Chapter 80 The next step
Shi Xiaoai was also very angry about these words, but when she saw Cheng Yang's expression, her heart still skipped a beat.
She knew that this man was on the verge of a rage, and was afraid that he would explode if provoked any further!
She didn't want to scare Cheng Kai, so she quickly walked over and pulled the child to her side, then asked on behalf of Cheng Yang: "Kaikai, tell your sister-in-law, why did your father beat your second brother?"
Before Cheng Kai could speak, Cheng Lin had already wiped away her tears and pulled herself out of her brother's arms.
Seeing his brother was truly furious, he quickly explained, "It wasn't really a beating. It was just, it was just... we got into an argument and he lost control and slapped me."
Cheng Lin is already seventeen years old. At this age, young people are most concerned about their reputation.
The young man was obviously ashamed to admit that he was beaten in front of his brother and sister-in-law. He subconsciously avoided everyone's gaze and spoke as lightly as possible.
But who knew that Cheng Kai didn't care about people's expressions.
It could also be that the child had been aggrieved for his second brother for a long time and finally had a channel to vent. After hearing him put it so simply, he immediately added bluntly: "Not only did he slap you in the face, he also hit you with a cup, bruising your back. Don't think I don't know."
Cheng Yang punched the stove hard!
The washbasin above was hit and jumped with a bang!
"Why did he hit you! What right did he have to hit you!" he growled angrily.
Cheng Yang is usually a good-tempered person at home. Even though Shi Xiaoai would make him angry from time to time, he never really lost his temper.
His fury at this moment frightened the other three people.
Cheng Lin subconsciously tensed his body, and Shi Xiaoai swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Kai was the one who reacted the fastest among the three. He didn't even wait for Cheng Yang to continue speaking and directly took over his words.
He said bluntly: "Yes, why did he beat my second brother? He has never taken care of us, so he has no right at all! So, big brother, sister-in-law, please don't chase my second brother and me back, okay? We don't want to go back, we don't want to be beaten again."
After saying that, he stared at Cheng Yang eagerly. His big almond-shaped eyes, which were identical to those of the three brothers, were dark and bright, making it impossible for people to say no to him.
Cheng Yang's chest rose and fell slightly, and it was obvious that he was trying hard to control his emotions.
But even so, facing Cheng Kai's expectant eyes, he couldn't help but promised loudly, "Okay! We won't go back, neither you nor Xiaolin! No one can pick us up! Let him... go to hell!"
Xiao Ai had already prepared to accept the two brothers, so she naturally agreed with Cheng Yang's promise.
Now that you have decided to stay, you need to consider what you will do after you stay.
They coaxed Cheng Kai to sleep first, so he didn't have to worry about the rest of the things for such a young child.
At the same time, his son, who had been hiding outside and eavesdropping, was also coaxed away.
Shi Xiaoai coaxed the two little guys to bed. When she came back, she heard Cheng Yang say to his brother, "Xiaolin, do you want to join the army? If you do, I can find a way for you. I have some connections in the army."
What she didn't expect was that Cheng Lin shook his head after hearing this: "I don't want to."
Shi Xiaoai walked in and sat next to Cheng Yang.
Seeing her come in, Cheng Lin bit his lip and explained, "Actually, I was just anxious at the time and wanted to find something to do quickly. Later, I thought what Dad said was not wrong.
He said that it was enough for him to have one son who shed blood and fought for his country, and there was no need to send all his children. He said that he didn't have your tenacity and that he couldn't hold up as well as you could on the battlefield.
Cheng Yang was silent.
Whether he admitted it or not, he agreed with Cheng Fanying's words in his heart - it was enough for him alone to shed blood for the country, there was no need for both brothers to do so.
If anything happened to Xiaolin, he would be sorry for his dead mother.
Now that the war is still going on, who can guarantee that the new recruits will not be directly sent to the war zone like they were in the past?
Let him be selfish for once and leave his younger brother behind so that Xiaolin can live a peaceful life.
Shi Xiaoai pondered for a moment and asked, "Xiaolin, are you willing to go back to school? You don't have to worry about your poor foundation. My grades are pretty good, and I have no problem tutoring you. If you want to go to school, we can give you a quick lesson and then find a high school for you to attend next year."
Before Cheng Yang could interrupt, Cheng Lin's hands were already waving rapidly: "Sister-in-law, please forgive me! I've had headaches since I was a child just looking at books. I absolutely cannot go back to school. If you want to teach, teach Kaikai. He can do it. He's smarter than me."
