I Crossed Over with My Enemy, Only to Find Him Running the Empire - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Repairing the Doors and Windows

The day had just begun to break, and Wanfu Village was still shrouded in a thin layer of mist, but movements could already be heard coming from the old Wu family home.

The second son, Wu Tiesheng, and the third, Wu Tiegen, had finished packing, preparing to carry the mountain goods they had gathered over the past few days into town to try their luck.

The father, Wu Duofu, held a dry tobacco pipe in his mouth, squatting on the threshold and squinting at his two sons.

“Tiesheng,” Wu Duofu spat out a ring of smoke, “you keep the silver from this sales trip. Keep the count clear, and report the accounts to your mother when you return.”

These words were spoken plainly, yet they caused Wu Tiegen, who was standing to the side, to look crestfallen and turn his head away uncomfortably.

Everyone in the family knew in their hearts that the third son’s hands were not particularly clean; in the past, he had frequently engaged in the business of surreptitiously snatching a few copper coins to test his luck at the gambling dens.

Wu Duofu was guarding him.

Wu Tiesheng responded honestly: “Aye, Dad, I understand.”

Zhang Jinhua’s mind, however, was not on this at all. She was rummaging through the bowls and chopsticks on the stove, but her eyes frequently darted toward the dilapidated window of the fourth branch’s room, muttering: “Go quickly and come back quickly, don’t delay things… Old man, once the sun rises a bit higher, takes Tiezhu to the fourth son’s room and fixes up those doors and windows. Seeing as the weather is getting colder by the day, that broken window lattice just lets the wind pour straight in!”

Wu Duofu gave a grunt, which served as his agreement.

Seeing her husband agree, Zhang Jinhua immediately perked up and added volubly: “Old Fourth recovering from his illness is a blessing from the heavens! That room used to be so broken it didn’t even look like a room… sigh, we didn’t look after it. Now we can’t mistreat the child! The doors and windows must be made sturdy, so he can sleep peacefully at night.”

Her words were half-true and half-false, a mix of joy and sorrow.

Her fourth son, Wu Tieniu, being cured of his idiocy naturally made her happy, but that happiness was also tinged with a bit of guilt regarding the past.

…

The sun rose higher, dispersing the morning mist.

Wu Duofu was an efficient man; he did what he said. He called over his eldest son, Wu Tiezhu, and rummaged through the storehouse to find a few relatively sturdy old wooden planks and some tools.

Wu Tiezhu yawned, sluggishly following behind, his face full of reluctance.

If he could lie down, he would never sit; regarding this kind of labor that required strength but offered no immediate benefit, he naturally dodged it whenever possible.

The broken doors and windows of the fourth room were indeed in a sorry state.

The door panels were slanted and wouldn’t close tightly, the window paper had long since rotted away, and several window lattices had decayed by a section, looking as if they might collapse at any moment.

Wu Duofu took measurements, brought out his plane and saw, and began to work with a ding-dang clatter.

In his youth, he had learned a few tricks from the old carpenter in the village. Although he wasn’t an expert, repairing a door or window or building a piece of furniture was not a problem for him.

Wu Tiezhu just stood by handing him things; most of the time he squatted by the base of the wall with a blade of grass in his mouth, his gaze vacant, clearly slacking off.

Wu Ya watched from inside the room.

After a thought, he walked over, picked up a plane from the ground, weighed it in his hand, and tried to mimic Wu Duofu’s movements: “Dad, let me try this.”

Wu Duofu looked at him in surprise but didn’t stop him, only cautioning: “Be careful, this thing is sharp. Follow the grain of the wood.”

Wu Ya nodded confidently.

He was clever, and after a few glances, he felt he had mastered the essentials.

However, the gap between theory and practice is, after all, large. In modern times, the closest thing he had handled was probably a golf club.

That plane felt particularly disobedient in his hands, pressing too hard one moment and too light the next; the surface of the wood was planed into pits and hollows by him.

With a sudden burst of excessive force, his hand slipped.

“Hiss!” He gasped, quickly pulling his hand back.

His fingertip had been sliced by the sharp blade, and beads of blood instantly seeped out.

The attempt to look cool failed; he was wounded on the spot.

