Even though there were only two craftsmen, they had good hands-on skills and they quickly measured the dimensions of the open space next to the kitchen and started digging the ground with shovels.
Yang Niannian's heart was filled with joy, and she couldn't hide the smile on her face.
Although Lu Shishen looked quiet, he was actually quite considerate. She mentioned it casually, but she didn't expect that Lu Shishen would remember it and was so capable in doing it.
It was almost noon and the sun was scorching outside, making people's skin almost peel off. Yang Niannian brought out two bowls of water. Seeing how polite Yang Niannian was, the two workers thanked her repeatedly and drank the water in two big gulps.
Yang Niannian took the empty bowl, looked at the two large holes on the ground and asked, "Brother, are these manure troughs?"
A man in a gray sweatshirt nodded and kindly reminded, "Big sister, if you build a toilet in your yard, it will definitely smell bad in the future."
Yang Niannian's mouth twitched. The manure trough was in the yard, how could it not smell bad?
She looked to the left. Her yard was more than 40 meters away from the wall. It was not easy to dig a manure channel, but she would regret it later if she didn't dig one.
She asked tentatively, "Brother, can we build a flush toilet like the ones in the city? That is, dig a cesspool outside the wall?"
"It's not impossible." The man wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with an embarrassed expression, "It's at least 40 meters to dig. The labor cost and water pipes are higher than building a toilet. It's not cost-effective unless you dig the drainage channel yourself."
Yang Niannian hesitated. The fee was so high, what if Lu Shijian disagreed?
Just as she was struggling with the dilemma, she caught a glimpse of a tall figure entering the yard from the corner of her eye. Yang Niannian decided to discuss it with Lu Shishen.
"Shi, Shi Shen..."
Yang Niannian felt a little awkward calling him like that in front of him. "The manure trough in the yard is too smelly. I want to dig a drainage channel to drain the sewage out of the yard... Digging a drainage channel is very expensive. What do you think?"
The workers knew that Lu Shishen was not an ordinary person, so they quickly explained, "It's OK if you can dig it yourself, but you have to dig it quickly. This toilet will only take a little over a day to complete."
"Then dig it yourself." Lu Shishen made a decision quickly. Her word "Shishen" seemed to still echo in his ears. He had never felt that his name sounded so nice when called by someone.
"Um?"
Yang Niannian was stunned. With such a long distance and such a short time, it was useless even if the shovel started smoking.
Lu Shishen's eyes lingered on her little face for a moment, and he saw a layer of sweat on her forehead. "Go in and eat first."
Yang Niannian hurriedly followed, "After dinner, I'll go to Sister Wang's house to borrow a shovel. I guess it will take all night to finish digging."
I had been planning to make coal briquettes in the afternoon, but I have to put it aside for now. The dry toilet has a strong smell. For the sake of the future, I'll just have to put up with the hard work.
Lu Shishen pushed the opened lunch box in front of her and said, "Don't worry about digging the drainage canal. I'll find someone to do it this afternoon."
Yang Niannian's eyes lit up, and An An's voice was heard outside. He ran into the house quickly with his schoolbag on his back. He was tired and sweaty, but his expression was very excited.
"Dad, Bingbing said that we are going to build a bathroom and toilet in our yard. Are those two uncles outside here to build the toilet?"
Bingbing is the little fat boy who told An An, "Your father won't love you anymore now that he has a stepmother." He is Yu Lihong's son and the third child in the family.
"Yeah." Lu Shishen nodded, "Go wash your hands and eat."
"Wow, we need to build a toilet and a bathroom at home."
An An dropped his schoolbag and ran out excitedly to wash his hands.
Lunch consisted of stir-fried loofah with the leftover lard residue and scrambled eggs with chili peppers. Although it was called scrambled eggs with chili peppers, there were not many eggs, but Yang Niannian was very satisfied.
In that era of material scarcity, it was already very difficult to eat white rice, and most families still ate coarse grains. Lu Shishen had to pay extra for the food he packed back.
After dinner, Lu Shishen took the lunch box to the kitchen. Yang Niannian wanted to build a good relationship with An An, so she went back to the room to get some candy for him. When she came out, the room was empty.
Yang Niannian walked to the kitchen door, and only Lu Shishen was washing the lunch box inside, "Where's An An?"
Lu Shishen replied calmly, "I went to school."
"So soon?" Yang Niannian said crisply, "Sister Wang helped us all morning today and gave us the old stove. I thought of buying some candies for her child and leaving a few for An An as well. I was going to give them to him to eat."
I didn't expect that although she is young, she is so thoughtful.
Lu Shishen said, "It's the same if you eat at night."
After a pause, he added, "You should eat something too."
He didn't express the latter sentence as freely as he did the former.
"I don't like to eat such sweet things. Only children like to eat them."
Yang Niannian took the candy and turned back to the house, planning to give it to An An in the evening. Little did she know that in Lu Shishen's eyes, she was just a child.
Just as I put the candies away, Zhou Bingxing's voice was heard in the yard. This guy looked big and strong and a bit intimidating, but he had a kind and honest character.
When Yang Niannian came out of the house, she saw him carrying two large bags of coal on his shoulders. He put them on the ground and said to Lu Shishen, "Captain, my wife said you don't have any coal, so she asked me to bring two bags over."
Yang Niannian quickly turned around and took out three dollars, "Captain Zhou, thank you, this is the money for the coal."
She had already asked Wang Fengjiao about the price. Coal was 1.5 cents per pound, and two bags cost three yuan.
Zhou Bingxing was not polite and took the money. Lu Shishen asked him to go into the kitchen to wash his hands, and the two of them went to the army together.
…
An An and Bing Bing have a good relationship. After every meal, she goes to his house and waits for him to go to school together. Because he is nominally Lu Shishen's son, Yu Hongli always looks at him with a wolf-like face.
An An arrived at Yu Hongli's house. Her family was still eating around the table. Thinking of Yang Niannian who bought a lot of candies, she deliberately asked.
"An An, your stepmother bought a lot of candies today. Did she give them to you?"
How could a child be so cunning? When he heard that Yang Niannian bought some candies but he didn't get to eat them, he felt upset and almost cried.
"No."
Yu Hongli gloated a little, "Oh, your stepmother is too stingy."
An An pursed her lips and said nothing, trying hard not to let the tears fall.
Yu Hongli asked again, "An An, do you like your stepmother?"
An An answered very quickly this time, "I don't like it."
The first time they met, Yang Niannian hit him. Now she hides the candies she bought for him and doesn't give them to him. That's why he doesn't like Yang Niannian.
Yu Hongli, "Why don't you like her? Did she beat you secretly?"
Seeing that his wife was asking more and more questions, Sun Dashan looked at her with dissatisfaction and asked, "Why are you asking these questions?"
Yu Hongli rolled her eyes and said, "I was just teasing the child. Look at you."
Sun Bingbing, who had been listening to Yu Hongli's questions with his ears perked up, answered loudly, "Mom, An An's stepmother beat him. He told me so."
Sun Dashan put down his chopsticks and looked at him, "Eat your meal, and no one is allowed to make a sound."
If these words get out, it will affect the harmony of Captain Lu's family.
His stern face was very scary. The children, including Yu Hongli, fell silent in an instant.
…