"Lingling!" Chen Zhongxing threw a bunch of vines to her and said, "Plant them in the evening when it's cooler. Remember to water them more often when the weather is hot."
Chen Xingling asked suspiciously: "What is this?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to green the garden?" Chen Zhongxing explained, "The roots of this thing can be used as a herb, and it can bloom at least three days out of three thousand sixty-five days a year. The flowers are purple, not very big, but they look pretty when they are densely packed together. Mom asked us to bring them to you, saying that we can plant them in the back toilet and the small corridor, and they will be cool and beautiful."
There are only a living room, a study and a kitchen on the first floor. In the other corner of the living room is a small dining room. Opposite it is a spacious kitchen. Just outside the window is a lush magnolia tree.
Master Mok said that if the kitchen fumes were too great, it might affect the snow-white walls, so he deliberately designed the kitchen under a tree in the hope that the lush leaves could be used to block and reduce the emission of fumes.
The dining room door leads to a corridor, at one end of which is the study, and at the other end is the bathroom on the first floor.
There are two restrooms in total, both in the garden style with black tiles and white walls, but there is only a small tree nearby, which makes it look bare and lacks some charm and privacy.
Therefore, Chen Xingling asked his old father to go up the mountain to help him dig a few small bamboos and plant them next to the bathroom.
"Plant the vines along the outer walls and wooden doors. Plant some bamboos near the bathroom. It will look better this way. By the way, why hasn't Dad dug up the bamboo for me yet?"
Chen Daxing laughed and explained, "Dad said that the bamboos on the mountain are too big and difficult to dig. If we carry them down, only the bare bamboo trunks will be left. He went to ask Uncle Liu at the village for help. He planned to buy him a dozen bamboos that are more than one meter tall, dig them up with the roots, and then he can raise them."
"Yes!" Chen Zhongxing added, "Bamboo can usually only be transplanted in spring. Fortunately, the weather is not so hot now, otherwise it would be useless. After moving it over, you have to water it every day to keep it moist, otherwise it will definitely not survive."
"Oh oh." Chen Xingling didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "I was so busy looking at it that I didn't consider the actual situation at all. I really made things difficult for my father!"
"Isn't it?" Chen Zhongxing said with a sneer, "My dad searched the whole mountain for two or three days and decided that the bamboo planted by Uncle Liu a few years ago was the best. He removed half of the leaves and branches these two days and plans to dig them up and send them over when it rains the day after tomorrow."
"We still have to remove half of the branches and leaves?" Chen Xingling asked, "Is it so troublesome?"
Chen Daxing nodded and explained, "It has to be this way, otherwise it might not survive. Also, you may need to shade it from the sun for a few days at the beginning to keep it sufficiently humid and cool. After ten days or half a month, you won't have to worry about it anymore. Bamboo is relatively easy to keep alive."
"That's it, that's it." Chen Xingling waved his hand and said, "Tell Dad that bamboo is enough. I said before that we don't need the grass to save trouble."
"The grass isn't a problem." Chen Zhongxing wiped his sweat and said, "Mom found a piece of grass at the foot of the mountain. When we've finished with it here, we'll peel it up and plant it there."
Chen Xingling was delighted when he heard this and said, "We need to build a brick road at the entrance. We can use the broken and unqualified bricks left over from a while ago to pave the road. One road will lead directly to the living room door, another will meander to the study, and then another road will branch out to the bathroom at the back."
"Alright, alright." Chen Daxing laughed and scolded in disdain: "You are the only one who has too many ideas! You made it too complicated!"
Chen Xingling raised his chin proudly: "For you to see!"
"That's true." Chen Zhongxing looked around and nodded in agreement: "I'm afraid there's no other house in Yucheng that's so beautiful and has such an ancient charm. It's just that the place is a little small, otherwise it would be like a garden in a painting."
"No way." Chen Xingling laughed without hesitation: "Who made me poor! Living in a big garden would be the best, but my strength doesn't allow it!"
"Go away!" Chen Zhongxing scolded with a doting smile: "You are the only one who can live here, and you still say you are poor! Stop bragging!"
