Liu Xiaolan smiled and continued with her work.
The baby was due soon, and she had been busy these past few days making small clothes for the child.
By the edge of the yard stood a large tree, and beneath it was a stone table. In summer, the breeze rustled through the leaves, and sitting there was particularly comfortable.
Since getting on the train, Yu Zhaozhao hadn’t entered the “space” again.
She wanted to take advantage of her afternoon nap to explore it with her consciousness.
“Xiaolan, you keep busy. I’ll lie down for a bit—I haven’t rested properly these past few days,” she said.
“All right, go ahead,” Liu Xiaolan replied.
“I’ll nap too,” Liu Ying said.
She wasn’t actually sleepy, but since she wasn’t very familiar with Liu Xiaolan, and Yu Zhaozhao wasn’t around, she worried it would be awkward if there was silence.
Yu Zhaozhao lay on the kang, sending her consciousness into the space.
She first went to the refrigerator and opened the door.
Sure enough, the fridge was fully stocked.
She then went to the cupboard and opened it—but unfortunately, it was completely empty.
It seemed only the food in the fridge could regenerate, which was still very useful.
The fridge contained fish, meat, eggs, dairy, shrimp, fruits, and drinks. If she moved the contents upstairs to the empty room daily, the fridge would automatically replenish itself. She would never run out of snacks, fruits, or meat.
These items were scarce in this era, especially meat.
As for grains, she had two new 50-kg bags of rice and two new 50-kg bags of white flour.
Even eating generously, one meal used at most 100–200 grams of rice. Three meals a day would only consume about 300–600 grams. That meant 100 kg could last her a year.
The flour was extra, and the commune would also distribute some coarse grains at the end of the year. No matter how she looked at it, she wouldn’t starve.
After the reform and opening up, the market economy would develop rapidly, and food would be even easier to get.
Yu Zhaozhao emptied the fridge again using her mind, moving everything to the empty room upstairs.
When winter came, frozen meat could be taken out, and she planned to visit the black market—after all, as a modern person in a time-travel story, black markets and scrap collection stations were must-see spots.
Using consciousness in the space didn’t allow for as much as physically entering it. She lingered a bit, but since she couldn’t eat or drink there, she exited.
Lying on the kang in a drowsy haze, she eventually fell asleep.
In the afternoon, Zhou Youfu returned and called Yu Zhaozhao and Liu Ying to check the house plot. When they arrived, about ten strong laborers were already clearing weeds. Jiang Yan’s side was doing the same.
Fortunately, it was summer. Crops were in the fields, so routine work was light—mostly clearing weeds and watering. If it had been spring planting or autumn harvest, there wouldn’t have been enough people to build houses.
“Labor is five mao per day, no need to provide meals,” Zhou Youfu said.
“That’s fine, Team Leader. We’re not familiar with the village. We’ll follow your instructions,” Yu Zhaozhao replied.
“All right, how do you want the houses built?”
Liu Ying looked at Yu Zhaozhao.
“Team Leader, I’ll build the same as Zhaozhao,” she said.
“So each of you will build two houses, sharing a courtyard?” Yu Zhaozhao asked for Liu Ying’s opinion.
“Of course, that’s perfect,” Liu Ying agreed.
If she lived alone, she might be afraid at night, but sharing a courtyard with Yu Zhaozhao was different.
“Team Leader, we’ll each build two slightly larger houses, about 4 meters by 9 meters. At one-third of the length, we’ll place a partition wall. The small room is the bedroom with a 2×3 meter kang. The kitchen will be bigger, with a stove and a table and water tank. How does that sound? If there’s anything you think is unreasonable, please advise us.”
Zhou Youfu thought it over. For one person living alone, this arrangement was indeed practical.
“Very good. We’ll do it that way. I’ve already arranged for the adobe bricks to be delivered this afternoon. Today they’ll dig the foundations, and construction can start tomorrow. As for the roof tiles, I’ve approved the allocation. You’ll need to bring them back yourselves.”
“Team Leader, we’re just two girls. We don’t have the strength to carry the tiles. Why don’t you have someone bring them from the commune? We’ll cover the cost,” Yu Zhaozhao offered.
Zhou Youfu nodded. This wasn’t a problem. Most village men were strong but had lacked opportunities to earn. Now they’d be willing to help.
“All right, I’ll handle that. Your houses should be done in less than half a month. New adobe houses are a bit damp and will need a few days of fire-drying before they’re habitable.”
“Thank you, Team Leader. We’ll follow your arrangement,” Yu Zhaozhao said.
With the house plans settled, they had a day to rest. They didn’t go anywhere, lazing on the kang, preparing for work.
Soon, the first day of work arrived. Yu Zhaozhao and Liu Ying woke early to leave a good impression and followed the team leader’s wife to the village threshing ground.
It was the largest, widest open space in the village, used for meetings, movie screenings, or other activities.
Normally, villagers gathered here each morning to receive work assignments.
Today, with new sent-down youth participating, the team leader held a brief morning meeting, introducing them and assigning tasks.
“Everyone, you’ve probably noticed, we have a new group of sent-down youth. These children came from afar to our village. I hope everyone can be patient and work together. Here are their tasks for today.
Zhuzi, you’ll teach the new youth how to weed, mainly how to distinguish between weeds and corn seedlings. Once they’ve learned, assign them a plot. Today is their first day, so finishing a row of work is enough.”
Zhou Youfu stood in the center of the square, raising his voice.
“All right, Team Leader,” Zhuzi replied, though he wasn’t happy.
He didn’t want to guide the new youth—they were fussy and lazy, and this would cost him work points. But he had no choice.
“Follow me,” he said.
Zhuzi led everyone to a cornfield, squatted, and gestured for them to gather around.
“Your task today is to clear the weeds in this field. Each of you will handle one ridge—walk to the end and back. That will complete today’s task. Besides corn seedlings, there’s nothing else here, so they’re easy to identify. These are the corn seedlings,” he said, pointing to the young plants on the ridge.
“All others are weeds. Corn is planted on the ridge; anything in the furrows is definitely weed. It’s easy to tell. Be careful with the weeds on the ridge. Take it slow at first. Don’t pull up the corn by mistake. Start now.”