Don't make any mistakes at this crucial time."
As she spoke, she called out, "Uncle Li, someone here has twisted their ankle!"
Li Laoshi, the foreman, was strolling around when he heard Tian calling him. He immediately came over: "Who is it? Is your ankle badly twisted? Watch me, Li Shen, cure you!"
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