In the modern world, if there is no rice at home, you only need to go to the supermarket or store to buy some rice and put it in the rice cooker to make rice. This is the basic consensus of almost every modern person. However, it was not so simple in ancient times.
Zhang Rui found that what he was facing now was a problem that he had never faced in so many years. The difficulty of survival was not ordinary.
Although he has some memories of Zhang Liu, his memory cannot cope with all farming tasks. After all, he is only a child of sixteen. In modern times, he is probably a child who can live a carefree life in middle and high school and can dream about the future all day long.
Difficulties always have solutions, which made Zhang Rui meet Li Si.
It is said that there is a sequence of learning, and there is a specialization of skills. In other fields, perhaps a hundred Li Si would not be Zhang Rui's opponent, but for common farm work in ancient times, Li Si was as proficient as an innate instinct. Even Zhang Rui could not catch up with Li Si. .
It is not that Zhang Rui has never gone to the countryside to farm before, but at that time, he had mechanized help and everything could be easily controlled. Everything has changed so much now that Zhang Rui can only learn from Li Si humbly like a primary school student.
They both cut an armful of rice from the field and stopped. After all, many of the rice seedlings are not yet mature, and some of them have only just grown. Cutting them to eat at this time is the worst loss. Every time you cut more trees, the loss will increase.
If there is no other way, few people are willing to accept such a loss. After all, so much effort has been wasted.
"Uncle Fourth, do you want to dry it again after cutting it and threshing it?" Zhang Rui asked on the way back.
"According to the previous method, it should be dried in the sun, but my dog and little sister are very hungry, so I am not going to dry it. After a while, I will take off the millet, press out the rice, and cook porridge for them."
"Besides, there is no use in drying the millet, so I won't dry it. However, the rice that has not been cooked must be dried in the sun, otherwise it will become moldy and worms will grow in less than two days. Especially now that it is so hot and muggy. The weather!" After hearing Zhang Rui's inquiry, Li Si said as if he was teaching his nephew
"Oh, then I'm the same as you! Fourth uncle, can we only use the millet to beat the grains out? Is there any other better way?"
Zhang Rui was scared when he thought about this inefficient threshing method in Zhang Liu's memory. Modern threshing machines are so fast and convenient, and can complete the work directly in the field.
"I don't know anything about it. Our ancestors did it this way. I don't know if it exists elsewhere. If we dogs find any good methods, please remember to tell me!" After listening to Zhang Rui's ideas, Li Si Some said in a good mood.
"Uncle, have you been to many places?" Zhang Rui asked casually in order to prevent the atmosphere from becoming dull and chatting to death.
"I'm lucky. When I was a child, I lived with my father in Fujian. Later, they asked me to increase the rent, but there was no other way. Then I went to Guangdong, and then came here from Guangdong."
"Then Fourth Uncle, your family has moved here from a far away place."
"Yes! Listen to what my grandpa said. Our family lived in Henan at first. We had more than ten acres of land. We didn't have to pay rent for our own land, so we lived a relatively prosperous life. Later, the Manchus came, My family’s land was enclosed during horse racing. At that time, many people wanted to argue, but in the end they were either killed or captured and made into slaves.”
"My old man saw this situation. He quickly moved his family south, not daring to think about the land. Although the family's lives were saved, without land, he could only live by renting other people's fields." Li He said with yearning, anger and helplessness all around.
As soon as he heard about horse racing and land staking, Zhang Rui knew that it must have happened in the early years of Kangxi. It's ridiculous that the Manchus and Qing Dynasties have been advocating family marriage between Manchu and Han all day long, but what they did was that I stole the best things from your family before I kissed you. If you dare to argue, I will let the king of hell come and kiss you.
…
Chatting all the way back home. People who do farm work always cannot stop once they get busy. No, Zhang Rui and Li Si both went home and continued working without taking a moment's rest. In less than half an hour, they took out all the grains. By the time they reached the stone mill at the end of the village and pressed the rice out, it was already past noon.
