Granny Meng boiled another pot of water and carried it to the bathroom to help Zhao Xiaoxiu, who was covered in mud, take a bath.

The little one is now shy. She pushed her out and insisted on washing herself. Grandma Meng couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she had to stand guard at the door to prevent any accidents from happening.

Most of the mud was on her clothes. After washing her face and hair, Zhao Xiaoxiu put on the clean, thick clothes that Sister Hou had taken down from the clothesline. Although she was a little slow due to her short arms and legs, she was still able to clean herself up.

Granny Meng came in to pour water, praising her while feeling sorry for her.

Children without mothers mature early. If a mother were around, a four-year-old child might not even be able to wash their face and brush their teeth by themselves, but Xiaoxiu can already take a bath and dress herself.

"Thank you for your hard work, Grandma," Zhao Xiaoxiu said shyly.

When Grandma Meng saw the little one like this, she felt a pang of heartache. She patted the little girl's head pitifully, reminded her to put on her hat, and then gathered a bucket of dirty clothes to take to wash.

Zhao Xiaoxiu quickly stopped her, "Grandma, don't move. Let Dad wash it when he gets back."

Grandma Meng seemed to have heard something strange and asked in disbelief in a low voice, "Your dad can now wash your clothes on his own initiative?"

Zhao Xiaoxiu nodded and began praising her father, "Grandma, Daddy can not only do laundry now, but he also cooks delicious meals. He tells me bedtime stories, makes me new clothes and shoes, and he knows so many cute hairstyles..."

As she spoke, she pointed to the dirty clothes in the bucket, "Look, these were all made for me by my father."

Grandma Meng, who thought the clothes were all bought, was taken aback and exclaimed, "You've really changed! No wonder people always say that one should be established by thirty. Your father has finally stood up."

Since someone was washing the clothes, Granny Meng readily put down the dirty clothes, told Zhao Xiaoxiu not to run outside anymore, and that Zhao Gang and the others would be back from work soon, so she should stay home obediently. She then turned around and went out to continue spreading coal ash on the muddy ground.

She collected sawdust and cinders for a month, just enough to pave a dry path from the gate of the courtyard to the front of both houses.

Anyway, it's okay if the temporary foothold gets dirty. Once the snow melts and the sun shines for a couple of days, the road will be easier to walk on.

However, Granny Meng felt that this was not enough. It would be best to get some cement, stones, bricks and other materials to properly pave the courtyards of both families.

Otherwise, when the rainy season comes, it will still be muddy and wet, both inside and outside the house, making it very uncomfortable to live in.

But for now, it's just a thought; the young people are all busy, and no one has time to go out and find materials.

By the way, the patrol station started notifying the lords yesterday that once the snow melts, they should begin working on the basic infrastructure in the planting area.

The base stipulates that all lords must participate in obligatory labor, and those who refuse to participate will be expelled.

So even if it's just for show, Zhao Gang won't be able to stay idle during this period.

I just don't know if the eldest and second eldest siblings want to come along.

As Granny Meng was thinking about these things, the sound of a truck beeping came; it was Zhao Gang and the others returning.

Zhao Gang was very conscientious as a contractor, picking up and dropping off the lords every day in his own truck, which earned him unanimous praise.

However, Zhao Xiaoxiu knew that her father was not doing this out of kindness; he simply did not allow any of his workers to be absent.

The large truck sped across the muddy ground to the gate of the yard before suddenly slamming on the brakes.

Although Meng Da and Meng Er had long known about Zhao Gang's driving habits, every time Zhao Gang braked suddenly, it caught them off guard and left them dizzy and disoriented.

"Dad!" Zhao Xiaoxiu waved happily from the doorway, reminding her father to watch out for her.

Zhao Gang strode off the car with ease and looked up to see his daughter's happy smile and her freshly washed hair draped over her shoulders.

"Roar!" Sister Monkey carried out a bucket of dirty clothes, reminded Zhao Gang to remember to wash them, and then turned and ran away.

Zhao Gang: "......"

"Are you alright?" Zhao Gang asked his daughter as he bent down at the door.

Zhao Xiaoxiu shook her head, indicating that she was fine, only that her clothes were dirty.

Zhao Gang smiled lightly, these are all minor issues, it's good that the cubs are alright.

Granny Meng, unaware that Zhao Gang could see everything within the territory, hurriedly came over to tell Zhao Xiaoxiu about her recent fall into the mud.

Zhao Gang turned around and looked at the muddy ground in front of his house. He frowned and suddenly found the ground displeasing.

"Brother Gangzi, we're heading back now," Meng Er said.

"Wait a minute," Zhao Gang called out to the two of them.

Meng Er immediately became alert. "What's wrong?" They're not going to make him do chores, are they?

I'm exhausted after a day's work on the construction site, all I want to do now is go home and lie down.

But what you fear most is what happens. Zhao Gang waved his hand, signaling the two to follow, and strode out of the courtyard toward the abandoned house next door.

"No way—" Meng Er exclaimed helplessly, "Brother Gangzi, it's almost dark, can't we do this tomorrow?!"

Zhao Gang's answer was cold and ruthless: "No."

The two brothers followed him, not knowing what he was going to do, but they had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Zhao Gang looked around at the remaining empty buildings, and finally pointed to the building with a huge crack in the wall, saying:

“Let’s take some bricks back and pave the open space in front of the yard and the road leading from the yard to the main road.”

The Meng brothers' eyes widened in unison: "What? Now?"

Meng Er said nervously, "Brother Gangzi, don't joke around. We don't have a wall-pushing machine. We can't possibly knock all the bricks off the house one by one with a hammer, can we?!"

The second syllable, "ba," suddenly rises in pitch, like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, eliciting a terrified scream.

The Meng brothers watched helplessly as a blood-red fleshy sting, at least thirty meters long and as thick as a bowl, appeared above the house. With a couple of "cracks," the seemingly sturdy three-story building collapsed instantly.

The deafening roar echoed throughout Territory No. 13, startling everyone except Zhao Gang himself.

The Qiu Bai couple and the Jiang Ning family of four, who had just returned home, thought there had been a major earthquake. They rushed out of the house in a panic, only to find that the house next to them, which had been perfectly fine, had been reduced to ruins in an instant.

Granny Meng, Zhao Xiaoxiu, and Sister Monkey all rushed over immediately.

Seeing the small building reduced to ruins, I was so shocked my jaw almost dropped.

The Meng brothers raised their hands, stiffly fanning away the billowing dust in front of them. Their minds had gone blank, and they didn't know how to react.

The others were a little better off, since they hadn't witnessed firsthand the shocking scene of Zhao Gang collapsing a building in two seconds.

Zhao Gang didn't intend to explain to everyone. He smiled at his daughter and said, "Xiaoxiu, let's go home. Dad and the uncles are going to start laying bricks and paving the road."

Zhao Xiaoxiu, carried on Monkey Sister's shoulder, used her two little hands to close her and Monkey Sister's wide-open mouths, nodding her head expectantly and saying, "Mmm!"

Meng Da and Meng Er suddenly realized that this was what Gangzi meant by "getting some bricks".

No skill whatsoever, just pure brute force!