Cheng Yang was just about to say that this was a good idea when he saw his brother strongly objecting, and he almost got so angry that he turned into a puffer fish!
"You're smart too! You've always been smarter than others since you were a kid!"
"Then I won't go to school either. I simply can't concentrate." Cheng Lin still expressed his attitude firmly.
Although Shi Xiaoai felt that Cheng Lin was a good helper, she still felt in her heart that it was a pity not to go to school at this age.
But this is not a pressing matter, and there is no need to make a decision now.
"Okay, then let's talk about how to live first." She took the initiative to change the subject.
When they heard how they were going to live, the two brothers looked at her together.
There are only two beds in the house, one king-size bed and one bunk bed.
That so-called big bed was also a homemade bed, and its width was definitely less than 1.5 meters.
After the two brothers came, they had been making do with each other. Even Shi Xiaoai still slept in the big bed with Mingxi, while the three brothers and Mingrui squeezed into a bunk bed.
If you're only staying for a few days, you can just bear it, but how can you do it for a long time?
"Didn't you say before that you wanted to renovate this house and move the kitchen? I just thought about it and decided to do it before school starts.
Don't just move the kitchen, but also reorganize the rooms and change the layout of this courtyard."
As Shi Xiaoai spoke, she moved the stool to the dining table, took out the paper and pen she brought from the cabin, and started drawing on the table.
The courtyard they live in now is actually a bit like a small courtyard house with one entrance, but there are not so many rooms.
The overall layout is that the main house is directly in front of the door, which includes a dining room, a master bedroom, and a kitchen.
On the north side of the yard were two large rooms, which are where the warehouse and small room are now.
Although it's called a small room, the house isn't actually small. Because it's a self-built house, they can build it larger. The two rooms are about 35 square meters each, and the other is over 40 square meters!
Otherwise, there would not have been enough space for Old Man Shi and the two large families of Shi Yunchuan and Shi Yunpeng to live there.
The south side of the yard is actually not used. There is only a small flower bed near the kitchen and a toilet near the gate. The rest of the yard is idle.
According to Shi Xiaoai's plan, she wanted to divide the small room into two rooms by adding a wall in the middle, and then buy a bunk bed.
In this way, when Mingxi was young, the four children could live in one room first, and the other room could be used as a study for them to study.
When Mingxi grows up, I can clean up the small room inside and make it her own bedroom, so it won’t be so much trouble then.
As for the current warehouse, Shi Xiaoai hopes to transform it into a kitchen.
"If Cheng Lin comes to help me, then our current small kitchen is too small. People can't even turn around when they come in. Let's renovate that room and build an extra stove. Then we can consider adding some new varieties." Shi Xiaoai explained.
What she didn't say was that she had always had an idea that after a while, when everyone had completely accepted her snack bar, she would open the window facing the street and set up a takeaway window there.
Then you can do neighborhood business.
"As for the warehouse, move it to the north. Tear down the flower bed and move the grape vines to the middle of the yard to make room for building two more houses." Shi Xiaoai said as he drew on paper.
Seeing her idea, Cheng Yang also became excited.
He had previously suggested to Shi Xiaoai that they renovate the kitchen and move it outside.
At that time, he felt that the chimney was difficult to access at its current location in the kitchen, the route was too long, and it was difficult to heat several rooms.
According to my wife's design at this time, the chimney issue will no longer be a problem, and there will be a few more rooms in the house.
He tapped on the paper and said, "If we move the kitchen out, this place can be turned into a study for you. It'll be convenient for you to read and write here."
The longer Cheng Yang interacted with his wife, the more he realized how much she knew.
Not only can she cook, she can also write beautifully.
The tea stall sign was written by her, and the calligraphy... is even better than Cheng Fanying's!
It’s also a good thing that person still thinks his handwriting is amazing every day.
"That's fine." Shi Xiaoai didn't refuse: "When buying building materials, let's look for suitable wood. If there is, we can build two bookshelves. I'll take one and give one to them. Oh, and we'll also need two more desks."
"And the bed. The bed in your room needs to be replaced. It's too small!" said Cheng Yang.
Shi Xiaoai was about to say "There's no rush", but suddenly met the burning gaze of the person opposite.
The hidden thoughts in it were not concealed at all, which made her scalp tingle and she subconsciously lowered her eyes.