Without the experience he has today, Zhang Rui would never have been able to understand the meaning of the poem "Who knows that every meal on the plate is hard work."
A grain of rice, from planting to grinding, requires a lot of work and sweat. It was already late when we had lunch, probably around two o'clock.
We had pure white rice porridge for lunch, and Zhang Rui boiled the rice to make it thicker. Maybe he was too hungry. He was picky about food in the past, but he couldn't help drooling over the fragrant porridge. He finished it in a few mouthfuls without taking into account the heat.
It wasn't until after eating that his stomach felt eighty percent full that Zhang Rui realized how incredible everything was. In the past, Zhang Rui would never have thought that a bowl of plain porridge without any vegetables or even a little salt could be so delicious.
When Zhang Rui thought about it carefully, he couldn't help but feel sad secretly. Unexpectedly, less than two days after traveling back in time, my living standard has dropped to the point where a bowl of plain porridge is enough to make it a delicacy.
If Zhang Liu knew about this emotion, I don't know what he would think. This fragrant white rice porridge was something Zhang Liu couldn't even imagine. To actually drink such fragrant white rice porridge on a normal day, he must have done it because his brain was hoofed by a donkey.
You cut so much of a field to get half a bushel of rice. Are you still going to finish it in two days? What I have worked so hard to grow has been wasted by you in such a lavish way. If other villagers know about it, they will not say that you are a waste of money.
Zhang Rui didn't know what Zhang Liu and other villagers were thinking. He just wanted to do what most people were doing at this time - sleep.
After working all morning, the body needs to rest. Moreover, when there is no busy farming season, people in the village will try to move as little as possible, so that they will not get hungry so easily.
Three o'clock in the afternoon is the hottest time of the day. Now Zhang Rui staying in this low house is more like steaming buns in a steamer.
Zhang Rui searched the whole house and found a tragic thing. He couldn't even find a fan. After wiping his body with the water he brought for lunch to cool down, Zhang Rui decided to take a nap outside under the shade of a big tree.
At least there can be some wind outside from time to time, which is much better than being stuffy at home.
Not far from home, Zhang Rui found a nice shade tree. But when Zhang Rui wanted to sleep, his stomach reminded him that he wanted to stretch.
Modern Zhang Rui would have rushed into the toilet without even thinking about it, but now Zhang Rui discovered a serious problem. There is no toilet here, strictly speaking there is no toilet paper.
Most of the people who can use toilet paper in this era are very wealthy people. For ordinary people, you can buy processed bamboo chopsticks (that is, breaking bamboo or small wooden sticks into strips) or ceramic pieces.
According to Zhang Liu's memory, he has three methods: one is to use leaves; the other is to use local materials and sticks, and the third is to use hands like the three in India.
Moreover, the poop should not be thrown away casually. You should find something to take it back to the cesspit next to the house or return to the cesspool at home before defecating. When the amount is right, mix them with the urine in the urinal at home and use it to water the soil and fertilize the fields.
No matter what it is, Zhang Rui, who has been cleaning his butt since he was a child, can't stand it. But people have three urgent needs. It doesn’t mean you can’t release them just because you can’t bear them. If I don't pull it out, it might end up in my crotch.
Zhang Rui had no choice but to pick up a few leaves, hide in the grass further away, and release them.
Maybe it was because of the pheasant he ate yesterday. In the end, Zhang Rui had to break off a small shrub branch nearby, open the middle and use it carefully as a rough bamboo chopstick. After all, this thing can easily damage chrysanthemums.
When Zhang Rui returned to the shade of the tree, he didn't know whether he should cry or laugh. He just felt that he wanted to cry but also wanted to smile bitterly.
In the past, when I read time-traveling stories, I was envious of other people's time-travelling. It was either a princess, a prince, a prince, a powerful young master, or a son of a wealthy family. Once again, gold and silver would come rolling in with just a simple move.
