Chapter 6: Carrying Night Soil is a Technical Skill, What's Wrong With Getting Published in a Magazine?
“Oh, our educated youth is here. Don’t get covered in shit and piss again.”
Wu Gou was quite gleeful about Li Feng’s morning predicament. Now, seeing Li Feng in clean clothes, he couldn’t resist a few sarcastic remarks.
“Your mouth, someone will tear it off sooner or later.”
Da Han Saozi rolled her eyes at Wu Gou. Compared to the dark and skinny Wu Gou, the women preferred a fair-faced man like Li Feng; at least he looked good, didn't he?
“How about I switch your task this afternoon?”
Han Anmin had been both father and mother all morning, and his own work was lagging. This wouldn't do. As the Deputy Team Leader, he had to set an example, leading the dirty and tiring work, and doing the most work—that was the awareness a leader should possess.
“I’ll switch later. I refuse to believe I can be defeated by a few buckets of night soil.”
Are you kidding? Although Li Feng had considered how to slack off and get through this “tourism experience,” the challenge task for carrying night soil was still active. He had to complete the task before he could be a slacker.
“He’s a man.”
“Not a coward.”
Everyone looked at Li Feng with admiration. At least his determination was worth encouraging. Li Feng had made quite a fool of himself all morning. Any other educated youth would have long since complained and refused to work, perhaps even causing a scene and claiming the team was deliberately targeting them.
Just as they were talking, Han Mingliang and a few other children ran over, giggling. Seeing Li Feng, they started singing the rhyme Wu Gou had taught them: “Little educated youth carries night soil, swaying left and right, so much effort. Spills night soil soup everywhere, dogs love it, stinks to death.”
“Go, go, go.”
Li Feng glared at the group of brats. He thought about getting a bucket of night soil to give them a bath. Little rascals needed a good beating.
“Get lost.”
Han Anmin waved his hand. Han Fuguo, on the other hand, used his pipe stem, hitting the group of little rascals until they howled and ran away.
“Hahaha, serves them right.”
Li Feng wished he could have gone up and given them a few hits himself. These little brats deserved a good thrashing. After the children settled down, everyone started working.
Wu Gou, this guy, didn't know if he had eaten too much night soil at noon, but he kept buzzing in Li Feng's ear.
Just wait, I’ll find a chance to deal with you, you little pup. Li Feng began to apply the experience he had learned in the virtual space to reality. This surprised everyone. Li Feng was carrying a nearly full bucket, and it wasn’t swaying much anymore.
“It’s stable?”
Han Anmin and others nearby looked surprised. “Anmin Ge, it was swaying so much this morning. How did he change so much in just one afternoon?”
“Exactly! Look, his steps are neither fast nor slow, very steady.”
Although he still hadn't filled the entire bucket, both his steps and his alternating shoulders were well-practiced. Han Anmin was also full of questions. What was going on? Even if he had taken an elixir at noon, it couldn’t have such a good effect.
“What’s wrong?”
Li Feng was quite proud. Hehe, the hardship in the virtual space all afternoon wasn't in vain, especially seeing Wu Gou’s eyes wide open, it felt really good.
“How did you learn that?”
“It’s just carrying night soil, it’s too simple.”
Li Feng looked at everyone with a puzzled expression. “Doesn’t everyone learn it in half a day? Is there really someone who can’t learn it in half a day? That would be too brainless, wouldn’t it, Wu Gou Xiong Di?”
“Ni Ma.”
Wu Gou looked as if he had eaten night soil. He had boasted that morning that he had learned to carry night soil in less than half a month, and he had bet that Li Feng wouldn’t learn it in two or three months. This guy was getting slapped in the face too quickly.
“Hahaha.”
Seeing Wu Gou so angry that his night soil bucket swayed wildly, splashing yellow and white matter all over his feet and pants, Li Feng couldn't hold back his laughter.
Wu Gou's eyes were wide, wishing he could splash the night soil on Li Feng. This scoundrel was too arrogant.
It was truly satisfying. Li Feng happily carried the night soil, showing off along the way. His mentality had almost collapsed from being ridiculed by everyone all morning. If it weren't for the task, he probably would have thrown the bucket and quit long ago.
“Little brats, move aside.”
Li Feng passed by Han Mingliang’s group of little brats and did a flick of the wrist, splashing more than half a scoop of night soil. The children screamed and ran away, no longer daring to mock Li Feng.
“Little brats, let’s see if you dare to come again.”
By the end of the afternoon, Li Feng had basically digested the accumulated experience from the virtual space. He couldn't help but check the task progress. “Task progress 68%.”
“Not bad, I’ve done more than half in one day.”
“I’ll go wash first, I stink.”
Even though he was careful in the afternoon, some splashes still got on his pants. Plus, constant contact with night soil made him reek. Fortunately, it was summer, so bathing was easy—a quick wash in the small river would do.
“Still quite a few people.”
Not far from the village, many people gathered by the small river. Li Feng washed up and prepared to go back 'home'. He stopped by the small stream at the entrance. “Oh, there are small fish in this stream?”
“These are Gou Pazi (Goby)?”
The fish were not big, about the size of a pinky finger. Li Feng recognized these fish; there were many when he was a child. Everyone thought they had little meat and were too small, so no one bothered to catch them. However, in recent years, these things had become popular.
They were highly nutritious and required high water quality. Their price had once soared to one or two hundred yuan, but they were difficult to catch. He hadn't expected to find so many in the stream in front of his house. “I’ll catch some to eat. It’s better than steamed corn bread, after all.”
