Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 203

But Zhao Da'e heard a business opportunity.

She had no idea this place even existed in the village before. Now that the place has been demolished, are those shredders still there?

"Grandpa, do you know if any of those machines inside are still there?"

"I don't know either. How about I go check and ask around another day, and try to find out for you?"

Zhao Da'e talked with Zhao Tingming for a while longer, and then left as it got dark.

Before she was even fully awake, Zhao Da'e smelled a delicious aroma. She tiptoed out of bed and saw Zhou Chunwen cooking breakfast early in the morning.

Zhou Chunhong was tending the fire nearby.

"Big...big...big goose, you..."

"I know, Second Sister, you're awake. You're the most diligent and capable..." Zhao Da'e quickly said, not wanting to listen to Zhou Chunhong and potentially tire her out.

"No...no...no...no. I mean...I mean, you..." Zhou Chunhong stammered even more nervously.

Zhou Chunwen glanced at Zhao Da'e and understood what the girl meant: "Da'e, you're not a kid anymore, can't you wear some shoes when you come out? Aren't your feet cold?"

Zhao Da'e pouted before going back inside, putting on a new pair of shoes, and then combing her hair and washing her face.

Zhou Chunwen was adding hot water to the enamel basin. As the steam rose, he caught a glimpse of Zhao Da'e shuffling out in his cloth shoes. He tapped the water ladle against the edge of the basin and said, "Pick up your heels! The ice shards will hurt your soles and give you frostbite."

"Oh, I know..." Zhao Da'e turned back with a drawn-out tone, stomping her heel on her shoe, causing the silver frost in her hair to fall in a flurry. She reached for the blue floral towel hanging on the door frame, revealing half of her smooth arm.

A few frozen soapberry seeds floated in the basin. Zhou Chunwen scooped out a soaked loofah sponge and rubbed it to create a rich lather. Zhao Da'e buried her face in the steam, when she suddenly heard a fluttering sound outside the window. She tried to peek out, her face still wet with sweat, but Zhou Chunwen pressed her shoulder and turned her back: "It must be the turtledoves in the old locust tree in the front yard. Do you think they're all like you, running barefoot all over the village in this snow?"

When the comb got stuck in the tangled ends of her hair, Zhao Da'e winced in pain. Zhou Chunwen breathed warm air into her palm and slowly ran her fingertips through the braid: "You're a grown woman now. When your future in-laws see this messy hair when they're getting married..." Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Da'e had already turned and disappeared into the kitchen, the iron pot lid clattering as it was lifted.

"Oh, big sister, are you planning to starve? I was wondering why it smelled so good... You bought eight pounds of mutton, I used two or three pounds yesterday, and you cooked all the rest of the lamb ribs. Hmm... Well done!" Zhao Da'e chuckled, "Wait till my aunt gets her hands on you later!"

As they were talking, Cheng Jinxi woke up and went to the outer room. Seeing a pot of lamb chops, she immediately frowned: "Chunwen, what are you doing? It's not a holiday, and you've cooked all the lamb and lamb chops that Da'e bought in one pot. What are we going to eat for the New Year?"

"Mom, today is your birthday," Zhou Chunwen said, sounding a little aggrieved. "I was just thinking of making you something nice to eat."

"What's wrong with my birthday? I'm neither old nor young, why should I celebrate my birthday?" Cheng Jinxi said with dissatisfaction, "You wasteful thing."

Cheng Jinxi felt she was still young, and since her son's wedding would cost money, she had prepared this mutton for the New Year. However, Zhou Chunwen ended up cooking it for her. People in the countryside live frugally, and she hadn't thought about celebrating her birthday; she wasn't seventy or eighty years old, so there was no need for a celebration.

"Besides, I'm not some big shot who would shorten my lifespan on my birthday." Cheng Jinxi complained, but still instructed, "You got up early this morning, so wear more clothes. Don't get cold."

The sisters responded and then focused intently on waiting for the pot to boil.

The firewood crackled and popped, sparks flew, and the north wind was still howling outside. To be able to eat a meal of pure mutton would be absolutely wonderful.

"Big Goose, go get some minced garlic."

Zhao Da'e shook his head: "Big sister, you don't understand. This stuff tastes best when it's plain. If you put minced garlic in it, what's the point of eating mutton? It just won't taste like mutton anymore."

"You're such a busybody, I'm going." Zhou Chunwen said angrily.

When it comes to chores, Zhou Chunwen complains that Zhou Chunhong is a bit unhygienic, or to put it bluntly, a bit unkempt. As for Zhao Da'e, she'll just stand there when asked to do something, and she won't do it at all.

Zhou Chunwen went to peel the garlic, and Zhao Da'e slowly walked over, took the garlic, and peeled it herself: "It's not that I don't like it. I think garlic cloves are the best."

