Hu Si'er and Lin Dazhong exchanged glances. Were they going to build brick houses for them?
Neither of them had expected that after living for decades, they would encounter such good fortune in their twilight years. It seemed they had to work hard from now on; such a good place would be hard to find again.
The next day, Gu Xingye drove Chen Lishu to the brick factory. As they needed a considerable number of bricks, they consulted with the manager in charge of bulk purchases. The final price for delivery was two fen and five li per brick. If they picked them up themselves, the price could be lowered to two fen per brick.
Transporting the bricks themselves would incur labor costs, and she didn't have enough people. Chen Lishu paid one thousand yuan upfront, ordering one hundred thousand bricks, and arranged for delivery to begin the following day.
Besides the construction of the houses, the large areas of cleared wasteland would also need to be cleaned up by hired hands. This had to be done before the spring planting season, otherwise, it would be difficult to find workers once everyone was busy with their fields.
There was much work to be done, but with Chen Mandun, Gu Shoufu, and Gu Xingguo helping, things were progressing in an orderly fashion.
Time passed quickly, and it was already the end of February, nearing the start of the school term.
When the children returned, the whole family was lively. Li Xiulan felt a pang of reluctance at their impending departure.
"Take some of the dried goods I collected from the mountains in autumn. Things are very expensive in the city, and it's not certain if you can even buy them. Here are also some wood ear mushrooms and other fungi. You can use them for cooking and save a little."
Chen Lishu felt a warmth in her heart as she looked at the large bag of items Li Xiulan had prepared. She smiled and said, "Mom, I might not be able to finish all of this. It's more convenient to buy groceries in the city, so you should keep the dried goods for yourselves."
"We have enough at home; it's sufficient," Li Xiulan insisted, tightening the bag's opening. She then took out another bag. "These are the shoes I made for you all. Store-bought shoes aren't as comfortable as homemade ones. Ruirui's feet grow quickly, so I intentionally made these a finger's width wider."
"Grandma's shoes are very comfortable. Other children envy my shoes," Ruirui said, looking up with his big eyes.
Li Xiulan was instantly delighted, her smile widening. "You have such a sweet tongue. They are just a pair of plain cloth shoes; what's there to envy?"
In the evening, Chen Mandun brought over two more cured rabbits and preserved meat. The father and daughter talked for a long time before he finally got up to leave.
As there were many matters to attend to back in the provincial capital, Chen Lishu and the others departed for the provincial capital on the twenty-fourth.
Ding Chen, having received the news in advance, also packed his belongings and returned to school with them.
This display of attentiveness irked Sun Shuzhen greatly, who muttered about how children grow up and become distant.
For the past two years, both parents had been well aware of their son's feelings for Gu Xingping. Gu Xingping was straightforward, and her family had no troublesome issues. Most importantly, she had also been accepted into university. If they were to end up together, they would at least have common ground to discuss, so the parents did not object, and in fact, they were quite pleased with the prospect.
"These are some snacks my mother made, along with noodles shaped like fish and dough balls. She specifically asked me to bring them for you to eat in the car," Ding Chen said, taking out a large bag of food from his satchel and handing it to Gu Xingping.
"Brother Ding Chen, you're not bringing these just for us, are you?" Chen Liyuan teased with a smile.
Ding Chen blushed instantly and glanced in Gu Xingping's direction. "I brought them for everyone."
Gu Xingping reached out and took them generously, then shot Chen Liyuan a glare. "If anyone doesn't want to eat, don't make excuses. Third Sister-in-law, Ruirui, let's eat."
"Who said I wouldn't eat?" Chen Liyuan immediately reached for the bag in Gu Xingping's hand.
Watching the two playfully bicker, Chen Lishu couldn't help but smile along.
Meanwhile, Zhao Qiuyue, as usual, woke up early, cleaned the house, and then started preparing breakfast, also refilling 'Da Wang's' food bowl.
Seeing it twist its plump body and go to the cat bowl, Zhao Qiuyue was about to reach out and pet its fur affectionately when 'Da Wang' immediately raised its head warily, even baring its sharp fangs threateningly at her.
Zhao Qiuyue had no choice but to desist.
After breakfast, with nothing else to do, she began knitting a sweater.
However, she wasn't using wool. Wool was too expensive. She was unraveling threads from nylon gloves and knitting them herself, so she could make a sweater for very little cost.
Just as she picked up her needles, she suddenly heard knocking at the door. With a few loud bangs, 'Da Wang' also raised its head alertly from its food bowl.
"Coming," Zhao Qiuyue frowned but quickly got up and went to the door.
"Sister-in-law? Why have you come?" Zhao Qiuyue was stunned to see her sister-in-law, Li Caixia, and several nieces and nephews standing at the door.
"We have guests at home and there's no room, so I brought the children here. Anyway, your employer isn't here," Li Caixia said, pushing her aside. The children also swarmed into the house.
"Auntie, it's such a waste for you to live alone in such a big house!" As soon as Li Caixia entered, she began looking into each room.
The children, more rambunctiously, searched everywhere. When they spotted 'Da Wang,' they all rushed towards it, shouting.
Even 'Da Wang,' who was usually as calm as a cat, couldn't remain composed in this situation. It darted onto the stove and, seizing an opportunity, tried to slip towards the door. However, it underestimated the determination of the mischievous children to catch it. Suddenly, one of the children grabbed its tail and yanked it hard. 'Da Wang' let out a yelp and was lifted into the air.
Zhao Qiuyue looked at the messy rooms, especially seeing that they had worn their outdoor shoes inside, leaving muddy footprints all over the floor.
Chen Lishu was a person who took great pride in cleanliness. Since Zhao Qiuyue started working for her, she had also adopted this habit. Seeing the state of the rooms, Zhao Qiuyue felt both angry and anxious.
"Sister-in-law, our employer's person is very clean, and she'll be back soon as school is about to start. People really can't live here."
Zhao Qiuyue quickly rushed over to rescue 'Da Wang' from her nieces and nephews. 'Da Wang,' seemingly startled, scratched her with its paw, jumped to the ground, and then darted to the door, escaping through a gap.
"There are still several days before school starts. How could she possibly return so soon?" Li Caixia said, fondly touching the folded cashmere blanket on the head of the bed. "I said, Auntie, why were you in such a hurry to come back after the New Year? Turns out you've fallen into a nest of happiness. How could you still look at our humble home?"
She was clearly the one who couldn't tolerate Zhao Qiuyue, forcing her out with words, and now she spoke like this.
"Sister-in-law, this is our employer's bedroom. Please come out quickly," Zhao Qiuyue said, a bead of sweat on her forehead, her voice almost pleading.
"She doesn't have eyes in the back of her head. How would she know if someone moved her things? I'm tired, I'll lie down here for a while. You go buy groceries and prepare lunch," Li Caixia said, kicking off her shoes and lying down on the bed, even pulling the blanket over herself.