Seeing that she didn't object, Cheng Yang was overjoyed and immediately said, "Leave these things to me. I'll go find Chen Min this afternoon and ask him to see if he can find some people to help..."
Before he could finish, Shi Xiaoai slapped his hand and interrupted him.
"Just listen to me first."
"Okay, go ahead."
"I'll leave the rebuilding to you. I won't be involved, but there are two things you need to keep in mind. First, take your time. Don't build too much at first. We should try to stay home if we can. If that doesn't work, we can move out for a few days. I still want to try to keep work going normally every day these days."
Cheng Yang nodded and said, "Okay."
"Secondly," Shi Xiaoai looked at him, "find someone to do it, a legitimate renovation team. Don't save the money. The most important thing is that you can't do it. Not to mention the dirty and tiring work, you can't do any work at all!"
Cheng Yang was silent for a moment, then spoke up, trying to fight for it: "I definitely won't do any heavy work, but it's impossible for me to not do any work at all..."
"Then don't rebuild it!" Shi Xiaoai's tone was very firm.
"Brother, let me do those jobs." Cheng Lin interrupted.
Shi Xiaoai glared at him and said, "Children, don't interrupt when adults are talking. If I don't let your brother do it, then why do I let you do it? I don't need child labor."
Cheng Lin chuckled, "Sister-in-law, I know what you mean. You're worried that my brother's injury hasn't healed yet, and you might be watching him at the construction site and then start working on him, and then damage your health. I won't do that!"
He patted his chest and said, "I don't understand the work on the construction site. If I don't understand, I can't do it. I'll just stay here and listen to orders, buy things and help out. I'm sure I can do this."
"Okay, let Xiaolin watch over the construction site, and I will focus on the quality and do nothing else. Is that okay?" Cheng Yang said quickly.
Shi Xiaoai then nodded.
It was almost three o'clock when they finished talking. There was only a little over an hour before Wang Xiaofeng came at four o'clock as agreed, so they all went back to their rooms to catch up on some sleep.
Looking at Shi Xiaoai's back, Cheng Lin tiptoed to his brother's ear and said, "Brother, my sister-in-law really loves you. You two have such a good relationship!"
Cheng Yang waved his hand and slapped his butt, cursing, "What do you know, little brat? Get out of here."
As he said this, he couldn't close his mouth and smile.
In the afternoon, Xiao Ai took Mingrui and Mingxi to guard the stall, while the other three went to the pier.
Because they mainly wanted to understand the situation today, they didn't bring much things with them, just a hundred stone buns to explore the market.
But who knew that these one hundred steamed buns would be sold out so quickly.
A little after five o'clock, all three of them came back.
Instead of going home, they came to the stall together.
At this time, there was no one at the tea stall, so there was no need to be too cautious when speaking.
Cheng Lin was so excited that he even felt a little resentful at this moment.
As soon as she entered the door, she said, "Sister-in-law, if it's up to me, I'd go home and bake some more now. It wouldn't take much effort, and after baking, I could rush over and sell another batch. But Sister Xiaofeng just won't do it!"
He was fuming as if he had lost millions.
Wang Xiaofeng was not angry when she was accused. She listened with a smile, obviously treating Cheng Lin as a child.
She ignored him and went to Shi Xiaoai to confirm: "Sister, are they not leaving in the future?"
Shi Xiaoai knew that this must have been what the two of them had told her, so she nodded and said, "Well, I won't leave for now."
Cheng Lin looked at her in shock, obviously a little hurt by the word "temporarily".
Shi Xiaoai looked back with a smile, and he could only look away depressedly.
Wang Xiaofeng ignored their quarrel and continued according to her own thoughts: "Sister, I rushed back today because I wanted to discuss something with you first. I think now that we have more people, we need to consider how to move forward."
Shi Xiaoai suddenly became energetic.
She was originally thinking about her next plan, and now that she saw that Wang Xiaofeng had something to say, she was naturally willing to listen to her ideas.
"What do you think? Tell me about it."
Wang Xiaofeng did not hide it and said directly: "It's a waste for so many of us to guard this tea stall. Sister, what I mean is, can we set up a few more stalls?
For example, the school gate and the dock are both not far from our home, so we can still make it in time for delivery.”
She pointed at the two brothers and said, "Cheng Lin and I will be on each side, and Cheng Kai will run errands in the middle. It will definitely not cause any problems."
Shi Xiaoai shook her head: "I've been thinking about this these days, but my thoughts are a little different from yours."
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