They say that if you eat someone's food, you're obligated to eat it; and the uneducated Nini fell for it.
At this moment, the adults at the table were all laughing. Looking at the crying baby and then at the farting bug in their own hands, Nini nodded with difficulty, indicating that she would give in more in the future.
However, she didn't eat any more.
Although stink bugs are rich in protein and fat, their shells are difficult to digest. Jiang Zhi said that children have weak stomachs and it's not good for them to eat too many bugs. So after Nini nodded, she left the table with Caixia and Leizi, who don't eat bugs.
Nini felt like she had been cheated...
In the winter months, wheat is planted and rapeseed is sown, and farm work temporarily stops, but the people of Xujia Village get busy.
First, Errui brought people from the county government to collect grain taxes, and every household in the village had prepared their grain well in advance.
With the reduction in grain taxes and the absence of tax officials who deliberately extort and embezzle funds, the people of Xujia Village can still have enough grain stored at home to live comfortably for the New Year after paying their taxes.
…………
The construction of the school has been put on the agenda, and we will start working on it as soon as we have time to spare from farm work.
The carpenters who had just finished repairing the Sishuitang Hall in three months hadn't even had a chance to sit down at home before they came to Xujia Village again.
The school was located a little far from the villagers' houses, and only two bright and spacious rooms were built. Each household had to contribute labor.
Now that the carpenter is familiar with the way things are done in Xujia Village, he's gotten involved too.
Some carried soil, others tamped it, and the carpenters prepared the wooden beams and latticework. The two houses were quickly built.
Although it is still an earthen wall, the tiles and wooden beams used were donated by Jiang Zhi.
A row of small skylights was installed in the roof, along with large window frames that were pre-installed in the walls, so that ventilation and light could pass through in the future, and the lighting would be decent.
Outside the classroom is a roof wider than that of an ordinary house. On cloudy days when the indoor lighting is poor, or on sunny days, teachers and children can have classes directly under the eaves.
This was also Xia Xiucai's suggestion to adopt the architectural style of the city's schools.
The people of Xujia Village are all farmers, and they had never even met a scholar before. Now, they are building a school with their own hands for the first time, and they are very curious.
Tian Xiaoquan, Shi Houzi, and the others sat cross-legged on the ground, imitating the scholar by swaying their heads and reciting their lessons.
Nini, along with Caixia and Leizi, ran into the new classroom and squatted down in front of Tian Xiaoquan and the others, shaking their heads and swaying along.
The children's silly antics immediately drew laughter from everyone.
This scene reminded Jiang Zhi of pictures of rural primary schools she had seen before: earthen walls, flagstone tables, open windows, and a group of innocent children...
After the school was repaired, the three displaced families and the Shi Houzi family also began to repair their houses. This time, the villagers volunteered to participate in the work, and the three displaced families' houses were repaired by three construction teams in seven days.
Because the foundations were all leftovers, there were no large platforms, so it was impossible to put seven or eight rooms on one plane.
So every household, like Tian Gui's, had upper and lower houses, courtyards of varying heights, and steps inside the houses.
They had previously helped Jiang Zhi repair her house for three months, and after deducting food and drink expenses, each family received two taels of silver as wages.
With the money, they bought straw and some wooden beams in the village, built a roof with bamboo frames, and thatched it. The house they built was neat and beautiful, and the displaced people were finally able to settle down and take root.
Building a school was a joyous occasion, repairing houses for refugees was a mundane affair, but the Shi family's house repair was the most lively, attracting the help of the entire village.
Because his shack occupied the largest area, with straw mats being put up one day and another the next, it had expanded into a large area over two years, and no one knew what was hidden inside.
Wu Yang, the prospective son-in-law of the Shi family, and Shi Houzi called on everyone to work together. Some dismantled the structures, while others moved them. In no time, all the thatched sheds were demolished, revealing the interior. The villagers were all dumbfounded.
You wouldn't believe it until you see it; it's quite a surprise! No wonder the stone monkey said he couldn't live in his house anymore.
Beneath the dismantled thatched shed, there was a patch of green.
Except for the grayish-white area that is frequently stepped on, the rest of the land is overgrown with grass.
Especially under the beds, the grass was lush and green, the deepest of which was as tall as chopsticks.
In damp areas, be careful about bringing grass roots into the soil in the room; if you're not careful, it's not uncommon for grass to grow under the bed.
There were also rats as long as chopsticks, longer than a thumb, and shiny cockroaches with wingspans the size of half a palm, scurrying around everywhere, scaring the women who were helping to tidy up, making them scream and jump among the messy bamboo baskets...
Several village dogs also came to join in the fun, barking and chasing the big rat into the nearby field with the children.
The Shi family is very hardworking; they are constantly gathering firewood and oak branches, and drying vegetables.
If we're talking about firewood, oak branches, dried vegetables, and the like, I doubt any other family in the village has as much as the Shi family.
Last year, some of the oak trees I collected from the mountain were left outside to sprout, while the rest were placed in bamboo baskets under the thatched shed to feed the animals.
The old green oaks and dried vegetables were not yet finished, and the new green oaks for this year have already been collected. The vegetables have also been dried and stuffed into every corner of the shed, so there is food everywhere for the mice to fill their bellies.
Because there weren't enough blankets, the bed board was piled with thick layers of dry straw, so people slept on one half and mice slept on the other half.
With so much food and warm lodging, over time, Shijiawopeng became a miniature world.
The Shi family was still arguing about how to put these things away.
The crowd couldn't bear to watch any longer, so they threw the bamboo basket, along with the worm-infested and squeaking "green oak" inside, far away.
Several women helped pack all the bedding into baskets and then threw them into the river to soak.
Next, they will repair the house. The Shi family will stay at Wu Yang's house for a while, and they will not need Shi Laoda, the head of the household, to arrange anything. Tian Gui and Xu Genyou will take care of the work.
The whole village helped; some dug soil to clear the foundation, while others found stones to pave the ground, otherwise grass would have grown there.
Jiang Zhi looked around twice and sighed, not knowing what to say to him.
Despite the Shi family's current situation, neither the adults nor the children seem to be losing weight or getting sick.
She was once again amazed by the tenacity of human life; as long as one is diligent and has enough grass to eat, there will be an endless supply of grass, and one can survive no matter what.
When laying the foundation stones, Jiang Zhi suggested that Tian Gui and the others should reserve a larger pigsty for the Shi family, preferably large enough to raise ten pigs.
This requirement really scared the construction team!
Tian Gui asked, "Village Chief Jiang, the Shi family is already struggling financially. Isn't it too wasteful to build a pigsty for ten pigs?"
He wanted to say that the Shi family had no property at all. Even if Sister Shi could earn a few hundred coins, it would be difficult to buy pigs to raise after deducting food and drink. It would be good enough if she could raise a few chickens.
Jiang Zhi didn't explain much, only saying, "You can help them repair it like this for now. If they don't need it later, you can use it to store firewood, so they won't have to come back to redo it a second time."
Seeing that Village Chief Jiang had said so, Tian Gui and the others stopped asking questions and started helping the Shi family repair the pigsty.
To build a pigsty, you need to dig a latrine pit, then place oak wood or stone strips on the pit to build the pen. Afterwards, the pigs' manure will fall directly into the latrine pit below, which will save a lot of trouble.
Stone Monkey didn't understand why Village Chief Jiang wanted to build such a large pigsty for his family; it was almost as big as a human room.
As Village Chief Jiang once said, if you have a problem, you should speak up bravely.
He honestly asked, "Village Chief Jiang, my family doesn't raise pigs, so why do we need to build such a big pigsty?"
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