There might not even be big fish in the small river. Moreover, big fish were not only hard to catch and required tools, but you also had to eat them secretly. If someone saw you, they might accuse you of “cutting off tails,” which would be bad.
Of course, Li Feng had inquired and learned that there were actually very few big fish in the small river. The most crucial thing was that the water was too deep to catch them. In the shallow stream, people weren't interested in catching the small fish, so there were many. “But how do I catch them? I don’t have a net, a fishing hook, or bait.”
“I’ve got it.”
Li Feng remembered a method he used as a child: making small multi-hook lines with foxtail grass and acacia thorns. “First, get some foxtail grass, then cut an acacia branch.” Foxtail grass was easy to find, but cutting an acacia branch wasn't good if others saw it; otherwise, he might be criticized for cutting public property.
After getting foxtail grass and pulling off an acacia branch, Li Feng returned to the small courtyard.
“Abba.”
“Abba.”
The two little girls quickly ran out to greet him, seeing the things in Li Feng’s hand and wanting to take them.
“I’ll do it.”
Li Feng casually put the foxtail grass and acacia branch aside. “Don’t prick your hands, Da Ya. Look, are my clothes dry?”
“They’re dry. I put them away.”
She said, handing the folded clothes to Li Feng. These clothes were the memorial hall’s work uniform, which complemented the era, such as the navy blue striped vest and blue military pants.
After changing clothes, Li Feng saw two steamed corn breads and a large bowl of wild vegetable soup on the bedside table, and even some pickles, which was rare.
“Have you eaten?”
Da Ya nodded quickly. Xiao Ya, seeing Da Ya nod, also nodded vigorously, but her gaze remained fixed on the steamed corn bread. Perhaps Da Ya hadn't made any for them, or they had only had some wild vegetable soup. “I’ll just eat one. I didn’t do much work this afternoon, so I’m not hungry.”
“Da Ya, Xiao Ya, you two eat too.”
He casually broke one steamed corn bread in half. The steamed corn bread could still be broken when it was warm.
“We’re not hungry.”
“Eat when I tell you to.”
He said, glaring. Da Ya could only take the steamed corn bread, giving the larger half to Xiao Ya, and nibbling on her small piece. Tears unknowingly streamed down her face, perhaps thinking of her mother.
“Oh, today’s steamed corn bread is softer than before.”
Li Feng mumbled. Actually, he didn’t know that Da Ya had borrowed a sieve and carefully sieved it to remove many impurities. Of course, Da Ya was reluctant to throw away these impurities and planned to make them into steamed corn bread for her and her sister to eat.
“Eat quickly. Things will get better and better for us from now on. By then, we’ll be eating delicious food and drinking fine wine, making all the old men and women in the dam envious.”
After placing the multi-hook lines made from foxtail grass and acacia thorns in the small stream, Li Feng re-entered the virtual space to practice carrying night soil.
“Uphill and downhill. I didn’t get any practice this afternoon, so I’ll practice this first.”
“For uphill and downhill, first, you need to master balance.”
After about two hundred uphill and downhill repetitions, Li Feng had roughly mastered it. Uphill, you need to lean your body forward; downhill, you need to lean your body slightly backward. Especially downhill, the center of gravity should be placed on your heels to better slow down the downhill speed and maintain stability.
Another thing is the pace. Uphill, the steps should be small and quick to avoid large strides that cause loss of balance. Downhill, the steps should be slightly faster but controlled, not too fast, or it’s easy to fall.
Finally, for long slopes, high slopes, and mountain slopes, you need to distribute your physical strength well to avoid fatigue leading to falls.
“I never thought carrying night soil involved so much knowledge.”
Li Feng was truly enlightened. This was just a basic skill for ordinary farmers, yet as a university student, he needed hundreds and thousands of practice sessions to slowly master it. “You group of foolish people who want to return to the countryside to farm, have you learned how to carry night soil?”
‘Task progress 86%.’
Li Feng was delighted. If he put this into practice and absorbed the experience, he could at least increase it by another ten points, which meant the challenge task would be completed. “This is great, hahaha. I wonder what the reward is?”
‘The host will receive ten times the work points for the day upon completing the skill challenge.’
Ten times the work points. Li Feng calculated that if his work points today were ten, that would be one hundred work points.
“One work point is roughly three to five cents.” That would be three to five yuan. Although not much, for Li Feng right now, let alone three to five yuan, even one yuan was good.
“Are there grain coupons or meat coupons?”
“Can be exchanged with work points.”
“Really?”
Li Feng thought, then he definitely had to exchange them. Otherwise, even with money, he couldn't buy grain or meat. “But how will this money be given to me? If it’s given directly, without a reason, it might cause some trouble.”
“What does this mean?”
Li Feng was a bit confused. Why did it show a manuscript?
“The host’s reward will be issued in the form of manuscript fees.”
“Manuscript fees? Are you serious?”
Li Feng thought, this manuscript seems to be about the techniques of carrying night soil. Can this be published? But the manuscript was well-written, quite vivid and interesting. “But then again, carrying night soil is a technical skill, so getting published in a magazine or newspaper should be normal, right?”
Thinking that in at most two days, he would receive two or three yuan, plus grain coupons and meat coupons, this guy’s dreams were sweet, hehe. Buy some meat, render some oil, fry some small river fish—delicious.