074 – The Leisurely Farm Residence of Qin Mian and Lei Tie
Kunzai and Xuanzai had a general interested in snacks. When they saw a wooden knife, sailboats, and carriages on the wooden rack, they ran over excitedly and reached out for them.
Qin Mian walked over and gently said, “These are the gifts your cousin-uncle gave to me. You can play with them, but be careful, alright?”
Kunzai nodded and took the sailboat down to have a look. He fondled it admiringly.
Xuanzai then held the model of the carriage without loosening his grip and expectantly said to Qin Mian, “Cousin-uncle Mian, I like this carriage very much. Cousin-uncle Mian, give it to me.”“Er…” Qin Mian avoided making any reply and euphemistically said, “If you like it, I can ask your cousin-uncle to make another one for each of you.” These were the New Year’s gifts from Lei Tie. He was unwilling to give them to others.
Xuanzai held the carriage tightly, pouting without speaking.
Xiya frowned and went over. She spoke harshly, “Xuanxuan, didn’t Third Aunt1 teach you not to ask for other people’s things? If I want your favorite bamboo dragonfly, will you give it to me?”
Xuanzai bared his teeth and cried out, “No! That’s mine!”
“In that case, how can you ask for other people’s things?” Xiya sternly asked.
Qin Mian saw the situation was turning bad and hurriedly said, “How about this. Let’s go to your cousin-uncle and ask him to make a slingshot for each of you. We’ll go to shoot birds, alright?”
Xuanzai immediately put down the carriage and said happily, “Good, good! We’ll go to shoot birds.”“I’m going too!” Kunzai also put the sailboat back.
Even Yuanzai slipped down from the chair and tottered over, “I’ll go too!”
At long last, they were coaxed into behaving for the time being. Qin Mian secretly wiped his cold sweat and nodded his head to express his thanks to Xiya. He did not know how to entertain these few little girls appropriately. While he was embarrassed, Lei Xiangzhi and Lei Chuntao came in together.
“We’re here, eldest sister-in-law.”
“Perfect timing.” Qin Mian breathed a sigh of relief, and welcomed the two people inside, “Little sister, I’ll have to trouble you to watch over these girls.”
Lei Chuntao chuckled and lifted the small basket on her arm. “Eldest sister-in-law can rest assured to leave it to me. Last time I saw these flowers in your house and thought they were very beautiful. I tried to make some myself. I’ll teach them how to make cloth flowers today, they’ll like it. Look, I’ve brought everything.”
In the basket were bits of cloth in various colors.
Lei Chuntao took the girls to the settee. After Qin Mian brought the snacks to the tea table, he had time to talk to Lei Xiangzhi, “Fifth brother, are you on break today?”
“Yes.” With a smile on his lips, Lei Xiangzhi looked at a room full of children. “Ten days later, there will be another two days off followed by the county-level imperial exam.”
“Based on fifth brother’s look, you seem prepared.” Qin Mian said with a smile, “I wish you all the best.”
“Thank you very much. I don’t dare say that I’ll be on the top, but I’ll do my best.” Lei Xiangzhi said modestly.
Kunzai pulled Qin Mian’s sleeve. “Cousin-uncle Mian, let’s go to find cousin-uncle.”
“Alright.” Qin Mian asked Lei Xiangzhi, “Do you want to go there for a walk?”
Lei Xiangzhi nodded, “Let’s go.”
Qin Mian informed Lei Chuntao that he was taking Kunzai, Xuanzai, and Yuanzai to the orchard.
Lei Tie saw Qin Mian and he went over.
“Why come over?”
“They…” Qin Mian looked back. The three children were gone. He turned around and saw that the three children had already slipped into the dug pit, climbing up and down. They were having fun. He could not help shrugging. Children were playful and forgetful.
Lei Tie followed his gaze in confusion.
Qin Mian pulled his wrist and said, “Let’s hurry back while they haven’t come back to their senses. You make a slingshot for each of them.”
“How did you come to think of making a slingshot?” Lei Tie asked.
Qin Mian said, “They’re interested in my sailboats and carriages.”
Lei Tie immediately responded, “Don’t give.”
Qin Mian amusingly looked at him, “That’s why I’m asking you to make the slingshots.”
The neglected Lei Xiangzhi shook his head helplessly. He walked neither hurry nor slow to the pond to take a look at the bustling scene and then strolled around.
