Chapter 10: The Second Temporary Worker
The system promptly published the notice.
Jian Xingxia climbed the bamboo ladder to pick peaches, her desire to earn money burning more intensely than ever before. Since Uncle Hu had said he would find someone to help her, she would pick a few more to sell for extra cash. It would not only secure her own livelihood but also upgrade the manor as soon as possible and unlock the Manor Mall.
She had only filled half a basket with peaches when a voice drifted in from outside the back courtyard.
“Excuse me, is this the place where someone needs a stove rebuilt?”
Jian Xingxia peeked through the gaps in the peach tree branches and saw a thin, small old man standing at the edge of the overgrown grass, peering over.
Old Man Xu, thin and small, carried a shoulder pole with baskets attached, sizing up the house nestled in the mountains with a mix of awe and suspicion.
He was a rural craftsman, fully capable of building stoves, stacking chicken coops, and constructing courtyards. Though he hadn’t traveled the length and breadth of the country, he had at least visited various prefectures and county seats. Yet, he had never seen a house quite like this. If you called it large, the house only seemed to have three rooms across—a main hall with left and right wing rooms. It didn’t even have a double-entry courtyard, just open courtyards in the front and back. But if you called it small, the building was easily over two stories high, with each room spanning four to five meters wide. The walls were perfectly flat and white, and even the windows were absurdly large.
Old Man Xu felt a bit intimidated. Just as he hesitated and considered leaving, Jian Xingxia climbed down from the tree.
“Old Uncle, this is the place. I’m looking for someone to rebuild the stove and fix the roof.” Seeing Old Man Xu’s intent to leave, Jian Xingxia hurriedly rushed down to greet him.
Old Man Xu carried his shoulder pole and bit the bullet as he walked over, not daring to look directly at Jian Xingxia. Though this girl’s clothing was strange, the fabric of her clothes was vibrant and fresh, making her look like a young lady from a wealthy family. Old Man Xu avoided looking at her out of respect.
“Young lady, though this old man is a bricklayer, in the past I’ve only repaired earthen brick huts. At most, I’ve seen large blue-brick houses a few times. I’ve never seen a building like yours, young lady, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to fix it properly,” Old Man Xu said honestly.
Jian Xingxia unlocked the courtyard gate and invited Old Man Xu inside. “It’s alright, come in and take a look first. If you can fix it, great; if not, I’ll figure something else out.”
“Oh, oh, this old man doesn’t dare accept such polite terms from you.” Old Man Xu’s face flushed with awkwardness. He felt entirely unworthy of being addressed so politely. How could a master address a helper that way? He also felt that, in the end, he had never managed to learn the smooth talking skills of those people from the prefectures. The exact same words sounded incredibly comforting and pleasant when spoken by others.
Old Man Xu stepped into the kitchen and peered left and right, suddenly becoming quite reluctant to leave. What bricklayer could callously walk away after seeing such novel things? He touched the walls and countertops in the kitchen, marveling continuously.
“These bricks must be fired ceramic bricks. They’re much sturdier than earthen bricks, lighter than blue bricks, and the color is beautiful too.”
“What’s this inlaid on the stove countertop? How is it as cool and smooth to the touch as porcelain?”
“How was this floor rammed down? It’s incredibly flat!”
Jian Xingxia also bit the bullet to explain, “I suppose they are. They were fired in a brick kiln, using yellow mud as well.”
“Old Uncle, you’re absolutely right. This stuff is called tiles.”
“The floor is made of cement. I don’t know the exact details of how it’s made, but I think it uses clay and lime mixed evenly, fired, and then ground down. When you use it, you mix it with water…”
How could Jian Xingxia have known that hiring a temporary worker would require her to explain all these things?
Old Man Xu, however, felt a lot more at ease. Though Jian Xingxia’s explanation was vague, upon careful thought, it was entirely plausible; it was just that ordinary families couldn’t bear to spend so much money. He wasn’t afraid anymore, just a little perplexed as to why someone as wealthy as Jian Xingxia, with such a grand house, would hire him to repair a stove and a roof.
Jian Xingxia told the truth, “I’m in a hurry to use it and couldn’t wait to hire someone from outside the mountains.”
Old Man Xu came to a sudden realization. It turned out to be an urgent job, so they truly weren’t picky about the worker.
