Chapter 137: Landslides and Earthquakes
Qin Yao poured the driver a glass of water, sat down opposite him, and asked him if Liu Ji had any words for him to bring back.
It really does exist.
The driver said, "Mr. Liu asked me to tell you, Madam Qin—"
"The journey home is long, and I only have one day off. I don't want to be delayed on the road, fearing that I will miss my study plan. Please give the driver the living expenses for the second half of the month to bring to me. I am doing well in the academy, and I am strictly following the study schedule, which is very beneficial. Please rest assured."
After listening to this, Qin Yao raised her eyebrows. It was indeed Liu Ji's tone.
He checked some details with the driver and confirmed that it was not a scam. He signaled the driver to sit for a while and walked out of the main room to get the money from the bedroom.
As soon as I came out, I met four pairs of big eyes with Dalang and his sister. I pointed at their room and said, "Go back and practice calligraphy!"
The four brothers and sisters moved their lips and said "oh" silently, then rolled into the room in shame and continued practicing calligraphy.
Qin Yao then went into the bedroom, took out two coins of silver and handed them to the driver.
After taking the money, the driver stood up and was about to leave.
There is no man in Qin Yao's family, and staying away for too long would cause gossip.
Besides, it was already late when he set out today, and there were villagers along the way who were going to the town and county waiting for his ox cart. He did not dare to delay and set off immediately.
Qin Yao stood at the door of her house, watching the ox cart quickly leave the village. The polite smile on her lips disappeared, and her eyes became dark.
The rice of every household in the village has been harvested, and the fields are empty. Piles of rice straw are carried home. Some of the straw that cannot be moved is piled in the fields and taken when needed.
Qin Yao selected some well-dried straw and re-made all the beds in the house.
The old straw is thrown away and burned, and new straw is spread on the bed, then a layer of brown mat is placed on it, and finally a quilt is placed on it to cover it. It is soft and warm to lie on.
It's been cool at night lately, so now I don't have to worry about the cold anymore.
There was still some straw left, and after finishing the three acres of land in her free time, Qin Yao and her four children started making straw sandals again.
This time she was not selling them but wearing them herself. The weaving was particularly sturdy and delicate. Qin Yao made herself a pair of straw slippers without heels. When Si Niang saw them, she asked for them, so Qin Yao made another pair for her.
The little girl was walking around the house with her shoes dragging on, tapping their feet. Every now and then one of her slippers would slip and fly off, and she would hop on one foot to pick it up. She could play with a pair of slippers for most of the day.
Dalang and Erlang looked at it with envy, but were too embarrassed to ask Qin Yao for help, so they learned to weave two pairs of weird shoes by themselves, but they fell apart after wearing them for a while.
Finally, Qin Yao arranged a pair for each person and then stopped.
The four brothers and sisters treated the slippers as treasures. They didn't wear them on weekdays, but placed them neatly beside the bed.
After dinner at night, when Qin Yao called them to wash up, their first reaction was to run back to the room to change their high-heeled shoes into cumbersome straw slippers, and then wash their feet one by one. After washing, they wore them and walked around the house.
For several days in a row, the enthusiasm remained unabated, and Qin Yao's ears were filled with the sound of slippers tapping.
It was not until an autumn rain fell and the temperature suddenly turned cooler that the four brothers and sisters cooled down their enthusiasm a little and obediently put on their socks and cloth shoes.
Qin Yao's family also followed the villagers' example and built a haystack of straw near the outhouse outside the back door.
I learned the recipe for feeding horses from Liu Dafu's family, which is to ferment the fodder by adding straw and wood ash.
First chop the straw into pieces, then take out a basket of wood ash from the stove hole, find an unused empty jar, pour the chopped straw into the jar, sprinkle a layer of wood ash every inch to make it alkalizing, usually ferment it overnight, and feed it all at once the next day.
Because it is troublesome, Qin Yao only adds different nutrients to the horse once a week.
For Lao Huang, when Qin Yao went up the mountain in the morning to chop firewood to store for the winter, she would also call Dalang. She would chop firewood on the mountain while Dalang would cut grass at the foot of the mountain.
Ordinary grass had to be chopped up and then mixed with specially purchased sorghum to feed the horses. Old Man Liu saw this once by chance and exclaimed how luxurious it was.
But the effect is also gratifying. The bald spots on Lao Huang's body have slowly grown back, and he looks more and more handsome.
It is also energetic when working. Occasionally, when Qin Yao goes to the quarry, she will lead it over to transport stones. It will run very vigorously.
Because he is so tall, the children in the village are afraid of Lao Huang and will avoid him if they see him from a distance, unless there are people around.
As autumn deepens, the green on the mountains fades away little by little and turns golden.
Dalang has been a little restless lately. From time to time, he wants to play with the slingshot and small bow made by Qin Yao. He goes out early and comes back before lunch.
When asked where he was doing, he said he was practicing slingshot and bow and arrow at the foot of the mountain, and then he opened his big eyes and looked at Qin Yao expectantly.
Qin Yao didn't react at first. After several times, she heard someone say that the Yang family from Xiahe Village had already gone into the mountains. Then she suddenly remembered that she seemed to have promised to take Dalang into the mountains to hunt this autumn.
The boy couldn't help getting anxious as he watched the leaves on the mountain turn golden, but the person who made the promise didn't seem to remember it at all.
If it was Erlang or Si Niang, they would have shouted out long ago.
But this is Dalang, who is sensitive and sensible. Seeing that Qin Yao didn't mention it, he thought that she didn't want to do it or had forgotten it at all, which is why she behaved so awkwardly.
"Childish." Qin Yao chuckled, then remembered that he was indeed a child, so childish.
A hammer drove a one-meter-long thick nail into the crevice of the rock. With a loud "bang", a large piece of rock slid down from the cliff, which frightened the onlookers.
This was not the first time they had seen such a scene, but every time Liu Bo and the others could feel the fear like a landslide.
They had clearly retreated to a safe area, but when the rocks fell down, they couldn't help but retreat again.
After the loud noise stopped, Qin Yao checked the cliff and hung the woven hemp rope net on hooks with steel nails to prevent small rocks from rolling down and injuring the quarry workers at the foot of the mountain.
After checking that everything was correct, he climbed back to the top of the mountain using the long rope and walked down the back slope.
A quarter of an hour later, Qin Yao appeared behind everyone and warned,
"Be sure to pay attention to safety. Human life is the most important. Everyone remember the work rules. Next time you open the stone, no one is allowed to move without me present!"
The quarry workers hurriedly stood up and faced her, shouting, "Got it!"
Qin Yao waved her hand, "Let's get to work."
Only then did everyone concentrate on the quarrying work of moving and smashing the stones.
Qin Yao brushed off the gravel on her body and looked up at the sky. The sun was already hanging in the center.
Every time I cut the stone, it takes a whole morning.
But after she got rid of this pile of stones, she would have enough grinding stones for fifty sets of small stone mills.
Once the workers have brought back all the stones, a new round of grinding at full speed will begin.
As for the 17 sets of millstones in Shopkeeper Wu's house, they will be almost ready if we come back again in the middle of next month.
Qin Yao was counting the days in her mind, today was another day off.
The driver came last night, asked by Liu Jizhi to collect living expenses.
Qin Yao didn't give any money.
She also personally sent the coachman out of the village.
When I returned home from the construction site, the sun was slightly setting.
Qin Yao changed into a light linen dress and took down the saddle hanging on the wall of the main room.