Chapter 59: Building Shelters and Stoves, Preparing for Work

Even after traveling through the night and reaching the point of utter exhaustion, the people from Willow Bay were immediately assigned to work as soon as they arrived.

The new educated youths, in particular, were put to work hauling earth right from the start—it was enough to make them wish they were dead.

Qi Zhijun, trembling as he carried two full baskets of earth, hunched over beneath the crushing weight that made his shoulders ache and his legs quiver, could barely stand upright.

He regretted everything. Why, as the son of a prestigious military and political family from the capital, had he chosen to haul earth alongside these country folk?

Was it all for Fang Rou?

But Fang Rou wasn’t even here.

She’d gone to be a primary school teacher.

Zhang Xiaojun and Liu Daye looked equally wretched. Zhang, cunning as ever, deliberately shook his carrying pole to spill much of the earth, making his load easier to bear. Liu Daye followed suit; the two dragged their feet, working faster only when someone urged them on, otherwise slacking off at every opportunity.

Among the new male educated youths, only Cai Mingcheng took the work seriously. The labor was exhausting, but he could earn a whole yuan a day—a sum comparable to a city salary and one of the few chances he had to make any money at all. He cherished the opportunity and gritted his teeth through the fatigue.

Among the girls, Qin Fangfang shared his attitude. Heaven favors the simple-minded, as they say; though Qin Fangfang was a bit slow and simple, her strength far surpassed that of most of the boys. Of all the new arrivals, she worked the hardest, carrying her pole with a steady gait.

She could even manage two full baskets of earth, just like the boys.

The other new girl, Liu Yan, was a different story. She staggered along with two half-filled baskets, wobbling with each step.

Then, misstepping, she fell straight into a pit, emerging covered in dirt, sobbing so loudly her cries echoed across the worksite.

Song Lanlan, busy digging, lost her patience at the sound. “Liu Yan, you coward! Cry one more time and I’ll bury you right here myself!”

Liu Yan, already traumatized by Song Lanlan’s outbursts, immediately choked back her tears, climbed out of the pit, and returned with two empty baskets.

Under the contemptuous gaze of the women digging earth, she set out again, swaying under her load.

While chaos reigned among the new arrivals, Ming Dai’s group worked with quiet efficiency.

After confirming their assigned sleeping area with the site foreman, Ming Dai chose a suitable spot to build a grass shelter for cooking.

All the shelters here were constructed from whatever could be gathered in the mountains. After leaving her basket with Liu Guoqiang, who was keeping the accounts, Ming Dai took up a hatchet and an axe, and the three of them headed up the mountain.

Ming Dai had already planned the shelter’s structure and the materials she needed, and she directed Zhou Sinian on which trees to fell.

It was the first time Sister Huang had watched Zhou Sinian chop down trees. With a few swift strokes, he brought down a large tree with ease.

Was it really that simple? Maybe the trees here were easier to cut?

She tried swinging her own axe at a nearby tree, but all she managed was a shallow notch.

So it wasn’t the trees—it was Zhou Sinian himself.

Soon, Zhou Sinian had prepared all the timber they needed.

Ming Dai had chosen pine—evergreen and with thick needles perfect for roofing, far better than dry grass.

The three of them hauled the wood back to their camp in no time.

Liu Guoqiang, who was filling in for an accountant on leave and thus enjoying double wages for light work, was surprised to see them return so quickly with such a haul.

Sister Huang gave Zhou Sinian a thumbs up, while Liu Guoqiang kept quiet—he’d once been slapped by Zhou Sinian himself. Even if it was accidental, it still hurt just the same.

Ming Dai directed while Zhou Sinian worked; they were so in sync, there was no room for anyone else to help. Sister Huang went off to collect the grain allotted to their group from Willow Bay.

Zhou Sinian worked quickly, and in less than an hour, their small shelter for cooking and sleeping was complete.

Amidst all the drab yellow shelters, their green pine-needle hut was rather attractive. Ming Dai was very pleased.

Next came the stove.

Unlike others who built their stoves outside, Ming Dai decided to construct theirs inside, planning to build a chimney with the local stones she’d seen around. This way, they could keep warm while cooking.

No sooner said than done. Zhou Sinian, apparently skilled with masonry, listened as Ming Dai described her requirements, then emptied his basket and went off to gather stones.

Before leaving, he cunningly tried to hide his medicine pouch in someone else’s basket, but Ming Dai caught him and returned it.

When Zhou Sinian came back with a basketful of stones and saw his medicine pouch sitting on top, his spirits instantly deflated.

Ming Dai just chuckled and went off to help him gather more stones.

By the time Sister Huang returned with the grain, the shelter was up and the chimney being plastered with mud.

That task had fallen to Liu Guoqiang; Zhou Sinian refused to touch the sticky yellow mud, and Ming Dai wasn’t tall enough, so they had to trouble Liu Guoqiang with it.

He didn’t mind—after all, he’d be eating with them.

Once the chimney was finished, Ming Dai lit a fire and smoked a pine branch in the stove to check for drafts.

It worked beautifully—a column of black smoke shot straight into the sky.

Their stove had three burners—one large and two small—so Zhou Sinian built accordingly. The village had only brought one large pot, which Ming Dai cleaned and set in place.

She’d also brought a small pot from home for one burner, and a large earthenware jar for the other.

Perfect!

Fetching water was a hassle—it meant a long walk—so Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian carried their buckets down to the stream, lit the stove, and began boiling water and drying out the clay stove.

Ming Dai put Zhou Sinian in charge of the fire and quickly took stock of the village supplies.

It was simple enough: half a cart of radishes, half a cart of cabbage, a jar of lard, and a small crock of salt. Nothing else.

Pitifully little.

Next to the shelter, Ming Dai marked out a square with her shovel and began digging a pit half a meter deep, with Sister Huang’s help.

They piled all the radishes inside and covered them with earth. The cabbages, being hardy, were simply stacked in one corner of the shelter.

The lard and salt were carefully placed in a spot by the stove reserved for them, and Ming Dai warned Zhou Sinian not to touch them. After he promised, she went out with Sister Huang to look over the grain they’d received.

Most people had come to work on the reservoir for the money, but some families were so short on grain for the winter that they came for the wages and a meal.

But the food here was nothing to look forward to.

The meals provided for the reservoir workers were called "stone rice"—because there were so many small stones in the rice. Most people didn’t mind, but if you bit down on one by accident, you’d regret it.

Every year, someone would end up with a chipped tooth from those stones.