Chapter 9: Turning on the Power in the Old House
The old house.
Jian Xingxia munched on her peach, staring at the kitchen in dismay.
A corner of the roof was broken, and the branches of the peach tree needed to be chopped back. Even the earthen stove had half-collapsed.
Harboring a glimmer of hope, she tried to light a fire to boil some hot water. As it turned out, the smoke blew right back inside, thick enough that she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face.
The stove definitely had to be rebuilt from scratch.
Jian Xingxia lamented inwardly. This was adding insult to injury for her already dwindling savings! She had originally thought that with a roof over her head, her six thousand yuan or so could easily last her a few months. But now she realized how the old saying went: A dilapidated house costs a fortune. Trying to start from scratch, she discovered that even minor needles and threads cost money.
Jian Xingxia checked the [Manor Management System] and saw that she still had one temporary worker recruitment quota left today. However, Management Task 1 was still incomplete, which meant hiring two temporary workers could not mean hiring the same worker twice.
Looking at the ruined kitchen and her meager savings, Jian Xingxia planned to hire a temporary worker to help rebuild the stove and repair the roof. But since Hu Da had said he would bring an electrician over this morning, she decided to post the recruitment notice in the afternoon.
She moved the pots, pans, and tableware from the kitchen, along with the small low dining table and stools, into the back courtyard, drawing well water to wash and scrub them down.
Right as she finished washing, she heard a dog bark. Looking over, she saw the big black dog had already squeezed its way through the gap under the iron fence gate and was bolting straight for the back courtyard.
The chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs in the countryside never took the conventional paths.
The big black dog cozied up to Jian Xingxia, its large tail wagging with immense force, thumping against her shins like a rhythmic wooden bat.
Jian Xingxia dodged away. “You might not feel it, but I do! You’ve whipped my legs red!”
Jian Xingxia rubbed her legs as she went to open the front courtyard gate. Hu Da had already arrived with the electrician.
The electrician had come on a bicycle, with two large bags draped over both sides of the rear rack—he carried plenty of equipment, and a massive coil of wire hung from the frame.
Hu Da said, “Xiaxia, we’re here to fix your electricity today. If there’s any wiring or plumbing you want altered, Master Guo can change it all together.”
Jian Xingxia hurriedly welcomed them in. “That’s wonderful. The wiring in the first-floor main hall has detached in several places, and the western wing room and the back door are missing two lightbulbs. Could you also help me install a few more outlets?”
Master Guo agreed without hesitation. “No problem!”
They frequented the countryside and knew that villagers didn’t lightly hire electricians. Usually, they would only part with their money to call an electrician when a multitude of problems piled up or the fault became too major to ignore. Having dealt with this often, he had brought plenty of spare materials.
Hu Da said to Jian Xingxia, “I went to the power bureau this morning to ask. The electricity meter is still registered under your grandmother’s name. It was overdue, so I paid a hundred yuan for you. Find some time later to change the registration and bind the account number to your phone.”
As a village official, Hu Da spoke of this with a trace of pride. “The village did a mass binding last year, so now everyone can pay their electricity bills using their phones.”
“Thank you, Uncle Hu.”
Jian Xingxia quickly pulled out a hundred yuan and handed it back to Hu Da.
Savings -100, remaining balance 6,271.
Speaking of electricity bills, Jian Xingxia inquired with Master Guo again, “Master Guo, since I’m deep in the mountains and have plenty of space, I want to buy a solar power system for myself. Can you install it on your end?”
“You mean the kind with photovoltaic panels, right?” Master Guo knew immediately upon hearing it. “Then let me swap out your electricity meter for you. When the time comes, you can just connect it to the photovoltaic panel’s inverter and it’ll be good to go.”
Jian Xingxia didn’t know what the reward for the system’s Task 1 would look like, but presumably, it followed a similar principle to photovoltaic panels. However, she wasn’t entirely familiar with the system yet and felt a bit worried. “Master Guo, if I install this, can I still use power from the grid?”
