Tian Wenmo looked at Mother standing before him, his eyes suddenly sparkling as he said:
"If the pillars are tilted when building a house, it's just like when we wrestle, the house will also fall over."
Qin Sang gave a thumbs up:
"Little Wu is amazing, you figured it out so quickly. We common folk probably didn't know at first either that pillars must be perfectly vertical to the ground to build a proper house. Many houses collapsed halfway through construction, so people started studying why. Why could some houses stand for decades without falling? What were the rules behind it?"
"Then, as everyone studied it, they gradually gained experience in this area."
"People then started asking, how can we tell if a pillar is standing vertically on the ground?"
"Someone discovered that no matter what, everything eventually falls to the ground."
"Like rain falling from the sky, or stones we throw. So people invented tools like the Ink Line Marker."
"Just lower the plumb bob, and the ink line is absolutely perpendicular to the ground. Then, by comparing the ink line to the pillar to see if they are parallel, you can determine if the pillar is crooked."
After this explanation, Tian Wenmo nodded; he understood why it had to be done that way.
Qin Sang crouched down, looked into his eyes, and smiled gently:
"Little Wu, this world has many rules. For example, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, a year has spring, summer, autumn, and winter, water flows downhill, and all things fall to the ground."
"Discovering the rules of this world and summarizing them—this is knowledge, and profound knowledge at that."
"And in life, there is even more advanced knowledge: using these natural rules to make our clothing, food, shelter, and transportation more convenient."
"For example, we work at sunrise and rest at sunset following the sun, sow in spring and harvest in autumn following the seasons, dig canals and divert water for irrigation following the rivers. These are all examples."
"Little Wu, Mother thinks your discovery of today's problem is a very good start. You can study more in this direction in the future."
"Ask 'why' more often, find problems, and think of ways to solve them. Who knows, maybe my Little Wu will become a great scholar one day!!"
Tian Wenmo's little face flushed red instantly. Ever since he wasn't allowed to attend school, he found his older brothers and sisters were also very clever, and even Eldest Girl was more capable and skilled than he was.
His self-confidence had suffered an unprecedented blow.
But now, after Mother's analysis and explanation, he realized he was still clever; he could discover problems that his older brothers and sisters couldn't.
In the future, he would do as Mother said: discover more rules and master more of them.
"Mm, Mother, you are much more impressive than the schoolteacher."
Qin Sang patted his head. In her view, studying these things was far more useful than studying the Four Books and Five Classics.
In the afternoon, Qin Sang took a walk around the camp.
She found that Heizi and the others had accumulated quite a lot of wood, all piled up there.
"Aunt."
Heizi came over to greet her. Qin Sang pointed at the wood:
"Are you planning to build houses too?"
Heizi nodded:
"Mm, the shelters are too cramped. Since we have nothing to do up in the mountains anyway, we want everyone to live more comfortably."
Qin Sang didn't object to the latter part:
"Building log cabins is fine, but it's not that you have 'nothing to do.' Aren't you also taking part in patrols? And, aren't you digging Medicinal Herbs anymore? Do you have enough food?"
Heizi and the others were somewhat surprised:
"Aunt, you're still collecting Medicinal Herbs?"
Qin Sang nodded:
"Yes, I am. We'll collect them first and sell them after the military unrest ends."
Heizi and the others looked delighted:
"That's great. Don't worry, Aunt, we'll build the houses quickly; it won't delay these other tasks."
Heizi's Grandma, over sixty years old, came over with faltering steps. Heizi hurriedly supported her. She said to Qin Sang:
"Da Zhuangs Mother, we've already dug quite a lot of Medicinal Herbs. Seeing your house has no space to store them, we didn't bring them over."
"Rest assured, we still have enough rice and grain to eat, we're not in a hurry to trade. Just as you said, we'll save them up and sell them to you when we go down the mountain later."
As she spoke, Heizi's Grandma also pointed to a small pile of Caoer under the shelter covered by an oilcloth. Qin Sang had thought it was gathered firewood before, but now she realized it was the roots they had dug up over the past couple of days.
Qin Sang walked over to inspect them. Since only the roots and stems were there, she had to check them one by one. One-third were Medicinal Herbs that the Mall purchased. Proportionally speaking, that was pretty good.
Qin Sang said with a smile:
"Aunt, since you've dug some up, come to my house to trade. My family has rice and grain; don't worry about us not having enough to eat."
Heizi's Grandma was very surprised:
"Da Zhuangs Mother, are you serious?"
Qin Sang nodded:
"I even brought back several hundred jin of flour today."
Heizi's Grandma was clearly moved:
"Oh my, look at this... Back then, when Heizi insisted on following you into the mountains, we didn't agree. Now it seems, I realize Heizi has met a true benefactor."
Several other elderly women also came over and chimed in:
"Yes, we were prepared to eat dirt, but we never imagined that by working we'd get a share of meat and could even dig up roots to trade for grain."
"Before, having one bowl of porridge a day was a luxury. Following you, we're almost eating meat with every meal."
Qin Sang said with a smile:
"Everyone, please don't say that. In my opinion, being able to eat meat isn't my doing; it's because this place is a treasure land."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Indeed, right after arriving, they found several hundred jin of meat. If that's not a treasure land, what is?
Qin Sang exchanged a few more words and then encountered Widow Xia's four little ones:
"Where are you going?"
Caoer, being the eldest, was also the boldest. She looked up with her little face and answered seriously:
"Aunt, we want to go find Eldest Girl to play Shuttlecock."
Qin Sang felt inside her clothes, pulled out a few Milk Tablets, and put them in Da Ya's hand:
"Go ahead. Find a shady spot, don't get heatstroke."
"Thank you, Aunt."
Caoer, being sensible, thanked her first, then fed her three younger siblings, and finally put a Milk Tablet in her own mouth before leading her siblings away.
Widow Xia, hearing Qin Sang's voice, hurried out of the shelter:
"Sister."
Qin Sang looked at her overly thin body and asked with concern:
"How are you? Getting used to it?"
Widow Xia nodded:
"Yes, I am. The children are very happy. There's meat to eat and friends to play with."
Qin Sang glanced at the shelter. The shelters built together by the villagers were so low that adults could only enter by bending over. One could sit upright inside, but it only met the basic need for sleeping.
Qin Sang had been here for a while but had never seen Widow Xia's paralyzed Younger Brother-in-law. She figured he must be lying down all the time, so she advised:
"Your Younger Brother-in-law shouldn't lie down all the time either. It's best to bring him out to sunbathe morning and evening; it can help prevent illness."
After saying this, Qin Sang felt a bit regretful. Widow Xia probably knew she should do this. But she is the sister-in-law, and her husband is gone, and the Younger Brother-in-law has also lost his wife. In ancient times, with strict gender separation, people would surely gossip if a sister-in-law carried her paralyzed brother-in-law around.
Widow Xia bit her lip, then turned and fetched a basket from inside the shelter, bringing it before Qin Sang. She pleaded:
"Sister, could I ask you to take a look at my Younger Brother-in-law's illness?"
"My family has no money, but I can dig Medicinal Herbs. Can I use Medicinal Herbs as payment?"