Even in this day and age, young people, unless they’re utterly neglected by their families, are still required to help out with some form of work at home.
And this is even more prevalent in rural towns and villages. Those who do not work or work poorly are referred to pejoratively as those who "refuse to become the hand of god". They’re subjected to ridicule and ostracization. When it comes to marriage, they’d likely have to seek a mate who is at a distance from the local community and unfamiliar with the situation, as those who know them best disdain these types of individuals.
Only those who frequently work can see a thing and estimate its weight based on feeling. Those who have never done physical labor, have no concept of it. When asked to work, their high expectations rarely match their actual abilities and accidents are likely to happen. A back injury from bending over to lift a bag of wheat, or a twist in the hip from moving heavy objects are common occurrences. Would anyone appreciate that?
So, these young men who were following Yan Fei, could perceive the impressive sight only because of their work experience. If they didn’t have such experience or understanding, they would only see a large stone slab and think: "This person must be really strong! I can’t even lift a small stone. I have no idea how incredibly strong this person is!"
While Yan Fei was drained from carrying the large stone slab, he was pleased. He thought: "Wow, I didn’t realize I had this much strength!"
Nobody would casually pick up heavy objects for the sake of testing their strength. Yan Fei had been worried about not being able to lift it before he tried! Turns out, it was fine, albeit a bit tiring.
"Slow down, slow down, the road is a bit challenging to navigate. When you get to the small stone bridge, watch your step..." advised Heizi, who was carrying a shovel and leading the way. His mouth never stopped moving and incessantly reminded Yan Fei to rest if he got tired.
Yan Fei couldn’t be bothered to respond. Talking too much would only distract him and potentially drain his energy.
When they were nearing the small stone bridge, Yan Fei slowed down and asked Heizi, "Why don’t you go over it first, see if it’s safe? I don’t want to step on it and have it collapse all of a sudden!"
"Hmm, okay, take it slow..." Heizi nodded in response while behaving almost like a traitor in a war film, guiding enemy soldiers through the tunnel warfare. He went up to the small stone bridge and started jumping on it.
Although they called it a stone bridge, it was actually a small drainage ditch with two long slabs of stone placed side by side. Each of these slabs was only slightly longer than the one Yan Fei was carrying.
After a few jumps, Heizi felt it was not too safe, so he hurriedly shouted, "Step on the ends when you walk, try not to step in the middle. I don’t think it can withstand your weight if you step in the middle!"
"Okay! Let me try!" Yan Fei answered and carefully edged a little to the left side of the road before attempting to turn around.
The road’s left side harbored a water drainage ditch, over which was the stone bridge, while the right side was covered in crops making the crop field much higher than where he was standing. Yan Fei had to be careful with the maneuver, worried about hitting the stone slab he was carrying.
As he was about to turn beside the stone bridge, he heard something crashing behind him, followed by an exclamation. When he turned to look, he found several young people behind him, all with dazed expressions, and Xu Xiaoyan and her sister were there as well, looking equally startled. He asked subconsciously, "What happened?"
"Nothing, it’s fine..." among the silent crowd, this response came from the crop field behind him. A young man, covered in dirt, was getting up from the ground.
As it turns out, the young men who had been following him couldn’t believe what they had witnessed, so one of them, against the advice of the others, had climbed up onto the crop ridges. He pursued Yan Fei from behind wanting to touch the stone slab to see if it was real.
While they knew it was real, not being able to touch it made everything seem surreal.
In Yan Fei’s focus on the bridge’s ability to carry his load, he hadn’t noticed the young man standing at a higher point. The youth had leaned over and tried to touch the slab when Yan Fei turned around, inadvertently knocking him over with the stone slab.
The young man instinctively tried to use both arms to block the stone slab, but was unable to withstand the force and was swept into the crop field.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. Yan Fei was carrying a heavy load, so his turning speed was quite slow, and the young man was unprepared, so he didn’t exert much force either, avoiding serious injury to his arms. The field was soft with tall corn seedlings, so the youth got up unharmed, except for the mud all over him and the destruction of some corn seedlings around him.
Once Yan Fei understood the situation, he proceeded to step onto the stone bridge.
It was okay. The stone bridge didn’t have any support underneath, it was directly placed on the ground. Although it sank a bit when Yan Fei stepped on it, it seemed it could take the weight.
After taking a couple of steps, the other end of the bridge also went down slightly, making the slab under Yan Fei’s feet lower than the other.
Upon seeing Yan Fei prepare to cross the bridge, Xu Xiaoyan and Heizi came running. They cheered him on anxiously: "Slow down, slow down!"
Newt only Xu Xiaoyan and Heizi, but also the youth who was watching Yan Fei nervously, all were helping him by shouting words of caution and encouragement.
Once past the stone bridge, they entered the residential area. At this time of day, there weren’t many people around, mainly children and old people. Most of the young people were out, either at the market or working in the fields. Not all households in the town depended solely on purchasing foodstuffs, many still had their own lands.