When Wang Minggui’s children saw that Director Zhang had come to the door again, they rushed home. Zhou Lian also frowned. It had only been a little over an hour, why was she back again?

Is it difficult to work with Lu Yang and his wife? Regardless of what she thinks, she has no choice but to meet them head-on.

"Director Zhang, what's wrong?"

Director Zhang hurriedly waved her hand, also afraid of Zhou Lian's troubled expression and deliberately humbled herself.

She acted with complete righteousness, yet outwardly claimed that others had bullied her.

"The Lu couple understand your situation and have agreed to swap houses with you. This matter ends here."

Director Zhang left after speaking. Zhou Lian had offended her, and she was afraid that if she looked at her again, she would be furious.

Zhou Lian was quite surprised that it was done so quickly. The children heard it and started cheering.

"Your Majesty, we have an apartment building now. We'll live in an apartment building from now on."

"We're city people now!"

The children cheered happily, while Zhou Lian looked thoughtfully at the doorway.

------

Following Director Zhang's directions, Lu Yang found the warehouse where building materials used to be stored. Inside, there were two bags of cement that had been opened but hadn't been used much.

It was carefully covered with a plastic tarpaulin, so it wasn't damp. After searching carefully, I found a small half-bag still outside, and even a small bag of lime.

Inside the warehouse, there was also a wooden cart covered in cement, its original appearance unrecognizable. He wrapped the cement and lime in a plastic tarpaulin and placed it on the cart.

We'll cover it with red bricks next to it. There's still sand and stones left from the construction outside the warehouse; we can just come and get them if needed.

He carefully pushed the wooden cart. The warehouse was in the new district. On the way back, although some family members passed by and looked at the red bricks with curiosity, they were basically not interested.

But things were different in the old district. The bungalows there all had courtyards. Wouldn't it take bricks to build a washbasin or something in the courtyard? Gradually, people started to gather around and ask Lu Yang where he got the things from.

No matter who asked, Lu Yang said that the wall in his room had collapsed and his superiors had ordered him to rebuild it with bricks.

Some shrewd people started to wonder if the red bricks left over from the new buildings in the district would be enough. They wondered if they could ask the leaders if they would be allowed to take them.

The wall collapsed, which is a valid excuse. If that doesn't work, he'll have to come up with some other reason. These bricks could be used to build a sink or a chicken coop.

"Comrade, do you have any extra bricks? I want to build a stove in the yard; cooking inside smells too bad."

“My yard is big, and I was thinking if I could bring some bricks and some asbestos tiles over so that I could have an extra room in the house.”

The person next to him scoffed inwardly, "You want more rooms? Why don't you think about building more floors on top of the house, like those apartment buildings?"

"There aren't many bricks left. I estimate there will be only a few left after I finish building the wall. If you want to use them, you should ask the leader for his opinion."

Lu Yang continued pushing the cart. He had received approval before going to get it, and he couldn't make decisions about what others did. As long as his own wall was built, whoever wanted the rest could ask the leader.

The family members just looked at the cart and muttered to themselves, pondering in their hearts.

Lu Yang quickly returned to the civilian houses, where the military families wanted the bricks even more.

Their yard had a larger open space and more areas that needed repair. Even though Lu Yang's face was cold, everyone still surrounded him and asked him questions.

After finally dealing with those people, Song Qing arrived at her own door. She had already heard the noise and opened the gate. After pushing the car inside, she started unloading bricks, which were then piled up on the open ground in the yard.

The cement and lime were quite precious, so they were carefully moved to the main room and placed next to the kang (heated brick bed) in the south room.

"That's all the cement we have, but it should be enough."

Lu Yang told Song Qing that many people along the way had been asking where the bricks came from. Song Qing was worried that others would also go to the warehouse to take some, and if each person took a few, there would be so many people and there weren't many bricks to begin with. What if they ran out of bricks?

She asked Lu Yang to bring back all the bricks they would need, since there was plenty of space in the yard to store them.

"You go and move them. I'll stack these bricks in the corner so they don't take up much space. Tomorrow we'll put the wood in the open to dry, and it can be used as firewood when it's dry."

"You don't need to stack them, I'll do it when I get back." After saying that, he pushed the cart away again.

Song Qing didn't know if he was just being polite. They had gone to great lengths to transport bricks, so was she supposed to stand there and supervise them?

They may have only met a few days ago and are still being polite to each other.

She'll have a share in this house eventually, so she should do her part. Since she has nothing else to do right now, she slowly moved the items to the corner and piled them up one by one.

An'an picked up the small stick again and ran to Song Qing's side, wanting to learn from her and move bricks. Song Qing quickly stopped her.

"An'an, don't move it. You can't lift it yet, be careful not to hurt your foot. Go to the door and keep watch. If your dad comes back, call me and Mom will help him push the car in."

An'an happily accepted the task her mother had given her, running back and forth at the door, sometimes peeking out to see if her father was on the road, and sometimes running back inside to check on Song Qing.

"Be careful, don't fall."

"Mommy, Mommy, Daddy's here."

An'an had been eagerly waiting for a long time, and finally saw Lu Yang's figure. She excitedly called out to him.

As Lu Yang pulled the cart, he clearly saw the little red ball of fur jumping around at the blue gate, bringing life to the otherwise dull house. He also clearly heard the cry of "Dad."

For the first two days after the mother and daughter arrived, An'an just stared at him curiously, refusing to call him "Dad" no matter how much she was coaxed. Later, after the two finally got to know each other, she heard him call him a few times.

As a result, from yesterday until now, An'an seems to be sulking with him and hasn't said a word.

Upon hearing the word "Dad," his steps quickened involuntarily.

Song Qing had finished moving the bricks, and while wandering around the house, he actually found a shovel. Although it was rusty, it didn't affect its use.

"I understand." She replied and quickly walked to the door, where Lu Yang had already pushed the cart inside.

Seeing that Song Qing had already piled all the bricks in the corner, he didn't say anything, but simply piled the unloaded bricks in the corner as well.

Song Qing was originally shoveling snow off the wood, but seeing how hard he was working, she went back to her own work.

Lu Yang was a little distracted, and he kept stealing glances at his daughter. Unfortunately, An An had lost interest in him and was standing next to Song Qing, watching her shovel snow intently.

Lu Yang sighed carefully. Wasn't he missing him just now?

They shouted it so loudly, but now that they've just met, they're already forgetting about it.