Chapter 495: Chapter 495: Backup Plans for Self-Preservation
At this moment, the advantage of having many people became evident. Thousands of men of all ages working together managed to achieve impressive speed.
Following the planned blueprints, Hua Chengtian led everyone tirelessly into action. Among them, Zheng Datian’s family played the biggest role, firing many bricks over the past few months, amassing a large stockpile, which otherwise would have left even the most capable woman with nothing to cook. The rewards were certainly substantial.
Hua Jin couldn’t help much with these tasks, apart from assisting her sisters-in-law with her little nephews at home and pondering how to add new self-defense chips for everyone. After all, she couldn’t forget the vivid red scene in her dreams.
Better to rely on oneself than on others. Although her intervention had already improved the situation in Lingyun State compared to her dreams, they still needed to be prepared for contingencies.
The northern Cang Barbarians were cunning and ferocious. Hua Jin didn’t believe they would retreat easily, and she was genuinely worried whether the city defense troops in Lingyun State could ultimately defend the city.
It’s not about underestimating oneself or overestimating others; Hua Jin had seen the soldiers in the state city with her own eyes. Even with reinforcements from Wing City and Yun City, they barely reached ten thousand. Even if more troops were conscripted later, it was still worrying.
But how could she increase their self-defense advantage? This truly stumped Hua Jin.
The village’s blacksmith shop barely took a day’s rest since the earthquake. The weapons were getting better with each batch, and thanks to the iron materials she provided, they now had a considerable stockpile. It wasn’t enough to equip everyone, but there was no problem supplying the young and strong in the village.
Now they were building a watchtower, and village patrols had begun. Any disturbances could be detected immediately.
Hua Jin’s head ached as she couldn’t figure out a solution. Besides her natural physical strength, she was just an ordinary person.
She wasn’t an omnipotent heroine in a novel; she couldn’t practice medicine or use poison. Her combat power was decent at best; if only she could make gunpowder. She couldn’t help but think about the powerful weapons from her world.
Unfortunately, apart from the knowledge she learned in school, she had no chance to engage with it. She only knew it was made from saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon in certain ratios, but she wasn’t clear on the specifics.
However, she had plenty of materials thanks to her previous stockpiling. She had a good amount of saltpeter and sulfur stored, and Hua Jin felt she could give it a try.
The worst outcome would be failure, but what if she succeeded?
After much inner turmoil, Hua Jin finally decided to give it a shot. The impact of the scenes in her dreams was too great. If she could really make this thing, perhaps she could resolve the current predicament and drive the northern Cang Barbarians out.
There were still many firecrackers in her space, perhaps she could study their component ratios first.
She didn’t know if the files she downloaded contained anything relevant, but she could also search there.
With this in mind, Hua Jin busied herself; she locked herself in her room that day, only showing up for meals.
She didn’t even hold her little nephews anymore, retreating entirely into her space. Fortunately, she informed her family she was working on some research; otherwise, they would have wondered what was going on with her.
Thus, Hua Jin locked herself in her room for several days, only leaving to visit the blacksmith shop at Uncle Zheng’s place.
She also visited the bamboo grove, gathering a bunch of things before locking herself back inside, leaving Grandma Hua and Madam Qi frequently looking at her with concerned eyes.
A few days later, after nearly ten days of self-confinement, Hua Jin finally emerged. Her rare smile was back on her face, putting her family at ease.
"Sister, what were you up to?" Little Si smiled pleasingly at his sister, his curiosity like a cat clawing at his heart.
If he hadn’t feared his sister giving him a hard time, he couldn’t have held back. But seeing his sister’s relaxed mood, he immediately stuck to her door, curiously peering inside, only to be disappointed by the bamboo curtain blocking his view.
"Want to know?" Hua Jin raised her eyes, smiling gently.
"Yes, yes," Little Si nodded eagerly.
"Oh, I’m feeling hungry! And thirsty too," Hua Jin rubbed her stomach.
"Got it, sister, just sit down. Leave it all to your brother," Little Si attentively helped his sister to a round chair in the main room, then hurriedly fetched food from the kitchen and poured her a large bowl of warm water.
Eating, Hua Jin looked at Little Si with satisfaction, "Where’s Mom and Grandpa and Grandma?"
"They went to the wall base to help out?"
"And why didn’t you go? Are you slacking off?" Hua Jin squinted, with a fierce look in her eyes, scaring Little Si into shaking his head, then he extended one of his feet.
Looking aggrieved, he said, "Sis, you don’t care about your brother; your own brother is injured, limping, and you didn’t even notice."
"Injured?" Hua Jin looked at the foot Little Si extended, a bit of guilt flashing through her eyes.
She really hadn’t noticed earlier; mainly because this child didn’t show any signs of injury. He seemed too normal. How would she have thought about it?
Seeing his swollen foot, Hua Jin felt distressed, "How did this happen, how did it swell so badly? You’re a fool for standing. Sit down quickly!" Hua Jin gave Little Si a slap and then pushed this troublesome child into a chair, lifting the injured foot onto another chair.
Even though he got slapped, Little Si grinned happily as his sister was concerned about him.
"Sister, it’s nothing. I don’t feel pain. It just means I can’t work for a few days, hehe..." He laughed, clearly pleased about not having to work. More than work, he loved practicing martial arts, though unfortunately, he couldn’t even practice now.
"How did it happen?"
"Just got hit," Little Si said with complete nonchalance, not telling his sister it was because he was rescuing someone when it happened.
"How could you be so careless? What did the doctor say?"
"Grandpa Sun said there’s no bone injury, so it’s okay. It’ll heal in a few days."
"Let’s see if you remain reckless in the future."
"Absolutely not," Little Si promised, but couldn’t help his curiosity as he glanced at his sister’s room, shifting his seat closer to her.
"Sister, you haven’t said what you were working on in the room all these days. It was so mysterious."
Glancing at her brother, this time Hua Jin didn’t dismiss it, "I researched some things. I don’t know if they’ll work, and they need testing."
"Definitely! Anything Sister researches is bound to work," Little Si immediately said with confidence, his interest undiminished. "Sister, when do we test it? I’ll go with you," he said very naturally.
"You..." Hua Jin looked at him suspiciously.
"Uh-huh," he nodded eagerly, eyes sparkling as he looked at his sister.
"...Better not go, do you not want your foot?"
"It’s fine, almost healed, no problem. I can walk, really, no problem. I even brought food for Sister just now."
Little Si was anxious. If he wasn’t allowed to go, how could that be? He had been curious for days.