There were a whole group of women there, he didn't recognize any of them, but he thought a few of them looked familiar. They must have been the ones who watched the commotion in the courtyard that morning.
Chen Fan grinned and greeted them politely, "Ah, fetching water."
Then he squatted down again, striving forward with all his might... lifting the buckets and taking a step.
Just over 90 jin, come on, you can do it!
Then he walked up the hill, swaying with each step.
Although he was already carrying a weight far beyond his capacity, he couldn't escape being mocked as he passed by the group of women.
"Oh, your bucket isn't full, it's less than half."
"Fill the bucket eight-tenths full; you'll waste a lot of effort running back and forth if you don't carry more."
"Why are you grabbing the handles? Grab the rope, don't exert yourself, just hold it."
"Little scholar, you need to eat more, three large bowls per meal, then you'll have the strength to work."
"You look tall, but you're just a pretty face."
"With this physique, you probably can't earn more than 5 work points a day in the fields."
"When Old Fourth Huang's family builds their house in a few days, I'm afraid he won't be able to help."
"Who says that? He can help eat."
If it had been a young man, he would probably have been blushing with shame.
But Chen Fan was an old hand, he had been in the workplace for several years, facing clients' scolding and the boss's questioning, he could remain calm and collected. Even back in the orphanage, he had heard plenty of sarcastic remarks. This was nothing.
Not worth mentioning!
But there were also people who spoke up for him.
"He's a scholar, you think you're a scholar? You can't even read, you just know how to work hard."
"He's like Cadre Zhao who came last year. He's not as good as you at work, but you're not as good as him at writing."
Then the topic changed.
"Hey, hey, you think there will be more cadres coming next year?"
"Who knows? If you run into a good cadre, they can stay for two or three years, but if you run into a bad one, they can change two or three times a year. If it's like that, I'd rather they don't come."
"If you run into a good cadre, it's still good. Wasn't that right with Cadre Fan a few years ago? He led everyone to work together, and he even gave Captain Yang private tutoring. Otherwise, how would Captain Yang have been promoted so quickly."
"That's right, that's right."
"Anyway, we'll know after the New Year when spring plowing starts. They will definitely send cadres for spring plowing. Even if they don't stay permanently, there will be temporary ones."
...
Chen Fan gritted his teeth, taking one step at a time, halfway up the hill. His shoulders were already aching so badly, he couldn't even hear their gossip.
Although he wore a padded jacket, offering some protection, he'd never carried water before and was unfamiliar with the proper technique. His shoulders ached, and the carrying pole felt unruly, constantly threatening to slip.
His post-transmigration body seemed uncooperative. His flesh and blood had become tender. Considering his 6 points of Constitution and 5 points of Strength, he was probably comparable to Lin Daiyu, yet he had to carry a load of nearly 100 jin.
What a curse!
And since he was halfway up the hill, there was nowhere to put down the buckets. He couldn't switch shoulders, so he could only grit his teeth and try to quicken his pace, panting as he climbed the embankment.
As soon as he got to the top of the embankment, he quickly put down the buckets, rubbed his shoulders. They were burning with pain.
Chen Fan gasped for breath, silently marveling, This body is no good.
Even if I worked in an office in my previous life, carrying this load of water wouldn't make me this tired. Did I time travel well, or did I time travel badly?
I'd say it's good because my physique is worse than it was in my previous life. But then again, I'm younger, and although I've just recovered from a serious illness, the feeling of being full of energy can't be faked.
There was nothing I could do, I'll just have to wait and see if there are any rewards for increasing constitution or strength after completing the task.
Otherwise, I'll have to add training and fitness to my schedule, and find a way to get in shape quickly.
He took two breaths and switched shoulders.
This time it was downhill, and going downhill was much harder than going uphill.
Carrying a load of water, I moved down inch by inch, afraid that if I didn't step firmly, I'd trip and fall, and the buckets would go with me.
I finally got to the bottom of the slope, and I quickly put down the buckets again and switched shoulders.
