The two of them went to Aunt Zhang's house arm in arm. Zhang Liuzhi was sharing good news with Aunt Zhang, handing over his last month's salary to her.

"Mom, this is my last day working as a substitute at the food factory. They said I did a good job, had perfect attendance every month, and the manager was satisfied, so they gave me an extra two yuan!"

"I'll go to work as usual tomorrow, so I won't lose any work points!"

At that time, the purchasing power of 2 yuan was quite substantial.

Aunt Zhang put together her wages from the past few months, checked them over and over again, and said happily:

"Now you'll have plenty of money for your wedding dowry. After spring planting is over, Mom will find a matchmaker!"

Zhang Liuzhi chuckled foolishly:

"Mom, there's no rush. I want to build my own house first, and then we can talk about getting married!"

Aunt Zhang stared at Zhang Liuzhi, looking him up, down, left, and right:

"Six Fingers, did you do something wrong while walking alone at night? Should I call someone for you?"

As if making a decision, Aunt Zhang held up two fingers, gesturing as she said:

"Get off, get off, get off! I don't care who you are, get off my son right now, or you'll regret it!"

Seeing that Aunt Zhang had misunderstood, Zhang Liuzhi explained:

"Mom, I'm telling you the truth. Even if you find a wife, without a house, with all the trouble in our family, it'll only make her suffer with me. Why wouldn't I marry her then!"

Aunt Zhang understood this principle, but the problem was that she didn't have the money. Building a house was not something that could be decided with just a few words.

Aunt Zhang advised Six Fingers:

"We have to adapt to our circumstances. This is all we can do; we can only try our best to treat the girl well!"

"It's not that Mom is stingy with the money, the problem is it's really not enough. This 82 yuan is definitely enough for you to get married, but it's at least half short of building a house!"

Zhang Liuzhi touched his head:

"Mom, there's something I forgot to tell you. The foreman of the loading and unloading team told me that someone else in the team is not doing a good job and is slacking off. I'll go back and replace that person after the harvest season is over."

"The team leader spoke with the person who was looking for a replacement worker, and they agreed. After the harvest season next month, I'll go back to continue doing the replacement work!"

"Although this is only for two months, the team leader said that if anyone else has something to do, I will fill in!"

Zhang Liuzhi was a hard worker. Although he was a substitute for someone else, he never slacked off and was always the first to take on any task.

As for substitute workers, the factory doesn't care, but the loading and unloading team leader definitely has to approve their work, otherwise they won't get full attendance bonuses or anything like that. If the substitute worker doesn't do a good job and the team leader isn't satisfied, they'll deduct it from their pay, and there's nothing you can do about it.

So the loading and unloading team leader was indeed able to introduce this job.

Aunt Zhang was overjoyed:

"You silly child, why didn't you tell me about this great news sooner? It scared me so much! I thought you were bewitched!"

Zhang Liuzhi continued to grin foolishly:

“Mom, I’ve calculated it all. If I work for another two months, I can bring back more than 30 yuan. I still owe some money for building the house. I want to transfer this house to my brother and his family.”

The house Zhang Liuzhi was referring to was the one he was given after the family division.

Aunt Zhang thought for a moment and nodded in agreement:

"Okay, I'll sound out your brother and the others later, but they're all poor and stingy, so you won't be able to contribute much."

Zhang Liuzhi understood:

“Just give them 30 yuan. They can afford that. If not, they can borrow some. They can definitely make up the difference.”

"With this extra 30 yuan, I can break the mud bricks myself. That should be enough for the basic frame of the house. As for the furniture, I discussed it with Erlaizi. He told me not to waste money and to just go and pester his dad."