Which one is not free and unrestrained in the mortal world, full of love and hate; which one is not pointing out the country and inspiring words; which one is not noble and free, and arrogant? Why did I suffer all kinds of poverty and hardships as soon as I arrived? I could only have three meals and three meals a day to live my daily life.
With complaints and dissatisfaction, Zhang Rui fell asleep in the shade of a tree unknowingly after working hard all morning. No matter how unhappy you are, you should eat when you are hungry and rest when you are tired. This is life.
Suddenly, Zhang Rui found that he was back in modern times. He was lying on the sofa, turning on the air conditioner, listening to the TV and falling asleep. Everything was so beautiful. It turns out that traveling through time and becoming Zhang Liu was just a dream, and Zhang Rui felt sweet in his heart. In an instant, Zhang Rui felt that he was still Zhang Liu and that he was still in the Qing Dynasty.
"No, I don't want to be Zhang Liu, I am Zhang Rui." Zhang Rui shouted in his heart
The scene changed again, and Zhang Rui saw that he was back at home again, sleeping. The sound of the TV was a bit noisy, as if someone was crying or shouting something. Zhang Rui, who was lying on the sofa, looked up at the TV with great effort. It was found that some soldiers wearing the word "Yong" were killing people and killed many people. On the TV it was written that the Tenth Day of Yangzhou and the Three Massacres of Jiaqing were written.
Zhang Rui felt very tired and lowered his head again. After a while, the sound of crying and shouting came from the TV again. Zhang Rui couldn't help but try again to watch TV at the top of the tower. There was a man standing on a small mound carrying a flag with the words "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" on it, and a group of people were fighting below.
Suddenly the TV screen turned again, and a group of numb and expressionless pigtails gathered around to watch a man with full hair execute the execution, Lingchi's execution. This group of people laughed and talked about long-haired thieves...
Zhang Rui felt that his head was really heavy, and he lay down on the sofa again in a daze. The TV set made noise again, and this time Zhang Rui turned his head directly on the sofa to watch the TV screen.
The scene at this time was a group of skinny people smoking drunkenly with pipes. Many people knelt down and worshiped in front of the foreigners. A foreign soldier was joking while holding the head of a man with a shaved pig's tail. The head's face was bloodless, and its open eyes seemed to express unwillingness.
Looking at these, Zhang Rui didn't feel scared at all, as if he felt clear inside.
The picture stopped again, and the sleepiness came over again. Zhang Rui closed his eyes again, and suddenly felt like there was a fire somewhere, and there was a heavy smell of smoke. When Zhang Rui opened his eyes, the TV screen showed a group of foreign soldiers burning, killing and looting, and a beautiful garden was on fire.
It felt like fire was coming from the TV. My body felt very hot, and I couldn't move even if I wanted to. Suddenly, I heard a Japanese curse: "Bagaya Road"
Suddenly Zhang Rui found himself rising to a clear sky, and everything was calm. Standing in this sky, Zhang Rui felt that his heart was more comfortable and comfortable than ever before.
This made Zhang Rui ask: Where is this? What am I doing here? At this time, he heard a voice in the air: You change it, and I will change you.
Zhang Rui muttered something, and then his body suddenly fell under the weight. It felt very hot, and there was the smell of burning straw smoke. There were gongs and shouts...
The leaves rustled in the wind, and Zhang Rui woke up under the shade. When he got up, he realized that he was still Zhang Liu, and the dream within the dream was still a dream.
By the time Zhang Rui got up, the sun was already setting in the west.
Zhang Rui looked around and suddenly saw a ruined temple of Emperor Huaguang not far from the village. Then I saw that the roofs of many mud brick and straw houses in the village were set on fire, and I vaguely saw a man with a knife driving the villagers towards the grain drying field in the middle of the village.
"No, this is the rhythm of bandits coming to rob the village."
