The old village chief, Su Chengde, lives in the center of Shanghe Village.
After a quick breakfast, Su Hua and Su Bai walked together toward the old village chief's house. It took about the time it takes to burn an incense stick to walk from one end of the village to the center.
As soon as the two reached the courtyard gate, they heard a series of soft, crackling sounds, like metal scraping against wood. It wasn't harsh; in fact, it was rather amusing.
"That's Husheng working!" Upon hearing the voice, a smile flashed in Su Bai's slanted eyes. "Husheng has always been a quiet boy, always working hard without saying a word. He's hardly caused your Uncle Chengde any worry. But he's a bit too quiet. He's almost twenty and still hasn't settled down. Year after year, it's almost become a worry for your Uncle Chengde. The other day he was saying that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold his grandson even after he's buried."
Su Hua looked through the half-open courtyard gate and saw a slender figure holding an iron chisel and polishing wood against the courtyard wall. It looked like a square wooden table commonly used in rural households, and wood chips had already fallen to the ground at his feet.
Hearing Su Bai sigh, he immediately joked, "Didn't Brother Haisheng have a baby a few years ago? Uncle Village Chief has been holding his grandson for several years now, so why would he need to worry about not being able to hold his grandson after he's buried?"
"You silly girl!" Madam Su glared at her, annoyed. "How can this be the same? Haisheng's child isn't Husheng's. As long as Husheng doesn't get married, this heartache will never heal..."
The two were talking when a clear male voice rang out.
"Auntie's here! Come in and have some tea."
Su Hua looked up and saw the slender figure from before had turned around and was walking over with two cups of tea in his hands. His clothes were still covered with a lot of wood chips, his face was slightly yellow, and his eyebrows and eyes looked seven-tenths like Su Chengde. It was obvious that they were family.
Su Husheng was halfway there when he saw the person next to Su Baishi and was stunned.
She was wearing a sky-blue floor-length dress with a crescent-white outer jacket. As she walked, the hem of her dress bloomed like flowers on the ground.
Her small face, no bigger than a palm, was completely unadorned, yet as white as the finest mutton-fat jade. On that jade-like face were perfectly shaped willow-leaf eyebrows, and beneath them, her clear, bright eyes resembled a mountain spring.
When you suddenly meet those eyes, it's as if there's a magical pull that draws all your attention in.
Upon realizing this, Su Husheng quickly lowered his head and looked away.
But as soon as he looked down, he felt his teacup go empty, and at the same time, a crisp voice rang in his ears, "Thank you, Brother Husheng!"
"Huh?" Su Husheng watched as she took the two teacups, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say at all, and even his face turned red.
Call him brother? But how come he didn't know his father had given birth to such a beautiful little sister?
"You silly child, this is Hua'er, don't you recognize her?" Su Baishi noticed his stunned expression and subtly straightened her back. "When she was little, you and the three boys, including Da Hu, would take her all over the mountains, picking fruit, climbing trees to steal bird eggs, and catching fish in the river. She would call her 'sister' all the time. But, as the saying goes, girls change a lot as they grow up, and my Hua'er is growing better every day..."
As Su Husheng heard her words, his eyes widened instantly. He scratched his head with some embarrassment, "So it's Sister Hua'er. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. Come in and sit down."
He scratched his head while glancing at Su Hua every now and then.
In the two days since he returned, although his father had told him that his sister Hua'er had changed a lot and become smarter, he never expected her to grow up to be so beautiful. She was completely different from the girls in Shanghe Village and was even more beautiful than the young ladies from wealthy families he had seen in Tangshan Prefecture.
If it weren't for Su Baishi being there, he probably would have thought she was a fairy maiden who had stepped out of a painting!
Su Hua looked at Su Baishi, who was as proud as a mother hen, and Su Husheng, who was silent beside her, and the contrast was extremely striking.
This second cousin was indeed a man of few words. After welcoming them in and offering them tea, he didn't say anything more.
Upon hearing Su Baishi's words, she went straight to the point: "Brother Husheng, Hua'er came here today to ask you to help make some household items. You've probably heard that our family has started building a house at the end of the village these days. There are quite a few things needed for the house. I wonder if Brother Husheng has any free time recently?"
“Sister Hua’er, you’re too kind,” Su Husheng said with a grin. “We’re all family. If you want to make some tables, chairs, or wardrobes, just tell me. I’m just sitting here doing nothing anyway.”
Su Hua looked up and felt that there was a hint of loneliness in his last sentence, but she couldn't tell much from his expression. She thought it was just her imagination and took out the blueprint from her sleeve and opened it.
"Brother Husheng, take a look, is this even feasible?"
Su Husheng looked down at the paper and saw that there were many round tubes drawn on the snow-white paper. Some of these tubes were bent, and some were folded from one end. Next to the tubes, there were also some strange objects drawn, and each object was marked with a row of crooked little words.
Although he couldn't read, he had never even seen such crooked, small characters before.
"Hua'er, what are these things you've drawn on this paper?"
Upon hearing this, Su Hua simply moved a chair over and spread the blueprints out on the wooden table in the yard. "These are waterproof materials for the bathroom and shower room."
The small pipe is the water pipe, and to the left of the water pipe is the shower head, this is the elbow, this is the mixing valve, and this big thing next to it is the toilet.
If these can be made, water from the river or well can be piped into the home.
After a person uses the toilet, the waste can be flushed away promptly. For daily showers, there's no need to carry buckets of water from a large iron pot; instead, water flows through pipes into the bathroom and sprays out from the showerhead…
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