A tractor from Shuangshui Village was parked outside the station. Lin Jiayu put all the bags on the truck bed and pulled everyone up. Finally, he picked up Yingying and Qiaomai, who were left behind and were just whispering.
Along the way, Cheng Maixiang was very tired and leaned on Lin Jiayu's shoulder with her eyes closed to rest. However, Lin Jiayu was chatting animatedly with Cheng's mother and Cheng's sister-in-law. Lin Qingwan would also interject a few words, while Qiaomai and Yingying gathered together, chattering endlessly.
After more than half an hour, the tractor entered Shuangshui Village. It was not the busy farming season, and in the past, there would always be people chatting endlessly under the poplar trees by the river. But at this moment, there were few idle people. Instead, there were a few educated youth standing there waiting to take a bus to the city.
"Mom, what are the people in our village busy with? I haven't seen many people since I entered the village." Cheng Maixiang said curiously.
"Oh, a few days ago, your eldest brother hired someone to clean up the abandoned brick kiln in the village. He's almost finished these days. It's such a coincidence that you came back. Maybe you can catch the kiln lighting up."
Cheng Maixiang's eyes, which were originally closed, opened instantly.
"My elder brother is going to open a brick kiln in the village?" Cheng Maixiang asked in surprise.
There is a brick kiln in Shuangshui Village, which was dug out by the former brigade secretary Hong Yunlei and the villagers more than ten years ago. But not long after, it was sealed by a working group sent from higher authorities.
Because of this incident, Hong Yunlei suffered consequences and was criticized by his superiors. Even his position as the brigade secretary was removed. Later, when Cheng Maiqing became the brigade leader, some people used this brick kiln to target Hong Yunlei, but Cheng Maiqing managed to save him.
Unexpectedly, this brick kiln has been abandoned for so long, but Cheng Maiqing is going to start it up again.
When Cheng Maixiang returned home, she put her things down and went to the brick kiln to take a look without even drinking a sip of water. Cheng's mother couldn't stop her and had to let her go.
Once she left, Lin Jiayu naturally wouldn't stay at home. Qiaomai and Yingying had always been their followers. In addition, Yingying had never seen what a brick kiln looked like, so when she heard that they were going to see a brick kiln, she was naturally happy. The two girls held hands and followed them out the door happily.
Mother Cheng saw that Lin Qingwan was the only one left after they had just entered the house for less than five minutes. She couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "My daughter likes to join in the fun when she hears about this kind of thing. I can't stop her. I really don't know what's so interesting about the brick kiln. She just came home and didn't say anything to stay and talk to her before going out and running wild."
Lin Qingwan smiled and said, "Aunt Cheng, Maizi is different from us. She is a person with her own ideas. I think she has a lot of experience. It would be good to go and take a look. Maybe she can give Brother Cheng some advice."
The abandoned brick kiln was at the foot of a small green hill to the north of the village, about eight or nine hundred meters away from the Cheng family. The four of them arrived there in less than ten minutes.
At the foot of a small hill about 20 to 30 meters high, there is a dilapidated brick kiln. Next to the two-meter-wide kiln entrance, weeds are half a person's height, covering the entire brick kiln tightly.
Cheng Maiqing was leading dozens of strong laborers from the village, waving sickles to cut grass. Others were pushing carts filled with broken bricks and stones in and out of the kiln.
Someone who was working saw Cheng Maixiang and Lin Jiayu and greeted them. Cheng Maiqing was bending over to cut grass. When he looked up, he saw his sister and brother-in-law coming over.
Cheng Maiqing wiped the sweat from his head, explained to the people around him, and then strode over and said to the two of them with a smile, "Maizi, Xiaojia, when will you get home?"
"Dad, my aunt and uncle were on the tractor. As soon as they heard that you were busy with the brick kiln, they dropped off their things at home and rushed over." Qiaomai said cutely.
Cheng Maiqing shook his head. "Then hurry back and rest. I'm busy here and can't take care of you."
Lin Jiayu saw that Cheng Maixiang wanted to say a few words to his elder brother, so he took the sickle from his hand with a smile, "Brother, you haven't seen Maizi for a long time. You should talk to her and take a break. I'll go cut the grass for you."
"Hey, Xiaojia, how can we let you do the work here?" Cheng Maiqing saw Lin Jiayu walk a few steps to the outside of the kiln, waving a sickle and cutting grass hard. He wanted to go over to stop him, but Cheng Maixiang forcibly pulled him aside.
"Brother, we are not tired. Jiayu wants to help you with the work, so just let him do it. Anyway, even if he doesn't do it for you, he will still help."
Cheng Maiqing was an honest man. Seeing the girl's nonchalant tone, he couldn't help but shake his head and said, "You are guests now. How can you ask guests to work?"
In the minds of country people, once a daughter gets married, she is treated as a distinguished guest when she returns to her parents' home. She can no longer be ordered around to do things as she did before.
As for the son-in-law, he is even more of a guest and must be served with good food and drink. Unless he is willing to work for the family, the people in his wife's family cannot assign him any work at will. As for the affairs of the village, he has no obligation to participate.
Cheng Maixiang's face suddenly became long, and she yelled at her brother in dissatisfaction, "Who is the guest? Who is the guest? Big brother, you have to explain clearly. If you don't, I will never let you go."
"That's right, how can my aunt and uncle be guests? They are originally members of our Cheng family."
Qiaomai glanced at her father proudly. Her father was so stupid that he couldn't even speak a word and needed her, his daughter, to smooth things over for him.
"That's right, our Qiaomai is so well-behaved and never treats our aunt as an outsider." Cheng Maixiang touched Qiaomai's little face with satisfaction.
What a good child she is. It’s no wonder that her aunt loves her so much. She is more perceptive and talkative than her elder brother.
Cheng Maiqing was looked down upon by his daughter, and was immediately at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He pointed at Lin Jiayu, who was busy working, and said, "That little Jia..."
"He is not a stranger," Cheng Maixiang didn't want to talk about these trivial things with her brother, so she found a relatively clean stone on the side of the road and pulled her brother to sit down.
"Brother, why did you think of reopening this abandoned brick kiln?" Cheng Maixiang said as she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to her brother.
Seeing that her handkerchief was very clean, Cheng Maiqing waved his hand and took the towel from his shoulder and wiped the sweat from his head.
"Aside from your garment workshop, our village has no other side businesses. These days, policies are becoming more and more relaxed. Things that were forbidden in the past are now permitted, and our superiors are constantly encouraging us. I've thought about this for a long time. Although this brick kiln has been abandoned for so many years, if it were reopened, I'm afraid it could still be used and allow the villagers to earn more besides farming."
Cheng Maiqing looked back at the brick kiln, his eyes full of hope. "Last week, I found Uncle Lei and told him about my idea. He was very supportive and took the initiative to come with me to take a look at the brick kiln. The kiln was built very solidly back then. After so many years, it's just a little dirty inside, but it doesn't affect the production of bricks at all. So I discussed it with the team and decided to take advantage of the current lull in the farm work and call up the young and strong laborers in the village to clean up the brick kiln in the next few days. After May Day, we will light the kiln."
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