NFBE Chapter 4: Necessity is the mother of invention, but it's so difficult!
Chapter 4: Necessity is the mother of invention, but it's so difficult!
Shen Huai was at a loss:
How can we improve our conditions?
This question is constantly bothering my mind.
When Shen Huai had some free time, he did some self-analysis:
First of all, I don't have any particular skills!
I've read similar stories in books before; it seems that transmigrators almost always become stunningly beautiful and are often rich young ladies.
Generally speaking, the original owners of these transmigrated stories are all in similar situations.
She's clearly a young lady, but she doesn't know how to use her power; she's been destined to suffer since childhood.
After the time traveler arrived, he immediately began to wield his power, executing a series of decisive blows to restore order.
Oh, and there will definitely be a male lead who is both extremely virtuous and wealthy.
Not only is he more open-minded than modern men, but he's also like a man under a spell, determined to love the time-traveling heroine even in death.
Moreover, the time traveler understands chemistry, physics, and food!
He's also a business genius, and who knows, he might even have a system or a cheat code.
At the very least, they could see the original owner's memories, foresee the entire plot of the original owner's life, know the good and bad of the people around them to avoid pitfalls, and ultimately have a perfect ending, etc.
Hey! Where's Shen Huai?
Just like this village where everyone struggles to survive, there's absolutely nothing there!
I have a worthless life!
After being here for so long, Shen Huai finally realized with disappointment that he had neither a cheat code nor a system.
It has no memories of the original owner and cannot observe anyone's life.
Shen Huai: How tragic!
Money! How can I live without you?!
Thinking back, it must be because Xiao Wuya was that age and didn't remember anything yet.
This is for the best. For the original owner of this world, it's as if she never existed. Hopefully, the child can be reincarnated.
(Putting hands together in devout prayer!)
While others transmigrate into the prime of their youth, Shen Huai transmigrated into a bean!
The problem Shen Huai is currently facing is:
Leaving aside getting rich, how can we make our current lives less difficult?
I simply can't bear this suffering!
Shen Huai considered the problems he was about to face:
Little Wuya is still young, so as long as she doesn't cause trouble for others while they work, that's fine.
But if we don't find a way, we'll inevitably have to do farm work when we get older.
I simply can't endure this hardship!
In the modern new countryside of the 21st century, Shen Huai had had enough of rural life.
He didn't want to endure the hardships of farm work anymore, so he worked hard to earn money and established himself in that third-tier city.
But that was a new society where human rights were equal!
Even a farmer's daughter can be given opportunities by society as long as she is willing to work hard, allowing everyone who strives to change their destiny.
In this feudal dynasty where imperial power reigns supreme, women are merely appendages. How can they possibly improve their lives?!
This is truly a problem of the century!
This is also a problem that Shen Huai must overcome!
Shen Huai's years of experience as a successful corporate slave have taught him:
To improve your circumstances, you must make yourself valuable.
I've summarized my experiences:
After graduation, I got a job in administration at a state-owned enterprise. Later, I wanted to improve my financial situation, so I resigned and went into marketing.
After years of hard work, I rose to the level of supervisor and manager. When I was about to take another step forward, I had to go to the headquarters in a neighboring city. However, my child was about to start elementary school, so after much consideration, I gave up the opportunity. Sigh!
Fortunately, after years of hard work, although we're not extremely wealthy, we have everything we need.
Just before I turned thirty-five, I took the exam for a contract job outside the public sector.
I thought that being a corporate slave like this, as long as I could take care of my child's studies, would be enough, and I could peacefully wait for retirement.
As it turned out, fate played a cruel joke on us!
Upon arriving here, Shen Huai quickly realized that he had returned to the pre-liberation era.
I reflected on myself again:
My physics and chemistry knowledge is so-so, and I've been in the workforce for many years now. I've forgotten most of what I learned from my teachers, except for a few simple ones.
As someone who has eaten in the cafeteria for many years, my knowledge of food is limited to being a relatively good eater.
Because he has been making money, his elderly relatives help take care of the children, and his culinary skills are such that he can cook food that won't kill anyone.
My only work experience is in marketing.
It seems that in this old rural society where people couldn't get enough to eat or wear, there was no place for them to use their talents.
In summary:
For now, let's observe and learn as much as possible the knowledge that is useful to this era.
I don't know what to study yet~
Find an opportunity to show off your unique abilities, since the villagers here don't go to school.
I also have the advantage of being educated.
Just get by, learn the language, adapt to the environment, and don't let people think you're an outsider.
After Shen Huai arrived, he visited the town once.
It was because Wu Ya's father wanted to avoid affecting the work of the family that he brought Shen Huai, who was unable to work, along, as leaving him at home would be a waste of manpower to look after him.
I got up very early and arrived there around noon.
I shared a bowl of mutton soup (without meat) with Wu Ya's dad and ate a cornbread bun.
Wu Ya's father ate four black steamed buns, drank the soup he hadn't finished, and asked the shopkeeper for some water.
To be honest, the mutton soup was really delicious!
According to modern geographical coordinates, it should belong to the category of Tan sheep meat.
It smells amazing!
A thought popped into my head:
The most delicious dishes often require only the simplest ingredients.
These days, as they've dragged on, seem to have come to an end.