They all knew that the fourth brother helped to buy the land, but the money for building the house was earned by the youngest sister herself from selling fried noodles.
The whole family was happy for her. Not only did she have excellent academic performance and was admitted to Chongqing University, bringing honor to the family, but she could also earn money to build a house on her own.
The brother-in-law is capable and makes a lot of money, but he is still his brother-in-law after all. Their family members are more proud and relieved that their sister is independent and self-reliant and can stand on her own.
Zhao Xiaoxing was cleaning the bathroom in the living room when she saw the three siblings chatting and laughing in the yard. She couldn't help but feel envious.
It has been almost half a year since I got married and moved away. It is difficult for me to even see my family, let alone chat and laugh happily with my sister-in-law and her brothers and sisters.
My eldest brother has asked his friends to find a job for her, but unfortunately there is no news yet.
A few days ago, my mother-in-law went for a stroll in the cafeteria and found that she was not busy, so she asked other employees the reason, and then ran to the rental house angrily to find her.
The mother-in-law scolded her for being useless and for not telling her about such a big incident. She flew into a rage and scolded her severely.
Finally, Gu Yi called his eldest brother over, and the two brothers finally managed to coax the mother-in-law into submission by persuading her.
These past few days she had not dared to go to the first floor of Linjiang for dinner. She came to the construction site to help early in the morning and returned to the rental house in the evening to have dinner with Gu Yi.
The eldest sister-in-law wanted to hire her and pay her a salary, but she refused, saying that it was no big deal for her family to help out a little.
But the eldest sister-in-law was always kind and generous, and she asked her to carry meat and vegetables back to the rental house every day. Gu Yi was very satisfied with her meals these days, and said happily that she had been too vegetarian recently, and finally she could make up for it.
She had no job for the time being, but she dared not sit idle. She helped with cleaning and making lunch during the day, and went back to embroider and make shoes at night.
"Xiao Xing!" Chen Xingling came over and said with a smile, "I'll clean up, you go cook. By the way, my elder and second brothers will stay here for lunch today, so you can steam some more white rice. We can make braised pork belly, stir-fry cabbage, and make bitter melon bone soup."
"Hey! That's it!" Zhao Xiaoxing nodded.
Although she had not been in Chongqing for long, she had learned a lot of cooking skills from the chef in her cafeteria and had a certain understanding of the eating habits of Chongqing locals.
Recently, her cooking has satisfied her sister-in-law, and other workers also keep praising her good cooking skills.
She cooks different dishes every day, and her sister-in-law teaches her some new recipes from time to time. She has made obvious progress recently.
At the moment, my eldest brother and his wife’s new house is almost finished. They have already started making and buying furniture. It is estimated that everything will be completed within ten days or half a month and they can move in.
I don't know if she can find a job by then, I hope she can find one soon, so she can't always rely on my sister-in-law for food and drinks.
After lunch, large black clouds came from the southeast.
While the sun was not too scorching, everyone cleaned up the yard and laid irregular bricks. Some people dug and some laid bricks, and they worked very quickly.
I thought there would be a thunderstorm in the afternoon, but at around four o'clock there was still no rain. The sky was filled with dark clouds, the wind was blowing, but no raindrops fell.
The eldest and second brothers drove their tractor back home, saying that the tide was going to rise in the evening and they planned to go get some oysters or shells.
Except for the carpenters, the other workers had no work. Chen Xingling asked Zhao Xiaoxing to pour them some water, and then hurried home to get the money to settle their wages.
The workers happily said goodbye to Chen Xingling with money in their pockets and cigarettes in their hands.
"If you need work next time, just give us a shout! We'll be there right away!"
"We'll be there whenever you need us, sister Chen!"
Chen Xingling saw them off to the gate and warmly invited them to come over for tea when they were free.
"Come on! I will definitely come!"
"Lao Mo still has to make furniture for you, we'll come and help when we have time!"
Chen Xingling thanked them and watched them leave.
Zhao Xiaoxing at the back couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sister-in-law, you are really generous to them. Master Mo said that you are the most generous employer in the whole city of Yu. You dare to give foreign cigarettes to the workers, and they can eat meat every day."
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