The women thought carefully about what Qiu Huang said and felt that it made a lot of sense. Their family was now living in this small mountain village. It was not just them here—there were many other people too. If they became isolated, all kinds of problems could really happen.
“Husband, leave the matter of hiring people to us.”
The women agreed with Qiu Huang’s arrangement.
Qiu Huang asked, “Do any of you know how to make clothes?”
Make clothes?
Hearing his question, the women looked at him with disdain. Every one of them knew how to make clothes. Men farmed while women weaved—this was the standard way of life in this society. Since childhood, their parents had required them to learn all kinds of women’s work. Making clothes was something very simple to them.
“Husband, I think your question is inappropriate. You should ask which one of us doesn’t know how to make clothes.”
Uh???
Seeing their reaction, Qiu Huang realized he had made a small mistake. Women of this era seemed to have very few things they could do besides housework and sewing.
“Alright then. Cut the fabric we bought today and make yourselves a new set of clothes.”
“Thank you, Husband.”
The women were overjoyed. In the past, they only got new clothes during the New Year. But now things were different. Even on ordinary days, Qiu Huang bought them new clothes. Although they had to make them themselves, they were already very satisfied. Besides, making the clothes personally had another advantage—they could test whether they fit properly and would not have to worry about the clothes being the wrong size.
“For now, these are all the arrangements. If there’s nothing else to add, then go make dinner.”
“Yes, Husband.”
With everyone working together, dinner was finished before long.
Tonight’s meal was especially different from before. The rice was clean white rice, and there were fish and meat, both meat and vegetables, properly seasoned with salt and flavor. Everyone ate very happily.
After dinner, Qiu Huang went to take a bath.
Meanwhile, the women began whispering among themselves.
“Who’s going to serve Husband tonight?”
“Shi Yi and Feng’er already served him. Tonight it should be someone else’s turn.”
“I can’t tonight. I’m on my period.”
“Actually, with how other men usually are, even during your period you’d still have to serve them.”
“That just shows how different Husband is. He told us clearly that when we’re on our period, we must never serve him and should instead rest properly.”
“Anyone can see how well Husband treats us. Those awful men never respect our bodies. We already feel uncomfortable during our period, yet they still act rough and forceful. I really want to slap them hard and make them learn from our Husband.”
“Do you think everyone is as good as Husband? A man like him is impossible to find even with a lantern. Being able to meet him must be the blessing of several lifetimes.”
“But don’t think Husband is never rough. In my opinion, none of you have experienced his rough side yet.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Although Husband treats us very well normally, he’s not gentle with us in bed at all. If you don’t believe me, ask Shi Yi and Feng’er. They understand it deeply.”
“Hey, hey, you’re discussing things, so why are you looking at us?”
“No special reason. We just want to ask exactly how rough Husband can be.”
“We refuse to answer that question. If you want to know, go experience it yourselves.”
…
After bathing, Qiu Huang climbed onto the bed.
“In this era, there are no phones and no computers. After finishing work, there’s really nothing else to do.”
Qiu Huang sighed softly. He missed all the electronic devices of modern society. If he still had them now, he could at least scroll for a while and pass the time.
“Husband.”
At that moment, a soft voice interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality.
When he turned his head, his eyes lit up.
“So tonight it’s you sisters’ turn?”
That’s right. The ones who came to him tonight were not one person, but two—Song Yufei and Song Yuwei, the pair of sisters.
To him, whether it was one person or two, it made no difference. He could handle both.
“Why are you covering your butts? Hurry and come over.”
Looking at the two women, Qiu Huang felt a little strange because he noticed they were both covering their backsides.
The sisters looked at each other and bit their lips lightly, as though they had made up their minds about something.
“Husband, please be gentler and treat our butts kindly.”
The two women slowly walked toward him.
???
The more Qiu Huang listened, the more confused he became. The way these two behaved and the things they said were completely different from Tang Shiyi and Shan Feng. He could not understand what was going on at all.
“Forget it. No need to think too much. Just do it.”
The spring night passed with endless passion.
The next day, Qiu Huang officially began the house expansion project. Following his instructions, the women first went to other households in the village to hire workers. When those people heard that Qiu Huang wanted help building a house, every single one of them became extremely happy.
Now, everyone in the village knew that Qiu Huang’s family had become wealthy. They had all kinds of good things and more food than they could finish eating. Who wouldn’t envy them? Some people had even secretly thought about rushing into Qiu Huang’s home and stealing those things.
But whenever they came near his house and saw all the women standing outside holding wooden sticks with vigilant expressions, they immediately lost their courage and forced those thoughts back down.
Sometimes, being cowardly was necessary. Otherwise, instead of stealing a chicken, you would end up getting beaten badly, which definitely was not worth it.
Now that Qiu Huang was willing to hire them to help build the house, everyone became as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood. They knew this would not only let them earn some money, but also allow them to eat delicious food and improve their quality of life.
After the workers were chosen, the large-scale house expansion officially began. Qiu Huang designed a traditional courtyard house with fences around the outside for protection. As for land, there was no need to worry—there was plenty of empty land and wasteland in the village. Most of the building materials were wood and bamboo, mixed with dried grass, mud, and similar things. These were the common construction materials of this era.
“I wonder if it’ll be possible to create things like concrete and bricks in the future.”
Qiu Huang suddenly had the idea of developing concrete and bricks in this era. Those were the kinds of materials truly suitable for building sturdy houses that would not collapse easily.