Chapter 238 238

The young people all stared with their eyes wide open, looking at the exquisite and antique building, which even had a cluster of bamboos next to it, and exclaimed in disbelief: "Public toilet? Are you kidding me? This... Such a nice house, you said it was..."

"Hey, I knew you didn't believe it, if you don't believe it, go and see it!" The aunties in the village laughed proudly and complacently.

The young people walked to the public toilet half-believingly and wanted to go in, but were stopped by the old lady sitting at the door of the toilet.

The old lady was a lonely old woman from the eldest house. When she saw the young man coming back, she smiled and said with a hunched back, "Isn't this Dashengzi? Dashengzi is back?" The old lady took out two pieces of toilet paper that were rough enough to hurt his buttocks and asked him, "Do you want paper? Two cents for paper, one cent for no paper."

Originally, it was five cents if you didn't want paper, but now five cents is used less and less. When they go to the town to sell things, people no longer accept five-cent coins. They can only take them to the bank to exchange. Gradually, fewer people in the village use five-cent coins.

It's not so expensive at ordinary times. Isn't it the end of the year and the New Year? The young people were so proud of their money. Most of the boys were sent to the gambling table. They were very proud and willing to spend a dime or two to go to a good toilet.

But the young people who had just come back took a breath of cold air and shouted in surprise: "You have to pay two dime to go to a shabby toilet?"

The old lady was unhappy: "You bastard, paper is free? The money on the gambling table is not money. You are charged two dime to go to the toilet and you are still complaining!"

The old lady shouted loudly, The young man who yelled was embarrassed and a little embarrassed. He quickly took out fifty cents and handed it over, saying, "I don't want paper!"

The old lady gave him forty cents. After a while, the young man walked out of the public toilet and exaggeratedly exclaimed to the people who stopped outside the toilet because they had to pay, "Oh my God, how can this be a toilet? It's cleaner inside than if you licked it with your tongue!"

The girl who came back with him scolded him, "Jiang Dasheng, can you speak? You just licked it with your tongue!"

"Really! I'm not lying to you! If you don't believe me, go in and see for yourself!"

The old lady next to her laughed proudly when she heard it and said, "That's right! I, Third Grandma, clean the toilet every day. If any bastard dares to dirty the toilet, I will break his legs!" The

public toilet was built next to the ditch next to the brigade headquarters. It was very convenient whether washing the broom or the mop. The water in the ditch was still flowing, and the water from the upstream flowed downstream all year round, so there was no need to worry about the mop dirtying the water in the ditch.

When the girls saw that this house, which looked more luxurious and beautiful than many other people's houses, was actually a toilet, they couldn't help but look sideways and exclaimed, "It's really a toilet? Who is so rich that he can spend so much money to build such a big public toilet?"

The ladies and uncles in the village laughed and said, "Don't you think about how rich your Uncle Guotai is now? He has contracted the entire river beach and Wugong Mountain. And the riverside island you saw when you came back, did you see it? It also belongs to your Uncle Guotai. Your Uncle Guotai is here with us now, but this!"

The person who spoke raised a thumb with a proud expression.

The auntie next to him continued, "Not only was this toilet built by your uncle Guotai for tourists from other places, but all the cement roads in the surrounding area were built by him. Look at the road in our village!"

The young people then noticed that the road under their feet was not only the road leading to the village, but also the road running horizontally to Xujia Village.

Because it was built by Jiang Guotai's own road construction team, no one took advantage of the money to enrich themselves, or even if they were greedy, it was very little. This cement road was built very solidly, with a width of four or five meters, which could accommodate two cars passing at the same time.

In his previous life, Jiang Guotai did not get the sand factory in the middle. Naturally, the road from the neighboring city to Xujia Village was not built by Jiang Guotai. After all, it was no longer within the scope of Linhe Brigade, and it was not even within the scope of Shuibu Town and Wucheng County, but within the scope of the neighboring city and county.

Jiang Guotai only built the road from his own Linhe Brigade to the township government of the neighboring Shijian Township.