In the end, it was only 50 meters, and I had switched shoulders three times, it was tiring enough to take half my life, but finally, I carried the water into the courtyard.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I put down the buckets. I'll just carry them the rest of the way to the house; my shoulders were burning, I really couldn't take it anymore.
I first leaned the shoulder pole against the wall, then turned around and saw a three-legged stand made of bamboo in the courtyard. A bamboo pole was placed horizontally across the stand, and a blanket was draped over it, flapping in the wind.
It looked like the blanket I slept on?
Next to it, there were two stools supporting two bamboo poles. A bamboo mat was spread over the poles, and a thick layer of straw was spread on top, held down by two more bamboo poles, to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
Just then, Jiang Lili turned from the corner of the kitchen, with a pair of empty buckets on her shoulders. She saw Chen Fan, gave a stiff smile, and then said, "You sweated a lot last night, the mat and blanket were wet, so I took them out to dry."
Chen Fan nodded quickly, "Oh, oh, thank you!"
It really was mine?
He paused, then asked curiously, "Whose blanket is this?"
Jiang Lili walked over and said softly, "Captain Yang brought it. He didn't say whose it was. The straw is from the haystack in the backyard, it's all dry straw from the top. The straw mat was also brought by Captain Yang."
She then pointed to his room, "I just filled the teapot in your room with hot water. You rest for a while and have some water. I'll go fetch another load."
As she spoke, she also saw that Chen Fan's buckets were only half full. The corners of her mouth twitched slightly, as if she wanted to laugh but didn't dare. She didn't say anything.
After carrying one load of water, Chen Fan didn't dare to be brave anymore, and he didn't ask her to put down the buckets and let him carry them. He just nodded and smiled, "Thank you."
Then he looked around, "Where's the water tank?"
Jiang Lili immediately turned and pointed to where she had just come from, "It's next to the house, there's a small shed. You can see it when you go over there."
"Alright."
Chen Fan picked up a bucket in each hand and walked over with small steps.
Jiang Lili looked at his back and finally smiled, but she quickly stopped smiling. She carefully looked at the doorway, then carried the empty buckets out.
When Chen Fan got to the edge of the kitchen, he noticed that the house on the edge was next to the courtyard wall, and they had built a roof over that area. The roof extended to the kitchen, making it a single large area. The shed was like a small room with one wall missing and a door opening. The side with no wall naturally opened to the backyard.
Behind the house was a larger yard with two plots of land for growing vegetables. The big cabbages and white radishes were growing well. In the far corner was a wooden plank-built latrine, and next to the wall was a long shed, he wasn't sure what it was used for.
On the side near the courtyard wall was a meter-high water tank. On the side near the wall of the house were many long-handled farm tools, including a flail for threshing soybeans and rice, a rake for scraping the ground, a hoe for loosening the soil, a shovel for digging, a few shoulder poles and carrying baskets, but there was no wind mill or mixing bucket, and there were no short-handled sickles, which might be in the house.
All these farm tools were clean, they were probably Jiang Lili's work.
Chen Fan looked around and then lifted one side of the tank lid and poured the water from the buckets into the tank.
Actually, the tank was still half full. Perhaps Jiang Lili was afraid there wasn't enough water, or maybe she was just restless and wanted to fill the tank.
But how many loads of water would it take to fill such a large tank?
Chen Fan finally caught his breath, but he was still struggling with whether or not to fetch another load.
Just then, he heard a ding, "First time completing a water-carrying task. Reward +0.5 Constitution. Current Constitution 6.5."
Chen Fan's eyes widened, are there decimals in rewards?
Then he felt a surge of heat flowing through his body. Although it was fleeting, the pain in his shoulders completely disappeared, as if it had never existed.
0.5 is this powerful?
Seeing the results, Chen Fan was motivated. He immediately picked up the two buckets and walked out.
It's just fetching water, a true man won't be afraid!
(End of Chapter)
~~~~~
Translator's Rumblings:
I was curious about what a wooden plank latrine looks like, so I searched Google and copied some images. I thought you might be interested in seeing them too.
So... Let me know what you think!
~~~~~
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