An Dashan and his companions did not go home, but went directly to the town. They were to start work the day after tomorrow. They agreed to have a meal at noon every day. There was not much food at home, so they needed to buy some.
An Dashan drove his mule cart directly to the grain store. When the shop assistants saw An Dashan coming, their eyes changed. This was a big customer, so they greeted him warmly. An Dashan was not stingy this time. He waved his hand and bought 200 kilograms of black flour and 200 kilograms of brown rice. Refined rice and white flour were unaffordable, but brown rice and black flour were enough to fill you up.
After buying food, he went to the pork shop. How could An Dashan forget to make braised pork for Liu Genwang? He bought ten kilograms of pork belly directly. Thinking that he would also eat it at noon the day after tomorrow, he bought another five kilograms of fatter meat. There were still a lot of cabbages and radishes in the backyard, so An Dashan did not buy vegetables. He went to the grocery store and bought a bag of the worst tea and a string of firecrackers, and then drove the mule cart back home.
After returning home, An Dashan was not idle. He went to several good families and asked them to come to his house to help the day after tomorrow. The villagers were very simple and honest. As long as there was work to be done, they would go to help. They didn't need to pay him, just a meal.
While An Dashan was looking for someone, An Ning sent Gao out and stewed all ten pounds of pork belly. When they both came back, An Ning had already prepared the meal. An Ning served two bowls of braised pork and asked An Dashan to send one bowl to the village chief's house, while she went to the next door to send one bowl to Liu Erye's house. When An Dashan and An Ning came back, Gao served the meal on the table.
The next morning was the day the town had agreed to deliver bricks, tiles and stones. An Dashan did not go anywhere and waited at home. It was already noon when all the materials were delivered. An Dashan felt uneasy leaving so many things here, so he simply built a simple shack on a vacant lot nearby and planned to live there while he built the house.
An Ning thought it was time to get a dog to keep an eye on the house and prevent thieves from sneaking in. So An Ning told An Dashan about her idea, and An Dashan also thought it was a good idea to get a dog, so he said, "I'll go look around these few days to see if anyone has a half-grown puppy and bring one back." That night, An Dashan didn't go home for dinner, but ate the food An Ning brought him.
The next morning, An Ning and his family finished their breakfast early. As soon as they finished cleaning up, Master Mo came with his men. Soon, the villagers also came with their tools. After waiting for a while, Gao's mother came with her uncle Gao, uncle Gao, and grandson Xiao Shitou.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, it was the auspicious time to start the construction. An Dashan hung up the firecrackers and lit them. With the crackling sound of the firecrackers, the construction of the new house of the An family officially started.
Master Mo was in charge of the overall situation and directed everyone to work. An Dashan didn't understand these things, so he didn't make any comments and just worked with everyone.
An Ning boiled a pot of water, put some tea leaves in a wooden barrel, and brewed a barrel of tea. Gao carried the tea, and An Ning took a pile of coarse porcelain bowls and went to the construction site.
An Dashan saw his wife and daughter bringing tea, and he hurriedly invited everyone to come over to drink tea and rest for a while. Except for Master Mo, everyone here came from a poor family and rarely had the opportunity to drink tea. Even if it was this coarse tea, everyone was very satisfied.
After An Ning put down the tea, she went home to prepare lunch. Gao had already fermented a large pot of black flour and was going to steam two pots of black flour buns. Wang was slicing meat, and while slicing, she kept complaining distressedly: "You and Dashan are too generous. Have you ever seen anyone eat so much meat when building a house?"
Gao explained helplessly: "Mom, this is not the first day, many villagers came on their own, Dashan and I thought we couldn't treat everyone unfairly, so we won't put so much meat starting tomorrow."
After hearing this, Wang didn't say anything more. Although she was the daughter of the family, she was not the master after all and could not interfere too much.
When An Ning walked in, she heard the conversation between Wang and Gao. An Ning understood Wang's nagging very well. In this country, let alone so much meat, even during the Chinese New Year, a family would be considered good if they could only cut two pounds of meat. So An Ning did not say anything. After saying hello, she went to the backyard to pick cabbages.
Xiao Shitou was teasing the little rabbits in the backyard. When he saw An Ning coming, he called her "Sister" in a baby voice.
An Ning reached out and rubbed the little guy's head, and said, "Is this rabbit fun, Little Stone?"
Little Stone nodded and said, "It's fun, sister. I want a little rabbit too."
An Ning smiled and said, "Then you have to ask your grandmother if she agrees with you raising rabbits." After hearing this, Little Shitou ran to ask Wang.
An Ning pulled out three large cabbages, tore off the outermost stalks and threw them into the rabbit cage, then took the cabbages to the kitchen.
When An Ning entered the kitchen, she saw Xiao Shitou pulling Wang's arm and acting like a spoiled child. Wang couldn't stand her grandson's acting like a spoiled child, so she asked An Ning, "Daya, is that rabbit easy to raise?"
An Ning nodded and said, "Grandma, this rabbit is easy to raise. As long as you don't feed it water, it will be fine."
After hearing this, Wang said, "Little Shitou wants one. See if you can give him one. I won't give it to you for nothing. I'll give you money."
An Ning shook her head and said, "Grandma, it's just a little rabbit. It's not worth much. You can choose a good one and take it away when you go home."
Gao also said: "That's right, mother, we are all family, you are being unfaithful."
Seeing this, Wang didn't force it anymore. She took the cabbage that An Ning had washed and started folding it.
Today, Wang was in charge of cooking and made a big pot of pork stewed with cabbage. Gao also skillfully steamed two large pots of black-faced steamed buns.
An Ning saw that it was already noon, and Gao and Wang's meals were ready, so she said to Gao, "Mom, I'm going to call my dad and the others back for dinner."
Gao said, "Wait a minute, take this bowl of food and these steamed buns over there, and let your uncle eat them over there. Keep an eye on the food and make sure no one steals it. Your father still has to take care of the villagers, so we won't let him stay over there."
An Ning agreed, put the food prepared by Gao in a basket, and took it to the construction site.
The people on the construction site had already smelled the aroma of meat. When they saw An Ning coming to call them to eat, they hurried to finish the work in their hands, put down their tools, and followed An Dashan back home.
An Ning handed the basket in her hand to Uncle Gao and said, "Uncle, my mother said that the food here cannot be left without someone close to watch over it. My father still needs to go and entertain the villagers for dinner, so I'm sorry to bother you to watch over it. This is the food that my mother specially asked me to bring to you. There is more than half a bowl of meat!"
When Uncle Gao heard this, he smiled and said, "We are all family, it's no big deal. Go back and eat, and I'll come back to collect the dishes in the afternoon." An Ning nodded and turned around to go home.
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