Someone came to deliver something?

Li Weidong and Zhao Xiulian exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Who could it be?

When Li Weidong went outside and saw who it was, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Brother Ji, it's you!"

Standing outside the door was none other than Ji Dahai!

Ji Dahai greeted him with a smile: "Brother Weidong, I heard you're building a house..."

Li Weidong was startled: "You don't actually want to help me build my house, do you?!"

That shouldn't be happening!

Ji Dahai is such a big boss, and the two of them don't need to use this method to get closer, right?

"No way!"

Ji Dahai shook his head: "I haven't done any manual labor in years. Even if you asked me to build a house for you, I couldn't do it!"

"I heard you were building a house, so I brought you some vegetables and meat so you wouldn't have to go and buy them yourself."

He then shouted to his underlings behind him, "What are you all standing there for? Carry the stuff into the yard!"

He drove over in two cars, and several of his underlings hurriedly unloaded the items from the trunks.

First and foremost was half a large, fat pig, followed by boxes and boxes of fruits and vegetables, and even rice, flour, and cooking oil, piled up to fill half the yard.

Zhao Xiulian was so shocked she couldn't close her mouth: "Why did you bring so much stuff? How much does this cost?!"

Ji Dahai quickly shook his head: "Auntie, no need for money, this is what I brought for your family to build a new house."

He rubbed his hands together and laughed, "I originally wanted to come and help this brother build a house, but I really can't do masonry work. I figured Brother Weidong isn't short of money. I can't help with other things, but I can bring some vegetables and meat."

"It just so happens that I own a restaurant, so the purchase price of these things is very cheap!"

Actually, he had no idea that Li Weidong was going to build a new house. It was one of his waiters who happened to be from the next village. He mentioned that people from several nearby villages were eager to come and help build the house.

I only found out about this after asking.

Ji Dahai had always wished he could become sworn brothers with Li Weidong, and now that he had such a good opportunity to curry favor, he certainly wouldn't miss it.

Li Weidong guessed what he was thinking and couldn't help but laugh and cry: "There's no need to be so polite."

"Yes, we'll need it!"

Ji Dahai quickly said, "Anyway, you're asking people to build houses and you're supposed to provide meals. Instead of buying your own groceries, I'll bring them to you. If it's not enough, just let me know and I'll bring more. Don't be shy with me!"

As if afraid Li Weidong would return the items, he drove off with a few of his underlings.

Looking at the yard full of vegetables and meat, Zhao Xiulian said, "Wei Dong, why don't you go after him and give him some money?"

Li Weidong shook his head: "Forget it, we'll just use it since it's been delivered. He's not short of money."

After all, even disregarding the profits from alcohol sales in the Yangtze River Delta region, the profits from just the Kongfujia liquor agency rights in northern Inner Mongolia far exceed those from Ji Dahai's Wenhe Hotel.

What's wrong with taking some vegetables and meat from him?

With vegetables and meat in hand, the next step is to think about cooking.

Although it was said long ago that because there are too many people, the meals will be simple. Every day, we just need to deliver the food to the homestead so that everyone can make do with what they have there.

Even if we keep things simple, cooking for so many people is still a huge undertaking.

Zhao Xiulian was a little worried: "It's a pity your sister and Xiaoye have to go to school, otherwise they could help out at home..."

"Isn't that simple?"

Li Weidong laughed and said, "Why don't we just ask my aunt and the others to come and help?"

"We prepare the meals every day and let them pack some to take home themselves."

As for wages, even if they were offered, they definitely wouldn't accept them.

Zhao Xiulian suddenly realized and quickly said, "Oh, I was confused too. I'll go find them right now!"

As for bricks, stones, cement, and the like, there's no need to worry about those; they were prepared beforehand, and now we just need to wait for construction to begin.

...

The next day, construction on the new house resumed, and hundreds of people arrived, completely blocking the entire construction site.

Li Weidong wanted to go in and check on the progress, but he couldn't squeeze in.

Li Baotian also came over. Seeing him standing to the side, he said with a smile, "Weidong, you certainly built this house with ease."

"you do not say!"

Li Weidong was both amused and exasperated: "I really didn't expect so many people to come and help. Now we can't even see what the building looks like."

Li Baotian patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, I saw that old craftsman from Xiejia Village coming over. He's built houses for people his whole life, and he's trustworthy in terms of layout design and everything else."

"With him here, you don't need to worry about this house."

These days, without professional construction teams, how to build a house depends entirely on the guidance of experienced craftsmen.

These master craftsmen not only know how to build houses, but also need to understand things like feng shui to ensure that the houses they build are safe and secure to live in.

Hearing this, Li Weidong was relieved: "Then I'll go home."

Since I can't squeeze in here anyway, I might as well go home and do my accounting and business plan!

While Li Weidong was busy in the room, Zhao Xiulian was leading several women in cooking.

With so many people building houses, there's naturally a lot of food to cook, but there's no need to worry at all.

Five or six people work together to roll out dough, cook rice and stir-fry vegetables. In less than half an hour, bowls of food are ready. When it's time to eat, they are delivered to the homestead.

Everyone was working enthusiastically when they suddenly smelled the aroma and were all drawn over.

"Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready!"

Zhao Xiulian called out, "The conditions are simple, so you'll have to eat standing up. There are steamed buns and rice; choose whatever you want."

"There's food here, everyone eat as much as you like, there's more at home if you're still hungry!"

A group of villagers rushed over, and when they saw the vegetables in the basin, they were all astonished.

There were three dishes in total: one was stir-fried cabbage with sliced ​​pork, one was stir-fried eggs with persimmons, and one was braised pork. They were all glistening with oil, making your mouth water just looking at them.

Generally, when a house is built, meals are provided, and the dishes are usually pretty much the same. Whatever vegetables are available in the garden are used to cook, except that there is more pork added compared to the usual home-cooked meals.

Even when meat is added, it's usually very meager; there are hardly any pieces of meat in a dish, just enough to satisfy a craving.

The dishes that Li Weidong's family delivered were so full of meat that you could hardly see the vegetables!

Especially that pot of braised pork, with big chunks of pork, rich and dark in sauce, it was incredibly tempting.

If you didn't see it with your own eyes, who would believe it?

"Aunt Xiulian, you've really gone all out with these dishes!"

"Exactly, pork is so expensive, why would we need so much?"

"If you keep eating like this, your family will go broke. Don't spend so much next time."

"Just stir-fry a few dishes, no need to go to all that trouble."

Everyone swallowed hard while trying to persuade Zhao Xiulian not to waste money.

Zhao Xiulian laughed: "Building a house is hard work. You've put aside your own work to build a house for my family, so you certainly won't be shortchanged on food."

"Stop talking so much, come and eat!"