Xu Ningyan called out "Comrade Gu" twice, but no one answered, and she didn't know where Gu Zhiyuan had gone.
After walking about fifty meters forward, I reached the small house I had bought.
The cottage stood alone on the hillside, with a camphor tree not far behind it that was decades old, half with new buds and half with old leaves, its lush foliage covering half of the cottage's roof.
The area around the entrance to the cabin was covered with waist-high weeds and bushes.
The thatched roof had long been rotten from rainwater and was in a terrible state of collapse, and the windows and doors were also on the verge of falling down.
Xu Ningyan took a deep breath. If this house were to be habitable, clearing away all the weeds outside would be no small task.
In modern times, you could just pay someone to clean it up.
But now, it's better to be honest and do it yourself.
Fortunately, there were sickles, machetes, tall rain boots, gloves, and hats in the space.
Thank goodness I stocked up on these items back then!
Fully armed, Xu Ningyan cut weeds while pondering how to get through the days to come.
After the house is renovated and I move in, there are so many things I need to buy.
Pots, pans, and other basic furniture all cost money.
She only had fourteen yuan and eighty cents left, which was all her tangible possessions.
There are quite a few things from this era that I stockpiled in the space in advance, but I need to find a legitimate reason to take them out and use them.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be blatantly telling others that she has a problem?
People of this era can be both simple and naive, and she wouldn't dare gamble with human nature.
It seems I'll have to follow the same path as my predecessors who time-traveled and were reborn, and go to the black market.
When Xu Ningyan finished cutting the weeds near the hut and returned to Aunt Xie's house, she ran into many acquaintances from the production team on the way.
There are no secrets in the countryside.
The news that the Xu family had divided their property yesterday, and that Xu Ningyan had received twenty yuan after work today, severed ties with the Xu family, and bought the unwanted house at the end of the village, spread like wildfire.
Most people felt that the Xu family was too ruthless, and also felt sorry for Xu Ningyan. Behind her back, they all cursed Miao Cuihua as a scoundrel, and believed that the Xu family would regret it one day.
A few people's eyes lit up when they heard about it.
They set their sights on Xu Ningyan, a girl who had broken off her family ties. Not only did she lose her support and backing, but she also got a house.
This gave rise to the idea of families with too many sons who couldn't find wives.
He was figuring out how to get his son to win over Xu Ningyan, so he could get a wife and a house for free.
Xu Ningyan knew none of this.
She was so busy she was practically running on her heels.
The brigade leader and the party secretary were both efficient people. As soon as the land reclamation was finished, they arranged for people to repair Xu Ningyan's house.
There were five or six burly men, whom Xu Ningyan usually addressed as uncles and elders.
Knowing that Xu Ningyan was still staying at Aunt Xie's house, she didn't say anything, but she worked extra hard.
They all had a lot of strength. After having breakfast, they brought their own food and came to work.
I didn't go home until the sun had set in the evening.
There was absolutely no slacking off in the middle.
Xu Ningyan wasn't ungrateful; although she couldn't provide meals, she still tried her best to express her gratitude.
In the morning, I borrowed Aunt Xie's kitchen and bought mung beans from her. I cooked a big pot of mung bean soup and secretly added sugar to it halfway there so that the people helping me could drink it when I carried it to the hut.
She's also very clever, always calling everyone "uncle" or "elder brother," and she's very observant in helping out.
The burly men were so coaxed that their hearts softened.
Not only was the roof made exceptionally thick and sturdy, but they also casually used broken stones to build a half-person-high wall around it.
The doors and windows were replaced with extremely sturdy wood.
Seeing that Xu Ningyan's room was empty, they brought back two stones from the mountainside and found an old door panel from the production team. They put it on the door, and that made a bed.
The shed next to it was also sturdy, with a stove built of stones, so there was a place to boil water and cook, and there was also a place to store firewood next to it.
In just three days, the hut was repaired.
Xu Ningyan tidied herself up a bit and then went back to say goodbye to Aunt Xie.
Aunt Xie didn't linger, only saying that she had already received today's rent and food payment, and that the money wouldn't be refunded, and that she should leave after dinner.
He then took a handful of dried mugwort from under the eaves, saying, "Your house has been uninhabited for years; use this to fumigate it."
Although Xu Ningyan had mosquito repellent powder in her space, fumigating the house with mugwort was an old method, all-natural and quite effective.
After thanking her aunt, and seeing that it was still early, she took the mugwort and went to the hut.
Passing by the cowshed, Gu Zhiyuan's door was still closed.
Xu Ningyan has been coming here every day for the past few days, but she hasn't run into Gu Zhiyuan even once.
Every day, Xu Ningyan would fill a large bamboo tube with mung bean soup for Gu Zhiyuan and place it at the door. The next day, he would find the mung bean soup still untouched in the bamboo tube, lying far away.
If it weren't for the fact that the cowshed was kept spotless every day and the two cows had plenty of grass, Xu Ningyan would have suspected that Gu Zhiyuan didn't live there at all.
If she were pursuing a man she liked, she wouldn't see him every day, so Xu Ningyan turned and left.
But this is a future big shot, a golden thigh, a big boss who can protect her life for the rest of her life and let her win without lifting a finger. She would be happy to just be turned away and not see him, let alone be treated like royalty!
After all, he's a big shot; if he has a quirky temper and personality, that's called his personality!
Besides, we'll be neighbors from now on, seeing each other all the time, so I don't believe we can't build a good relationship.
Despite saying that, when passing by the cowshed, Xu Ningyan still habitually glanced at it and found that Gu Zhiyuan, whom she hadn't seen for several days, was coming down from the mountain with a large bundle of cow grass on his back.
Xu Ningyan stopped and waited until Gu Zhiyuan walked up to her before smiling and waving to greet him: "Comrade Gu, we're neighbors now! I've moved to that hillside, so please take care of me in the future."
Gu Zhiyuan frowned. He had been busy these past few days, leaving early and returning late, and had overheard some gossip.
Knowing that the little girl they had saved that day had been kicked out of her family and cut off from her relatives, everyone said that the little girl was pitiful.
But his first thought was that this was probably the result the little girl wanted.
Although he didn't know why, he was just so certain.
I never expected that the little girl would actually move to that house on the hill.
He knew about that house. When he was sent down to the Tuanjie Brigade, he had his eye on that house and planned to buy it and live there himself.
However, the brigade leader refused, saying that the production team's houses would not be sold to people outside the brigade.
They had no choice but to build a small shed next to the cowshed to take shelter.
Seeing that the house he had been longing for was now occupied by this little girl, Gu Zhiyuan didn't have any particular thoughts, but he did feel a headache.
I have a premonition that my peaceful days are probably over.
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