Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 218 - 216

Xiao’er found it amusing to see the head of the workers, Liang, look so excited, but she understood where he was coming from.

"Uncle, first have a cup of tea, then listen to me explain what you’ll be doing tomorrow and what precautions you should take while working on the water. You’ll need to remember all these things carefully, as it’s easy for accidents to occur otherwise."

Liang, looking serious, nodded, straightened his back, and held his hands properly, looking every bit like a perfect elementary school student.

Xiao’er almost burst into laughter seeing him this way. She coughed lightly to hide her behavior.

"You and a few others will go check the area tomorrow, examining the soil quality on both sides of the river, figuring out the best place to build the bridge, the width of the river at the proposed bridge site, the river’s water level during the rainy season, the highest level the river can reach during a flood, and the approximate speed of the river flow during all seasons... We need to find out all this information."

Liang took note of everything seriously.

"With these data, I’ll design the length of the bridge, the thickness of the piers and their spacing. Then we can discuss the materials to be used. We should try to make the bridge’s lifespan as long as possible since we’re going through the effort of building it. This is not a big river, it’s a small one, and the current is not fast; it’s easy to control the flow, and building the bridge won’t be difficult. I don’t think we’ll even need a pier in the middle." Doing her utmost within her abilities was her typical approach to projects.

Liang nodded to show he understood.

"Do you need me to find some people to come and assist?" Shangguan Xuanyi asked Xiao’er.

"That would be good, we can all learn from each other’s strengths and shortcomings." Having experienced people around was certainly better, it was more efficient when explaining things. Shangguan Xuanyi’s question indicated that he wouldn’t be looking for someone who didn’t understand anything about bridge-building to help her.

He probably planned to find some bridge-building experts from this era.

"Since it’s a bridge project, which qualifies as water-based work, we’ll select workers who are familiar with water, strong, and healthy... and we’ll also need a couple of people who can row a boat. Furthermore, there are certain precautions to observe during bridge construction..." Xiao’er explained everything down to the smallest detail.

Liang dutifully noted them all down.

This era doesn’t have life jackets, helmets, or anti-slip measures... They lack many safety protections. In such a situation, the only thing one can rely on is their awareness and self-protection.

If someone in poor health stays in the water, they’ll fall ill as soon as they come out. What use is that?

If they can’t swim and fall into the water, someone else has to rescue them. Even without a fatal danger, it would still be troublesome! If there is a fatal danger, that would be even more tragic. It would be best if such incidents could be avoided!

"It would be best to choose those who are meticulous in their work." Xiao’er pondered and added another point.

Liang nodded, even when he was recruiting, he would try to pick those who were conscientious, cautious, and attentive.

In their line of work, a moment’s carelessness could lead to someone falling off a house. Even if they survive, they might still sustain a life-long injury. Those who are overly casual wouldn’t work; they could easily end up hurting themselves and others.

The next day, Xiao’er, Shangguan Xuanyi, Liang, and his team set off for the village.

The village chief, hearing from the villagers that they had brought people over, finally had his anxieties eased.

The bridge was a looming worry for the villagers. Although only a few people were coming over to make preparations, the villagers came out en masse to watch.

Some villagers even enthusiastically served tea and water.

Xiao’er couldn’t help but admire their lively spirit. It seemed that love for excitement was a tradition passed down from ancient times in her country.

Liang delegated different tasks to the workers according to what Xiao’er had explained the previous day.

Those who were supposed to measure the river’s width did that, those who checked the water level did that...

The villagers also eagerly offered to help.

When it came to information they needed about the river, the villagers were very thorough and open, keeping no secrets.

Everyone chimed in eagerly to answer.

Well, it’s okay if they’re competing to answer, but can they please not keep changing the subject?

Some even started talking about how their grandfather had heroically rescued a child who had fallen into the river during a flood in the old days - they spent half the day telling this story.

While nodding, Liang tried to steer the conversation back to the main point: "Since the flood was so severe back then, how high did the water level actually rise?"

"That’s not important, brother, listen to me first..." The person waved his hand and picked up where he had been interrupted again.

Liang wanted to cry. The water level is important to me,can we talk about your grandfather’s heroic deeds another time please?

When Xiao’er passed by Liang, she found it amusing to see him mopping his sweat while trying to bring the topic back to the point.

The villagers’ enthusiasm was really overwhelming!

Xiao’er led some people up and down the river bank to inspect the soil quality and nearby environment at a few spots, eventually deciding to build the new bridge next to the previous wooden one.

They should repair the wooden bridge first to facilitate work and transit between the two sides since only a small part of it was broken.

Having a wooden bridge nearby would definitely make the construction of the new bridge easier.

Under the villagers’ fervent barrage of chatter, Liang finally managed to gather all the information he needed to know.

As for the speed of the river flow, the villagers said that as long as it didn’t rain heavily or continuously, there were no floods or severe droughts, the river flowed at about the same speed throughout the year.

Xiao’er took out her tools and instructed the workers to make some measurements. She then roughly calculated the flow speed using the formula she remembered from her physics textbook in her previous life.

She then estimated the quantities of materials needed (cement, steel bar, iron wire, sandstone, plywood, etc.) based on the data Liang had gathered, and told Liang to prepare in advance. They would start transporting the materials the next day and begin construction as soon as the materials arrived.

The village chief held out a calendar, and shared a lot of knowledge about the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams with them.

His ultimate goal was to find an auspicious day to kickstart the construction.

Only then did Xiao’er realize that all the villagers, young and old, were really talkative!

Liang nodded non-stop, apparently agreeing with the village chief.

Xiao’er didn’t mind, as long as the date chosen was the day after tomorrow.

A delay of one or two days wouldn’t really matter, but five days would be a problem.

They should take advantage of the clear weather for the next half month to hurry up and build the bridge. If it rained, it would be troublesome and dangerous to work.

Once the bridge issue was sorted out, Liang left with his team. The villagers even wanted to invite them to have dinner at their houses!

Scared, he quickly left, with a shadow cast over his future visits to the village!

Xiao’er asked the villagers where they could pick mushrooms. A little boy heard her question and enthusiastically said that he knew where the most mushrooms were.

"There are many kinds of mushrooms there, and they grow especially big. This is a secret that only I know." The little boy talked as he led the way.

"Then why are you telling us?" asked Xiao’er with a smile.

"Because my mum said that you are our village’s benefactors, so I have to repay your kindness!" The little boy answered matter-of-factly.

Xiao’er smiled and said, "Your mum is a really good person."

"Of course she is!" replied the little boy, nodding vigorously.

The little boy led them deep into a forest, where indeed there were many mushrooms of various species. However, the place was quite remote.