Siheyuan: Relieve stress and relieve worries

Chapter 1208 Xiao Si's Righteousness
Grandpa Li and Dashan took Kova to the river outside the village.

Kova looked at the winding, wide river and felt a sense of lifelessness. He suddenly realized that in all the time he had been there, he had never heard of anyone in the village eating fish or anything from the river.

Grandpa Li led them for a while longer until they came to a riverbed shaped like the number J. He pointed to a huge rock and said, "Kuwa, when I found you, you were lying on this rock."

Kournikova looked at the stone, which stood by the river. It was a flat surface, not very big, just big enough for one person to lie down. Kournikova asked, "Grandpa, was this stone here before?"

Grandpa Li thought for a moment and said, "I don't remember seeing any. Have you ever seen the mountains?"

Da Shan shook his head and said, "We don't come here often, so I've never seen this place before."

Kournikova walked over and climbed the stone. Instantly, she felt the spiritual energy surging within it. She realized that it was a huge spiritual stone, just a rather large one.

Kova said to Dashan, "Dashan, if you have time, find more people and we'll take it home."

Da Shan nodded and said, "I'll bring Er Shazi over tomorrow."

Kournikova looked around, finding nothing unusual, then looked up at the sky, wondering how she had gotten there.

"Grandpa, is there nothing in this river?" Kournikova asked.

“There should be something in the river, but there’s nothing there, and the water is undrinkable, it’s bitter,” Grandpa Li said.

Kournikova walked to the riverbank, scooped up some water with both hands, and tasted it. She realized that the water was actually seawater. But wait, even seawater should have life. Kournikova was completely baffled.

Kova said to Grandpa Li, "This river water is a good thing; it can be used to make salt. When I get back, we'll build a salt field by the river so the village won't have to buy salt from outside anymore."

Grandpa Li jumped up excitedly and asked immediately, "Is this true?"

"Don't worry, Grandpa, the salt we make is much better than what you can buy outside," Kournikova said calmly.

Grandpa Li beamed and said, "I know you're capable, and I believe in you."

For a while afterward, the four boys and Grandpa Li led a group of people to build a salt field. Kuwa and Xiaogatou made filtering tools in the woodworking workshop, and Dashan was asked to prepare for charcoal production. Everyone in the village who was idle got busy.

Half a month later, when the first batch of salt came out, the whole village came, cheering and scrambling to taste the newly made salt.

The boys' hard work paid off; they succeeded. As long as there is river water, the village will no longer need to buy expensive coarse salt from outside.

The village gradually returned to peace. Those who needed to farm farmed, those who needed to grow sugarcane grew sugarcane, and those who needed to make salt made salt. In the evenings, every household enjoyed fragrant and delicious meals, and the male head of the household would drink a little wine. The whole village seemed peaceful and tranquil.

At this moment, Kournikova was lying on a deck chair in her yard, next to a small table with teacups on it, the aroma of tea filling the air.

This is his second deck chair. Grandpa Li moved the first one into his own room. Kournikova told him to get more sun, but Grandpa Li didn't listen, saying that he had worked in the fields all his life and was already thoroughly sunburnt.

Da Shan was busy at the salt field, Er Shazi was busy at the sugar factory, Xiao Ga Tou was busy at the carpentry workshop, and only Kuwa was free.

Grandpa Li, holding a teacup, pulled up a small stool and sat down beside him, asking, "What else do you want to do?"

"Grandpa, shall we build a house?" Kournikova asked.

Grandpa Li turned to look at his own thatched hut and said, "If you know how, then go ahead and build whatever you want."

“Of course, a brick house is best. That way, it looks grand and is comfortable to live in. But I don’t want to do it myself unless there’s a suitable person,” Kournikova said, taking a sip of tea.

Grandpa Li thought for a while and said, "There used to be a bricklayer in the village, but he died while hunting in the mountains. However, his two sons learned a little bit of the craft. I don't know if they'll be good enough."

