The mud wall of the new house is three meters high. Rural houses are built with wooden beams and covered with tiles, so the walls need to be higher. Now there are many people and the walls are being rammed quickly. It looks like the beams will be put up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
After putting up the beams, nailing the purlins and covering the tiles is not so stressful. Otherwise, when the spring rain continues, everything will be wet and slippery, making it difficult to build the house.
Meng Tao also took advantage of the fine weather to tidy up the yard, dry the quilts, and wash the sheets and quilt covers. The workload was huge and it was too slow for one person to do it. Zhou Cuiling was already looking forward to going to work, so Meng Tao found Bao Dongmei and asked her to bring two more sisters over. She also recruited Wang Tiegen, and it took a whole day to finish the work.
Helping with the work would require a meal and a packet of candy per person. The little girls also received an extra pair of hairpins and two ribbons for tying their hair. Shen Yu and Meng Zhehan both bought these little things, and they bought quite a lot. Meng Tao didn't need them for her short hair, and even if she liked them, she wouldn't need that many.
The ones bought by Shen Yu are for his own use, and the ones bought by Meng Zhehan can be given as gifts.
The little girls' eyes sparkled with excitement when they received the fashionable and beautiful hairpins and ribbons. They were even more excited than when they were given sugar cookies, and they were all very happy.
On the 20th day of the first lunar month, the beams of the main house of the new courtyard were put up, and the eight educated youths returned to Linshui Village on that day as if they had made an appointment.
Leave on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month and return on the 20th of the first lunar month, exactly one month.
In the month since leaving Linshui Village, nothing was surprising. What the educated youths did not expect was that Meng Taohua was actually engaged! Zhao Ming, Xu Guoliang, Sun Yutang, and Qian Liang were very surprised, while Jiang Xiaodong was shocked. Then he felt a wave of pain and pain in his heart. He regretted it very much. He regretted being indecisive and missed the opportunity to confess his love.
He couldn't believe that Meng Tao would fall in love with a man in such a short time. He felt that there must be some hidden secret behind this engagement.
After returning from the city during the New Year celebrations, everyone took out gifts for Meng Tao and Jinniu, including snacks from their hometowns, books, notebooks and pens. Every gift was well-intentioned. Meng Tao and Jinniu accepted them with a smile, and then prepared a sumptuous dinner to welcome the educated youth. There happened to be a few bottles of wine left from the engagement party, and Xu Guoliang, Qian Liang and Sun Yutang, who loved drinking, were very happy. Everyone ate, drank and talked, and the courtyard was filled with laughter.
Only Jiang Xiaodong could not laugh at all and did not talk much. He drank a lot of wine silently and got himself drunk in the end. Meng Tao saw that he was upset and thought that something had happened at home. Everyone has secrets, so it was not easy to ask too much. She just cooked some sobering soup for them and told them to drink it and have a good rest.
Zhao Ming knew what Jiang Xiaodong was thinking and secretly felt a little guilty. It was he who advised Jiang Xiaodong not to disturb Meng Tao. Now he really didn't know what to say. He could only sigh that the world is unpredictable and Jiang Xiaodong and Meng Taohua were destined not to be together.
Jiang Xiaodong was unwilling to give up. Two days later, the literacy class resumed and he finally found an opportunity. He returned home with Meng Tao at night, and the two had a private conversation on the way.
"Taohua, were you engaged to that man voluntarily?" Jiang Xiaodong asked.
Meng Tao smiled and replied, "Of course it's voluntary. There may still be arranged marriages in this era, but it will never happen to me, right? Look at my grandfather. He always let me choose myself."
"But, in such a short time, do you know him well? I heard from Zhou Cuiling that your brother from the provincial capital introduced him to you. So he is also from the provincial capital?"
"Yes, he works in the provincial capital, and I think he and I know each other pretty well."
"We have to be together after we get married, don't worry about that. I was blind once, I can't be blind a second time. My fiancé is completely different from Tian Zhigao."
"You, are you so sure?"
"Of course, we got engaged because we loved each other. We had an emotional foundation, and Tian Zhigao just lied to me back then."
"So, you really like him?"
"Yes. Actually, I have known him for quite a while. I met him and Brother Meng on the first day I went to the provincial capital. We corresponded with each other after I came back from the provincial capital. Do you remember how many times I went out during that time? I went to meet him when he came from the provincial capital and I went out from home... So we were in a free love relationship and we understood each other."
Jiang Xiaodong: “…”
He still felt sore and sad inside, but he had nothing to say.
Another week passed and the weather was still fine. Jinniu's new courtyard was completed and even the walls were built. There were three main rooms, three side rooms, a kitchen and a utility room. The layout was similar to the old courtyard. It only took half a month, as the funds, materials and manpower were in place. The speed was so fast.
Spring ploughing work was also underway at the same time, but Captain Bao and several brigade cadres were a little anxious: Why is it that it never rains?
Although the Linshui River is nearby and the water conservancy channel has been repaired to bring water into the fields, the water conservancy channel cannot go to high places and can only irrigate flat farmland. Other fields with slightly higher terrain cannot be irrigated and need spring rain to nourish them before they can be cultivated and sown.
He waited and waited until mid-March, when, after a loud thunderclap, the spring rain came in torrents, which lasted for two days. Then it turned into a fine, continuous drizzle. Water gradually accumulated in the fields and ponds, and the old farmer finally felt relieved.
The laborers of the production team worked in groups. Wearing straw raincoats and plowing the fields in the rain was the job of the men, while the women had relatively less work and it was easier. They just had to select and care for crop seeds, soak and germinate rice, and prepare for seedling cultivation. All these required only a few experienced middle-aged people to do the job, while the young ones organized farm tools and twisted hemp ropes.
So at this stage, the women basically just gather together to chat and slack off when they go to work. They get bored after talking about family matters for too long. Meng Tao stopped going to work after two days and stayed at home to tidy up the new courtyard with Jinniu. The educated youth also came to help after work. After all, this courtyard would be their new dormitory in the future, and everyone could live comfortably after it was renovated.
The first spring rain lasted for a week, and then the sky began to clear up. Taurus’ new house was ready, and he could move in after a fire-entering ceremony.
Today's rural houses are truly environmentally friendly and harmless. Unlike the houses of later times, where the whole house is covered with acrylic paint and the smell will not dissipate for a year or two, making it completely uninhabitable.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
