Fortunately, there was no work-point recorder today. Otherwise, given how little Zhao Yi had accomplished—less than what a five or six-year-old child could manage—it would have been entirely due to the villagers holding him up.
He had spent the whole day explaining things to others.
The double rush harvesting had already ended, and there was still some time before the autumn harvest. The workload wasn’t heavy now, and most people were just loafing around in the fields to earn work points. During busy times, it was clear how many work points a field was worth and roughly how long it would take to finish.
But now, until the autumn harvest, everyone was basically just keeping busy without any specific tasks.
Wangou Village had abundant water sources, so there was no constant need to repair irrigation canals. It was also far from the county town and had no side industries. After the spring planting, summer double rush, and autumn harvest, there was basically nothing else to do.
Tasks like supporting reservoir construction only required two or three people from Wangou Village at most, and it was uncertain who would be chosen.
Even though everyone was just idling in the fields now, they couldn’t go too far. The amount of work Zhao Yi had done today would have been utterly ridiculous under normal circumstances.
But even the work-point recorder had come over to ask Zhao Yi questions for a long time, so naturally, no one paid attention to how much work Zhao Yi had actually done.
"Darling, you earned ten work points today just by talking," Zhang Jing said to Zhao Yi with a laugh.
"Talking is exhausting too. My mouth is dry from all the explaining, and no one even brought me a drink to quench my thirst," Zhao Yi replied with a smile.
During the summer double rush, someone would fetch well water to the fields for the working commune members to drink. Of course, most people brought their own honeysuckle tea, picked from the mountains, but a bamboo tube couldn’t hold much, so they still needed cool well water to quench their thirst.
When work ended in the evening, Zhao Yi hadn’t even made it home before Li Dequan pulled him into the Li family’s courtyard.
The Li family’s courtyard was nearly finished, with only the final layer of bamboo sheathing left for the roof. Zhao Yi had no choice but to climb the ladder and help Li Dequan with the work.
By the time Zhao Yi finished helping with the bamboo sheathing, Wu Lan had already invited Zhang Jing to the Li family’s courtyard.
"Stay and eat with us today. I haven’t had the chance to properly meet the new bride since she arrived in Wangou Village," said Wu Lan, Li Dequan’s wife. Her words were so tactful that they made one feel comfortable, and it was hard to refuse her invitation to dinner.
Zhang Jing followed Wu Lan into the kitchen to start preparing the meal.
By now, the Li family’s roof had been completely replaced with brand-new bamboo tiles, giving it a fresh, renewed look. If it were whitewashed with lime, it would be considered quite upscale in the countryside.
However, whitewashing with lime was usually only done when a son was getting married or at the end of the year.
"I’ve kept you here long after work ended. I hope Xiao Yi doesn’t mind," Li Dequan said as he poured Zhao Yi a small bowl of unbottled liquor with a smile.
"We’re neighbors. Helping each other out is only right. Besides, I troubled you, Brigade Leader, to come over late at night to oversee the family division. You didn’t complain then, so how could I call this a bother?" Zhao Yi replied cheerfully.
"I’ve heard some news that the city’s steel plant plans to mine coal in our commune. They might select miners from a few nearby brigades. I think you’re a decent and clever fellow—you should give it a try when the time comes," Li Dequan said quietly after taking a sip of liquor.
Although the commune secretary had mentioned this, nothing was confirmed yet, so no one could say for sure.
"Mm," Zhao Yi nodded.
As for working at the coal mine, Zhao Yi had considered it, but he didn’t necessarily want to work underground. There were other jobs at the coal mine too.
After having a meal at Li Dequan's house, Zhao Yi and his wife began walking back home.
Su Hong was already waiting at Zhao Yi's doorstep when he returned carrying fish. He had only caught two today, as he usually threw back any that were too small.
"Take both of these. We've already eaten today."
The two fish weighed about three jin total. Both he and his wife had already eaten at Li Dequan's house.
"Thanks then. I can't take advantage of you for nothing – here's something for you."
Su Hong handed two milk candies to Zhao Yi, who immediately passed them to Zhang Jing.
Zhang Jing seemed particularly fond of this type of candy. Last time, she ate one and kept the other hidden in the cabinet, reluctant to finish it.
Next time he went to the city, he'd try to bring back more if he had the chance.
These milk candies cost two fen each – three could almost buy one jin of grain. Ordinary families wouldn't buy such expensive candies, opting instead for the one-fen-for-two type. In rural areas, few people bought candies to satisfy children's cravings.
Most would go into the mountains to find wild fruits instead – chestnuts, peaches, bayberries, August melons, chicken intestines. The mountains offered many wild fruits, some even Zhao Yi couldn't name, but they tasted quite good.
Early morning.
A heavy rain fell without warning.
Inside the house, Zhang Jing began inspecting everywhere and found not a single drop had leaked through, making her quite pleased.
No matter how well you thatched a roof, some rainwater would always seep through. If the workmanship was poor, it would rain heavily outside while dripping inside, leaving the home completely soaked.
Summer rains come quickly and leave just as fast.
After just over an hour, the rain stopped.
Not long after the rain ceased, Li Daju arrived at Zhao Yi's house.
"Are these bamboo tiles really this effective?"
Li Daju entered the main room, looking at the dry floor and walls, and laughed happily.
Although Zhao Dahai's self-built house didn't use bamboo tiles, it had a pine-resin-coated baseboard beneath the thatch, with all seams sealed by pine resin, so it didn't leak either.
Zhao Yi's uncles were carpenters – they certainly had the skills for such work.
"Mom, what brings you here?"
Zhao Yi came out from the kitchen and saw Li Daju sitting in the main room.
"Just came to see how well your bamboo tiles are working."
Li Daju said with a cheerful laugh.
"Given our circumstances, we have to make do with what works. It would be too troublesome to ask my uncles to come help."
Zhao Yi said helplessly.
Everyone wanted to live in red-brick houses with proper tiles, but they had to have the means first.
"When you're ready to build properly, just go ask them. Family shouldn't worry about being troublesome."
Li Daju quickly waved her hand.
Since Zhao Yi had started standing up to them, Li Daju had somehow grown fond of this new version of him, though she couldn't explain why. Before, Zhao Yi only knew how to work silently, and Li Daju felt such a son might not amount to much.
"We have nothing at home. Who knows when we'll be able to build a new house."
Zhao Yi shook his head.
He brought boiled potatoes to the table – this was today's breakfast. There were actually two pieces of pastry in the cabinet, but Zhao Yi didn't want to share them with his biased mother.
If she wanted treats, she could ask those thankless children of hers to buy them. Though Zhao Yi considered them ungrateful, to Zhao Dahai and Li Daju they were filial children – after all, they had enjoyed good years with them and took them to the city to enjoy their retirement once they had stable jobs after graduation.
"You two strong laborers, with no children to worry about and no elderly to care for, can save up enough grain in at most two years. Building a house in the village costs almost nothing since everyone helps out," said Li Daju.