After lunch, Jiang Shuhuai played with Tangtang for a while, holding her in his arms with great affection. He gently taught Tangtang to call him "uncle," and Tangtang cooperated by babbling and showing her tiny white teeth, which made her giggle. Tangtang seemed to really like this warm and strong embrace. Jiang Shuya inadvertently realized that Tangtang hadn't seen her father for more than half a year.
Seeing that everyone had finished eating and headed towards Dageng, Tangtang was dozing off, as if she wanted to take a nap. Jiang Shuya had also gotten up early today and wanted to take a nap as well, so she took Tangtang upstairs to take a nap. Looking at the mess on the table, she looked at it apologetically. Her mother-in-law waved her hand and said indifferently, "Take Tangtang to rest!"
"I'll tidy up. I still need to go to the fields to prune the grapevines." Shuya counted three thousand yuan from her pocket upstairs, went downstairs and saw her mother-in-law washing dishes. She handed the money to her and said, "Mom, you arrange to buy groceries tomorrow! We'll go to Grandpa's house to cook. This house will probably take more than ten days to build. I arranged with Chef Fang beforehand that he'll provide one meal a day at noon. Thank you for your hard work. I'll give you some payment later! Also, don't bring any of the seasonings from home; buy some new ones instead!"
At this moment, the mother-in-law happily stretched out her wet hands and readily accepted the money.
Jiang Shuya slept exceptionally well during her afternoon nap. She was woken up by Tangtang's crying. Seeing that Tangtang had kicked off the blankets and her face was flushed red, looking extremely uncomfortable, it was obvious that she had pooped and was feeling nauseous. Shuya pinched her nose, made a disdainful face, and went to the bathroom to fetch clean hot water.
I didn't stop until I cleaned her up, applied some refreshing powder, and gave her some milk. I checked the time and it was already 3:50 pm. I fumbled on my phone for a while and sent a message to Huang Minghao: "I've built a house on a plot of land above your old house. After it's finished, I plan to separate our household registration from your parents'. That way, we can get more housing and compensation when the land is demolished. You don't have any objections, right?"
Two minutes later, a message came back: "Building a house? You have the money?" Shuya replied, "Yes, construction has already started."
Huang Minghao: "Where did you get the money?"
Jiang Shuya: "It was borrowed, from my dad. I'll tell you the details when I get back."
Huang Minghao: "When are your parents asking you to pay them back?"
Jiang Shuya understood that this was a test and a warning: whoever borrowed the money should repay it; the old debts hadn't been paid off, and this was adding new ones. Jiang Shuya: "I borrowed the money, promising to repay it with the demolition compensation after the demolition."
Huang Minghao: "Are your parents really that good?" Jiang Shuya understood that he was still holding a grudge about the 60,000 yuan dowry. In his previous life, he always addressed Shuya as "your mom" and "your dad," never showing them any respect from the bottom of his heart, and never visiting them during holidays.
Shuya didn't want to reply to him anymore. Her parents had indeed asked for a dowry of 60,000 yuan, and this time they might really want that house. She didn't want to further deepen Huang Minghao's hatred towards his parents.
I can only wait for him to come back and explain it to him.
When I took Tangtang to Dageng in the afternoon, the foundation had already been laid by several workers, and the soil dug from all around had been filled in the middle and leveled.
Another layer of pebbles was laid on top, and the ground beam had been poured. After drying overnight, the base of the wall could be built, and the basic structure of the wall foundation and surface could be constructed. Several skilled workers, wearing standard construction site safety helmets, were hammering bricks to build the foundation and increase its stability. Many long wooden sticks of varying thicknesses and some hemp ropes were scattered around the foundation, to be used for building the wall tomorrow and preparing to erect the wall structure frame. A young man was working hard, shoveling sand one scoop at a time.
Jiang Shuhuai mixed cement and filtered yellow sand together, dug a pit in the middle, poured in a bucket of water and mixed it with the cement until it was smooth, making a sizzling sound. Tangtang watched intently without making a sound. When it was finished, her uncle gave her a kind look, and she started to giggle. Her father didn't stop until he had used up all the cement in the bucket. By then it was getting dark. They packed up their tools, got on Master Fang's truck, and were about to leave when Jiang Shuya stepped forward to pay the fare separately. Her father told her to settle the bill together later, and then they all got on the truck and drove back.
After seeing them off, Jiang Shuya had just arrived home when she heard another round of fighting and cursing. It turned out that the old man had returned, and the two were fighting again in the backyard. When he saw Shuya return, the old man pushed his mother-in-law aside, went to the backyard to get a carrying pole, picked up two buckets of manure, and went to the vineyard.
That night, Huang Minghao sent several messages, but Jiang Shuya did not reply. She suddenly realized that he seemed to never be curious about Tangtang's appearance and changes. After all, she had only seen Tangtang once since she was born, and it had been more than half a year. He had not even asked her to send a photo. She couldn't help but sigh, "Tsk tsk, is he still human?"
Over the next few days, after breakfast, her mother-in-law would go to the market to buy groceries to cook at her grandfather's house. As usual, Jiang Shuya would take Tangtang to Dageng to watch them start construction, help them boil water, and buy a few watermelons to keep chilled in her grandfather's well. Watermelons can quench thirst and cool you down.
Grandpa was quite enthusiastic about building the house. He got along well with Master Fang, as they were both honest people. Whenever he needed to borrow tools or anything, he would ask Master Fang. In just a couple of days, except for the first day when the foundation was laid which was a bit slow, the wall was already taller than a person's head on the second and third days.
On the fourth day, Huang Minghao's father was seen among the workers. No one knew how his grandfather had managed to get him there. The old man was working with some difficulty, covered in sweat and panting heavily. He had to stop and rest after working for a short while.
Although Master Fang was curious, he didn't say anything. His grandfather's tall figure was imposing, his eyes fixed on him as if he wanted to devour him whole. Seeing his grandfather bend down to pick up bricks, Master Fang was terrified and quickly grabbed his tools to mix cement. Jiang Shuya stood silently beside him, watching the old man's nervous state, feeling both amused and sorry for him.
Alas! This pair of sworn enemies, the grandfather's failure to educate his eldest son well is also a source of great worry for him.
Five days of sunny weather followed, and things were going smoothly. But on the sixth day, a light rain started to fall, and by the afternoon the rain hadn't stopped; it was getting heavier and heavier.
Master Fang checked the weather forecast and said that if it rained the next day, he wouldn't be able to work and wouldn't be able to come. He would come again when the weather was better. He said that he was just earning money through hard work and it wouldn't be worth getting sick from the rain. Sure enough, on the weekend, the sky was overcast and there was thunder and lightning. Entering July, the weather is very changeable, and the rain can come and go at any time.
Jiang Shuya checked the time. She was waiting for her sister at the bus stop below the Jiajiang Bridge at the agreed time, holding an umbrella. She wondered if she would arrive on time.
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