Children were really forgetful, but they also had a good memory. They came back at noon for lunch, and when they saw the carriages and the sailboats, they remembered the slingshots. They all turned to look at Qin Mian, not daring to glance at Lei Tie. Lei Tie was always expressionless and looked very frightening. The three of them could act like overlords at home, but they dared not be presumptuous in front of him.
Qin Mian gave a wee smile and turned towards Lei Tie expectantly.
Lei Tie took out three slingshots from the cabinet and handed them over to Kunzai, Xuanzai, and Yuanzai without saying a word.
The size of the slingshots varied according to the age of the three children. The three children loved it at first glance and were all smiles.
Deng Quan saw that the rubber band of the slingshot was very thin and not strong enough to hurt people. He understood that Qin Mian and Lei Tie had taken it into consideration. He patted Kunzai’s forehead, “Don’t you thank cousin-uncle and cousin-uncle Mian?”
“Thank you, cousin-uncle and cousin-uncle Mian!” Xuanzai first said, “Cousin-uncle Mian, let’s shoot birds this afternoon.”
Qin Mian glanced evilly at Lei Xiangzhi, who he had asked to stay for lunch. “Alright, let your cousin-uncle Xiangzhi take you all.” He was really not good at looking after children.
Lei Xiangzhi was surprised, “Eldest sister-in-law, me?”
“Exactly you.” Qin Mian said righteously, “Aren’t you going to take the county-level exam soon? Relaxing before the exam will be beneficial to develop ideas when sitting on the exam.”
Lei Xiangzhi readily accepted [the task].
Eldest Uncle Deng, Deng Quan, and the others were very happy. Lei Xiangzhi was a scholar. The children of their family could get some influence from the contact with a scholar to some extent, which was good for their future enlightenment.
……
Qin Mian’s conjecture was wrong. It took thirty people four days to completely dig up the pond, occupying over a mu2area and about two meters deep. Such an area and depth were enough for fish-farming and growing lotus roots.
Lei Tie invited two experienced carpenters from the town, with four apprentices, to build a wooden arch bridge on the waist of the “gourd” that could allow carriages to pass. Thanks to the mountainous area near the village, Lei Tie found the strongest ironwood to make the arch beam. The two ends of the arch beam were sunk into the ground, so it was firm and safe. On the top of the arch beam, there lay sawed boards of ironwood which were even carved with decorative patterns for skid-proof. Every pillar of the railing was embedded into the arch beam, making it very secure.
After the bridge was built, Qin Mian and Lei Tie dug canals to divert water from the river. In less than a day, the pond was filled with muddy water. It would be clear in two or three days. Qin Mian asked Lei Tie to dig some silt to put into the pond while he sneakily poured some spiritual spring water into the pond.
The fruit trees were planted, the pond was dug, the bridge was built, and the wall could be built next.
This time, Qin Mian only bought over two hundred greenish-black bricks, and the rest were red bricks. It was because he thought that red brick and green trees set off each other more beautifully for artistic mood.
The Green Mountain Village seethed with excitement again, and the villagers were anxiously waiting for Qin Mian to announce the news of inviting people to build the wall.
However, this time, Qin Mian did not announce it in public but invited people one by one. Soon, it was discovered that most of the people invited this time were those who had done well in digging the pond last time. Lei Xiangren, Zhou Erhao, and Zhao Si were not among them.
It was not a simple thing to enclose 15 mu of land. Qin Mian spent 10 silver taels just to buy bricks. A total of fifty people were invited to build the wall in sections according to the marks made earlier. Several sections of the wall could be carried out at the same time. Because there were too many people, they did not provide food, so the wages were 6 Wen higher than the pay of when they built the house.
Uncle Fang had nothing to do, so he enthusiastically helped to guide and supervise. His two sons were also helping to build the wall.
“Tiezi,” Uncle Fang asked Lei Tie while looking at the pile of greenish-black bricks, “what are these greenish-black bricks used for?”
Lei Tie said, “My wife said that the greenish-black bricks will be embedded in the red bricks to ‘write’ down the words ‘Leisurely Farm Residence’.”
Uncle Fang patted his thigh and looked at Qin Mian, who was talking to a villager carrying bricks, not far away. He said, “This is a good idea! Ah, I really don’t know how your wife’s brain develops.”