"Sure. You'll be eating most of it anyway."

"Big sister is so kind."

"Stop flattering me. After you finish peeling the garlic, go and start the fire," Zhou Chunwen said.

Zhou Chunwen then stuck a few more cornbreads onto the side of the pot to eat as a staple food.

Zhao Da'e ate a hearty breakfast, probably more than a pound of lamb chops. Full and satisfied, Zhao Da'e went out to check on the primary school in Dongtaizi Village…

"Damn it, I have to go back to school soon. Putting everything else aside, what I hated most in my past life was going to school. It's all exams, no rest at all, and several teachers take turns torturing me."

But it's winter break, so there's no one at school.

The courtyard was large. Zhao Da'e slipped in and tore off a layer of tar paper from the roof of the school's tiled house.

This thing has disappeared in later generations, but it still exists now.

Zhao Da'e pondered all night about how to build the roof of the house he was going to build. Then he remembered that the school's roof, though so simple, didn't leak. He then recalled that they had put tar paper inside.

This thing is much stronger than plastic sheeting.

The shed I built myself was just made of plastic sheeting. It kept getting torn and needed constant repair.

If it's tar paper, it's much better.

However, since we need to get water in the backyard, we need better lighting.

The house we're planning to build is designed to be inexpensive, sturdy, and durable. Using tar paper for the roof to prevent water damage is the best approach.

Zhao Da'e tore off a piece, turned around, and ran away.

After a while, I went to the backyard and found Xiangzi working.

Zhao Da'e handed the tar paper to Xiangzi: "Xiangzi, go to the county town today. Bring me back a bundle of tar paper. It has to be this thick. I don't know how much it costs. You can pay for it first, and I'll pay you back later."

Xiangzi agreed immediately.

Zhao Da'e wandered over to the stone mill at the east end of the village. He couldn't quite tell the difference between a millstone and a grinding stone.

The millstone looked like a large, oval-shaped stone with a groove in the middle...

As for stone mills, they are extremely common.

Almost every household has this millstone.

This era is nothing new.

In the past, the imperial palace had them, and wealthy families also had them; they were a necessity in every household. Even empresses had to grind millstones from time to time, otherwise, what would they eat and drink?

In the TV series, those people don't eat human food. The imperial palace is filled with people dressed in silks and satins, living a life of luxury. But in reality, there are millstones.

However, it's likely that everything was lost after the Qing Dynasty collapsed.

Zhao Da'e's older generation came from Northeast China. The first thing they did upon arriving was to find a craftsman to make a millstone.

People eat for food.

Especially outside the Great Wall, where every household lives far apart. You might say you want to buy some millet, and you can buy it. But if you want to buy some millet flour, you can't.

Cornmeal, sorghum flour, millet, and glutinous millet all need to be ground into powder before they can be made into food.

Wheat is grown here too, but not much. Firstly, the climate isn't very good, and secondly, the yield is relatively low.

Dongtaizi Village mainly grows sorghum.

Especially a type of sorghum called Liuwei, or something like that. Zhao Da'e had always heard people say that. After planting the sorghum, they would thresh it in the fall and then bag it. After that, they would grind it into flour with a millstone before finally eating it.

There's someone grinding sorghum here today, and it's none other than Zhao Tiezong from the Zhao family. He's the eldest son of Zhao Tingjun, the fourth grandfather of Zhao Da'e. He's forty years old and looks a bit... sleazy.

Of course, Zhao Da'e mainly viewed him through the lens of his past life. Zhao Tiezong was a cunning and scheming man who did nothing good. When Zhao Tingming got into trouble later, it was largely due to Zhao Tiezong's connections behind the scenes. In the end, Zhao Tiezong even served as the village chief for quite a long time.

Zhao Da'e has a good relationship with Zhao Tingming, and Zhao Tingming takes good care of her, treating her even more like his own granddaughter...

Of course, Zhao Tingming has no biological grandchildren.

Zhao Tingming had a son late in life. His son is still in college. There's still some time before graduation. Although he had a girlfriend in college, she was studying medicine. She was busy with work for the first few years and then became exhausted. By the time she recovered and was able to find a job, the old man couldn't hold on any longer.

I have never seen my grandchildren in my life.

Of course, that's beside the point.

Zhao Da'e was mainly dissatisfied with people like Zhao Tiezong who stirred up trouble behind the scenes. And despite Zhao Tiezong and Zhao Tiesheng being the same grandfather's grandson, their relationship wasn't good.

When Zhao Tiezong saw Zhao Dage arrive, he asked with a smile, "Dage, what are you doing? Taking a stroll?"

