"Brother Hao, have you had breakfast yet? Do you want some?" Sun Chaoshu asked Ye Hao, holding a steamed bun.
Everyone woke up only after the sun was high; perhaps the mountain path from yesterday was too tiring, as everyone slept in more than the last this morning.
"I've eaten, you go ahead and eat. We still have work to do after eating."
"What work? You're making us work as soon as we arrive? Can't we even rest a bit?" Niu Jianwen interjected at this moment.
"It's for ourselves. We should set up the stove first, otherwise what will we eat later? We can't always go to Captain Li's house for meals, can we?"
None of them had ever built a mud stove before, so Ye Hao ran to Captain Li's house to ask how to build one and to see if there were any skilled villagers who could help.
"You go back first and have someone get some mud and dry thatch. I'll find someone to help you."
Ye Hao returned and had a few stronger boys fetch several baskets of mud, while a few girls gathered a pile of thatch.
As everyone prepared the materials, Captain Li also brought over an uncle who looked to be in his 50s.
"This is Uncle Li Bang from the east end of the village. You can just call him Third Uncle. He's the best bricklayer in our team."
"Hello, Third Uncle."
"Third Brother, please help these young Comrades with the stove. They've just arrived here and don't know how to do this."
"Alright, Dayou, you go on with your work. I'll help these youngsters."
Li Bangshu was not a talkative person. After Captain Li left, he asked, "Where are you planning to build the stove?"
Ye Hao pointed to the side of the warehouse and said, "Let's build it here. It's just for temporary use."
Li Bangshu, as expected of a bricklayer, completed a mud stove in less than two hours.
"Youngsters, it's done. Don't use it yet; wait for it to air dry for two days before using it. Also, there's no shelter from the rain here, so you won't be able to cook if it rains. You should find some wood and thatch to build a canopy over it."
"Okay, thank you for the trouble, Third Uncle."
"Alright, if you need anything, come find me at the east end of the village. I'm going back now." With that, Li Bangshu left.
"Let's find some things to build a canopy over this. Even though it's temporary, it wouldn't be good if it rains in the next few days," Ye Hao suggested.
"It shouldn't be that much trouble. It's only for a few days, and it probably won't rain. The whole country is in a drought right now," Niu Jianwen said.
"Niu Jianwen, you can't say that. This is at the foot of the mountain, and rain in the mountains can come suddenly," Zuo Lei disagreed with Niu Jianwen's opinion.
The little girl Zuo Lei hadn't said much all morning. It seemed she was too tired yesterday, and her spirits were only now improving.
"Alright, it's better to be safe than sorry. What if we're cooking and it suddenly starts raining? Anyway, it won't take much effort. Let's all work together, and it'll be done quickly." Ye Hao subtly began to take the lead among the group. They all started to center around him.
Some went to chop wood, others to gather thatch, and Lu Bingsheng, who knew how to weave mats, wove the thatch into mats.
They worked all afternoon to finish building the canopy over the stove.
Zhao Yuanhang seemed to have resigned himself to his fate. He had been helping with the work all day, but he hadn't said a word, as if he had lost his soul.
Ye Hao looked at Zuo Lei and thought: This little girl is so formidable; she just made Zhao Yuanhang go into self-isolation.
Ye Hao couldn't be bothered with their affairs; he just needed to take care of himself.
Since they had just arrived and had no food, and the stove wasn't ready, they decided to each contribute some money to eat at the villagers' homes for two days.
Going all to Captain Li's house wouldn't work; Captain Li's house certainly didn't have that much food. Ye Hao was elected by everyone as the leader of their rural team, and he was asked to discuss with Captain Li to see which families had extra food so that these Comrades could make do for two days.
In the end, the group was divided among four families: Niu Jianwen, Niu Jianwu, and Wang Rong went to the bricklayer Li Bangshu's house for meals.
Zhao Yuanhang and Huang Su Su went together to Minuteman Captain Li Bangji's house. Li Bangji was Li Bangshu's younger brother, and everyone called him Fourth Uncle.
Tang Zilan and Zuo Lei went together to Women's Director Li Duanxiu's house.
Finally, Ye Hao, Sun Chaoshu, and Lu Bingsheng went to Captain Li's house. Lu Bingsheng had no money, so Ye Hao paid for him. Lu Bingsheng didn't say anything seeing this situation; he already owed Ye Hao so much, so a little more didn't matter. From now on, he would just follow Brother Hao and do whatever he was told.
The group's food problem for the next few days was settled.
They had worked all afternoon and hadn't eaten much at noon, so they devoured their food. Ye Hao, having his space, could eat later in the evening, so he just had a little.
"Comrade Xiao Ye, it was said yesterday that the forest protection team would come down today, but for some reason, they didn't. You all can stay here for now, and once the forest protection team arrives, they will assign you jobs," Captain Li said to Ye Hao and the others while smoking his pipe.
"Captain Li, it's alright. We'll be troubling you these next few days, having to worry about our meals every day."
"Speaking of meals, Comrade Xiao Li, you've just come to the countryside and haven't started production yet, and there are quite a few of you. The higher-ups have prepared a batch of rations for you, which should arrive in Fangzheng Township tomorrow. Tomorrow, pick a few people to come with me to the township to bring back your rations."
"Okay, then we'll depart early tomorrow morning."
After eating, everyone returned to their lodging. Ye Hao called everyone together and said, "Comrades, the higher-ups know we just arrived and have no rations, so they prepared a batch of rations for us and sent it to the township. We need to go to the township tomorrow to bring the rations back. Which of you would like to volunteer? I'm definitely going first."
"Having rations is a good thing, but we have to go get them ourselves? It's so far, won't it exhaust us to death?" Niu Jianwen was the first to jump out and complain.
"Niu Jianwen, say less. It's good enough that you're getting rations; don't complain about this and that. I'll go tomorrow," Zuo Lei seemed to dislike Niu Jianwen greatly and would seize any opportunity to retort him.
"I'll go too," Tang Zilan said.
"Alright, Zilan, Lei Lei, you girls stay at home; us boys can go. Brother Hao, I'll go," Sun Chaoshu said, quickly trying to dissuade Tang Zilan from going.
Tang Zilan was about to retort but was interrupted by Ye Hao: "Alright, Zilan, you all stay at home and tidy up our living quarters. Us boys will go tomorrow."
"Brother Hao, I'll go too," Lu Bingsheng was now following Ye Hao's lead.
Niu Jianwu looked at his brother Niu Jianwen and said, "Brother Hao, I'll go. Let my brother stay at home; he wouldn't be much help if he went."
"Okay, then it'll be me, Sun Chaoshu, Lu Bingsheng, and Niu Jianwu going. The rest of you, stay here and tidy up this place."
After assigning everyone's tasks for tomorrow, they all dispersed.
Sun Chaoshu walked up to Ye Hao, "Brother Hao, I saw a small stream in front of the village. Shall we go catch some fish?"
"Let's go in a few days. Get some good rest today; tomorrow, we'll be walking there and back, and we'll have to carry things when we return."