Sure enough, as soon as Chen Shuning stepped out of the house, he saw a dozen or so men holding tools. The man in the lead was Shen Dahe, whom he had just met at the brigade leader's house.
Knowing that these people were there to build a house for him, Chen Shuning greeted them with a smile: "Brother Shen, I didn't expect you to come so early. Look, I didn't even prepare a bowl of hot water."
Before leaving home, his mother repeatedly told him to take the construction of the houses for Chen and Zhong, the educated youths, very seriously. Even his father, who had never had a good impression of the educated youths, instructed him to find some skilled workers and finish the houses as soon as possible, and not to do a shoddy job.
Even before the commune's approval was granted, he urged me to quickly find someone to dig the foundation first, acting as if he cared more about it than if I were building my own house.
This was the first time he had ever seen his father, who always valued rules, act in such an unconventional way.
So, after being instructed by his parents, Shen Dahe didn't dare to put on any airs. After hearing Chen Shuning's words, he quickly waved his hand and said, "You don't need to prepare anything, Chen Qingqing. We brought everything ourselves. Just tell us where you want to build your house and how big you want it to be. We'll dig the foundation first, and once my dad brings back the bricks and cement, we can start building the walls."
Hearing Shen Dahe say this, Chen Shuning didn't stand on ceremony. Pointing to the northwest corner of the backyard, he said, "Brother Shen, the house will be built in the northwest corner of the backyard. However, I would like to ask Brother Shen to measure out a plot of land behind the house. I want to put my private plot behind the house. As for the size, I just need to build two rooms, enough for me to live in. The inner room is for living, and the outer room is for the kitchen and storage."
Shen Dahe looked in the direction Chen Shuning pointed, then walked around and measured the dimensions with his steps, and said, "Two rooms are no problem. Here, houses are usually four meters wide. I'll build you two small rooms that are four meters wide and five meters long, with the inner room being three meters long and the outer room being two meters long."
"We won't build the house against the west wall. We'll leave some space next to the wall and then build a mud-brick woodshed for you. That way, if you build it next to the courtyard wall, you only need to build two walls. The house here won't be cold, and it will be warmer in winter. I have mud bricks ready, so I won't charge you."
Chen Shuning has always been afraid of the cold, so he was naturally happy to hear this. He nodded and replied hastily, "Thank you so much, Brother Shen. To be honest, the reason I gritted my teeth and spent so much money to build a house is because I am not in good health and I am most afraid of the cold in winter."
Shen Dahe had heard his father mention it before, saying that the young educated youth who wanted to build his own house was not in good health. So he thought for a moment and said, "You are building a house with blue bricks and thick walls. When you build a kang (heated brick bed) in the inner room, I will make the walls between the inner and outer rooms into fire walls. Since your house is not big to begin with, you can make sure it won't be cold when you light the stove in winter."
"Thank you, Brother Shen, for thinking of everything for me. I'll leave the house matter to you."
Hearing Chen Shuning keep thanking him, Shen Dahe scratched his head a little embarrassed and said, "What are you thanking me for? Chen Zhiqing paid us for building the houses. By the way, what about Zhong Zhiqing? Where does she want her house to be built? If your two houses are built next to each other, you can save on building one wall, and neither house will be cold. It will also be warmer in winter."
"Coming, coming, I'm here." Zhong Lingling, who was feeling a bit unwell due to the change in environment, had just been using the toilet in the backyard, which was the kind of place that terrified her, with Wang Wenqi by her side. As soon as she came out, she heard Shen Dahe mention her, so she hurriedly ran over and responded.
Seeing Zhong Lingling and Wang Wenqi arrive, Shen Dahe asked with his usual honest expression, "Zhong, where do you want to build your house? I was just talking to Chen, and we were saying that if you build your houses next to each other, you can save on building one wall. That way, neither of your houses will be cold, and they will be warm in winter."
Zhong Lingling was originally going to be Chen Shuning's neighbor, so when she heard that building houses next to each other would make the houses warmer, she agreed without thinking. Although she didn't care whether one wall was built more or less, she was also afraid of the cold. She had caught a cold from just one rain a couple of days ago, so she naturally wanted the house to be warmer. Therefore, she nodded and agreed without hesitation.
"Okay, I don't know anything about building houses, I'll listen to Brother Shen. My house needs to have two bedrooms and a kitchen. They don't need to be too big, just enough for one or two people in the bedrooms. Brother Shen, what do you think we should do?"
Shen Dahe briefly measured the location where the house was to be built, then thought for a moment and said, "Chen Zhiqing's house has one bedroom and one kitchen, which is four meters wide and five meters long. Zhong Zhiqing, you can build your two bedrooms four meters wide and seven meters long, two and a half meters wide bedrooms, and a two-meter wide kitchen. The bedrooms will be on both sides, and the kitchen will be in the middle. This way, we can also build a small woodshed next to it. What do you think?"
The backyard of the educated youth settlement had a back door. If it were any bigger, it might block the door, so Zhong Lingling's house couldn't be built too big.
Zhong Lingling understood what Shen Dahe meant when he measured the dimensions with his steps, so she didn't mind that her bedroom was a little smaller than Chen Shuning's. Moreover, the woodshed that Shen Dahe mentioned was an unexpected surprise for her, so she readily agreed: "Okay, I don't know anything about this. I'll trouble Brother Shen with building the house from now on."
Shen Dahe laughed upon hearing this, "Chen Zhiqing, Zhong Zhiqing, if you have no objections, then I'll get the people to start working. If you remember any other requests, you can tell me anytime."
After saying this, seeing that Chen Shuning and Zhong Lingling didn't have any requests, Shen Dahe told the people he brought to start working.
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