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墨書 Inktalez
Everyone finished breakfast early and took the tools distributed by Xia Muxin. Since Xia Muxin had assigned them some homework before, they generally knew what to do, but they still felt nervous.
"Everyone, don't be nervous. Take it step by step, follow the instructions!"
Xia Muxin was also a bit anxious; after all, she had only seen kilns being built before and had never practiced it herself. However, she had prepared everything needed thoroughly, and as long as everyone worked together with determination, there shouldn't be any problems.
Er Dan Ge and his father took the lead in picking up a brick. Xia Muxin took a deep breath and followed them. Although her brother could walk now, he shouldn't bear too much weight. His hands were strong, so he volunteered to move the bricks for building the kiln. Once Er Dan Ge and his father placed the first brick down, he began to work.
"Yes, brother, just like that! Very good!"
Xia Muxin watched his technique and found it satisfactory. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she voiced her approval.
With someone leading the way, everyone relaxed and began passing bricks back and forth. Meanwhile, another group worked with Xia Tieshu to start building the kiln.
When the first layer of bricks was completed, Xia Muxin checked the seven kiln openings. She was pleased with both their distance and size, nodding in satisfaction as she encouraged everyone:
"You all did very well! I believe that in half a month, we will have our first batch of bricks ready. I hope that soon we can all live in houses made of these Fire Bricks!"
Upon hearing this from Xia Muxin, everyone seemed more confident. They believed that as long as they followed Miss Muxin, they would never suffer losses. Moreover, working here earned them two hundred wen a day along with lunch included—this felt like a windfall to them.
After about half an hour of guarding their work site, as the kiln openings gradually took shape, Xia Muxin reminded everyone to be careful before returning home.
Building the kiln was not only a novel experience but also a significant event for the village. Besides those working on it, nearly everyone from the village came to join in the excitement. At this moment, men and women of all ages filled the area not far from where they were working. When they saw Xia Muxin approaching, they greeted her with smiles.
Xia Muxin nodded slightly in response but did not engage in idle chatter.
"What is this all about? It's just a few mud bricks, isn't it? Anyone can do that, yet they act so high and mighty. Hmph, I want to see what this upstart can accomplish."
"Mother, please say less. They are now the village's great Benefactor; we can't afford to offend them."
"Color Lotus is right, Sister Zhou. They are not the same as before; we shouldn't be discussing them."
Faintly, such conversations reached Xia Muxin's ears, but she merely curled her lips and left without looking back.
The Yu family had been confined at home for a month, yet they were well aware of the happenings outside. With Tang Sanwan's big mouth, that was more than enough. Moreover, the Wang family was declining day by day; even if she went there, she'd have to watch her words. So she came to gossip at her house instead, on one hand praising how formidable the Wang family was while on the other hand talking about how glorious Xia Muxin had become.
She still didn't understand why she was covered in red and couldn't wash it off. She nearly scrubbed her skin raw, thinking she had caught some strange illness. But her mother-in-law was the same, and Tang Sanwan came over to complain that her Liu Mazi had suddenly returned home covered in red and couldn't wash it off either. Lord Wang was also affected; she knew quite a few people from the Wang family and recited the names of those who had gone into the water that day. The results were all the same—just like her Liu Mazi—after that day, they never appeared again.
At that moment, she realized that all of this was Xia Muxin's doing.
Today, she finally managed to step outside, but it happened to be the day Xia Muxin started firing up the kiln. Although she couldn't do much to her, she could still speak ill of her.
Besides, with her and her mother-in-law unable to go out these days, they had run out of oil for cooking. Zhou Yousheng had given her fifty wen this past month, only for it to be confiscated by her mother-in-law. It would have been fine if they just took it away, but they also blamed her for being incapable.
Zhou Guilian and others who had never worked or earned money would wail at mealtimes, complaining about their tasteless food. Zhou Xiaolian would even add insult to injury by running over to Xia Muxin's wall during meals to sniff around and then return angrily reporting what dishes and meats they had eaten that day...
It nearly drove her mad; several times she chased Zhou Xiaolian away with a broom only for her to return at the next meal.
The Wu family had also been giving her cold shoulders lately while treating Zhou Changyuan and his brother with excessive warmth. Moreover, everything these two brothers brought her was consumed solely by herself; it hadn't been like this before.
It seemed that everyone in this household had lost their affection for each other. If things didn't improve soon, this family would fall apart.
The more things went this way, the more she hated Xia Muxin's family.
