"It's nothing, this village is only so big. Even if we're all separated, you can still bring the children to visit often, sister-in-law," He Tiantian said happily.
The new house has a front yard and a back yard. In the back yard, there's a chicken coop and a sheep pen. In the front yard, there's a doghouse and a flower bed.
He Tiantian was still thinking about the furniture she had mentioned last time, when Zhao Tingzhang came to supervise the work as usual.
He Tiantian, her belly protruding, stepped forward to greet him, "Chief Zhao, thank you so much for your hard work in building this house. After so many days, the house is finally almost finished."
Zhao Tingzhang felt a great sense of accomplishment because he directed the workers to do their work entirely according to the structural diagrams given by He Tiantian.
For example, the courtyard wall is higher than that of ordinary houses, and sharp-edged bricks, stones and sharpened wooden sticks are stuck at the top of the wall.
This can effectively prevent thieves from breaking into your home at night.
The roof is also different from ordinary adobe houses; it was specially asked by Wanzi's mother to go to the county to buy blue tiles to use as the roof.
Each blue tile costs one coin, and these four houses must have used six or seven hundred blue tiles.
Although it hurts to spend the money, it looks nice when it's built, and it can also effectively prevent leaks when it rains.
The most common problem with ordinary adobe houses is that the roof leaks, so it often rains heavily outside and lightly inside.
"Don't talk about how hard it is. I'm the village head, and I have to help anyone in need." Head Zhao smiled and looked at He Tiantian's house with great satisfaction.
"Chief, do you know any good carpenters? I've drawn up some blueprints and want to have some furniture made," He Tiantian asked.
“Carpenter…” Zhao Tingzhang coughed, “We don’t really have one in our village, but I know a top-notch carpenter in Chengjiazhuang. The things he makes are truly beautiful!”
"That's great! I have the blueprints here. The carpenter can just make it according to these blueprints." He Tiantian said, handing the blueprints to Zhao Tingzhang.
Zhao, the village head, held the paper up to the sunlight and examined it closely. Good heavens, he had never seen anything like it before. Ordinary families would at most make a square box.
But the ones that Maruko-chan drew seem to be quite complicated, so they must be expensive to make.
“Mother Wanzi, you really have your own ideas. These things look much better than what ordinary people have. It’s just that they use a lot of wood, and that carpenter Cheng’s wages aren’t cheap,” Zhao Tingzhang admiringly reminded her.
He Tiantian could understand, after all, this was how they made a living.
"That's only right, not everyone can do this kind of work. I'll trouble you, Pavilion Chief, to ask around for me. Once the new house is built, the furniture needs to be made as soon as possible."
“Alright, I’ll have Dahai take this paper to Chengjiazhuang later. My eldest daughter-in-law is from Chengjiazhuang, and her family knows this carpenter. We can ask them to act as matchmakers and get a discount,” Zhao Tingzhang said with a smile.
He Tiantian was extremely grateful. Soon she would be able to move into her new house, and she was very excited at the thought.
Zhao San's house regained its former vitality. With Liu Shi taking care of everything inside and out, the whole house finally felt like home again.
Zhao Dagou had just returned from weeding in the fields, carrying a straw hat and carrying a hoe. Although the sun wasn't too strong, he had been working in the fields for more than two hours early in the morning, and his clothes were soaked with sweat.
Liu was busy at the stove in the kitchen when she saw Zhao Dagou return and quickly came out to ask, "Dagou's back! How are the crops in the fields?"
Zhao Dagou put the hoe down on his back and wiped his sweat with a handkerchief.
"Without rain for several days, the crops aren't growing well. If this continues, we'll probably have to work hard to irrigate them."
Liu had an idea in her mind. She and Da Gou had previously gone to the county to make a living. Da Gou worked as a porter at the dock, while she found a job washing clothes. After working for so long, they had saved up some money.
If we rely solely on this kind of crop, we'll barely have enough to eat and wear all year round. If a disaster strikes, the fields will yield nothing, and people will just starve to death.
So she wanted to start a small business so she could save more money. Besides, Da Gou would be sixteen after the New Year, and if he didn't get married soon, the villagers would laugh at him.
Thinking of this, Liu said to her eldest son, "Big Dog, now that we're not in the farming season, let's think about what kind of business we can start in the village. That way we can save some money to help you get married."
Zhao Ergou was filling a ladle with water when he heard this, and he was so excited that he spat out the water in his mouth.
His face flushed red. "Mother... I have a long way to go. You said you wanted to do business, so what kind of business should we do?"
Liu shook her head; she hadn't decided yet.
"Where's Er Gou? Let's talk it over when Er Gou comes back."
Zhao Dagou shook his head. "I haven't seen Ergou. I didn't see him last night. Didn't Mother see him this morning either?"
"Oh no!" Liu slapped her thigh. "Has Er Gou been away from home a lot lately at night?"
The Zhao family's house has three rooms in total, and now each person lives in one room, which is just right. So sometimes, Da Gou and Liu Shi don't know whether Zhao Er Gou has come home at night.
Zhao Dagou shook his head, "Ergou looks very tired lately, I haven't asked him to do any work in the fields."
Just as the two were getting anxious and frustrated, Zhao Ergou, looking sneaky, hid outside the house, too afraid to come in.
He was a little embarrassed. He had originally planned to come back earlier, before his mother and older brother got up.
But the village was too far from the county, and the journey had exhausted him so much that he almost threw up his internal organs.
With her sharp eyes, Liu spotted a sliver of clothing peeking out from outside the courtyard gate.
Isn't that Zhao Ergou's clothes?
Liu shouted, "Zhao Ergou! What are you doing hiding outside? What wrong thing have you done?"
Liu knew Zhao Ergou quite well; he'd always been like this since he was a child. Once he did something wrong, he was too afraid to go home.
But he's already fourteen years old, and he's still like this, so useless!
Upon hearing Liu's voice, Zhao Ergou instinctively wanted to run. However, he retreated after taking a few steps.
This is his home. Where else could he go if he ran away?
Zhao Ergou clutched his crotch tightly and awkwardly walked into the yard with his head down.
Liu and Zhao Dagou both stared at Zhao Ergou's crotch. "Ergou, what are you doing covering your pants?"
"Ergou, what's wrong with you?"
Zhao Ergou was exhausted and his face was pale. He kept his head down and didn't speak.
Liu and Zhao Dagou exchanged a glance and walked together to Zhao Ergou.
Zhao Dagou removed Zhao Ergou's hand; Zhao Ergou's crotch was completely wet.
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