Lu Yang had just left the guesthouse when he ran into Wang Minggui, who was heading to the family compound.
Wang Minggui saw him and awkwardly greeted him, "Old Lu."
Despite being more than ten years older than Lu Yang, they had worked together from the bottom up, and he truly considered Lu Yang a brother.
Lu Yang walked towards him and stuffed the stack of bills into his arms. "That's settled then, I'm leaving."
He left as soon as he finished speaking, giving Wang Minggui no chance to react.
Wang Minggui looked at the bills he had just sent out that afternoon and was at a loss. The way things had developed was really beyond his expectations, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He knew, of course, that Zhou Lian was wrong, but he felt guilty towards her and couldn't control her at all.
He offered money to compensate Lu Yang, but Lu Yang wouldn't accept it. What could he do? He didn't want to lose this brother.
————
An'an was sleeping like a little pig. Song Qing wrung out a handkerchief and wiped her face, hands and feet. After washing up herself, she went to bed and hugged her daughter.
She originally wanted to ask Lu Yang when they would go to the credit union to withdraw the money. When they came to Northeast China, they didn't bring much cash with them, only a little over two hundred yuan, which they had hidden in several places.
There was nothing I could do; theft was rampant on trains these days, so I stuffed those two bankbooks under my clothes.
They need to buy a lot of things, which will cost a lot of money. Let's talk about it tomorrow and get more when we have time.
The next day, after having breakfast at the guesthouse, they went to the private houses. The weather was nice that day; it hadn't snowed.
Lu Yang dragged out all the wood piled up in the yard and laid it out to dry. He then used a cart to take the damp sawdust out to the back of the house.
It was only today that Song Qing went to the back of the house to take a look. The distance between these rows of houses is not fixed. For example, their house is very close to the neighbor on the left, but there is a passageway four or five meters wide between them and the neighbor on the right.
The snow in the passageway was thick and no one had cleared it. Lu Yang carefully shoveled a path, and Song Qing, carrying An An, followed behind Lu Yang to the back.
They were the last row of houses, and not far behind them was the hazy mountain we had seen earlier. There was a short stretch of flat land behind the houses, and then it gradually transitioned into the mountainside.
There wasn't much to see in the dead of winter, so the family quickly returned home.
The courtyard was now a mess, with almost no place to step. They closed the gate and left the compound with An'an.
"I've inquired around. The nearest village to us, Yanghe Village, has bricklayers. We don't need to buy furniture from the furniture market in the city. There's another village nearby called Lizi Village."
Their village jointly set up a furniture factory, which usually supplies furniture to furniture stores in the city; buying from there should be cheaper.
Yanghe Village and Lizi Village both belong to Wuzihe Commune. After leaving the family compound and turning a few corners, it took less than half an hour to reach Yanghe Village.
In fact, the rows of houses where Song Qing and his group lived before belonged to Yanghe Village, but were later transferred to Wuzihe Commune and finally assigned to the military region.
They're all in the same village, not that far apart. There's a small path leading up the mountain from behind Song Qing's house, which only takes about ten minutes even for a child.
However, the land was later fenced off and turned into a residential compound. For many years, no one walked on the mountain behind it, and the road was gradually forgotten.
Lu Yang led them directly to the village party secretary's house.
"Hello, Party Secretary Liu."
Lu Yang had helped their village repair its granary before, and the village secretary, Liu Kun, still remembered him. "Is this Lu Yang? Come in, come in."
After hearing what they wanted to do, Party Secretary Liu slapped his thigh. "This is so simple. We have plenty of people here. I'll go find one for you."
Lu Yang quickly thanked him and told Secretary Liu that he would go there himself as long as they told him which family it was. Unexpectedly, Secretary Liu said it was cold outside and insisted that they sit inside and wait while he went to find someone.
"Oh my, Xiao Song, you've raised such a good child. He's fair-skinned, chubby, and generous."
Secretary Liu's wife was very hospitable and invited them to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed). She was rubbing corn on the kang to make sour soup noodles when she saw Lu Yang and the others coming over. She quickly pulled them to sit on the kang and even brought them some roasted hazelnuts.
"You should try it. My younger brother picked it from the mountain. It's delicious."
Song Qing was still declining when An'an had already accepted the hazelnuts. "Thank you, Auntie."
"You're welcome, you're welcome. There's plenty more. Auntie will grab a few handfuls for you to take with you later."
Lu Yang and Song Qing were not the type of people who were good at talking, but An An kept chatting with Secretary Liu's wife, making her laugh from time to time.
This was the first time Song Qing had experienced such enthusiasm, and she felt rather uncomfortable. However, she glanced at Lu Yang, who was just working silently, and thought, well, there was someone even more sullen than her.
Compared to An'an's chattering, the two of them seemed like a gourd with its mouth sawed off, making the situation particularly awkward.
"Old Gen, Xiao Lu wants to find someone to build a kang (heated brick bed) and two walls. Do you think you can do it?"
Uncle Lao Gen readily agreed; he was an expert at it.
————
At the Lu family home, Lu Yang's younger sister, Lu Ronghui, had just returned from outside. Bai Rongjun saw her return and hurriedly pulled her over.
"Rong Hui, do I look good in this dress?"
She was wearing a black and white checkered dress, not a regular round neck, but with ruffles and accordion pleats at the chest, which perfectly suited the playful and cute nature of a girl her age.
Lu Ronghui knew at a glance that her mother had made her another dress, and she forced a smile.
"nice"
Bai Rongjun acted as if she hadn't noticed her perfunctory attitude, and kept holding up the dress in front of her.
"But this one looks just like the previous one, only the fabric is different."
She frowned, looking conflicted. Lu Ronghui sat on the bed, looking at the two sets of bedding with completely different styles, and felt a little envious of Bai Rongjun.
Her bed sheet was a ready-made product that her mother bought at a department store. It cost five cloth coupons and more than twenty yuan. It was a blue and white plain cotton fabric that all girls wanted.
Lu Ronghui's bed sheet was a military green one that her brother had sent back; she didn't like this somber color.
But her mother wouldn't buy her clothes; she would only buy them for Bai Rongjun.
"This dress is pretty but not practical. Your clothes are much nicer."
Bai Rongjun finally realized Lu Ronghui's presence and quickly explained to her, "Aunt He should make it for you next time. I'll help you choose the style then."
Juanzi from our class wore a nice shirt-collar dress last time; let's make one next time.
Rong Jun
He Shuyue called Bai Rongjun from the living room, and she responded and quickly ran out.
Aunt He
"Did your school issue the certificate? The neighborhood committee also needs it."
Bai Rongjun clung to He Shuyue's hand and said coquettishly, "Everything's all set up, but if you give me the job, won't Ronghui and the others object?"
"Who would disagree? Aunt He just wants you to stay by my side and keep me company."
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