Chapter 99: It's not even as much money as Grandma Xi has.

Grandma Xi, who was cleaning up the dishes inside the house, accidentally dropped a bowl, and Grandpa Chen came out with a sullen face.

Chen Xiangheng froze as he reached the corner, then quickly took a few more steps.

Once out of sight of everyone, he took off running.

In short, with Shen Xuewei adding fuel to the fire, the two families may no longer be able to remain relatives.

After Shen Xuewei finished complaining, she went back to her room and helped Grandma Xi clean up the dishes.

After everything was tidied up, she caught a glimpse of Grandpa Chen walking towards the back mountain with a cigarette in his mouth, so she urged Grandma Xi to get down to the ground quickly.

She made an excuse that her stomach hurt a little, and that she would go to the field with Grandpa Chen after he finished using the toilet.

Grandma Xi nodded, "Okay, then stay close to your grandpa later, and remember to wear a hat so you don't get heatstroke."

After Shen Xuewei agreed, she slung her basket over her shoulder, took a hoe and water, and went to the fields with Granny Chen.

As soon as her family left, she picked up the phone and called Chen Fangyang.

When Chen Fangyang received the call, he thought it was his maternal grandmother calling. As soon as the call connected, he subconsciously called out, "Mom."

"Sigh." Shen Xuewei only realized what was going on after she casually agreed.

Taking advantage of Chen Fangyang's anger, she quickly said, "Second Uncle, if Grandpa asks you anything later, just say yes to everything, and don't say anything else."

Before Chen Fangyang could react, she slammed the phone down.

Completely bewildered, Chen Fangyang took off his sunglasses and stared blankly at the phone that had been hung up on.

"You say everything, what does that mean?"

When Grandpa Chen returned from the back mountain, Shen Xuewei had already prepared her things and was waiting to go down to the fields with him.

After everything was ready, Grandpa Chen closed the door, and the two of them walked together toward the field.

The four of them worked hard in the fields all afternoon, and by sunset they had finally finished planting several plots of land nearby. They then carried their hoes and went home together.

After returning home, the group rested for a while to recover.

Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen took out cigarettes, lit them with a match, and sat outside the door, enjoying the breeze and puffing away.

Grandma Xi propped herself up from the stool, looking at Shen Xuewei.

"Weiwei, go to the vegetable garden and pick some greens, and while you're at it, bring our cow back."

Shen Xuewei got up with weak legs and responded listlessly.

"Okay, Grandma."

By the time she dawdled on her way to the vegetable garden, Grandma Xi had already washed the pot and rinsed the rice, placed it on a tripod, and started a fire to cook the rice.

She picked vegetables from the garden and then found the cow on the hill not far away.

He led the cow to the cow pen, tied it up, closed the door, and took the vegetables home.

Before long, the meal was ready at home. Everyone extinguished the fire and gathered around the fire pit to eat together.

Mimi and Dahuang each occupied one of Shen Xuewei's feet, pressing down on her feet and refusing to leave.

The food remained on her feet for as long as she ate.

After everyone finished eating, she stood up as she was about to clear the dishes and felt that both her legs were a little numb.

Dahuang stuck out its tongue and came closer, wanting to lick Chen Xuewei again.

Shen Xuewei turned her head to the side, quickly stood up, and scoffed, "Get lost."

After chasing the yellow dog away, she scooped up some water, washed the dishes and chopsticks, and put them away in the cupboard.

There was no fan at home, but the natural breeze from the mountains at night was very cool and comfortable, so the whole family took stools and went outside to enjoy the cool air.

Shen Xuewei was holding a learning machine and sitting on the drying ground learning English.

After finishing her meal at home, Wu Yuhong looked out the back door at the Chen family's house and saw Shen Xuewei sitting on the drying ground. She quickly ran over and joined her in studying.

After eating and drinking her fill, Granny Chen lay on her recliner, smoking and squinting her eyes in great enjoyment.

Grandpa Chen, wearing his reading glasses, flipped through the calendar, looking for an auspicious day to start construction on the house.

Grandma Xi was inside the house. She cut up the watermelon that Chen Fangli had brought a couple of days ago, put it on a bamboo woven plate, and brought it out to greet everyone:

"Come and eat some watermelon. This watermelon has been sitting for two days, and I'm afraid it will spoil if we don't eat it soon."

Shen Xuewei placed the learning machine in Wu Yuhong's arms and then took a few slices of watermelon from each of them.

He handed one piece to Grandpa Chen, one piece to Grandma Chen on the recliner, and then took two more pieces back to Wu Yuhong's side and handed her one.

Wu Yuhong took the watermelon and whispered, "Thank you, Weiwei."

Shen Xuewei smiled, then lowered her head and took a bite of the watermelon.

After chewing it and swallowing a mouthful, I tasted the watermelon...

"Grandma, why does this watermelon smell like garlic and a little spicy?"

Upon hearing this, Grandma Xi also took a bite, and after realizing what she meant, she said with some annoyance:

"Oh dear, that cleaver was used to smash garlic and chop chili peppers earlier, so it probably wasn't washed properly and the smell is still on it."

"It's okay, I think it tastes pretty good too, you'll get used to it."

Shen Xuewei held the watermelon, unsure whether to eat it or not.

In the end, I still managed to finish the garlic-flavored watermelon, bite by bite.

After finishing the piece in her hand, she refused to eat a second one. However, seeing that Wu Yuhong had finished hers, she quickly gave her another piece.

Wu Yuhong was quite used to the multi-flavored watermelon, and after getting another slice, she thanked Shen Xuewei.

Fortunately, the watermelon wasn't very big, so Grandma Xi sent some over to her second maternal grandparents next door, and everyone finished the whole watermelon together.

Grandpa Chen flipped through the calendar in his hand, selected a few days, and asked Grandma Xi to help him decide.

Grandma Xi glanced at it, then waved her palm-leaf fan and said:

“I feel pretty good these past few days. But the first date is just too close, and we haven’t prepared anything yet. What if we set a date but can’t find a driver who can come? That would be a waste.”

"Let's ask the construction workers when they'll be available, and then we can discuss the date."

Grandpa Chen thought about it and agreed, so he put away the calendar and decided to wait until tomorrow to find a house builder in a nearby village to make a decision.

After everyone had left and the family had gone to sleep, he and his grandmother counted the money in their room and sighed softly.

“We said we were building a house, but we don’t have much money. We can only afford to build one story, which looks rather shabby. I was thinking that if we’re going to build one, we should build two stories. Then, the two brothers, A-Yang and A-Qiu, can each have one story, so we won’t have any disputes in the future.”

Grandma Xi glanced at the money in his hand, then turned around and rummaged under her pillow, taking out two packets of money.

“This is the money Alan gave me over the years. I’ve saved it all and haven’t touched it. There’s about eight thousand yuan in it all.”

"And this bag, Ah Yang gave it to me... Don't glare at me, I didn't tell you before because I was afraid you'd be angry, right? Besides, that kid shoved the money into my hand and ran off so fast, I couldn't catch him..."

"He gave me a total of more than 10,000 yuan. Adding the money I have, you can calculate how much we still need. If it's not enough, we can borrow some more from relatives and pay it back later."

Grandpa Chen opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't dare to say it.

He only had a little over ten thousand yuan in his hand, which was less than what his grandmother had.