They are on the other side of the river, inside the mountains. Because of the inconvenient transportation, the person who contracted the road construction at that time only built a four-meter-wide cement road for about two miles at the beginning of the road from the neighboring city to the south of Shahe River. Once you get inside, it is so narrow that only one car can pass. During the New Year, when cars meet, one car can only reverse onto the ridge of the field. After the other car passes, the car on the ridge can drive onto the cement road and continue to go. Every New Year, their place is often blocked for four or five hours. The people in the front can't go, and the people behind can't retreat.

Later, the road was too narrow and there was really no other way. Someone reported it to the city, saying that all the money for road construction had been embezzled. Only then did the original contractor for the cement road come over and widen it by one meter, so that it could be passed through the ridges of the fields and the occasional dirt roads.

As a result, the cars that were supposed to go to the neighboring city were unwilling to go to the neighboring city because the road to the neighboring city was too narrow. Instead, they all went in the direction of Jiangjia Village to Shijian Township, because this road was built by Jiang Guotai privately for his hometown, and it was wider and less congested.

With more people heading in this direction, the economic situation on the road from Linhe Brigade to Shijian Township is naturally better than that on the road to the neighboring city.

This is one of the reasons why the people of Linhe Brigade and Shijian Township were so grateful to Jiang Guotai in the previous life.

Seeing the young man looking at the cement road under his feet, the smiles on the faces of the village grandfathers and grandmothers were brighter than the warm sun in winter. They said, "Did you see that? Our Jiangjia Village is the first village in the surrounding area to be fully connected by cement roads. You will know when you get to the top of the village. There are no dirt roads in the village now. This cement road has been built all the way to the mountain. When you worship your ancestors on New Year's Eve, when you stepped on it before, it was all yellow mud, and half of your body was covered with mud. Now it's good. The yellow mud road is now paved with cement. There is no more yellow mud!"

Those who have been dealing with mountains and forests for many years feel it even more clearly.

In autumn, they go up the mountain to cut grass and firewood. In the past, the cut grass was dried on the mountain, and it was very difficult to carry it up and down every time. Now, after cutting, they spread it on the cement road. There are no bushes or trees to shade the cement road, and the cement road absorbs heat. The cut grass is spread on the cement road to dry. By the evening, it will be half lighter, and then it can be pulled home by oxcarts. It is not strenuous at all. It is no longer necessary to carry it back by hand like before.

There are also many families who grow rice. The rice fields are not enough. In previous years, two families or even several brothers would use one rice field, and you would use half and I would use half.

With the cement road, they no longer have to worry about not having enough rice fields. Many people simply spread the harvested rice fields on the road from Dafang in Jiangjia Village to Xujia Village. People coming and going on motorcycles, tricycles, and ox carts all pass over the rice fields, saving the trouble of renting oxen to thresh the rice. These vehicles roll over the rice fields for two days, and all the rice grains are threshed from the rice fields. Then the straw on top is lifted away, leaving the golden rice grains to be exposed to the sun on the cement road. They no longer have to worry about the heavy rain coming before their rice is dried, and the rice they have harvested with great difficulty will sprout, all of which will be wasted.

Some young people carried snakeskin bags on their shoulders, and the fashionable ones dragged suitcases with wheels. In the past, they had to carry these suitcases back home when they arrived at Jiangjia Village, because the road was bumpy, muddy and dirty. Now the snow on the cement road has been shoveled to both sides of the road, revealing a clean cement road in the middle. Whether they walk by themselves or with the suitcases on wheels, they can roll over it.

They walked closer to the village.

The main changes in the village are actually not big. The biggest change is that all the roads are paved with cement, and they no longer have to suffer from the muddy roads when they were young. Another change is that it is the end of the year, and more people are digging homesteads and preparing to build houses.

There are already built or being built residential sites everywhere, and many families have only built a half of their houses. They all make money at the end of the year and come back to build houses.

Unlike the past when the residential sites only had one main room and two bedrooms, the current residential sites are obviously much larger than the houses built in the past. This is mainly reflected in that in addition to the main room and rooms in the front, the area in the back is also used. In other words, there were only three rooms on the first floor in the past, but now there are at least six. There is no big terrace upstairs, all of them are made into rooms.