"Mmm, just taking a stroll." Zhao Da'e didn't think too much about it and said, "Grandpa, you're in really good shape."

Zhao Tiezong was taken aback, unsure how to respond. After a moment's thought, he said, "At such an old age, still having to do this kind of manual labor. It's really quite shameful."

Zhao Da'e was stunned: Holy crap... his comprehension ability is really a bit too strong!

Zhao Da'e wanted to ask Zhao Tiezong: Who was your elementary school Chinese teacher? I need to avoid him, lest that guy taught me when I was in elementary school! And he might have taught me another mentally ill person.

This made Zhao Da'e feel uneasy, even though he had only mentioned it briefly. Zhao Tiezong immediately took it as a sarcastic remark, thinking Zhao Da'e was implying he was incompetent, that a man in his forties still had to work with a millstone…

Isn't this blatant mockery? That's why Zhao Tiezong wasn't comfortable with it.

Seeing that communication was difficult, Zhao Da'e smiled awkwardly and said, "I'll continue to stroll around."

Zhao Da'e then left.

Zhao Tiezong muttered behind his back, "Hmph! What's so great about him? He makes a little money and then looks down on everyone..."

Zhao Da'e didn't hear any of this; she strolled off to Zhao Tingming's house...

Upon entering, Zhao Da'e looked embarrassed: "How come I'm just wandering around every day and end up at my great-grandfather's house?"

How amazing...

Zhao Da'e then left, thinking that he shouldn't keep visiting other people's homes all the time. If he visited too many times, people would say he was just gossiping about his wife.

Just as Zhao Da'e was about to leave, Zhao Tingming saw her and stopped her: "Da'e, why are you going out again after coming in?"

Zhao Da'e turned around awkwardly: "I... I come here every day, sorry. I don't really have anything to do, I just stroll around."

"Oh, by the way, I asked someone to inquire for you yesterday. Those machines at the grain store in the township haven't been sold yet. They should be usable. There are several sets. But they haven't been used for several years. They want to sell them as scrap, but the scrap collectors won't take them; they're too heavy. They can't handle them."

"Scrap price?"

"almost."

“That won’t do.” Zhao Da’e walked over. “They’re all planning to sell them as junk, and nobody wants them. I was thinking, Grandpa, what do you say? How about we charge them some money and help them get rid of them…”

Zhao Tingming laughed: "You're really something. Don't get your hopes up too high. But it's true that it won't cost much. A motor costs three or four hundred yuan, and if you sell it as scrap, you'll only get about twenty kilograms of copper wire, which is only sixty or seventy yuan. And people won't even want it. The rest is just scrap metal, not worth much."

Zhao Da'e immediately perked up: "Grandpa, do you think we could... in the name of our village, let you buy it on credit?"

Zhao Tingming looked completely bewildered: ???

"Trying to get something for nothing? That definitely won't work. Should I ask around again? But I don't think it'll work."

Zhao Da'e thought for a moment and said, "How about this, the two of us go and take a look? It's not that we haven't seen the real thing, but I think even a penny would be too much for this thing."

"Okay. Then you can go and see him when you have time. I can't go." Zhao Tingming sighed, "Your uncle is on winter vacation today, and I have to go to the train station to pick him up."

Zhao Tingming's son started his holiday the day before yesterday. He bought a train ticket and took a green train. He arrived at Beigongyingzi Railway Station at around 6 pm tonight, and Zhao Tingming really wanted to go pick him up.

It wasn't that Zhao Tingming's son couldn't find his way home, but rather that the elderly father, who had a son late in life, hadn't seen him for over half a year and missed him.

Of course, it's said that he brought back a classmate this time. And she's a female classmate, so Zhao Tingming has to go.

If it weren't for this, Zhao Tingming would have taken Zhao Da'e to see the shredder.

Zhao Da'e sighed helplessly, "Fine. When I get there, who should I look for? It'll probably be locked up, but I'll have to go inside and check."

Zhao Tingming said, "Go to the repair shop next door and find a guy named Liu Guangjin. Just tell him you know him."

Zhao Da'e laughed: "Hehehe, Grandpa, you're quite the tough guy. What, does it get you any good if I mention your name?"

"Look at you, girl," Zhao Tingming laughed. "That kid's mother was someone I introduced to his father back then. That's the only connection. I was the matchmaker back then, so we've kept in touch a bit over the years. This guy happens to be in charge of that shredder now. Just find him. You can call him 'Big Brother.' After that, check if the machine works and see if it's any good. If it doesn't, it's probably not very useful."

"Okay. I'll go in a bit then." Zhao Da'e said, "Um... should I say: Grandpa, thank you for your trouble! Hehehe..."

"Big Goose, you're all set. Go do whatever you need to do."

"okay."