Kournikova sat up and said, "Okay, why not? But they put in the effort, so how are we going to calculate their wages?"

Grandpa Li glared at them and said, "What do you mean by wages? There's no money here, everything is exchanged for goods. What you're making now belongs to everyone in the village, so you'll pay with goods later. Those two will be jumping for joy."

After Grandpa Li finished speaking, he stood up and walked outside. Before long, he brought back two middle-aged men in their thirties. Kova stood up and bowed, and the two men quickly returned the bow.

Grandpa Li said, "These are the brothers of the Zhao family. The eldest is called Zhao Fu, and the second is called Zhao Gui."

Grandpa Li pointed at Kova and said, "My grandson Kova wants to build a house, but it's a big job. If you two want to do it, you can learn from my grandson." The two brothers nodded quickly, and the elder brother said, "We know. It's our good fortune to be chosen by Kova. Just tell us what to do, and we'll do it well."

Kournikova nodded, then led the two brothers out of the courtyard to find a place to build a brick kiln.

A month later, Old Li's large brick and tile house was built. The brick walls and red gate made it look rich and grand.

Kournikova built a two-courtyard house, similar to her house in Xishan, just smaller.

But the red pine wood in these mountains is really a good thing; it has solved many problems and also makes the place look rich and beautiful.

Grandpa Li set off a string of firecrackers with Dashan, and then slaughtered a pig in the front yard, preparing to treat the whole village to a meal.

When the villagers saw how beautiful the yard was, they were immediately excited and surrounded the Zhao brothers.

Finally, the Zhao brothers followed Grandpa Li's advice and traded a bag of salt, a bag of sugar, and two pigs for this kind of yard.

The villagers readily accepted the offer, as they worked in the salt fields and sugar factories and were paid for their wages in the form of sugar and salt.

After the meal, several village elders gathered together to discuss the pros and cons of exchanging goods.

Grandpa Li said, "If the villagers want to go out into the world, they should start with salt and sugar, but there's really nowhere in the village to spend money."

The clan elder said, "How about we take a shortcut and go out to see what other things we can get? Let them know we have these things, and then we won't go out. We'll wait for them to come, which will reduce the danger for us."

The old men all agreed that the clan chief was right. They didn't need to go out; they just needed to let outsiders know that there were good things in the village, and they would naturally come.

In the evening, the four boys and Grandpa Li sat on the stone bench in the courtyard, drinking some wine.

Grandpa Li asked Kova, "This stuff is useless to the village if we have too much of it. What will we do if people from outside don't come?"

Kournikova chuckled and said, "They will come, Grandpa. I want people from outside to come on their own, but we also have to go out into the world."

Kournikova then took a sip of her drink and said, "I don't know what the three of them are thinking. Grandpa, you can probably guess. I'm aiming to get into the academy."

Grandpa Li said, "I know you want to reach the top of the Wei Kingdom."

Da Shan was taken aback and said, "You know martial arts?"

Kournikova nodded and said, "I remember learning it before, but I don't know what level it would be considered here."

"How could we not know?" the three of them said in unison.

Kournikova rolled her eyes and said, "You guys didn't even ask."

The three men's eyes lit up as they looked at Kournikova, indicating that they wanted her to demonstrate.

Seeing that there was no escaping it, Kournikova said, "I won't tell you about my family's secret techniques. Instead, demonstrate a set of Tianluo Fist. It's a top-tier fist technique, though that's what it is back home."

Kournikova stood up, flashed to the middle of the yard, her eyes changed, filled with murderous intent, she moved nimbly, her punches creating a gust of wind, and the leaves of the trees around her swayed.

After completing a set of Tenraku Fist, Kournikova was completely unharmed, not even breaking a sweat.

The three boys stared in disbelief. Kournikova asked, "What, you want to learn?"

The three people nodded frantically, like chicks pecking at rice.

Kournikova said, "You can learn, but you have to start from the basics. I'll start teaching you tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. How well you learn depends on yourselves."

The three of them nodded frantically again.

(End of this chapter)