These rooms may all be hotels that can be rented by tourists in the future!

Among them, more families build new houses with two or three bedrooms on the residential sites.

They were very puzzled when they saw it, and asked the people who built the house: "Second uncle, didn't your house just build a few years ago? Why are you building a new house?"

The man who built the new house came over with a smile, handed over a cigarette, lit one himself, took a puff and said: "Isn't this the old building built smaller? Who knew the village would develop so fast in the past two years? Because Guotai led us to grow tea leaves, this year the big guy's Jiang Liu is really talented, he invited the CCTV people to come down and film our Jiangjia Village, and promote our Wugong Mountain and Wugong Tea in Jiangjia Village, which made our Wugong Tea popular all of a sudden. Your uncle Guotai has built our place into a tourist leisure area. I don't know how many tourists will come to visit us during this summer vacation and National Day holiday. Those who have big houses have made a fortune just by running hotels."

The man who was speaking took a puff of cigarette and said, "It is estimated that the big guy's house has earned about 5,000 to 6,000 yuan this year." While smoking, he looked at his house that was being widened and covered, and said, "Isn't it said that studying is useful? You see, the big guy is different after having studied. He owed debts for so many years, but once he paid off his debts, he was immediately different. Every household in the outside world is still building this old-fashioned two-story building, but he has already learned from people in big cities outside to build his house so big. He is nothing like us, who have not read many books, can't recognize a few words, have limited knowledge, built a small house, and now have to add to it."

He said this, but he couldn't stop smiling at the corners of his lips.

His family of five was allocated five mu of tea land. These five mu of tea land allowed them to earn a net income of 20,000 yuan without having to do anything at home. Otherwise, how would he get the money to build a bigger house or add another house?

He couldn't help sighing and said, "How did Big Guy give birth to such capable sons and daughters? It would be fine if he had a capable son, right? It would be even more amazing if he had a daughter!" He pointed to the hills in the distance and the cement road under his feet and said, "Guotai said when he came back that all these ideas were given to him by Big Guy's daughter. There was no one to blame. Forget about tea and wolfberry. If we rely on ourselves, we can't even think of eating dog shit!"

With these words, everyone on the waterproof platform of his house burst into laughter. His wife scolded with a smile, "Okay, come back and work quickly. The homestead should be prepared before the New Year and the house should be built in the spring. Don't wait until March or April when all the tourists will come and watch others make money. Then you will be greedy again!"

Everyone laughed again.

The people who laid the foundation and poured cement to build the house for this family were not bricklayers from Jiangjia Village, but people invited from other villages. Now, foundations are being laid everywhere in Jiangjia Village, and there are not enough bricklayers in Jiangjia Village. Bricklayers from all over the country have gathered in Jiangjia Village. Hearing this, they were envious and sad, and said to their fellow villagers with regret: "Tell me, why can't our village produce a Jiang Guotai or a Jiang Liu?"

Although many people know that the roads in the village were built by Jiang Guotai, the villagers also know that neither Jiang Guotai nor Jiang Liu can be missing.

Jiang Guotai has money, but he can't hire CCTV. Jiang Xi can hire CCTV, but if Jiang Guotai hadn't spent a lot of money to build his hometown, there would be no restrictions in his hometown. Although it can't be called earth-shaking, it is enough to make the villagers rich and prosperous.

In the TV news, on the propaganda wall in the village, isn't it shouted every day that they are still leading the people to a well-off life?

Jiang Xi and Jiang Guotai are really leading them to a well-off life. Thinking of the prospects of the village, they even have a goal to live. Everyone's face is full of smiles, without a trace of sadness.

Someone who heard what the masons were saying laughed and said, "Can the Wenquxing appear so easily? In our Jiangjia Village, there have only been two such people in the past hundred years!"

Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai helped Grandpa Jiang back and walked to Uncle Jiang's mother's house.

In the past, when they saw them coming back, everyone would rush to the high platform to greet them. Today, they were either busy laying the foundation for their own house and preparing to add a house, or they all went to Jiang Gangqin's house to watch the excitement.

It turned out that the old darling of the Jiang family, Jiang Gangqin, actually came back with a partner.