Old Man Xu pulled out his tools from his baskets—a pickaxe, an iron rake, a sieve, a trowel, and other items. He said to Jian Xingxia, “This old man doesn’t know how to use the cement you mentioned, but I noticed there is yellow mud and clay down the hill. I’ll use that to patch it up for you, how about that?”
Jian Xingxia had absolutely no objection. As long as it didn’t cost her money, making do was perfectly fine.
She had just secretly asked the system about Old Man Xu’s wage tier:
[The current temporary worker’s capability level is: Level 2 Skilled Worker. The standard hourly wage is 10 yuan; the work reward must not exceed 10 yuan per hour and must not be lower than 6 yuan per hour.]
Fulfilling the entire four hours would only amount to 40 yuan. If she were to hire someone in modern times, forget about a starting rate of 400 yuan, they would probably charge a call-out fee. Even if she were willing to pay the call-out fee, they might not be willing to come. Therefore, she didn’t look down on Old Man Xu at all.
Old Man Xu was a diligent worker. He quickly went outside with his tools to dig up some soil. After bringing it back, he first washed it with water, ran it through a sieve, and then mixed it evenly with lime and other materials to patch up the collapsed kitchen wall and the broken corner of the stove one by one.
He didn’t even need Jian Xingxia to help him with the labor. Jian Xingxia was also afraid that Old Man Xu would ask questions she wouldn’t be able to answer, so she left the kitchen entirely to him while she went to busy herself with her own matters.
Tomorrow was the market day, so she was making a list of everything the house lacked to prevent any omissions.
“We have bowls and plates. Buy a bundle of chopsticks and an iron pot.”
The bamboo chopsticks in the old house had gone moldy, and the iron pot was rusted. Only after scrubbing away the rust did Jian Xingxia discover a pinhole leak at the bottom of the pot.
“No need to change the bedsheets and quilt covers for now, but I need to replace the pillow.” She wasn’t used to sleeping on her grandmother’s jade pillow.
“Buy a bit of mosquito incense and realgar.” With the big hen around, these would just be for backup.
“Get a set of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. I’ll ask Auntie Lu about rice later.” The villagers all grew their own grain; buying it in the village was more economical than buying it in the town.
“Buy a few packets of vegetable seeds.” If she cleared the desolate land outside the back courtyard and sowed them, she would have vegetables to eat in a month if things went fast. After two or three months, she wouldn’t even be able to finish all the vegetables.
Jian Xingxia only listed the bare necessities. The house still lacked a refrigerator and a washing machine, but she didn’t have enough money right now.
As Jian Xingxia muttered and completed her list, Old Man Xu let out a cough near the back door.
“Master, I’ve finished patching up the stove and the roof, and the wall has been bricked up too. I’ve placed the chopped peach branches outside the kitchen.” Old Man Xu rubbed his hands, letting Jian Xingxia inspect the work.
Jian Xingxia put down her pen and went to the kitchen to take a look. It wasn’t just repaired; it looked as if it had been entirely remodeled. The cracked parts of the cement floor were all patched with yellow mud, and the crooked wooden window had been re-nailed. Even the ash beneath the stove had been cleared out, and the firewood left behind by her grandmother was stacked neatly against the wall.
Jian Xingxia truly couldn’t find a single thing to complain about.
Seeing that Jian Xingxia was satisfied, Old Man Xu smiled widely and ventured, “Young lady, regarding the wages…”
“Oh right, what requirements do you have for the wages? Let’s get this straight first: I don’t give money, I give goods.”
Old Man Xu nodded repeatedly. “That’s how it is, that’s how it is. It was agreed upon before I came.”
Jian Xingxia was curious. “Was that also told to you by the Mountain Goddess?”
“What?” Old Man Xu shook his head. “It was told to me by Immortal Auntie Xu.”
How did an ‘Immortal Auntie Xu’ suddenly enter the picture?
Old Man Xu explained, “A new baby was born into this old man’s household, but the child’s mother is in poor health and can’t keep anything down, nor can she nurse the baby. Every day we can only brew some rice water, and both the adult and the child cry day and night.
“We invited Immortal Auntie Xu to take a look. She told us to look up the mountain; if I worked for the noble person on the mountain, I could obtain some fine food from them to nourish the child and his mother.”
That works too? Jian Xingxia was completely flabbergasted.
