Dulu's Harvest

Dulu was Tami Village's only carpenter. Unlike others who followed their fathers into the mountains to hunt, he had been frail since childhood and was often bullied by the other children in the village. He was somewhat timid, and the other kids would mock him, calling him a coward.

But he loved making crafts, especially after his father carved a small figure out of a piece of wood and gave it to him. From then on, he fell in love with carpentry, constantly pestering his father to teach him the trade.

However, Dulu's father wasn't a carpenter; he was just a skilled hunter. Life's experiences had taught him a few carpentry tricks, but he couldn't teach Dulu much more, as his main occupations were farming and hunting.

Dulu quickly learned the few carpentry skills his father knew. Afterward, through his father, he sought advice from other villagers, but this poor little village didn't have many people who understood carpentry. Most of them, like Dulu's father, only knew a few basic tricks.

Young Dulu was very disheartened. No one in the village could teach him carpentry anymore. To learn more, he had to go to a big city. He heard that Twain City, the nearest city, had highly skilled carpenters, but Dulu had never left Tami Village. He hadn't even been to the nearby Crison Fort, so how could he dare go to Twain City alone?

Moreover, his family couldn't afford it. Their already poor household, coupled with Dulu's fear of hunting in the mountains, made life increasingly difficult. Seeing his aging father still hunting in the mountains day after day for the family, with little success, Dulu knew he had to do something for them.

Dulu gave up the unrealistic idea of going to Twain City to learn a trade and stayed in Tami Village, the poor place where he was born and raised. Dulu began to use his skills to help his family.

First, he started helping villagers repair and build houses. He also used his craftsmanship to make furniture like wooden tables and chairs. Since the villagers didn't have much money, they could only exchange game and food with Dulu. Although he didn't earn much, it was enough to support his family.

And Dulu's craftsmanship was indeed much better than anyone else's in the village. The furniture he built was not only sturdy and durable but also beautiful, and the houses he constructed were more robust. Slowly, the villagers recognized Dulu's carpentry profession. Whenever they needed something or lacked furniture, they would come to Dulu.

But Dulu never gave up on refining his carpentry skills. With no one to teach him, Dulu taught himself, often making mistakes but never losing his enthusiasm.

Now Dulu was married with children, a son of seven or eight and a daughter of four or five. Dulu's happiest moments were when his children looked at him with admiration as he worked with wood. His family's life was decent; they could barely afford food and drink for everyone. Like most people in the village, there were still days when they went hungry. Just as Dulu thought he would spend the rest of his life this way, he heard that a Lord had arrived in their village.

The next day, Colin, the village chief, came to Dulu's house and told him that the Lord who had arrived yesterday was their liege, who would be staying there and building a Noble Estate. Dulu was the most skilled carpenter in the village, so Chief Colin planned to have Dulu lead the villagers in constructing the estate.

Dulu was overjoyed. Building an estate for a Lord—what an honorable task! And to be in charge himself! All these years of dedicated study finally had a purpose. Dulu patted his chest, promising to build a beautiful estate for the Lord.

Early the next morning, Dulu got up early and went to Chief Colin's house. Chief Colin introduced Dulu to Lord Nord's steward, Abel. Abel was in charge of the estate's construction. When Colin mentioned that Dulu was the best carpenter in the village, Dulu noticed Steward Abel looking at him a few extra times. Dulu puffed out his chest, held his head high, and showed what he thought was his most confident smile.

Steward Abel didn't say much. He told Chief Colin to gather the villagers at the estate construction site, then led Dulu there.

Along the way, Steward Abel asked Dulu many questions about the estate's construction. Dulu racked his brain to answer, but Steward Abel only nodded, without much expression, which disheartened Dulu somewhat.

Upon arriving at the estate's chosen site, Steward Abel explained his vision for the estate to Dulu, as well as the shortcomings of Dulu's previous answers. This pleasantly surprised Dulu. As expected of a Lord's steward, he's truly much more capable than us commoners. So, Dulu shamelessly asked Abel many questions about estate construction. Seeing that the villagers hadn't arrived yet, Abel answered Dulu's questions one by one.

Just as Dulu was listening intently to Steward Abel's explanation, he suddenly noticed Steward Abel stopping. It turned out that the villagers had almost completely gathered. Dulu felt a bit unsatisfied but also knew he couldn't waste time, so he followed Steward Abel to arrange the villagers' work.

Soon, Lord Nord arrived at the construction site and divided the villagers into six small teams. Dulu, as expected, was chosen as a team leader and assigned to logging.

Dulu was very experienced in logging. Constantly working with wood, he naturally knew how to fell trees quickly. Dulu didn't hold back, selflessly teaching all his logging techniques to the villagers, including those in the other team.

As a result, for two consecutive days, both logging teams exceeded their progress targets, greatly surprising Steward Abel. Dulu felt a little smug seeing Steward Abel's astonished expression.

After learning that all the credit belonged to Dulu, Steward Abel praised Dulu in front of everyone and immediately kept Dulu by his side as an assistant. Dulu was overjoyed. More than being a team leader, Dulu wanted to stay with Abel and learn more. Yesterday, Abel's simple answers to a few of Dulu's questions had made Dulu too excited to sleep. Previously incomprehensible problems were suddenly clear, and some vague ideas now made perfect sense.

Afterward, Steward Abel called Dulu aside, opened the wooden box at his feet, and said to Dulu:

"As per Lord Nord's instructions, each villager's pay is ten Copper Be and one jin of grain. We'll distribute it together later."

While Dulu was still a bit stunned, Steward Abel took twenty Copper Be from the wooden box. After a moment's thought, he took out a Silver Thaler from his pocket and handed them all to Dulu.

"This is your pay for the past two days. This Silver Thaler is your bonus. Your techniques can save construction time for the estate. From now on, your daily pay as my assistant will increase to fifty Copper Be."

Seeing the Copper Be and the shining Silver Thaler in his hand, Dulu's eyes welled up. After all these years, this was the first time he had received actual wages. Previously, the villagers' Copper Be came from selling furs, which were very precious, and they were reluctant to pay Dulu with them, always exchanging for game or grain instead. So, Dulu had never received a single Copper Be before. Now, the wages in his hand felt heavy, pressing heavily on Dulu's heart.

Abel patted Dulu's shoulder and walked towards the villagers. Dulu wiped away his tears, put the hard-earned wages into his pocket, picked up the wooden box, and followed Abel. Dulu understood that the greatest reward for him in the past decade wasn't the Silver Thaler in his pocket, but the figure walking ahead in the distance. He had to keep up with his pace.

Thank you to wildream for two consecutive days of rewards, and thank you to all readers for your recommendation tickets. If you truly like this book, please help promote it! I will do my best to write this book well.