Even Jiang Gangqin's spoiled and energetic son was curious about what kind of person he should find to satisfy Gangqin's mother.

When Jiang Xi was helping Grandpa Jiang pass by the door of Jiang Gangqin's house, the platform of Jiang Gangqin's house was full of people, all leaning their heads inside to see the excitement.

Jiang Gangqin is three years older than Jiang Xi, the same age as Jiang Xi's ID card, and she will be 23 after the Chinese New Year.

In the countryside, if a girl is still unmarried at the age of 23, she is really a grown-up girl.

But Jiang Gangqin is studying and will graduate in the first half of next year. Although her mother is anxious in her heart, she always shows outside that her daughter is still studying and is still young!

Now, Jiang Gangqin can be said to have brought her partner home.

Jiang Gangqin was also very generous. After deciding on a date, she did not delay and brought the date back to meet her parents so that her mother could help her make the final decision.

She was a typical mama's girl, and listened to her mother in everything. She always obeyed her mother's orders, and only after bringing the date back and getting her mother's approval would she be willing to continue dating him.

When Jiang Xi passed by Jiang Gangqin's house and heard the lively conversations, he felt a little envious, but only a little.

She has gotten enough, life cannot be perfect in every way.

The lotus pond next to them has no dead lotus this year, it is bare and the water surface is calm.

Finally, someone saw Jiang Xiao and Grandpa Jiang and they all got up and walked to the edge of the platform: "Xing Xiao is back!"

"Hey, it's really Xing Xiao who is back!"

Someone else shouted: "Your uncle and his family are not at home, they are building a house next to your house, did you see it when you passed by your door?"

Someone else pointed to the half-built house and said: "Did you see it? The biggest one is your third cousin's house. My goodness, the house is so big, he must have made a fortune!"

Grandpa Jiang immediately smiled and replied. "Everyone is getting rich! Everyone is getting rich! I see your family is also building a house, so you are getting rich this year!"

Grandpa Jiang's words made everyone on the platform smile and say, "Yes, thanks to you, we raised such a good granddaughter. Now our village is getting rich thanks to her and Guotai~!" Grandpa Jiang

smiled so much that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were squeezed into the shape of a goldfish tail. I don't know how happy he was!

"Old man, come up and sit down, come up and have a cup of hot tea. It's our Wugongshan Wugong tea. Our Wugong tea is now amazing. It was shown on CCTV! I heard that the big leaders in Beijing are drinking our Wugongshan Wugong tea. Is it true?" The last sentence was asked to Jiang Qiang.

Each of them was full of pride, looking at Jiang Wu with a kind and expectant look, hoping that the Wugong tea from their mountain would really catch the eyes of the most important people in this country.

Jiang Wu met their gazes, smiled slightly, nodded and said: "Teacher Li said that his leaders are also drinking our Wugong tea!"

The aunties who were looking forward to Jiang Wu's words were even more delighted, with pure and happy simple smiles on their faces, saying: "Next year, if the leaders want to drink tea, we will give it to them!"

"That's right! My family's Mingqian tea is free, the leaders like to drink it, so we give them more!"

"Hahahahahahaha, if it were in ancient times, our Wugong tea would be no different from tribute tea!"

The high platform was filled with happy laughter.

I don't know if it's because this year marks the beginning of a new century, but this year's New Year is very different from previous years. Every household is decorated with lights and colorful lanterns. Not only are there big red lanterns under the corridors at the entrances of their homes, but every old person and child in every household is wearing new clothes and new shoes.

These old people sat on the platform with satisfaction, smiling and quietly watching Jiang Xi and the others. On their feet are brand new shoes bought for them by their younger generations, and on their bodies are brand new cotton pants and cotton shirts.

Because of the tea land distribution, these old and useless men and women were each allocated an acre of tea land, and the children in the family, regardless of gender, all had a share, so even if they could not do anything at home, they could just pick tea leaves. Jiang Guotai was a very honest person. As long as they did not cheat and use old leaves and fruits of old tea trees to replace tea leaves, they did not have to worry about it at all. Jiang Guotai would take care of the tea sales and give them the money they got, not a penny less.

