After dressing up as a stepmother, I transformed the whole family into working in the fields

Qin Yao poured a glass of water for the coachman, sat down opposite him, and asked him if Liu Jike had anything to say for him to bring back.

There really is.

The coachman said: Xiangong Liu asked me to tell Madam Qin that you -

It's a long way home, and I only have one day of rest. I don't want to be delayed on the road, for fear of missing my study plan. I also ask my wife to bring the living expenses for the second half of the year to the coachman and bring them to me. I'm fine in the academy, and my study schedule is strict. It will be very beneficial if you follow it, please rest assured, madam.”

Qin Yao raised her eyebrows after hearing this. It was indeed Liu Ji's words.

I checked some details with the coachman and confirmed that it was correct and it was not a scam. I motioned to the coachman to sit down and walked out of the main room to the bedroom to get money.

As soon as he came out, he met the four pairs of big eyes of Dalang brother and sister, pointed to their room, and went back to practice calligraphy!

The four siblings moved their lips and said silently, then rolled into the room dejectedly and continued practicing calligraphy.

Qin Yao then went into the bedroom, took out two coins and handed them to the coachman.

After taking the money, the driver got up and left.

There is no man in Qin Yao's family, so he spends a lot of time making people gossip.

Besides, it was already too late to start today. Along the way, there were villagers going to towns and counties waiting for his ox cart. They did not dare to delay and set off immediately.

Qin Yao stood at the door of her house, watching the bullock cart quickly leave the village, her polite smile suppressed, her eyes darkened.

Every household in the village has harvested all the rice, and the fields have become empty. Piles of straw are moved to each house. Some of the straw that cannot be moved is piled in the field first and picked up when needed.

Qin Yao selected some better-sun-dried straw and remade all the beds at home.

The old straw is thrown away to light the fire, and the new straw is spread on the bed, then a layer of brown mat is spread, and finally a quilt is spread to cover the bed, and it is soft and warm to lie down on.

It's been cold at night lately, but now I'm not afraid of the cold anymore.

There was still straw left, so after finishing the three-thirds of the field in their free time, Qin Yao and her four children started knitting straw shoes again.

This time, they were not for sale. They were worn by themselves. They were very strong and meticulously knitted. Qin Yao got herself a pair of straw slippers without heels. When Si Niang saw them, she asked for them, so Qin Yao knitted another pair for her.

The little girl drags her shoes and kicks and walks around the house. Her bare feet slip from time to time and one slipper flies out. She jumps over to pick up the shoes. A pair of slippers can play with herself for most of the day.

Dalang and Erlang looked at it with envy, and were too embarrassed to ask Qin Yao to help them. They learned to knit two pairs of four different ones, but they fell apart after wearing them for a long time.

Finally, Qin Yao arranged a pair for each person before giving up.

The four brothers and sisters regarded slippers as treasures. They did not wear them on weekdays and placed them neatly beside the bed.

After dinner at night, when Qin Yao asked them to wash up, their first reaction was to run back to the room and change their heeled shoes into slippers. Then they went to wash their feet one by one. After washing, they would wear these when walking around the house. go.

The enthusiasm continued for several days, and Qin Yao's ears were filled with the sound of slippers.

It wasn't until an autumn rain fell and the temperature suddenly turned cooler that the four brothers and sisters lost some of their enthusiasm and obediently put on their stockings and cloth shoes.

Qin Yao's family also followed the example of the villagers and built a pile of straw and piled it near the hut outside the back door.

I learned the recipe of feeding horses from Liu Dafu's family, using straw and plant ash to retting the fodder.

First chop the straw, then pull out a basket of plant ash from the stove hole, then find an empty jar that is not in use, pour the chopped straw into the jar, and sprinkle a layer of plant ash every other inch to alkalize it, usually one night and once the next day. Finished feeding.

Because it was troublesome, Qin Yao only added different nutrients to the horse every one week.

For Lao Huang's sake, when Qin Yao went up the mountain to cut firewood in the morning to store firewood for the winter, she would also call Da Lang along. She was chopping firewood on the mountain while Da Lang was cutting grass at the foot of the mountain.

Ordinary grass must be chopped into pieces, and then mixed with specially bought sorghum to feed the horses. Old man Liu saw it by chance and exclaimed how luxurious it was.

But the effect is also gratifying. The bald areas on Lao Huang's body have slowly grown back, and he looks more and more handsome.

He is also very energetic at work. Occasionally, when Qin Yao goes to the quarrying mountain, he will lead him there to transport stones. He can run very vigorously with his hooves spread wide.

And because he is tall, all the children in the village are afraid of him when they see him. If they see him from a distance, they will avoid him in advance unless there is someone around him.

Autumn is getting stronger, and the green color on the mountains fades little by little, turning into golden color.

Dalang has been a little restless recently. From time to time, he would play with the slingshot and small bow Qin Yao made for him. He would go out early and return before lunch.

When asked what he was doing, he said he was practicing slingshots and bows and arrows at the foot of the mountain, and then looked at Qin Yao expectantly with his big eyes open.

Qin Yao didn't react at first. Several times later, she heard someone say that the Yang family in Xiahe Village had gone into the mountains. Then she suddenly remembered that she seemed to have promised to take Dalang into the mountains for hunting this fall.

The boy looked at the leaves on the mountain turning golden, but the promiser didn't seem to think about it at all, so he was inevitably anxious.

If it were Erlang or Si Niang, he would have shouted out long ago.

But this is Da Lang, who is sensitive and sensible. Seeing that Qin Yao didn't mention it, he felt that she didn't want to or had simply forgotten, so he behaved in such an awkward way.

Childish. Qin Yao chuckled, and then remembered that she was indeed a child, but wasn't she childish?

A hammer drove a meter-long thick nail into a crack in the stone. There was a loud bang sound, and a large piece of stone slid down the cliff, which shocked the onlookers.

This is not the first time they have seen such a scene, but every time Liu Bai and others can feel the fear of landslides and earth shattering.

Obviously they had retreated to a safe area, but at the moment when the rocks fell together, they couldn't help but retreat again.

When the loud noise stopped, Qin Yao checked the cliff and hung the braided hemp rope net on the hook with steel nails to prevent the fine rocks from rolling down and injuring the quarrymen at the foot of the mountain.

After everything was checked, we climbed the long rope back to the top of the mountain and walked down the hillside on the back.

A quarter of an hour later, Qin Yao appeared behind everyone and said:

You must pay attention to safety. Human life is the most important. Everyone should remember the work rules. No one is allowed to act rashly unless I am present next time when the stone is opened!

A group of quarrymen hurriedly stood up to face her and responded loudly: I know!

Qin Yao waved her hand, Let's get started.

Only then did everyone concentrate on the quarrying work of moving and breaking stones.

Qin Yao patted the gravel on his body and looked up at the sky. The sun was already hanging in the center.

Every time I open a stone, I have to work all morning.

But after she got the pile of stones, fifty sets of small stone grinding discs were enough.

After the workers have transported all the stones back, it will be a new round of polishing at full speed.

As for the seventeen sets of millstones at Shopkeeper Wu’s house, they will be ready when we come back in the middle of next month.

Qin Yao is worried about the date in her heart. Today is another holiday.

The coachman came last night and was asked by Liu Jizhi to come and collect living expenses.

Qin Yao didn't give him any money.

The coachman was also sent out of the village personally by her.

When I returned home from the construction site, the sun was slightly westward.

Qin Yao changed into light linen clothes and took off the saddle hanging on the wall of the hall.