Chapter 30: with translation of chapter title

Yang Qing also became very excited upon hearing this news.

These three years can be said to be seventy percent natural disaster and thirty percent man-made calamity.

Now that the previous empty rhetoric has been rejected, the peasants' enthusiasm can be mobilized again.

Never again will the whole People's Commune suffer hunger and cold because of the toadying behavior of some people.

Never again will life-sustaining grain be snatched away for the sake of empty fame.

This marks the end of the situation where the harder one works, the poorer one becomes.

People's enthusiasm has emerged; who, while alive, would want to starve to death?

Production naturally began to recover; with production recovered, life naturally became easier.

The end of the disaster began with the rural regulations of March this year.

(Readers can look it up themselves; I cannot describe it in detail here.)

Chen Hong also heard the news, her eyes turned red; she knows this matter best.

"I don't know how my mother and younger brother are."

Yang Qing patted her waist; there was nothing he could do—she was too tall.

"In a moment we'll go send a telegram to see if we can get in touch with our family."

Aunt Wang saw that her single remark had stirred the three of them into excitement, and she sighed.

Everyone knew there was a problem, yet they still went on for three years.

Could it be that the head of the household doesn't know the situation below?

Of course not; because our relationship with the polar bear broke down, to keep those equipment and materials we had to pay with money, gold, resources, even grain.

And those equipment and materials saved us decades of detour.

Do people really think industrialization is that simple?

Even by 2023, how many countries have completed industrialization? Very few; industrialized nations are mostly the old powers, and aside from us, Japan and Korea, you could count the rest on one hand.

Japan and Korea were piled up by the Beautiful Country with vast industrial resources.

While we, with the help of our northern neighbor, tightened our belts and saved our way to it.

Exactly, it was saving—using the industrial scissors gap, supporting industry with agriculture, concentrating production of materials, and forcefully pushing industrialization.

We succeeded, becoming a nation with a complete industrial system, and laid a solid foundation for the growth miracle of our reform and opening-up.

The good life of the new era was exchanged for by our forebears with their hardships.

Aunt Wang knows these things, but she cannot tell them, nor can she smooth over their suffered hardships with her moderate words.

Wrong is wrong, but this wrong cannot be avoided.

This is what causes inner anguish.

She walked over, embraced Chen Hong, gently patted her, and comforted her.

"All right, all right, things will get better from now on, and keep getting better."

Chen Hong wiped away a tear and spoke stubbornly.

"I'm fine, just happy."

"Let's go, we'll head back to see how the house is to be repaired."

Yang Qing looked at Lei Shifu; Lei Shifu nodded.

"Let's go, we'll first get the permit, then go to your place, work out a plan—Heaven's eye sees it's getting warm, the snow has melted, it's time to start construction."

After bidding farewell to Aunt Wang, the group came to the backyard.

Lei Shifu looked at the four destroyed rooms, then at the remaining dilapidated house, and said sadly.

"What a pity, what a pity, the materials used here are all good—excellent teak beams, camphorwood small beams, cedar pillars."

"All are good materials that could last a hundred years, yet they were ruined like this."

He felt heartbroken.

A good master, he hates waste of natural resources the most.

Yang Qing still had to comfort him.

"Let the past go; living well in the present is truly living well."

Lei Shifu looked at him and nodded.

"I didn't expect little brother to be such a broad-minded person; I'm older by several years, yet I still don't see things as clearly as you do."

"How do you plan to repair this house?"

Yang Qing pointed to the three rooms and said.

"Just restore it as before, but I want the doors and windows to be double-layered."

"One layer of glass, one layer of screen."

(Many places are like that.)

"Divide the middle room into a central hall; the eastern room, place a kang, make it a bedroom; the western room, split from the middle, make the south side a kitchen, the north side a storeroom, and open a door in the middle for easy access."

"Both the kitchen and storeroom connect to the central hall."

Lei Shifu nodded: "Not a bad idea; living like this will be much more convenient."

"But you didn't leave any space for a bathing room?"

"I see that behind your house, past the courtyard wall, is another lane."

"You can drain the water directly out."

Yang Qing exclaimed in delight.

"Can it be done that way?"

"That's great; just partition off a space in the storeroom."

Lei Shifu sketched the layout on the notebook in just a few strokes.

"Is that all?"

Yang Qing thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"The layout itself is fine, but these three rooms as a whole might need to be completely renovated; they're too badly damaged, many places have lost their tiles, and the rafters are rotting."

"Many beams and columns also need to be re-plastered, painted, and maintained."

"The project is huge; I don't know how long it will take Lei Shifu to finish."

Lei Shifu did a quick calculation and then said approximately.

"The weather is still a bit chilly; at the earliest it will take twenty days."

Yang Qing pointed to the small courtyard in front of the gate.

"Then we can build a shed on the south side as our temporary lodging; in the middle we'll put a stove, on the east side we'll store bicycles and other tools, and on the west side we'll keep firewood and coal briquettes. In summer, when it's too hot, we can even cook in the courtyard."

"What do you think, Lei Shifu?"

Lei Shifu drew a rough sketch, showed it to Yang Qing, who immediately nodded in agreement—it was really well done, somewhat modern, with a kitchen feel.

Lei Shifu was also pleased, and then gave Yang Qing a thumbs-up.

"The idea is great, and the arrangement is very reasonable."

"How about installing a door on this Moon Gate? That way, when the small door is closed, your household will be self-contained."

Yang Qing shook his head.

"No thanks; a wooden door is easy to install, but opening people's hearts is hard—we shouldn't isolate ourselves from the masses."

Lei Shifu burst out laughing.

"Interesting, interesting, you're truly interesting; your appearance and your manner of speech are worlds apart."

"I wonder how many people you'll deceive."

"Alright, I now have a general idea of the situation; I'll go back and calculate the cost for you."

"If you don't provide meals, the price will be a bit higher—you don't have any objections, do you?"

Yang Qing waved his hands repeatedly.

"No objections, no objections; we can't let the masters suffer a loss."

Afterward he hesitated a bit, wanting to speak but holding back.

Lei Shifu saw his hesitation and said.

"If you have something to say, just say it; no need to be so hesitant—we're all professionals with integrity."

Yang Qing finally decided to speak up about the sweet‑potato wall, after all, they're going to repair your house—you can't hide it.

Yang Qing pulled Lei Shifu to the kitchen, leaving him bewildered.

He waited until Yang Qing knocked open a brick, revealing the sweet‑potato filling inside, and he was shocked.

"You, you... this is famine‑relief grain? Half a wall?"

"In the city, who would prepare famine relief grain? That's something only rural folks who rely on the weather for food would do."

"It's simply storing away this year's surplus grain to prepare for bad weather next year that could cause famine."

"This happens in the countryside, especially in places with little land and many people."

"But in the city, people live off their wages, and food shortages generally don't occur."

"In fact, over the past three years, Jingcheng has never run out of grain—do they even bother making famine relief supplies?"