Even if the younger generation asked them to keep the money of the elderly, Jiang Guotai would not care. What belongs to whom belongs to whom.

Nowadays, who among these elderly people does not have three to five thousand yuan? Having money not only makes them feel at ease, but also because of the existence of these tea fields, the younger generations are also kind to them. They no longer worry that when they are old and can no longer work, their children and younger generations will despise them for eating and not working!

The lives of these old people are really happy.

They also prepare red paper envelopes for the New Year. They also have money to give red envelopes to their grandchildren!

Now in the village, there is no such thing as aborting a baby girl as in the past. While there are still tea fields to be divided, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl, all the babies born are treasures. Don't be picky about boys and girls. In the end, if you can't get an acre of tea field, you will have no place to cry.

This tea land cannot be divided at any time. Haven't you seen how active the first and fourth wives are this year? Those who are tidying up the hills are tidying up the hills, and those who are planting tea trees are planting tea trees. They are so energetic. No one is urging them from behind, and they are all very active.

The new addition to the family, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl, is a treasure in the palm of the hand, that is an extra acre of tea land!

Moreover, whoever this tea land is divided to will own it in the future. Everyone has a fixed acre, and they cannot get more. It belongs to the girls, so the income from this acre of tea land in the future will belong to the girls. Before they come of age, the elders can still help manage the tea land and the income. When they grow up, these tea lands are theirs, and no one can take them away.

Although many men were dissatisfied at first, thinking that the tea land should be given to the brothers after the girl got married, Jiang Guotai said directly: "After getting married, will Jiang Jiang no longer be a member of Jiangjia Village?"

No one dared to say anything.

Jiang Jiang is still a college student, but she has such great ability. It is hard to say how great her ability will be in the future. Who dares to say that she is no longer a member of Jiangjia Village after getting married? I am afraid that the village chiefs and elders of Jiangjia Village will expel them from Jiangjia Village first.

Everyone on the platform wanted Grandpa Jiang, Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai to come to their homes for tea. They were so enthusiastic. When Grandpa Jiang heard that his eldest son and his family were building a new house, he smiled and said, "We haven't even entered the house yet, so we won't sit down."

Then he took Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai to Jiang Jun's new house.

The man with the largest house in the village now is Jiang Jun, the third son of Uncle Jiang.

Jiang Hongjun and Jiang Hongbing are both married, and it's not convenient for him, the younger brother-in-law, to live with his brothers and sisters-in-law. The whole family discussed and built a new house for Jiang Jun. Uncle Jiang and his wife also moved in with Jiang Jun to live in the new house until Jiang Jun got married.

Uncle Jiang said, "I won't live with you either. I will build a small bungalow next to the house. Your mother is a good cook and can make some money by opening a small restaurant. I am still able to work and have an annual income of about 80,000 yuan. In addition, your mother has planted two acres of wolfberries. Although she can't make much money a year now, it is still an income. You don't need to support me for the time being. I will live with your grandmother and wait until we are I am old and can't work anymore. You three brothers can discuss the retirement matters later!"

Unlike Jiang's father who only wants his three sons and daughters to be around him and live under the same roof, Uncle Jiang has never thought about living with his sons because he has a good relationship with Aunt Jiang. He even complains that his sons always come to their house for free meals. He just wants to make his sons independent and live with his aunt. The sons are close to him and don't have to worry about being left alone to take care of them, so they can live a clean life. He

now wants to build the house for his youngest son as soon as possible. When the time comes, he will also build a house next to it, with a larger main room so that he can sell food every day and have some income. Isn't it more comfortable than asking his sons for money? With the help of his two daughters-in-law, when he is not building the house outside, he will follow his old wife and help her. He will do all the cleaning!

Jiang Jun was blessed by the good times. He originally planned to buy a house in Xinjie, Zhenshang, but this year he built a house in his hometown. Because the house was big, he did not take the residential land on the high platform, but directly gave it to his eldest and second brothers. Because he gave away the residential land on the high platform, his two sisters-in-law were very satisfied with this brother-in-law. They had no problem with the fact that his new house was much bigger than the houses built by his two brothers.

