Chapter 284 Chapter 285: Gone

"Alas! It's all fate!" The old man put out the leaf tobacco in his pipe, stood up and said, "It's getting dark, second son, come with me to guard the construction site today."

"Oh!" Zhou Huaijun got up, picked up his phone and followed the old man to the construction site.

Craftsmen these days not only do not cheat or cheat when working, but also pay attention to speed and quality. In just one day, the bluestone slabs for the two houses had been placed.

A shed was built next to the thatched shed where the cement was stored, and a wooden bed was built inside for the night watchmen to sleep on.

The grandfather and grandson went to the earthen kiln first. The kiln had been sealed this morning. In the next two days, they only had to make bricks and tiles, which was relatively easy.

Father Zhou saw the two men coming over and asked, "Old man, why are you here too?"

"Today, Huaijun and I will be on guard together. It's your turn to go back and rest for the night."

"You and Huairong go back, Huaijun and I will guard it."

"How can anyone bear to guard here every day?" The old man drove the father and son back without saying a word.

After the two men left, the grandfather and grandson stayed at the brick kiln, one while the other went to the construction site.

In the middle of the night, a dark shadow, under the cold moonlight, tiptoed towards the thatched hut where the night watchman was staying. Hearing the snoring coming from inside, he quickly went into the hut where the cement was stored, picked up a bag of cement in the dark, and tiptoed out of the hut.

Turning around the mountain behind the foundation, they entered the grove where Zhou Huaian and his companions were catching lazy cicadas.

Someone came out of the woods. It turned out to be Xiong Er's wife. "Old Er, did you get it?"

"I got it. There's a lot of it piled up in the shed, at least ten tons!" Xiong Lao Er put down the cement. "Wait here, I'll get another bag."

"Be careful, don't let Zhou find out."

"I could hear his snoring from a long distance away. He slept like a dead pig and couldn't be woken up even by thunder."

"Oh! Then bring back two more bags."

“Yes!”

This time, Bear No. 2 was much braver. He walked into the straw shed with ease and carried away a bag of cement as usual. Not long after, he carried another bag back to the grove, "Wait here, I'll get a few more bags."

The woman nodded happily, "Yes, go and come back soon."

Zhou Huaijun was sleeping soundly and had no idea how many bags of cement had been stolen.

The next morning, Zhou Huaijun had just gotten out of bed when his father and Zhou Huairong came over. "Old man, have you had your meal?"

"After eating, go call grandpa to eat. We'll mix the mortar first, and then start working when Old Cai comes." Father Zhou and the other man walked straight to the straw shed.

After the two of them went in, Father Zhou looked at the cement inside and asked, "Boss, why is this pile of cement so much shorter?"

Zhou Huairong also felt something was wrong and hurriedly counted. "Five bags of cement were used in this pile yesterday, and there were twelve bags left. Now there are only ten bags. The other two piles have not been touched, and two bags are missing. Six bags of cement were missing overnight."

The father and son looked at each other and said, "There's a thief."

Father Zhou hurried out of the shed and called out to Zhou Huaijun who was walking towards the kiln, "Second brother, come and see if anyone entered the shed last night?"

After hearing this, Zhou Huaijun turned around and ran over, "No one has ever been into the straw hut!"

Zhou Huairong pointed at the pile of cement and said, "After the cement was brought back, we stacked it ourselves. There are seventeen bags in a pile..."

Zhou Huaijun rubbed his eyes and took a closer look. Sure enough, there were only ten bags left. Two bags of cement were missing from the other two piles. He was so distressed that he squatted on the ground with his head in his hands. "It's all my fault. I slept too soundly last night."

Father Zhou sighed distressedly, thinking that it was because everyone was too tired during this period, otherwise he wouldn't have heard anything. If it doesn't work, ask two more people to help, otherwise it will be troublesome if they get too tired.

Zhou Huairong patted Zhou Huaijun who was squatting there scratching his hair, "Don't be angry, he has already stolen it, just be alert tonight."

When he said this, his eyes rolled, "Old man, go to the brigade and tell Secretary Xu about the thieves. Don't let anyone know. The thieves will probably come again if they think we don't know about it."

"Yes!" Zhou Huaijun gritted his teeth and said, "When the bastard saw that we didn't make any noise, he thought we didn't count and he will definitely come again."

Father Zhou nodded and said, "Then don't tell anyone. Don't let your mother know. Women will show their feelings on their faces. Don't let your grandfather know, either, to save him from feeling bad."

"I understand."

Father Zhou thought about it and said, "When we catch the thief, let the youngest son bring the dog down from the mountain to guard the construction site, so that he won't fall asleep and not know when someone comes."

"Yes." The two brothers answered in unison.

After the father and his two sons had discussed it, Zhou Huaijun went to call the old man to eat.

Zhou's father went to Secretary Xu's home and told him about the theft. He then went to a family he was familiar with and asked two people to help with the work.

When I walked to the main road, I saw Xu Hongbing coming from the brigade with his hands waving, and thought: Could this bastard be the one who stole the cement?

Xu Hongbing glanced at him and walked back. When he passed by the Xiong family, he saw Xiong Laoer coming over with a bucket of water and quickly stepped aside.

Xiong Lao Er looked at him with a smile, "Hong Bing, where are you from so early?"

The sun is rising from the west? Xu Hongbing thought and looked at him strangely, "Buy some matches!"

"Oh!" Xiong Laoer nodded, carrying a bucket into the yard and going to the kitchen, "Hongxiu, his family didn't find it!"

"Really?" He Hongxiu looked at him in surprise, "How about we get a few more bags?"

Xiong Laoer thought for a moment and said, "Let's take a look first. If the Zhou family finds out, we won't be able to escape if we go again."

…

When Zhou Huaijun and the old man arrived home, Zhang Xiuxiang and her two sisters-in-law had already gone to the riverbank.

There are two sand screening nets on the rocky beach, one for screening fine sand and the other for screening gravel.

The three men shoveled up the sand and gravel with a shovel and piled them together, then poured them onto the sieve, sifting out the fine sand and gravel for building the house. They waited for Zhou Huaishan to come back with the vegetables, and then drove a tractor to transport them home.

Li Qiuyue shoveled and pried more than ten times in succession, "Sister-in-law, do you think Chunyan and the others can find anything good when they go up the mountain this time?"

Zhao Huifang paused for a moment and said, "Chunyan is lucky, she should be able to find something good!"

"Repairing a house is too expensive. It costs a lot of money to work with bricklayers, carpenters, and laborers."

"Otherwise, how can you say that all the money you earn in your lifetime is spent on repairing the house?"

"That's right!" Li Qiuyue looked up at the sky and saw that the sun had climbed up the mountain again. "It's sunny every day, and my skin has been sunburned."

Zhang Xiufang wiped her sweat and said, "I feel at ease when I think about having a brick house to live in by the end of the year and basking in the sunshine every day."

Zhao Huifang poured the sand and gravel onto the sieve with force. "That's right, hurry up and sift out more. If you wait any longer, it will rain again."

"Here we go!" The three sisters-in-law rolled up their sleeves and got to work.

The day was spent in a busy manner. After dinner, Zhou's father told Zhou's mother and others about the theft of cement.

Mother Zhou looked at them distressedly, "Why didn't I hear you tell me this morning? Which bastard did this?"

Father Zhou said, "We deliberately kept silent and planned to guard for a few days. Sooner or later, we will catch that bastard."

Li Qiuyue said angrily: "Old man, I think it was most likely done by that bastard Xu Hongbing!"

(End of this chapter)