After dispatching the debt collectors, Du Chunzhi took stock of her little treasury and felt like crying.
She had spent over two taels in town yesterday and lost seven taels today; she was left with barely one tael of silver. While that would have been enough to scrape by for several months for a typical farm family, she had urgent repairs to attend to! She weighed the silver in her hand, deciding to build a simple rammed-earth wall for now, planning to buy blue bricks once she earned more money to make her home look grand and bright. However, the roof tiles had to be replaced immediately; otherwise, the rainy season would bring nothing but trouble. Du Chunzhi pondered that she could scavenge some old tiles to at least plug the holes. That settled, she figured her remaining money should suffice.
Her mind made up, Du Chunzhi then remembered what Zhao Laoliu had said, and her anxiety returned. The laborers would be arriving soon, and she needed to cook for them, yet she didn’t even have a kitchen stove in the house.
Regardless, she had to prepare. She took her bucket to the well for water and soaked the dried vegetables she had snatched from the Song Family. Since her own plot was planted only with grain, she had no fresh vegetables, so she decided to ask Qiaoyun for some.
Qiaoyun didn’t have much, but she gave Du Chunzhi a few radishes and a large basket of mushrooms that her daughter, Xinghua, had gathered on the mountain. They had already eaten half, and she handed over the rest. Hearing that Du Chunzhi had no stove, Qiaoyun and her husband Ergen—who was nursing a sprained foot—both insisted she come over to cook. Du Chunzhi accepted graciously, saying, "There's no need to cook separately; let’s just eat together. I’ll make up for the cost of the vegetables and firewood later."
Qiaoyun’s eldest daughter, fifteen-year-old Xinghua, came in carrying firewood. "Auntie, why be so formal? What’s a little firewood for a stove?"
Du Chunzhi laughed. "Your father’s foot hasn't healed yet, and it’s just you and your mother splitting the wood. I’d be shameless to use it for free."
Xinghua giggled. "Go on with your work, Auntie. When the builders arrive, my mother and I will help you cook."
Reassured, Du Chunzhi returned home to wait. But the wait stretched until mid-morning. Why hadn't they come yet? If they dawdled like this, when would the work get done? Was Zhao Laoliu’s word worth anything at all? Had he forgotten?
Just as she was growing anxious, a group of people approached from outside the village. They carried tools and drove ox carts. On the carts, blue bricks were stacked with meticulous precision, and the last cart was piled with filtered lime paste—clearly intended for pointing the brick joints.
The scale of it all stunned Du Chunzhi. A young man, perhaps seventeen or eighteen, with thick brows and bright, handsome eyes, stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting. "Aunt Du, right? Uncle Liu sent me to build your wall."
He had actually come! Du Chunzhi looked at the supplies and said weakly, "Building is fine, but I only intended to build a rammed-earth wall. I don’t need these blue bricks."
The youth paused, scratching his head in annoyance. "Uncle Liu didn't mention that. I figured since Uncle Liu asked, we couldn't just build something shoddy, so I brought the bricks." He looked around and added, "Besides, we’re already here—we can’t just haul them back, can we? Come on, boys, look sharp!"
The men immediately began unloading. Some moved bricks into the courtyard, others mixed the glutinous rice-lime mortar on the spot, and some began stripping the tiles off the roof. Du Chunzhi gasped. This wouldn't do! These tiles were high-quality, meant for wealthy households, likely costing thirteen wen apiece. To fix the roof and walls with these materials would cost nearly twenty taels!
"Wait a moment," Du Chunzhi pulled the youth aside. "Young man, I can't afford that much silver. Let's stick to the rammed-earth wall."
The youth blinked. "We drove the ox carts all this way; it would be stupid to haul them back. How about this: put it all on Uncle Liu’s tab. You can write him an IOU later, and you two can settle the account in your own time." With that, he shouted to his men, "Hurry up! Don't dawdle, we need to finish this today!"
As the men worked with feverish intensity, Du Chunzhi looked at what they were unloading and felt her heart skip a beat. "Young man, why do you have carved bricks?"
"We're here, aren't we? Might as well do it right. These carved bricks were just fired. I only brought four, but when put together, they form a giant peony. 'Wealth and Honor in Bloom'—isn't that impressive?" He glanced at the neighboring yard and sighed. "Uncle Liu’s own wall isn't much to look at. If I weren't afraid he'd beat me, I'd tear his down and rebuild it too. Don't worry, Auntie, once we're done today, your peony wall will be the only one of its kind in the village!"
Du Chunzhi gave up. They were already there, the work was underway; the worst that could happen was being a little deeper in debt. *While there’s life, there’s hope. A woman must be strong—this year is for paying off debts!*
After giving his orders, the youth returned to chat with Du Chunzhi. "Auntie, my name is Yu Qing. If you need anything built in the future, just tell Uncle Liu."
Du Chunzhi asked, "Little Yu, where are you from?"
"I live in town. My family runs a brick and tile kiln, and I often lead crews to renovate courtyards and build walls."
"Your 'Uncle Liu' is just a boatman; he doesn't earn many coppers a day. You trust him enough to put everything on his tab—aren't you afraid he’ll renege?"
Yu Qing paused, stuttering, "What of it? Can't I?"
"Did he save your life or something?"
"Let's just say my father and Uncle Liu share a friendship forged through life and death."
Fine, thought Du Chunzhi. She nodded. "Carry on with your work. I’m going to cook, I'll be back shortly."
"Auntie, you're not cooking at home?"
Du Chunzhi explained the situation, and Yu Qing said, "You should have said so earlier! We have so many people here—since we're already here! You, and you, once you're done moving the bricks, go build her a proper stove!"
Du Chunzhi was already getting used to Yu Qing’s "since we're already here" logic. Building a stove took time, so she went off to Qiaoyun’s house to cook.
"Auntie, we brought our own dry rations; a bit of hot water is all we need."
Even though Yu Qing said that, Du Chunzhi couldn't let them eat like that. She took the chicken she had snatched yesterday to Qiaoyun’s, and before long, she and Qiaoyun returned, carrying bowls and buckets. The buckets held chicken and mushroom soup, along with a large basin of stewed radishes and dried vegetables.
Today’s events were entirely unexpected, so Du Chunzhi did her best to treat them to the finest she had. Yu Qing called the craftsmen over to dig in, shouting as he ate, "Auntie, your cooking is superb! Why did you kill a chicken for us? You should have saved it for Uncle Liu."
*Save it for him?* Du Chunzhi thought. *He’s saddled me with a giant peony wall—do I really feel like letting the rooster wander around the yard anymore?*
Qiaoyun looked at the blue bricks, filled with envy. "How much must this all cost? You worked so hard to get those ten taels—don't squander it all. You have to save something for yourself."
"Save money? Just today alone, I have no idea how much silver I’ve managed to go into debt for!"