"Madam, do you still need people?" a villager from Xinglin Village asked.
An Shuyi shook her head, "The two hundred-plus people from Xinglin Village are enough right now. If we need more, I will let you know." These villagers are so fast; the road will be repaired in a few days. Too many people won't help.
"Madam Xie said we'll come again tomorrow." With that, the villagers of Xinglin Village left.
After the villagers of Xinglin Village left, An Shuyi and the others returned to the village. She went directly to Village Chief Lin and said, "Wood, arrange for more people to make ice tonight. Someone will come to pick it up tomorrow, and we can deliver it to the village entrance."
"Also, tell the clansmen that the money earned will be distributed every ten days, and I will have the eldest brother keep a record of the money earned each day."
Village Chief Lin nodded, "Okay, sister-in-law, I'll go arrange for someone and then notify them."
An Shuyi watched him leave before going to eat. "Ms. Wu, did you cook dinner tonight?" Looking at the mushy mess in her bowl, she wondered why it looked so familiar!
Wu shook her head, glanced timidly at her sister-in-law, and then lowered her head to eat her rice.
"Zhao, didn't I already tell Wu to cook? Why are you cooking again?"
Zhao put down her bowl and said aggrievedly, "Mother, all the things you bought are piled up there, and no one dares to touch them. I saw that there was only some white flour left, so I used it to make porridge. Mother, try it. Maybe my cooking is better than before."
An Shuyi looked at the food and other things she had bought, which were piled on the ground. She wiped her face with her hand. She knew that Zhao Shi would be afraid of her. She had no choice but to put down the bowl. "You guys eat. I'll go pack my things. And Zhao Shi, no matter what the reason, you are not allowed to cook. Otherwise, you won't get any food."
He went over and took everything out, putting the cooking utensils aside. He also put a lot of salt and oil into the jar, which he had planned to put in when he bought the jar, but he was too busy and forgot about it.
Luckily, Hua Hua had some, otherwise she would have had to deliver them. "Zhao Shi, Wu Shi, come over and put everything away after you've finished eating. Also, here are some shoes I bought, take a pair yourself."
"There's plenty of fabric, so hurry up and make a couple of outfits for your family members when you have time. Don't touch anything except that pile of fabric; you can use the rest of the things you want."
"Yes, Mother!" Zhao and Wu were happy that there was more fabric to make new clothes, even though they had to make them themselves.
An Shuyi used a basket to carry the things she had sorted to where her father's family lived. After putting the things down, she said, "Father, Mother, elder brother and sister-in-law, this is for you: food, cloth, pastries, and shoes. But I bought the shoes in Jinnan City. I don't know if they will fit. Try them on, and if they don't fit, I will exchange them."
However, when she took them, she always took them according to their shoe sizes, so there shouldn't be too much difference.
Looking at the things she brought out, An's mother was happy, but she couldn't help but remind her, "Shuyi, you don't need to bring us things so often. That whole family is at the age where they can eat a lot. If you bring everything, what will they eat?"
"If you have money, keep it in your hand and don't spend it recklessly. Your parents have it, so don't worry."
An Shuyi smiled and said, "Mother, don't worry, I still have money. We won't go hungry. Try on the shoes later, and if they don't fit, have Huaijin take them to me to exchange them. I'm going to get busy now."
After returning, they ate some pastries and then led the tribesmen to make ice. They worked until midnight before it was finished. Seeing that the tribesmen had all gone back to sleep, An Shuyi and Xia Hua did not sleep. They sat on the ground and waited until all the tribesmen were asleep before going to the village entrance together.
Xia Hua placed the cement and sand she had bought earlier on the ground, then took out a kitchen knife and had An Shuyi cut the bag. She started by pouring the sand and cement out of the bag, and when she got tired, she took over cutting the bag again, and An Shuyi was responsible for pouring it out.
These are all for building walls and paving roads. Once they look about right, they head towards the place where they are building their workshop. The place where they cook and sleep is a bit far from here, but not too far, so they have to proceed with caution.
Only after they saw that they had enough cement and sand to build the workshop did the two of them go to wash up and go to bed.
The next day, just as dawn broke, the tribespeople woke up and saw piles of sand and cement. They all went to investigate, but no matter how they looked at them, they couldn't figure out what they were.
Looking at the two piles of things, Village Chief Lin guessed that the two women must have brought them, but they were still sleeping and he didn't dare to disturb them. He could only arrange for someone to carry the ice to the village entrance and have the eldest son go with them.
The others continued digging the foundation for the workshop, trying to finish it today. The remaining people were assigned to cut down trees, which were then prepared on the mountain and carried down.
Although they were all living trees, he was in a hurry and couldn't worry about that now, otherwise he would have to spend money to buy them. After that, he took people to measure the land and divided the land for each family. He would start cultivating the land whenever he had time.
It wasn't until noon that An Shuyi and Xia Hua got up. They were so tired from the night before that they could have slept longer if they weren't hungry. When they got up, the women were already cooking.
"Mom, Aunt, you're awake! I've prepared the food. Shall we eat now?"
An Shuyi glanced at Xia Hua beside her and said, "Eat up. You set the table first, and your aunt and I will wash up first."
After washing up, the two sat at the table and waited. The villagers who had been working also came back to eat. Xiao Wu also brought Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi back. Now that they didn't have to dig for wild vegetables, they went to watch the villagers dig the foundation and the road.
Everyone in the village is busy now, including Dr. Liu, so there's no time for him to teach Xiao Wu medicine. Nowadays, the children in the village just play around, looking here and there.
Looking at the food on the table, it was clear that it was made by Wu. The dishes were simple, and there was no meat. I had forgotten to buy meat yesterday. It seems I will have to go to Jinnan City to buy some meat.
The two were still diligently eating when Village Chief Lin came over with his bowl and casually squatted down on the ground. "Sister-in-law, what are those things you piled up at the workshop?"
An Shuyi looked at Xia Hua, who was still eating, swallowed the food in her mouth, and explained, "The coarser ones are sand, and the finer ones are cement. This stuff is very expensive, especially cement. You can't let water touch it. After the road is dug up, we'll lay a layer of small stones, and then mix the sand and cement together and lay it on top of the stones. The ground will look like it's covered with a layer of stone slabs."
"Besides paving the outside roads, we also need to pave the inside of the workshops. I will teach you how to do that later. As for cement, when building the workshops, mix cement with water. This can replace glutinous rice mud and it's also more durable."
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