The weather was not too cold, and the main hall could not accommodate so many people. Besides, they were all country folk, so they did not care about the details. Each of them took a bowl of vegetables and two steamed buns, and sat down to eat. People looked at the many fat and lean slices of meat in the bowl and did not bother to talk. They just ate with their mouths wide open.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they sat together to discuss the matter. One of the villagers said, "The Dashan family is really generous. I counted and there were 20 slices of meat in the bowl."
Another villager said, "Yes, yes, yes, I counted it too. I have one more piece of meat than you. There are a total of twenty-one pieces of meat!"
In fact, Wang cut the meat slices very thinly. In An Ning's opinion, they were only slightly thicker than paper.
But even so, it was better than what ordinary people eat during the Spring Festival. An Ning looked at these simple folks and became more determined to lead the whole village to live a good life. After a short rest, everyone started working again. By the evening, the foundation had been laid, and the work efficiency was quite high.
Since today was the first day of work and there were villagers helping out, the An family decided to provide two meals. There were still a lot of steamed buns left from lunch, so Gao cooked a big pot of brown rice porridge, cut some meat, and fried a big pot of radish.
After dinner, everyone went home. After Wang, Gao, and An Ning cleaned up the dishes, it was already late. Gao saw her mother packing up to go home, so she said, "Mom, it's so late now, you shouldn't go back. It's too dangerous to take Xiao Shitou with you so late at night."
Wang was reluctant to part with her little grandson, but at the same time she felt it was unsafe without a man at home. As for those little boys, they were not considered men in Wang's eyes.
An Ning saw that Wang was in a dilemma, so she said, "Grandma, why don't you stay here with Little Stone? If you are really worried about your family, you can let your eldest and youngest uncles go back."
Wang thought about it and felt that what An Ning said made sense, so she said, "Okay, let them both go back. I will stay here for a few more days until you finish building the house."
Gao was very happy to hear this, but she was afraid that her elder sister-in-law and younger sister-in-law would be unhappy, so she said, "Mom, I'm glad you came to help, but what if my elder sister-in-law and younger sister-in-law are unhappy? After all, it's the busy farming season now."
Wang waved her hands and said, "It's okay. They are both sensible. Besides, you sent so many good things to their home. How can they be unhappy?"
Gao was relieved after hearing this. After sending off her uncle and uncle, she returned to the house and found a blanket for the two of them. She said, "Mom, Dashan is over there looking at something today. You can sleep with me. We haven't slept together for a long time."
He had a dreamless night. The next morning, Master Mo brought people to build a new house. Today, An Dashan did not invite people from the village to help because it was time for the autumn harvest in the village.
Er Gouzi recovered from his wounds for two days, and although his face was still bruised and swollen, he did not delay his work, so he came to the An family early in the morning. When An Dashan saw Er Gouzi coming, he asked An Ning to watch over the new house, and he took Er Gouzi to his own land.
When they got to the field, An Dashan said to Er Gouzi, "This is my family's land. I won't let you work for nothing. As long as you don't cheat or play tricks, I'll pay you 20 cents a day."
When Er Gouzi heard that there was still money to be made, he quickly said, "Thank you, Dashan. I was blinded by greed and did such a thing. Don't worry, leave the farm work to me. I will definitely collect it cleanly for you."
An Dashan nodded and said, "Okay, then you work hard here, and I'll drive the mule cart here in the evening." After that, he left the field.
Er Gouzi looked at An Dashan walking away and secretly made up his mind that he must work hard in the future and not be so lazy anymore.
An Dashan saw that the family didn't need his help, so he asked Gao and Wang to look after the house, and then he took An Ning to the carpenter shop in town to order some furniture.
Early that morning, An Dashan harnessed the mule cart and was ready to take An Ning to the town. When Xiao Shitou saw An Dashan and An Ning getting on the mule cart, he also clamored to go. No matter how Wang Shi tried to coax him, he wouldn't listen. Wang Shi was so angry that she wanted to beat him.
Seeing this, An Ning said to Wang, "Grandma, let me take Xiao Shitou with me. Xiao Shitou is so well behaved, he will definitely not run around." As she said that, she looked at Xiao Shitou.
Little Shitou was very smart. When he saw An Ning looking at him, he immediately assured Wang: "Grandma, Little Shitou will be obedient and follow me closely. He will never run around."
Wang had no choice but to agree. When Little Shitou saw that his grandmother agreed, he immediately cheered. An Dashan and his companions did not delay any longer and drove the mule cart directly to the town.
Little Shitou is indeed a child. He chatters all the way and is never idle for a moment. An Ning is a little overwhelmed and vaguely regrets bringing this child out.
Several people came to the town and went directly to the famous carpenter's shop in the town. Carpenter Zhao was a little free at this time. He was sitting in a rocking chair drinking tea. When he saw someone coming, he stood up and said, "What kind of furniture do you want to order, gentlemen?"
An Dashan looked at the various furniture in the yard and asked, "Master, are these furniture in your yard custom-made or sold?"
Carpenter Zhao said with a smile: "These are ordered by others, and these are my finished products. If you like any of them, you can take them away directly."
An Dashan nodded and looked through all the furniture. He found that the materials used for the custom-made furniture here were better and thicker, while the finished products over there were inferior to the custom-made ones.
An Ning whispered to An Dashan, "Dad, why don't we just order some custom-made furniture? We don't need to change the furniture often, so we should buy better ones."
An Dashan nodded and said, "Yeah, I thought so too. Take a look and see if you like it. We can make it to order."
An Ning pointed at the custom-made furniture and said, "Dad, I think a few styles look good. Why don't we order them according to this?"
An Dashan didn't care much about this aspect. He only cared about the solidity of the materials, so he said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Carpenter Zhao saw that the two had finished their discussion, so he asked, "Have you two made up your mind?"
An Dashan nodded and said, "Let's make three beds, three wardrobes, two dressing tables, and a desk according to these designs." After thinking for a while, he said, "Also order an eight-immortal table, a long table, ten chairs, and two rusty stools."
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