“Yes, it won’t affect it. If you’re willing, you can even sell the excess power generated back to the grid, but that requires signing a contract and switching out the equipment.” Master Guo spoke while standing on the ladder. “I’d suggest you buy a large-capacity storage battery. Store the excess power generated daily in the battery to use on overcast days.”
Lu’an Village was different from ordinary villages; it sat deep in the mountains. Although roads, water, and electricity had been connected, occasional flash floods occurred, and it snowed in the winter, meaning there was no telling when a power outage might hit. They would come to repair it at the first opportunity, but having a battery at home meant things wouldn’t be disrupted.
Jian Xingxia took his words to heart. She planned to wait until the system’s reward was issued before seeing what accessories she needed to match it with.
Master Guo was quick and nimble with his hands, while Jian Xingxia and Hu Da helped by giving him a hand to the side. The wiring in the old house was surface-mounted, so there was no need to cut channels into the walls. Stripping away the old wires and pulling through the new ones, they very quickly replaced the wiring for the entire house. Although the second floor hadn’t been cleared out yet, the electricity was laid out there too, preparing for future use.
Master Guo pushed up the circuit breaker, and Jian Xingxia flipped the switch. A few seconds later, the lights flickered awake.
Jian Xingxia quickly plugged in her phone to charge, then asked Master Guo how much it cost.
“Materials are twenty-three hundred, labor fee is four hundred—two thousand seven hundred in total.”
Jian Xingxia brought up a QR code. “Master, let me scan and pay you.”
Her heart was bleeding.
Savings -2,700, remaining balance 3,571.
Since her place wasn’t tidied up, it wasn’t polite to keep them for a meal around noon, so she packed a bag of peaches for Hu Da and the electrician each. Master Guo tried to decline, but Jian Xingxia said, “It’s not easy for you to make a trip into the mountains. Besides, these peaches are completely ripe and won’t keep. How could I finish them all by myself? Master, take them back to share with your family.”
Only then did Master Guo accept them.
Hu Da had spotted those two large baskets of peaches in the corner of the main hall long ago and asked Jian Xingxia, “Are you going to sell these peaches?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Jian Xingxia desperately needed money now. This feeling of money only flowing out without any coming in was simply making her scalp go numb.
Hu Da thought for a moment and said, “It just so happens that tomorrow is the market day, which falls on a day ending in five. Pick some more, and I’ll have someone fetch a small cart to help you transport the goods.”
Jian Xingxia was immensely grateful. “That’s wonderful. I just happen to need to go to the market to buy some things.”
Wanshan Town was large and contained many mountains. It was inconvenient for mountain dwellers to go to the town, so the custom of gathering for a market day on dates ending in five had formed. Whatever needed to be bought or sold was resolved on this day. Some enterprises in the town looking to recruit workers would also set up stalls at the market.
Jian Xingxia still remembered that when she lived here with her grandmother as a child, what she looked forward to most was going to the market. Her grandmother would bring local mountain goods out to sell, and she would give the pocket change to Jian Xingxia, letting her pick out her favorite treats and toys at the market.
After finalizing the arrangement, Hu Da and Master Guo rose to leave.
“Da Hei, let’s go!”
The big black dog was still in the courtyard facing off against the big hen. Hearing its master’s call, it turned its head resentfully and followed its owner out.
Only then did the big hen fly down from the tree, letting out a loud “cluck-cluck-clack” at the big black dog’s retreating back.
Jian Xingxia praised the hen, “Great job!” Even when facing the big black dog, she didn’t lose her footing.
Although her savings had been cut in half, the old house now had electricity, and Jian Xingxia was still very happy. A human’s basic survival needs—having water, electricity, food, and a place to sleep—were already mostly complete.
What remained was to repair the stove.
Thinking up to this point, Jian Xingxia immediately opened the [Manor Management System] and posted today’s second temporary worker recruitment notice.
[Recruiting one temporary worker. Job description: Rebuilding a stove. Work duration: 4 hours.]
