Sister Li's voice rang out: "An Zhiqing, the food is ready!"

"Alright! Sister Li, I'll get it right away." An Moxue stood up, and Ai Guo followed suit.

An Moxue walked to the service counter, pointed to a plate of smashed cucumbers, and whispered to An Moxue, "The chef added this for you when he heard you were back."

"Thank you, Sister Li." An Moxue said, without serving the dishes, but instead took out a handful of candy from her pocket and quietly handed it over, saying, "Please thank the head chef for me. When you have time, I'll get some good ingredients for you."

"Okay! No problem." Sister Li smiled and took the candy, putting it in her pocket.

An Moxue and Ai Guo returned to the table with two trays of dishes. Ai Guo, suppressing his curiosity, finally blurted out, "Wow! An Moxue, you've got some connections! No wonder you're so familiar with the chef, you have a way to get good ingredients! Now that you're back, how about you make something special to treat your brother?"

“Okay, but let’s finish eating all of this first.” An Moxue pointed to the dishes on the table.

“No problem,” Ai Guo said, picking up his chopsticks and starting to eat.

He swung his chopsticks so fast that you couldn't tell he had just eaten a bowl of noodles.

An Moxue teased, "What? Didn't you eat breakfast?"

Ai Guo looked up at her and said, "After you've eaten, go check on your house. Your brother has really put in a lot of effort. We've moved things wherever we need them. No matter how much we eat in the morning, it's never enough."

An Moxue picked up a large piece of meat with her chopsticks and put it in Ai Guo's bowl, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, eat more."

"That's more like it. Shall we go take a look later?"

"go."

After the two finished their meal and walked out of the restaurant, An Moxue said, "It seems you've put in a lot of effort. Your appetite has obviously increased, and your face is much darker from the sun. I thought the two of us wouldn't be able to finish lunch!"

Ai Guo glanced around and said, "Now you know how hard I've worked, right? Get me some good food, okay?"

"You've got guts." After An Moxue finished speaking, she ignored him, took the key, opened the car door, and got into the driver's seat. Ai Guo put the things that Aunt Ma had asked him to buy in the back seat, and then got into the passenger seat.

Ai Guo got into the car and complained, "Let's go. This car you built looks like a lump of mud. Anyone who didn't know better would think you rolled around in mud on the way back! Didn't we run into any highway robbers on the road?"

An Moxue scoffed: "Robbery? Who knows who'll rob whom? Let's go."

The car started, and the two left the state-run restaurant. An Moxue also asked about the house.

An Moxue asked, "Who's there now?"

“The two people in the village, whom Uncle Ma found, are specifically responsible for guarding the foundation and materials. Uncle Ma and I take turns watching over them. Uncle Ma went to the brick factory today, and the tile factory has already been contacted. The timber we need was also approved by the village. A lot of it was exchanged for timber reserved by various households in the village. Mo Xue, with Uncle Ma taking care of everything for you, building such a big house has saved you a lot of trouble. Some things can only be done by locals. Outsiders really can't get away with it. Even if you have money, it won't work. I really admire your experience here.”

An Moxue asked curiously, "Why would he have such feelings?" What has this guy encountered these past few days?

"You'll know when you go see the people building the house."

Ai Guo was unwilling to say more, and An Moxue didn't ask any further questions. Soon, the two arrived at their destination.

After getting off the bus, An Moxue saw that half of the people building the houses were from Anle Village, and the other half were from Lao Litou Village, and she understood everything.

She greeted everyone one by one, "Uncle Wu, you've worked so hard!" "Brother Da Kui, thank you for your help." "Uncle Gou Shengzi, take a break if you're tired, there's no rush. If your back hurts, stop for a bit. I'll make some ointment later, and we can all share it."

After greeting everyone around, An Moxue recognized almost everyone there, while Ai Guo had already gone off to do other things.

Looking at the waist-high walls, An Moxue thought that the main structure of the house would be repaired in a few days.

Just then, the sound of a tractor came from afar. Everyone looked up and saw a tractor loaded with bricks driving towards them.

When the tractor drove into the open space of the yard and stopped, Old Ma jumped off the tractor and saw An Moxue standing to the side with a smile.

Old Ma asked, "Did you come back today?" As he asked, he looked her over, and when he saw that An Moxue was unharmed, his smile became more sincere.

An Moxue stepped forward and said with a smile, "Yes, I arrived at noon, Uncle Ma. You must be tired. Have you eaten yet?"

"Eat up, then step back and let them unload the bricks first. We'll have to go get two more truckloads later." As he spoke, he pulled An Moxue back a little.

"Uncle Ma, I'll go in a bit! You take a rest."

Old Ma waved his hand and said, "No need, we rented a house over there, and your aunt is there! She's in charge of cooking and boiling water. You haven't visited her yet, have you?"

An Moxue glared at Ai Guo: "No, Ai Guo is so unreliable, he didn't say anything! I thought he was going to take all that oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar back to the village. If he had told me, I would have gone to see Auntie. With so many people to cook for, won't Auntie be too tired?"

"No, I hired two women from the neighborhood. Your aunt just takes care of things every day, it's not tiring. How is it? How much does it differ from your expectations? These days, very few people fire blue bricks anymore. I had to pull some strings and get the permit to get them to reopen the kiln. So I have to keep a close eye on it, I'm afraid some defective bricks might get mixed in. Now most people fire red bricks, and most houses are built with red bricks. But I think the walls built with these big blue bricks still have that antique charm."

An Moxue looked around at the bustling scene with satisfaction and said, "It looks good. Is there enough money?"

"That's enough, go see your aunt! It's over there, the second house from the roadside."

"Okay." An Moxue obediently left the construction site. When she reached the courtyard, she saw Aunt Ma busy in the yard. She happily called out, "Auntie, I'm back!"

When Aunt Ma heard the sound, she saw An Moxue with a smile open the courtyard gate and come into the courtyard.

Her face immediately lit up with a smile as she went to greet him, asking, "When did you get back? Have you eaten? Is everything alright?"

An Moxue patiently replied, "I came back at noon and ran into Ai Guo. We ate together. Look at me, everything is fine."

"That's good. Now that you've eaten, come inside and get some rest. You must be exhausted from the journey." Aunt Ma said, pulling her into a room.

"It's a temporary rental, so you can make do and rest for a bit. We'll go home tonight, okay?"

"Okay, I'll do as you say, Auntie. The seasonings I bought are still in the car!"

"Don't worry about it, I'll get it in a bit. You can go back to sleep." After saying that, Aunt Ma left the house and closed the door.