After all, the houses of his two brothers were built earlier, and the market conditions were different at that time. In addition, the residential land he gave away allowed his two brothers to build two more rooms next to their original houses. Together with their original rooms and the large building upstairs that was larger than one room, it is estimated that there will be four or five more rooms after all are built.

The address he chose for his new house was less than 100 meters away from Jiang's father's house, and it was also the paddy field below. It was the field where Jiang Jun's aunt was bending over to cut rice and called her when she went to Xujia Village to buy meat after she was reborn.

This field was also more than one mu in size, and the terrain was a horizontal rectangle next to the ditch.

At that time, there was no saying that agricultural land could not be used as homestead, so Jiang Jun used this land as his homestead.

Building a house in this place, just like Jiang Dad's, has a big disadvantage, which is that a waterproof layer must be built underneath, and the second floor and above is where people live. What makes his house better than Jiang Dad's is that the terrain of his field is more than one meter higher than that of Jiang Dad's home. In addition, he is able to endure hardships, and when he has nothing to do, he and his two brothers go to the mountain stream to dig sand and pick up stones, and they have raised the foundation of his homestead by more than half a meter.

The total area of ​​his own residential land is about five mu, about 330 square meters. Of course, he can't use such a large piece of land. The area of ​​his house is about 260 square meters. The remaining 70 square meters are planned to build a yard or a cement platform. When Aunt Jiang wants to open a small restaurant, if there is not enough space, she can put a few small tables outside for guests to eat.

Uncle Jiang rolled his eyes at this and said, "Do we still need you to build tables for us?" What is the nearly six mu of land next to him used for? You don't think he is leaving it for this brat to build a yard, right? He plans to build a house on this land in a year or two, and he and Aunt Jiang will live next to it with the old lady.

Uncle Jiang is also very calculating.

The houses of the eldest and second sons were built long ago. The money saved in the past few years, in addition to the marriages of the two sons, was saved for the youngest son to build a house. Now, because the youngest son's house is much bigger than expected, most of the money he and Aunt Jiang earned this year has been used to subsidize the youngest son to build a house.

But this year, their family, just the wolfberries and tea fields planted by Aunt Jiang, added up to 20,000 yuan. The money earned from the hotel was all given to the two daughters-in-law. Add the money earned from the small restaurant and his own money this year, and the money earned by the couple together is more than 30,000 yuan.

If there is 30,000 yuan next year, he and Aunt Jiang's house can be built in two or three years. Why should he live with his sons?

When more and more people come to Linhe Brigade to travel, they will live comfortably with just the small hotel built on the house.

However, he told his sons that he would build a two-story bungalow in the future, with the first floor waterproof and the second floor for living. His sons have never doubted it.

The first floor is said to be a waterproof layer. After last year's flood, they don't have to worry about such a big flood for at least ten years. When the time comes, just raise the foundation a little bit like the youngest son's house. What's the difference between the first floor and the ordinary house?

At worst, the first floor can be used as a small restaurant.

When Uncle Jiang and his three brothers built a house for their youngest son, they not only fully borrowed from Jiang's father's house, but also built the attic on the third floor on the original foundation, from two meters in the middle and one meter around Jiang's father's house to three and a half meters in the middle and two meters around. In this way, the attic above can be used as a normal floor for living, divided into six rooms, just right for use as hotel rooms.

Jiang Jun and his wife can live on the second floor, and the third floor and the attic above can be used as a hotel.

At present, the house built by Jiang Jun can be said to have surpassed Jiang's father's house and become the tallest and largest house in the village.

The house has not been completely renovated yet, only half of it has been built, and it is estimated that it will not be fully built until after the new year.

Jiang Xi and Jiang Bai brought Grandpa Jiang to Jiang Junjian's house and saw Jiang Hongjun and his wife, Jiang Hongbing and his wife, all of them were there. The two sisters-in-law were both capable people and were also helping to stir the cement slurry.

Jiang Hongbing, who was sitting on the higher ground, saw Jiang Xi and his family first and immediately shouted in surprise and excitement: "Hey! Xi Xi, Bai Zi and Grandpa are back!"