Song Darong chuckled, completely unlike his decisive and efficient self in the army; his eyes were only on his wife and children.
"No matter how much it costs, wear it without worry. Although your man can't give you a life of great wealth, he can still afford a pair of leather shoes."
He didn't give any money to Old Lady Song that year, and saved up quite a bit, so he had money to buy things for his wife and children when he came back.
Fang Jie felt that she hadn't married the wrong person in her life.
"I don't ask for a life of great wealth and luxury. It's good enough as it is now. My family is safe and sound, healthy, and has enough to eat and wear."
She didn't ask for much.
"Da Rong, I'll be content as long as you take good care of yourself when you go on missions and come back safe and sound every year."
Song Fanxing sat to the side, deeply moved by the affection between her parents.
Song Darong was so moved that he turned his head away to hide his reddened eyes.
With Song Darong's return, the house became even more lively.
There's a significant difference between having a man in the house and not having one.
Although the children don't usually mention it, they still miss their father deep down.
Fang Jie told him about Huang Juan and Chen Laosan, and also about how the two of them injured Song Yaohua.
After hearing this, Song Darong felt a wave of fear.
Fortunately, his son was alright, otherwise he would never have let those two get away with it.
Song Darong developed the habit of getting up early to exercise while in the army, and even the coldest weather couldn't affect him.
Every morning, he would get up and train his two sons together, teaching them to do horse stance, sit-ups, and run ten laps around the village.
Song Yaohui and Song Yaohua initially complained and couldn't persevere.
Under Song Darong's forceful coercion, they persevered. Now, running ten laps is easy for them, and they feel more relaxed than ever before after exercising.
Song Fanxing wakes up naturally every day, and when she gets up yawning, her father and two older brothers have already returned from their workout.
She felt a little embarrassed about sleeping in late.
During Song Darong's time at home, Old Lady Song came to make trouble several times, trying to squeeze money out of him. Song Darong was adamant and refused to give her a single penny.
Moreover, everyone in the village knows that Song Darong is not Old Lady Song's biological son. She has done so many vicious things in the past, and now she still wants to exploit people.
Everyone was openly or secretly criticizing her.
Old Mrs. Song gained nothing and was even scolded, so she had no choice but to give up.
Song Darong stayed at home for a month before reluctantly returning to his unit.
Fang Jie made him a jar of fragrant meat sauce to take with him, and also packed a sack of things that keep well, such as walnuts and chestnuts, and boiled ten free-range eggs for him to eat on the road.
As soon as the snow melted, Fang Jie took Song Fanxing to town to inquire about bricks and tiles; she was preparing to build a house.
There was a brick kiln in the town, and she found out about it.
Bricks cost one cent each, tiles cost one cent each.
The house doesn't need to be too big; 40 square meters per room is enough. We'll build three rooms.
Prepare a room for each of my two sons, so they will have a place to live when they get married.
Prepare a room for my daughter.
The daughter will live in the same room with her for now, and she can have her own room when she grows up. The room will also be reserved for her when she gets married, so she'll have a place to stay when she visits her parents' home.
Song Fanxing thought her mother's thinking was really open-minded; many mothers couldn't do that.
Once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a cup; she has no place in her own family anymore. If she comes back, at most they'll make room for her to sleep.
Her mother gave her plenty of reassurance, saying that she could come back to live with her anytime after she got married.
Meeting a mother like Fang Jie is a blessing for her.
The brick kiln worker calculated that, including the walls and other miscellaneous items, it would take 20,000 bricks and 10,000 tiles.
160 bricks, 100 tiles, and then cement and other things, totaling 350 yuan.
Fang Jie first went home to ask the brigade leader, Song Guoqiang, for land approval.
Song Guoqiang approved it readily.
He had approved a large plot of land for Fang Jie so that she could build a bigger house.
Fang Jie didn't have any money back then; she barely managed to build a house and a courtyard.
The foundation approval has been granted.
Fang Jie went to the brick kiln in town to buy bricks and tiles, and the brick kiln promised to arrange a car to deliver them to her home.
Fang Jie then bought 20 bags of cement, based on the calculations made by the brick kiln worker.
The next day, to the villagers' astonishment, two tractors drove into Songjiatun, one loaded with bricks and the other with cement.
Two tractors unloaded the bricks and cement on the open ground next to Fang Jie's house, then went back to haul away the remaining bricks and tiles, making two trips in total to finish hauling them away.
The land approved by the brigade leader was right next to Fang Jie's house, connected to her old courtyard.
After the new house was built, the middle courtyard wall was demolished, and the two courtyards were connected.
Fang Jie could already imagine how grand the new courtyard would look after it was built.
The villagers were both envious and jealous.
They knew that Fang Jie had made a lot of money raising pigs and chickens last year, enough to build a house.
It's only been a few years, and Fang Jie's family is already building a new house.
A woman who lived a wonderful life at home made all the men and old folks in the village envious, wondering why such a wife wasn't in their own family.
Strangely enough, last year everyone in the village raised pigs and chickens, but not a single household did it as well as Fang Jie's family.
The pigs I raise aren't as fat as Fang Jie's, and the chickens I raise don't lay as many eggs as Fang Jie's, and even the eggs they lay aren't as pretty or tasty.
If you take them to the supply and marketing cooperative, they will only give you three cents each.
They inquired and found out that the supply and marketing cooperative gave Fang Jie's family five cents for each egg.
They had seen Fang Jie's eggs and were completely convinced of their defeat.
Even though they only cost three cents each, they were still very satisfied and saved up several tens of yuan that year.
Several tens of dollars is a huge sum of money in this day and age.
They were actually very grateful to Fang Jie for taking the lead; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to raise both chickens and pigs.
Although it was a bit tougher than in previous years, the harvest was still quite good.
Fang Jie indirectly boosted the enthusiasm of the villagers.
So when Fang Jie asked the men in the village to help build the house, everyone readily came to help.
Moreover, there's no work to do this season, so everyone's just sitting at home with nothing to do.
A total of 12 strong laborers came and got to work quickly and efficiently, laying the foundation and building the walls.
Fang Jie and her three children are responsible for cooking, providing the villagers with three delicious meals a day.
That day, two young wives from the village, who were eager to curry favor with Fang Jie, came to Fang Jie's house and helped her cook.
Fang Jie was grateful and happy.
With the help of two young wives, the meal was cooked much faster.
Fang Jie was generous with her food, always including meat and eggs in every meal, and she was also generous with the amount of oil she used when cooking.
The men who work eat well and have energy to work.
That day, several children came to Fang Jie's house to play.
Three of the children belong to the two young wives, and a few others belong to the men who work.
When it was time to eat, the two young wives and several men urged their children to go home.
They wouldn't have the nerve to bring their kids along to freeload.
Fang Jie was grateful to everyone and insisted on keeping the children with her.
The children hadn't had such delicious food in a long time, and they ate to their hearts' content.
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