The next morning, Song Tantan shook her head helplessly with her hands on her hips. "Ah Xun, you can rest here. Here, take this whistle. My aunt, Uncle Zhong, and I are chopping wood up there. If you need anything, just blow the whistle and we'll hear you."
"I don't want to stay here. I also need to cut down trees. I need to exercise." Ye Moxun was panting heavily, his handsome face pale to the point of being transparent. He was holding a wood-chopping knife tightly in his hand, but it was very difficult for him to hold it.
“Walking this far is tiring enough. You’ve finished your exercise for today, so sit down and rest,” Song Tantan pressed him down to sit, then rummaged in his pocket and quickly stuffed a bag of Want Want Little Buns into his hand. “Take this and eat it. There’s also milk in the water bag.”
Ye Moxun looked at the small steamed bun in his hand, pursed his lips, and wasn't very satisfied. "I want to eat beef jerky, tiramisu, and cherries. There are plenty in the supermarket. Can you give me some?"
"You really are a young master, so picky. What will you do if you run out of food and there's nowhere to take it?" Song Tantan looked at him with a disappointed expression, but still took out the food.
This guy always tries every means to get good things from her. He's such a spoiled brat. But every time Song Tantan sees him weakly supporting his small frame and following behind her, she feels that he's had a tough time too. He's turned himself into a gigolo just to make a living.
However, Song Tantan said she really liked his looks. Although she always complained about it, she actually found him very pleasing to the eye. But she couldn't let anyone else know her feelings. She was not even six years old yet, so it was normal for her to act like she was naive.
So, Ye Moxun finally sat down on a spot made of rags, with a cloth bag next to him containing many small snacks. These snacks had all been specially unwrapped and wrapped in oil paper, so he had to eat them discreetly, for fear that someone might suddenly barge in and discover something amiss. However, Ye Moxun was still quite satisfied.
Tantan, Aunt Song, and Uncle carried machetes and worked hard chopping wood, while he watched them chop wood while having a picnic. Such a pleasant time was rare.
For the next few days, Song Tantan came to help cut wood. After five days of cutting, they finally cut enough wood to build the house. Zhong Qingyi had been a little puzzled for the past two days. There was enough wood to build a wooden house, but not enough to build his own few rooms.
"I'll be of great use to you, you'll see when the time comes. Brother Zhong, thank you so much for your help these past few days, you've worked so hard." Chopping wood is a very tiring job, even for someone like Song Zhuiyan who is used to farm work, it's too physically demanding.
The felled wood wasn't taken back immediately because it was too heavy. It would be easier to carry it back after it had dried for a few days. However, every time they went back, Zhong Qingyi would carry a piece of wood with him, saying that it was just a side trip and he could carry it without any trouble.
Once the timber was ready, we had to dig the earth. Since there were no bricks, we could only build an adobe house. When all the materials were almost ready, we asked the men from Linjia Village to build the house.
That day, Song Tantan searched for a long time in the supermarket and finally found the books she was looking for among a pile of books. She excitedly called Ye Moxun over, then closed the door and mysteriously presented her treasures.
"Ah Xun, haven't you always boasted about your amazing memory, that you can remember everything you see? Now's your chance, it's time for you to shine." Then she pushed a pile of books in front of him.
Ye Moxun glanced at the words printed on the book cover, his brow twitching. "You want me to study how to make bricks and tiles, and you also want me to learn medicine and make drugs. What's down here? Veterinary medicine?"
"Take it all away! I will never learn these things!" Ye Moxun was furious. Putting aside whether these skills were suitable for him, reading books every day was exhausting. He was in poor health; couldn't he just have some peace and quiet?
"What are you arguing about? You said yourself that you have a photographic memory, right? How much food have you eaten from me? Do you want to eat more in the future? If you can't do anything, what's the use of me raising you? You and your system might as well be useless. At least the system is useless and doesn't waste rice, but you still need to eat."
Song Tantan was exasperated. "You have to learn whether you want to or not, or you can forget about eating my food in the future."
"You might as well let me starve to death. I'm not going to work as a bricklayer or tile maker, much less a veterinarian." He might consider learning to be a doctor, since he himself is in poor health and can treat others while also taking care of his own.
"You're scared already? I didn't ask you to make bricks and tiles yourself. With your small frame, you can barely lift a single brick. You don't need to do any heavy work. You just need to memorize the contents of the book and then tell everyone about the technique." Song Tantan looked at him with an expression that said, "Why don't you think straight?"
Ye Moxun's expression froze. He was so eager to decline that he forgot about the roundabout tactics. Techniques are static, but people are dynamic. He just needs to use his brain a little, and others will do the hard work later.
"Even if I have a photographic memory, it would still be very mentally taxing to remember so much information."
"Stop, I know. Here's a pound of walnuts. Eat these first, and let me know when you're done. Don't worry, I won't let you work for nothing. Just tell me what you want to eat." Song Tantan smiled, her eyes crinkling.
The mud-brick house wasn't sturdy enough; a brick house was much more comfortable. Once the bricks and tiles were fired, she would have someone build a brick house next to the stone house, so that even if the owner of the stone house returned in the future, they wouldn't be homeless.
After promising Song Tantan that he would learn the technology, Ye Moxun stayed in his room for two consecutive days without going out. On the third day, he said that he had finished reading all the books.
"So fast, you've memorized it all? You know what to do?" Song Tantan asked hopefully.
"Otherwise what?" Ye Moxun glanced at her coldly. "I remember it's theory, but the most important thing is practice, so hurry up and find someone to do the work."
The adults were all busy building the house, and even the older children were trying their best to help. However, no matter how hard the children tried, it wasn't enough, so they could still be called over.
So Song Tantan called over Azhu, Jixiang, Chunsheng, and Asi, saying, "Axun and I have a very important task for you to do. If you do it well, I'll treat you to candy, two pieces each, no, five pieces." Song Tantan held up five with her chubby hands.
Ah Zhu and the others swallowed hard. They had all tasted the candy Song Tantan had given them, and it was so sweet and delicious. Hearing that there was candy to eat, they immediately nodded vigorously, "Okay, we'll help."
Then Ye Moxun led them around the area and found a place where the loess was sticky and easy to dig. He had Azhu and the others dig the loess to make a brick kiln. Since it was an experiment, the brick kiln didn't need to be very big. However, since the workers were all children, they only made a small brick kiln on the first day.
Ah Zhu and the others were exhausted. Song Tantan felt a little guilty and gave them a couple more candies. These were all child laborers. If it were modern times, these little rascals wouldn't have to suffer so much. It's a pity they weren't born in a better era.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