The town where Shen Huai drank mutton soup is called Duoshui Town.
It's similar to a larger modern village, with a main road and a few sparse tiled houses on both sides.
Apart from one or two that looked a little better, most of the houses were still thatched huts.
Most of the vendors are still small stalls.
Although the shops and stalls in the tiled-roof houses and thatched huts don't add up to many in total, it's already a market that only happens once a month.
People from all around travel for half a day to come here to sell what they can sell at home and buy what they need to take back home.
The pastoral village is more than ten miles away from Duoshui Town, and there are places even further away than the pastoral village.
Everyone who wants to buy or sell things has to gather in this small town on this day.
If the better-off families in the town wanted to buy something nicer, they had to travel all day to Laiyang County, which was dozens of miles away.
They occasionally mentioned in their conversation that the well-off families in town had all gone shopping in the county, expressing their envy.
The main street in the county is about 500 meters long.
It has already reached a level that is difficult for people from Fangmu Village and other villages to match.
Shen Huai: This... okay...
The best place is Panlong County, which is a hundred miles away. It takes two days and one night for the people from the herding village to get to Panlong County.
If it gets any bigger, it will be Ganlin Prefecture.
It takes three or four days to travel there, or even longer, and almost no one has ever been there.
No one has ever been to the capital city of Yedu, and it is said that it takes more than a month to travel there by carriage.
Currently, among the villagers of Fangmu Village, apart from the village chief who has been to Laiyang County twice, both times on official business, the others have only been to Duoshui Town.
Shen Huai's expertise as a corporate slave is currently completely useless here.
When I'm at the market, sometimes I hear people making mistakes in their calculations, but I don't dare to point them out.
Shen Huai: I dare not show my face!
I can't explain how I know it.
If they're mistaken for child prodigies, their true colors will be exposed when they grow up.
If it were mistaken for something else, the consequences would be unimaginable, so I dare not fight against feudal superstition at all.
After the winter month comes the twelfth month.
In December, everyone will have to go to Duoshui Town again.
Bring along the things you've collected and can buy over the past few months, and then prepare some New Year's goods.
This year's harvest is good. In addition to steaming buns as usual, we can also go to town to buy two pounds of meat and some sugar.
These observations over the past few days have made Shen Huai's decision:
The safest approach is to first demonstrate your accounting skills in a reasonable way!
In the winter months, after everyone has put their things away, they will ask the village head or Dr. Gao to help estimate the price.
Most of them are doctors, and when doctors are out making house calls, everyone goes to the village head.
Because everyone is illiterate, they are afraid of being scammed.
All of this is earned through blood and sweat. If farmers are cheated, it's no different than cutting off a piece of their own flesh.
Shen Huai will be two years old at the end of January next year. Now she walks very well, and Wu Ya's family doesn't take care of her much anymore.
As long as you don't disturb others while they're working, there are only a few dozen households in the village. You can just call out at the door when you're eating, and they'll come back.
Once the idea was decided, Shen Huai was ready to put it into practice.
Thus, throughout the entire winter month, this is what we saw:
Whenever someone asked the village head or a renowned doctor to settle accounts, Shen Huai would rush to their house.
He just watched from the side without saying a word, and greeted people sweetly whenever he saw them.
If someone teases you, you'll smile at them.
The older children usually have some chores to do, and when they don't have any, they play in groups of three or five.
As she drifted along like this, no one paid any attention to her.
This year's harvest is good, and occasionally, adults will kindly give her a treat because she is well-behaved.
"No, it's thirty-seven!"
In late November, the village head once miscalculated a number at Liang Erbo's house, and Shen Huai pointed it out.
"Eek~ it really is!"
The village chief subconsciously counted again, then suddenly paused, "Who just spoke?"
"It looks like...it's Wuya?!" Second Aunt exclaimed in surprise.
Second Uncle walked over, picked up Wuya from the corner, his face full of disbelief, yet also with a hint of admiration.
I bounced Shen Huai around in my arms:
"Little Wuya, tell your second uncle what you just said?"
“Sorghum, no, it’s thirty-seven, coins.”
Shen Huai finished speaking with a crisp laugh, using his own method and employing the purest possible accent.
"Wow! When did this little girl learn that?" the village chief exclaimed in surprise.
As she spoke, she took Shen Huai from her second uncle's arms, then smiled at Wu Ya, her second uncle, and her second aunt:
"I just remembered, I've been helping everyone with the budget this month, and I keep seeing this little thing~"
This little thing, surprisingly, figured out some of the tricks of the trade as it watched.
Little Wuya, Grandpa has a question for you:
Nine catties of soybeans, at six qian per catty, how much can they be sold for?
"Um..."
Shen Huai pretended to lower his head and think for a moment, then smiled at the village head, counting on his fingers:
"Grandpa, fifty-four coins, hehe!"
Next, the village chief asked a few simple questions about addition and subtraction of single-digit and two-digit numbers.
He then pointed to a few numbers written on the grain sacks and asked about them.
Shen Huai answered all the questions that required numbers, but said he didn't recognize the words.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes!"
If Wu Ya were a boy, she'd probably amount to something!
Haha, Liang Lao Er, your Liang family is truly blessed!
Shen Huai: Hehe~ It's a pity he's not a boy.