The father and daughter returned to the market town, and neither of them mentioned what had happened in the county town.

After Zhou Xiang sorted out everything at home, he began to prepare for the final exam.

I also need to clean up the south room again because my third brother and Zuo Heng will be back during summer vacation.

Zhou Yu’s clothing business is doing well and he can earn 20 to 30 yuan per set.

Zhou Niao's painting skills are slowly improving, but he no longer shows his paintings to his family. He always ties them up with rubber bands and keeps them in a plastic box.

The cucumbers in the yard are ready to be picked, the tomatoes are turning red, and the watermelons are as big as balls.

Before he knew it, it was the final exam on the 28th, and Zhou Xiang realized that Ling Ran had not come to see him for two weeks.

It’s good to have some peace and quiet.

When thinking of Ling Ran, one naturally thinks of Yang Ji. She has married into a rich family, so she must look down on the Ling family, right?

He shook his head, wondering if he was too idle to worry about others unnecessarily.

In the classroom, Li Li arrived first again. "Zhou Xiang, congratulations! You got first place in the provincial competition."

"Thanks!"

"What are your plans for summer vacation?"

Zhou Xiang shook his head. "What plans can I make? I'll just stay at home."

"How about I go to your house to study during the summer vacation? My mom always says to me: Your cousin is always trying to get close to Zhou Xiang, and you're in the same class with her, but you don't know how to get closer to her."

Zhou Xiang laughed as she mimicked her mother's voice so well. "Okay, go ahead! My third brother will bring his classmates back during the summer vacation. There will be more people around, so we can finish our homework faster and have more fun."

"Okay, that's great. I'll tell my mom when I get home and see if she still nags me."

The students who came in one after another also congratulated Zhou Xiang.

Zhou Xiangdu nodded and thanked him.

Xie Zhuang stopped by Zhou Xiang's desk and said, "Hey, cousin, can I come to your house to do my homework during the summer vacation? I can also ask you for advice."

Zhou Xiang raised his eyebrows, "How did it become so obvious?"

"Xie Bing is my cousin, a relative. In short, everyone in Xiao Xie Village is your cousin. If you need anything in the future, just call me and I guarantee that a group of people will help you."

Zhou Xiang nodded, "Okay, you said it."

Xie Zhuang patted his chest and said, "Just like I said, if you need anything, call me. I can call a group of people for you."

"Great! That's very loyal. Okay, go ahead. Li Li should go too."

Xie Zhuang happily returned to the last row, having fulfilled his family's instructions.

After two uneventful days of exams, the teacher announced that summer homework would be distributed when students received their report cards on July 4th, and that vacation would begin tomorrow.

There was an immediate cheer in the class. They didn’t have to study or do homework for at least four days.

Li Li and Zhou Xiang walked out of the school gate together, "I will start going to your house on the 5th. I want to have a good time these few days."

"Okay, I have to clean up the house too, otherwise I'll have nowhere to do my homework!"

"Okay, tidy up and clean up, and it would be better if the atmosphere is better."

"How about giving you a whole music with flowers all over the yard?"

"That would be best."

Zhou Xiang gave her a gentle push and said, "You wish!"

When Zhou Xiang returned home, he started to worry about the yard. The yard was more than 90 square meters, and the bathroom and vegetable garden on the east side took up more than half of it.

Of the remaining 40 or so square meters on the west side, one-third is next to the road and the windows of the south room.

It's only about 20 square meters, and it would be crowded if five or six people sat at a table.

And Third Brother and Zuo Heng are coming back, how are they going to live?

Father Zhou saw his little girl hanging around in the yard and the south room and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Let me see how to arrange things for Third Brother and his classmates. Oh, and his classmate Zuo Heng will be here during the summer vacation. Also, two of my classmates need to come over to do their summer homework, and the place is too small."

"How about we get some space at the gate of our yard?"

Zhou Xiang's eyes lit up. That's right, why do we have to go through all the trouble in this place with a bigger butt?

"Yes! Ride your bike to find Master Ma Gua, I'll ask him to help."

"It's already past four o'clock, and you still sent Dad out?"

"The sun is still so high! Go quickly! When you come back, call Fat Uncle over and I'll ask him to make something for me."

"Okay, I'll go right away. Really, you're just saying whatever you want."

Zhou wanted to go back to the house, so he smuggled out two thousand yuan and went to Stationmaster Xie's house.

"Uncle, I want to buy a piece of land in front of my courtyard, extending five meters to the west, and the width should be the same as the width of my courtyard wall."

Xie Lin looked at her speechlessly, "Just use it as you like, why buy it? It's just a waste of money."

"No, I'm afraid that after I fix it, someone else will take a fancy to it. It's better to buy it. Besides, it's cheap, isn't it?"

"Okay, okay, I'll go to the office and call the accountant and cashier."

"Thank you, cousin."

"You're welcome. I was able to build this bathroom so quickly thanks to you."

"ah?"

When Xie Ling told Zhou about the search for the jacket, Zhou realized that his face was still useful.

"Hey, my cousin is taking advantage of me, so when you measure later, be a little looser!"

Xie Lin said unhappily, "What else do you need?"

“It’s missing!”

"Okay, go back and wait."

Not long after Zhou Xiang returned home, Xie Lin also came with the accountant and cashier.

The accountant and cashier are both newly recruited high school students. It seems that my cousin is unwilling to use the old employees because they are too frivolous.

The distance between the north and south walls of the Zhou family's courtyard is 12 meters, and it extends 5 meters to the west, with a total area of ​​60 square meters.

Xie Ling collected 1,200 yuan, the price of a pot house, and left with his people.

Zhou Xiang shook the receipt in his hand, feeling that he had been cheated. He could have gotten a 20% discount if he had bought everything together!

I went back to the house, took out a pen and paper, and drew a few pictures.

Zhou's father came back with Guan Bo and Ma Gua.

"Oh! Think about it, sister, do you have any new ideas?" Ma Gua steadied the newly bought bicycle.

“No matter how good your idea is, it can’t be realized in this shabby place like my house!”

Guan Bo smiled and said, "Think about it, girl, why did your dad ask me to come here?"

Zhou Xiang handed him the blueprint in his hand, "Make the brackets and hanging chains for eight chairs according to this blueprint. I'll use wooden chair tops. Make four tables according to this blueprint. I'll use wooden tabletops. Replace the gate to my courtyard according to this blueprint. Make the frame of the awning according to this blueprint, and measure the location of the gate outside the courtyard."

At the end, there is a small iron gate on a low wall about 1.2 meters high.

"Hey, what are you planning to do?"

"My classmates came to do their homework during the summer vacation. My house is too small, so I extended the entrance five meters outward to build a pavilion."

Take a few people to the outside of the courtyard.

"Master Ma Gua, five meters out from here, there's a 1.2-meter-high hollow wall. You need to rebuild the wall of my courtyard too, otherwise it won't look right. Also, replace the partition wall of the south room with bricks so I can install the door. Hurry, we only have four days."

Ma Gua waved his hand and said, "It's very quick here, but Master Guan's job takes a long time. Also, have you found a carpenter?"

"No! If you have someone you know, bring them along!"

"Yes, we work together. I will bring him here tomorrow."

"good."