A light flashed past Lei Tie’s eyes. That was his wife. Of course, he was different from ordinary people.
He went to Qin Mian and handed him the bamboo cup in his hand.
Qin Mian was thirsty. He took the cup, raised his neck, and drank it in one breath. “I want more.”
Without demur, Lei Tie went to the boiler, filled the cup with cooled water, and then handed it to him.
Qin Mian smiled at him, drank two mouthfuls, and returned the cup to him, “Let’s go to the south wall and have a look.”
At this time, in the old house, Zhao Shi sat by the well, rubbing the clothes in the wooden basin every once and again. It was unknown what she was thinking as she kept frowning hard. She would look up to the west of the village from time to time and did not even notice the water splashing on her body.
Qian Shi passed by and kindly reminded, “Second sister-in-law, your shoes are wet.”
Zhao Shi regained her senses and looked at her trouser legs and embroidered shoes uncaringly. She stood up and stretched out her hand to pull Qian Shi. “Third brother’s wife, ‘that family in the west’ is becoming livelier. Do we just sit still like this? Let’s go take a look. Qin Mian invited a few outsiders to boil water and deliver tea but didn’t invite the two of us. This is inexcusable.”
Qian Shi avoided her hand seamlessly and said: “Second sister-in-law, you can go by yourself. I’ve something else to do.” Then she turned and went into the room. Her husband told her that as long as they did not provoke Qin Mian and Lei Tie, the two men would naturally think of them if there was any good thing. Persistently pushing forward would only incur their annoyance. Previously, it was because she was stupid that she followed Zhao Shi to make trouble with them.
“Ah?” Zhao Shi was rather baffled as she thought, “Qian Shi’s changed?”
Like Zhao Shi, there was another person who could not sit still, Lei Daqiang. He went out for a stroll after breakfast in the morning. He wanted to go to the west of the village several times but backtracked several times. In any case, he could not have imagined that the eldest son, who he had not taken seriously, could now become so promising. The more promising Lei Tie was, the more he regretted that he was not good to Lei Tie; and the more he regretted, the more he realized how stupid he was. He would never admit it, but in fact, his face was burning with shame, and he was also angry. Lei Tie invited so many villagers to move bricks and build the wall, but he did not ask him, his father! It was not that he did not think of making trouble, but when he thought that Lei Xiangzhi was going to participate in the county-level examination, he did not dare to act rashly.
County-level examination?
His heart skipped. Yes, he could use the county-level examination as an excuse to go to Lei Tie. His youngest brother was about to take part in the county-level examination. Wasn’t it normal to ask him, the eldest brother, for some money?
Thinking of this, he rushed to the west of the village.
Qin Mian and Lei Tie stood beside the south wall, making clear to the bricklayers that they must not “write” the three words “Leisurely Farm Residence” wrongly and askew, or they would have to redo it.
“Rest assured little brother.” The nearly 40-year-old bricklayer said with a smile, “You’d make it clear how many bricks are used for each stroke, how many bricks are high from the ground and how far apart between the characters are. If we still make mistakes, we won’t have to do this business in the future.”
Qin Mian touched his nose, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
Lei Tie cupped his hands in obeisance and said, “Uncle isn’t to be blamed. My wife just pursues perfection.”
“Haha, understandable.” The bricklayer gave a tolerant smile and said to another bricklayer, “We also want to see what it looks like after doing it perfectly.”
“Yeah.” Another bricklayer put up a brick and scraped off the extruding slurry with a masonry knife. “It’s the first time I heard that you can write like this; don’t even need to hang a plaque3.”
Lei Tie saw the sweat on Qin Mian’s forehead, “Go home and have a rest.” His wife had been under the sun for most of the day.
Qin Mian was really tired. He nodded and turned to walk home.
“By the way, I thought I would see Lei Xiangren again. Surprisingly, he didn’t come.”
Lei Tie looked ahead as he said, “Sick.”
Qin Mian could not help laughing, “Your doing?”
Lei Tie said, “He came. I poked his numb acupuncture point.”
Qin Mian laughed heartily, “Deserve it.”
Note:
Footnotes
- Xuan’s mom
- 666 m2. So huge!
- horizontal rectangular inscribed tablet hung over a door or on a wall
