Chen Sixi: “……”

But it was definitely better to cook than to gather pig grass.

At least she didn’t have to worry about encountering venomous snakes.

Regular snakes would only give her a fright, but if she ran into a venomous one, that would really be the end of her.

In Zhang Village, many people had already met their doom from venomous snakes while gathering pig grass.

So, compared to gathering pig grass, Chen Sixi was quite happy to be assigned to cook.

It seemed that some things had to be fought for.

“Why aren’t you going yet? What are you still standing around for?” Old Liu scolded her two daughters-in-law.

Looking at them, one was reluctant, and the other stood there grinning foolishly.

Seeing the two daughters-in-law like this made her head ache.

She thought back to how the third and fourth households used to work. They were nothing like they were now.

……

At the village’s edge.

Jian Xiu didn’t know what was happening at the old house.

She had gotten up early and went to inspect the foundation next door. She was quite satisfied with what she saw.

One couldn’t deny, people in ancient times worked really hard.

The speed was impressive too—within a day, the foundation had already been mostly dug out.

Looking at the blueprint in her hand, Jian Xiu already had a rough idea of the house she envisioned.

Back then, building a house was quick. Unlike the post-apocalypse, where it took a year or more.

The most important part was the decoration, but here, it didn’t need much, which saved her a lot of time.

She had been waiting to move into a new house for a long time but never had the time to get things moving.

Now, she had the labor, and the initial foundation was done.

What remained most important now was the bathhouse and the toilet.

That part would require her to get her hands dirty. No one else could do it.

As for buying the blue bricks, that could be left to Zhang Zhifu.

Thinking of this, Jian Xiu turned to Keke and asked:

“Keke, what materials should we use for the toilet? And can the people here make it?”

It wasn’t that Jian Xiu doubted them.

The truth was, building a toilet by herself would be quite difficult.

If she could manage it, she would have to ask Keke for help.

“For that, of course, you’d need ceramics. Don’t you know people who make ceramics?” Keke answered, speaking to Jian Xiu like she was a fool.

“Oh right, those are all ceramics,” Jian Xiu said, smiling brightly.

After saying this, Jian Xiu didn’t wait for Keke to respond and excitedly walked toward the house.

To make ceramics, she had to start by drawing the design.

In this place, toilets were still a novelty.

Without detailed blueprints, even if she explained it well, the ceramic artisans might not be able to make it right.

She quickly walked into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of charcoal from the stove, and then went into the main room, where she took a sheet of xuan paper (a type of fine paper) and began drawing.

She needed to sketch out the shape of the toilet, its height, length, and all the details.

Only then would the ceramic artisans understand what she wanted.

When Wang Xiuying woke up, she saw Jian Xiu busily sketching.

She thought she had woken up early enough, but apparently, someone else was even earlier.

Thinking of this, Wang Xiuying immediately felt a bit embarrassed.

She had only gotten up earlier today because she knew the five heads of household were going to the academy.

Unexpectedly, Jian Xiu had gotten up even earlier.

Judging by her appearance, it was clear that Jian Xiu had been awake for some time.

“Third sister-in-law, you’re up?” Jian Xiu said, noticing Wang Xiuying entering the courtyard.

Their courtyard was small. In the past few days, Wang Xiuying and Zhang Zhifu had built a bamboo hut nearby.

They were temporarily staying in that small bamboo hut.

But, according to them, even though it was just a little bamboo hut, it felt much more comfortable than the old house.

“Why are you up so early? Are you busy with something?” Wang Xiuying couldn’t help but ask.

Right now, she didn’t have much to do except peel bamboo shoots and tidy up the house. She didn’t really know what else to do.

Before, they used to wash plantain leaves, but now more and more people in the village knew about them.

The plantain leaves in the village had already been nearly picked clean.

Now, all she could do was finish peeling the remaining bamboo shoots, cook them in water, and then dry them out.

She had heard from the fourth brother that Jian Xiu had talked with the manager of Yuexiang Building about this.

“Yes, I have to go to the county today, and I’ll need third brother to help deliver this drawing for me,” Jian Xiu said as she looked at Zhang Zhifu, who had just entered.

“Of course, I’ll do it. Where do you need me to take it?” Zhang Zhifu said as he took the drawing from Jian Xiu’s hands.

But when he saw what was on the drawing, he was immediately puzzled.

“This is…?”

“This is… uh, it’s a toilet!” Jian Xiu said with a smile.

“A toilet?”

“Yep!”

“What’s this made out of?” Zhang Zhifu asked curiously.

In the few days they had spent together, Zhang Zhifu had noticed that Jian Xiu often had all sorts of random ideas.

It seemed like she came up with all kinds of things they had never seen or heard of, but which were incredibly useful.

This toilet seemed to be one of those ideas.

“When it’s done, you’ll see!” Jian Xiu said, still smiling.

She then pointed to the drawing in his hands.

“I’ve noted down all the openings, the dimensions, and the overall design on this sheet of paper. It should be clear enough.”

As Zhang Zhifu looked where Jian Xiu pointed, he became more and more amazed.

This wasn’t something that could be designed casually.

Though he didn’t know yet how this toilet would be used, the design was so intricate that without a careful mind, it would be hard to come up with something like this.

“Fourth sister-in-law, how did you come up with this idea?” Zhang Zhifu asked, his eyes wide in shock.

“Alright, go ahead and take it now. The ceramic master in Wangjia Village does great work,” Jian Xiu said.