Chapter 158: Fighting Against Heaven, Endless Joy
As Ning Xiyue approached, she heard Uncle Dajian saying anxiously, “The male zhiqing side only has one beam with an issue, but over here in the female zhiqing dorm, there are a lot more problems.”
“What’s going on?” Ning Xiyue hurried forward to ask, “Uncle Dajian, is there something wrong with our house?”
“The two horizontal beams on your roof have been badly eaten by insects, and these three vertical beams also show signs of insect damage. And it’s not just a small section — the entire main structure of each one is infested. They must be replaced before the heavy snow comes, or once the snowfall gets intense, the roof won’t be able to bear the weight and could collapse.”
As he explained, Uncle Dajian pointed out the damaged areas to Ning Xiyue. He was sweating on their behalf.
Ning Xiyue looked at where he pointed — good heavens, the infestation was already dangerously close to the main support beam. Only one beam separated it. If they delayed any longer, even the main beam would be eaten through, and once that happened, the entire building could collapse. Being buried alive wouldn’t be far off.
“Then what are we waiting for? Uncle Dajian, please help us replace them — the sooner the better. Ideally, we finish it today. I’m worried the snow will get heavier tonight. This can’t wait.”
Judging from how the snow was falling today, it wasn’t likely to stop. Once it accumulated overnight, collapse would be imminent.
“Xiyue’s right, Uncle Dajian. Please get some people together and help us rush the work. Whatever you need, just say so.”
Chen Yechu had faced a collapse before — she had no desire to experience that again. Being cozy and warm in bed was infinitely better than squatting out in the snow in the middle of winter.
Wang Mengmeng, Liu Yao, and Wu Guifang all grew anxious too. They crowded around Uncle Dajian, peppering him with questions and silently thanking their luck that they’d listened to Chen Yechu and hired someone to inspect the place. If they hadn’t found this out, it would have been disastrous.
Uncle Dajian spoke honestly, “Manpower isn’t an issue — there’s not much fieldwork now, so I can get people. If we start now, we can finish before dark. The problem is, I don’t have enough proper timber. You’ll need to figure that out. Without the right wood, even the best workers can’t do anything.”
Wu Guifang grew even more anxious. “What should we do? Can we apply to the team leader for wood?”
Uncle Dajian shook his head and warned, “It has to be dry wood. Wet wood won’t work — it warps easily.”
Chen Yechu stepped forward. “I have a solution for the wood. Uncle Dajian, please go find the workers and start. We’ll make sure the wood arrives on time.”
“Alright, I’ll go now.”
With that, Uncle Dajian left immediately. There was no time to waste — once the snow thickened, even climbing onto the roof would become slippery and dangerous.
After he left, Wu Guifang asked worriedly, “Yechu, are you sure? Do you need our help?”
“No problem. You all go handle your tasks.”
“Alright, I’ll go prepare some hot water so the workers can have tea later.” Wu Guifang ran off toward the kitchen.
“I’ll go help.” Liu Yao followed her.
Seeing this, Wang Mengmeng raised her hand and hurried inside. “I’ll go gather money.”
Ning Xiyue walked over and grabbed Chen Yechu’s hand. “Yechu, what’s your plan?”
Chen Yechu squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. Master Chen has some — he kept good timber for making furniture. I’ll have to buy it from him first and repay him later with more wood. But I need you to borrow the ox cart again so we can haul it back.”
Hearing this, Ning Xiyue felt relieved. Carpenter Chen specialized in furniture — he definitely had good wood stored away. Others might not get any, but as his last disciple, Chen Yechu would have no problem. Success was practically guaranteed.
And borrowing the ox cart from the team leader was no big deal. With Aunt Yang Liu there, she didn’t have to worry at all — especially since Aunt Yang Liu was in charge of the ox today.
“No problem on my end. Take the men with you and have them do the heavy lifting. I’ll go borrow the cart and report to the team leader. Let’s split up and save time.”
“Okay. I’ll head over right now.”
With their plan in place, Chen Yechu went to gather the male zhiqing, and Ning Xiyue went to find Aunt Yang Liu at the team office.
Maybe heaven itself was helping them — the snowfall seemed to lighten a bit, and Aunt Yang Liu was still at the team office, sitting under the same tree where Ning had returned the cart earlier. She saw her immediately.
Ning ran up and quickly explained the situation. Aunt Yang Liu, looking worried, pushed her toward the cart and untied the ox.
“Then go quickly. I’ll talk to your uncle about it. Don’t worry about the cost — the team will cover it. And if anything else comes up, come find me or Uncle Dawei.”
“Okay, Auntie. I got it. I’ll head out now.”
Ning Xiyue climbed into the cart, took the reins Aunt Yang Liu handed her, and drove the ox cart toward Carpenter Zhang’s house.
It felt like she was racing against heaven itself — a battle to see whether the heavy snow would arrive first or they would finish the repairs first.
Fighting against heaven, endless joy.
If they won, they could curl up in a warm bed and sleep through the winter.
If they lost, they’d be shivering in the freezing cold with no kang (heated brick bed).
Ning Xiyue was determined not to have to move out and “make do” in the bitter cold.
So, she focused on Da Huang’s hooves. She pulled out some non-slip fabric from her storage space, cut it into four pieces, and used elastic rope and clumsy stitches to sew four makeshift hoof covers. She stopped the cart and slipped them onto the ox’s feet.
“Da Huang, don’t move — almost done.”
After finishing the last one, Ning wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Thank goodness she was strong and practiced tai chi — otherwise, she couldn’t have managed.
With the non-slip covers on its hooves, the ox no longer slipped on the snow.
Now she dared to speed up the cart a little.
By the time the ox cart reached Carpenter Zhang’s home, Chen Yechu was already waiting at the gate and waved when she saw Ning.
Ning parked the ox and immediately asked the question on her mind: “How’s it going? Did he agree? Can we take the wood?”
Chen Yechu smiled and nodded. “Yes, he agreed. My master personally picked out the beams best suited for the job. Wait here with the cart — I’ll have the men bring them out.”
“Good.” The news put Ning at ease — it meant they were one step closer to success. “Grab some straw too. Line the cart with it and cover the wood later so it doesn’t get soaked by the snow.”
“Got it. I’ll do that now — wait for us.”
Chen Yechu dashed into the yard.
Once the wood was loaded, Ning drove the ox cart back to the zhiqing dorm.
Uncle Dajian had already removed the tiles near the infested beams, finishing the prep work. All the other beams he had wood for were already replaced. They were just waiting for the new beams to arrive so they could replace the remaining damaged ones one by one.
Everything was ready — only the “east wind” (final step) was missing.
Now, all they could do was wait for Uncle Dajian’s team to begin work.
Everyone in the zhiqing dorm solemnly watched the busy workers and said in unison,
“Uncles, we’re counting on you.”
Uncle Dajian paused his planing, looked back at them, and, on behalf of everyone, replied earnestly:
“Alright.”