When Xia Muxin returned home, the place was already bustling with activity. Aunt Liu and Sister Swallow were leading the charge, sorting through vegetables.
The other aunts were either wiping tables or boiling water.
Fortunately, the yard was spacious enough that they had set up two makeshift stoves outside. The village chief, Yang Dadong, who had once been a chef, was in charge of cooking today as he had been for many past celebrations in the village.
As luck would have it, a few days ago, Ming Yi and the others had gone up the mountain to gather firewood and ended up hunting a wild boar. This boar was quite hefty, weighing a full three hundred and twenty-two pounds. Before dawn, she had instructed them to slaughter the boar, and at this moment, Yang Dadong was busy cleaning it.
Ermiao also came today. Perhaps due to the recent troubles in the Wang family, they no longer had the energy to cause trouble at her house. Plus, Xia Muxin had grown stronger, making them hesitant to act against her.
Upon seeing her, Ermiao gave a shy smile and joined Sister Swallow in their tasks.
Next, Xia Muxin moved tables and benches from Er Dan Ge's house and the village chief's home, borrowing two more from two other families along with bowls and chopsticks. With over a hundred people working, plus about ten helping out from her own family, she prepared eleven tables.
The firewood used today consisted of thick logs; each piece weighed around ten pounds or more and was thicker than an average person's thigh. Starting this fire required some skill.
"Aunt Liu, please make sure to pull out the charcoal soon; it's best if we get it to seven-tenths burned," Xia Muxin instructed as she approached Aunt Liu by the stove.
Though Aunt Liu was puzzled, she said nothing further. She knew that Muxin was clever and that her advice must have its purpose. With a grin, she replied, "Alright!"
These past few days, Xia Muxin had been quite busy and hadn't gone to town herself; instead, she made a list for Ming Peng to buy groceries in town.
At home, there were wild chickens, wild boars, bamboo rats, mushrooms, and fish. She also needed to buy some ingredients and side dishes.
So, Ming Peng returned early.
The snail meat was relatively expensive and troublesome to prepare, so she decided not to serve it.
Instead, she had Ming Peng buy some beef, along with eggs, Silver Needle Mushrooms, flour, eggplants, Green Beans, cucumbers, and other basic vegetables.
She planned for each table to have ten bowls, all of which were oversized.
Moreover, she had cooked nearly sixty pounds of rice for this meal and added another ten pounds to the budget.
“Aunt Liu, is the water ready?”
Seeing everyone busy, Xia Muxin brought over the mung beans that had been soaking overnight. Noticing that the water in the pot was boiling, she asked.
“Dongzi, is the water boiling? Can we use it?”
This water was meant for boiling pork as instructed by the village chief Yang Dadong. Seeing Xia Muxin approach her, she turned to Yang Dadong, who was using iron tongs to scald pig hair.
Yang Dadong walked over to take a look and nodded. He bit down on a piece of wire and didn’t speak much as he brought over a large wooden barrel, pointing at the pot and then at the barrel.
Aunt Liu immediately understood and called Sister Swallow. The two women poured the hot water into the wooden barrel.
At that moment, Xia Muxin brought over a small bucket of clean water. Seeing that the pot was empty, she poured the water in and then went back for more. It took her four trips with buckets before she could finally set them down to catch her breath.
Then she drained the mung beans and poured them directly into the pot.
“Muxin, are you going to make mung bean porridge again?” Aunt Liu looked at the mung beans in the pot with a hint of concern and asked Xia Muxin.
These mung beans were two or three times more expensive than rice, and they had never been willing to eat them. Yet this girl made porridge for the brickmakers every few days, which made Aunt Liu feel it was not worth it for Muxin.
After all, earning this money was not easy; one could say it was earned with their lives. But Muxin was too good to herself and the villagers, to the point where Aunt Liu felt guilty and pained.
Seeing her reluctant gaze, Xia Muxin smiled gratefully and said, “Aunt, everyone earns their living through hard work. If someone gets heatstroke or something happens, I would feel guilty for a lifetime. Besides, by doing this, everyone will remember my kindness, and in the future, it will be easier for me to find help!”
Seeing Aunt Liu give her a thumbs up, Xia Muxin smiled and went to prepare the salt ginger water with an empty bucket.
She also had Ming Peng buy two pounds of brown sugar and prepared a bucket of brown sugar water. When Ming Yi came in, she called out to him just in time: “Brother Ming Yi, could you please help me take these over to the kiln? After working for so long, everyone must be thirsty.”
Ming Yi readily picked up two buckets and headed toward the kiln.
- End of Chapter -
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