Li Qiaoqiao happened to be coming out with water. Seeing this scene, she was startled and hurriedly set down the bowl to check his hand.

Wu Duofu frowned; he didn’t scold him, but simply shook his head and took back the plane: “You child, you’ve only just recovered. Just watch from the side, this work isn’t for you.”

Wu Ya felt a bit embarrassed but didn’t persist.

He looked around and saw the thick door panels Wu Duofu had sawn, which looked quite heavy.

Wu Tiezhu was grimacing as he tried to move one, looking very strained.

Wu Ya walked over and said, “Brother, let me do it.”

Wu Tiezhu wanted nothing more than to laze around, so he immediately moved aside.

Wu Ya took a deep breath, set a firm horse stance, gripped the edges of the door panel with both hands, and with a grunt of strength from his waist and abdomen, he actually lifted the heavy door panel steadily and delivered it to Wu Duofu’s side.

A flash of surprise crossed Wu Duofu’s eyes.

Since Old Fourth recovered from his illness, his strength had certainly grown!

Moreover, the way he exerted force had a faint hint of a trained martial artist, unlike the brute force of an ordinary peasant.

From then on, the heavy lifting and fixing of frames tasks requiring strength—were almost all taken over by Wu Ya.

He was strong and knew how to use clever leverage; he worked quickly and well, greatly improving efficiency.

Watching his youngest son busy himself back and forth, Wu Duofu nodded with satisfaction.

In a farming household, having strength and being willing to work were the greatest virtues.

…

The father and three sons (mainly the father Wu Duofu and Wu Ya; Wu Tiezhu continued to slack off) worked for most of the day and finally finished renovating the doors and windows of the fourth room.

The newly replaced door panels were thick, the door bolts were sturdy, the windows were re-pasted with mulberry bark paper, and the window lattices were reinforced so firmly that even the strongest wind wouldn’t make them rattle.

Looking at the refreshed doors and windows, Li Qiaoqiao’s eyes curved into smiles, her mouth as sweet as honey: “Dad, your craftsmanship is truly superb, not a bit worse than the old masters in the town’s carpentry shops! Look at these doors and windows, they are so sturdy! Mom truly has an eye for things; if you hadn’t brought it up, we would still be freezing! This is great, we can sleep peacefully tonight!”

Her words both highly praised her father-in-law’s skill and diverted the credit back to her mother-in-law. Hearing this made Wu Duofu feel comfortable, and Zhang Jinhua, hearing it from inside the house, also felt she had gained prestige.

Li Qiaoqiao struck while the iron was hot, pointing at some leftover wood on the ground, her tone a bit coquettish: “Dad, it would be a shame to throw these scraps away… Your skill is so good, could you trouble yourself to make us a chest? It doesn’t need to be big, just enough to hold some grain and my sewing things. Mainly to keep out the rats; the rats in our house are too fierce…”

This request was reasonable and fair. Wu Duofu was in high spirits and agreed immediately: “Fine! That’s not hard at all!”

His hands and feet were nimble, and soon the ding-dang sounds started up again.

This time he worked more delicately; the chest was perfectly sealed, and he even cleverly made a hidden compartment. The lid was fitted with a small wooden latch. Though simple, it was enough to prevent rats and prying eyes.

When Zhang Jinhua came out and saw this chest with a lock, and then looked at the fourth room which was still quite empty, her thoughts became active again.

With a grand wave of her hand, she said quite heroically: “Old man, since there’s still material, why not just make a table for Old Fourth’s room and a couple of long benches! They can’t always be squatting on the floor to eat!”

Wu Duofu naturally had no objection.

The eldest sister-in-law, Mrs. Wei, whose heart was sour with jealousy, finally couldn’t help but speak up sourly: “Mom is truly partial to the fourth branch. Our Canghai is almost old enough to discuss marriage, and he doesn’t even have a decent writing desk in his room!”

She didn’t dare ask for a chest directly; she only dared to ask for a table for her own son.

Zhang Jinhua was in a good mood and didn’t care to bicker with her, so she said to Wu Duofu: “Then see if you can gather more material to make a bench for every room, so people won’t say we’re playing favorites.”