Chapter 169 It's Difficult

Chapter 169 It's Difficult

Chapter 169 It's Difficult
Mother Li chatted with everyone along the way. When she arrived at the stone bridge, she saw Accountant Chen, the team leader, and the Jin brothers already waiting there. It turned out that the immigrant family waited for Li Changle and the others to leave, and then hurried to notify them.

The Jin brothers regretted not marking out the land earlier. The piece of land they liked was occupied by the Li and Chen families, so they could only choose a residential plot at the intersection.

When they arrived at Nanshan, Li Xiaoyang and his sister looked at the waist-high weeds in front of the dilapidated house and the vines climbing all over the wall, and pouted their lips in worry, "There are so many!"

"You will be happy when the new building is completed!" Accountant Chen and the team leader took tape measures or bamboo poles and started measuring.

The residential plot for a house these days is 4.3 meters wide, and with the porch and courtyard, it is a total of 17 or 18 meters long. After the three foundations were marked out, it looked so wide and large that the Li family, young and old, were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling.

Li's mother, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law looked at the empty space behind the homestead and thought that they would no longer have to worry about having no place to dry fish jerky and carp heads, and feed chickens, ducks and pigs in the future.

Li Xiaoyang and Li Xiaobo also planned to plant orange trees, bayberry trees, and pear trees in the yard like Wang Daobiao's family.

Accountant Chen and the team leader measured the homestead for a building, and then Brother Li (eldest brother) and Brother Li (second brother) dug a hole and planted the foundation stone.

After finishing his work, Accountant Chen said to the others, "The residential land has been marked out for you. You can draw lots to decide which plot belongs to which family."

There are four houses in a row, but the east and west ends are different. The Li brothers and Awei are both open-minded, and he is not worried that they will fight over the housing land.

"Okay." Brother Li smiled and lit up the cigarettes for the two of them. "Let's cut the weeds first, then go back and draw lots. I'll treat you to a wedding banquet on the day we start construction."

"We must come to the wedding." Accountant Chen and the team leader said, and followed the Jin brothers to the intersection to help them measure the foundation.

Everyone in the Li family started to get busy. Li's mother, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law used bamboo poles to beat the weeds to prevent insects from hiding in the grass due to the hot weather.

Thinking that they would soon have a new house to live in, Grandma Chen and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Li family were full of energy. They swung the sickles in their hands quickly, and the only sound they could hear was the sound of "swish, swish, swish" as the weeds were cut, and fell down in large patches.

The children were much slower, but since there were so many of them, they managed to cut down a large area in no time.

The cut grass will not be thrown away casually, but will be tied up with straw ropes, taken home to be dried and used as kindling.

Brother Li used a hoe to hook down the vines on the wall, revealing a stone wall covered with vines. The entire wall was made of stone and looked very solid.

……

While they were working in full swing here, Li Changle and Chen Yongwei left Zhangjia Wharf and went to Li Changxi's house carrying fish and shrimp.

Zhang Dejin went to help someone build a house. When Sister Li learned that her brothers were going to build a new house and that her two brothers had bought a boat together, the smile on her face never stopped.

"Why so soon? Didn't Dad say that he would approve the land at the entrance of the village when he had enough money? I said I would wait for two more days, finish the embroidered clothes in my hands, and then take Xiaoxue, Xiaoxia, and Xiaohui home to see Dad."

"My father originally disagreed with the Nanshan site, but later he went to ask Uncle Dong, and heard that the Jin brothers also wanted to site there. He got anxious, fearing that someone else would take away the good location. So he went to pay the money today and settled the foundation."

"You and I are not worried. You are doing a good job now. Your mother-in-law should help you and Anan build a new house. It may be difficult for your eldest and second brothers. They have only saved some money by helping with the ship in the past two years, so building a house may be a bit tight."

"I don't know how much money my eldest and second brothers have. My mother-in-law did say that she would give me the money to build a new house. If it's not enough, I can only borrow some from her."

"Your brother-in-law has a good relationship with the owners of several kilns. If all else fails, you can ask them to buy you a batch of bricks and tiles on credit. It should be possible to owe them for half a year."

Li Changle thought for a moment and said, "Wait until my brother-in-law comes back and goes to Nanshan to check it out, calculate the cost of materials and labor, and see how much is still missing. Then we can think of a solution. If it really doesn't work, this is the only way."

"Well! When your brother-in-law comes back, I will take Xiaoxue and the others back with me." Li Changxi said and looked at Chen Yongwei again, "Awei, your grandma has saved a lot of money over the years, and is waiting to build a new house for you!"

"My grandma is tight on money, and she has saved some money over the years, but it's still not enough to build a new house. Fortunately, I have made a lot of money with Brother Ale during this period. After paying the foundation fee, there is still enough money to build a new house."

Chen Yongwei laughed and said, "She also saved up some wood. When Ale and I went fishing, she was busy cleaning up the wood she had saved. She was so busy that she didn't even cook. She just cooked a bowl of rice and noodles and sent me away."

Li Changxi chuckled when he heard this. "Building a house only happens once in a lifetime. How can an old man not be excited!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a chubby little boy ran in. When he saw Li Changle, he happily rushed forward and hugged his legs.

"Third uncle, you're here! Where are Xiaohai, Xiaozhou, and Xiaoyang?"

"Xiao Hai and Xiao Zhou went to their grandmother's house. Xiao Yang and the others are at home!" Li Changle rubbed his head. "Where's their sister?"

The little guy is the same age as Li Xiaozhou, but taller than him. He has a chubby face, a pair of big, round eyes, and looks smart.

"My sister is watching TV at my aunt's house and she doesn't want to play with me."

"Oh, I'll go home with my third uncle to see grandpa and grandma later."

Zhang Xiaohui turned his head and looked at Li Changxi, "Mother, my third uncle and I are going to my grandmother's house. I want to go to the beach to catch crabs."

Li Changxi laughed and said, "You want to catch crabs again? Have you forgotten the time when you were pinched by crabs and screamed?"

Zhang Xiaohui looked at his thumb that had been pinched by the crab and shook his head decisively, "Don't be afraid, we can break its big claws and it won't be able to pinch me." Li Changle looked at his tough little nephew, smiled and rubbed him, "If you're not afraid, come with me. Uncle Hui will go to Zhang's house to get the bicycle, so you don't have to walk there later."

"Oh! I'll go get two sets of clothes. I'm going to stay at my grandma's house for a few more days." Zhang Xiaohui said, let go of him and ran into the house.

Li Changxi thought that Zhang Dejin would go back to his parents' home after work, so he followed him into the house and packed two sets of clothes for Li Changle to take away, and they would go back later.

Li Changle and Chen Yongwei took their little nephew out and went to Zhang's house to get the bicycle.

Chen Yongwei looked at the bicycle that was at least 80% new and was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. He felt that it was worthwhile to spend a few dozen dollars to buy a second-hand one.

After checking it once and trying it a few laps in the yard and checking the brakes, he carried the little guy to sit on the big bar and drove back with Li Changle, his nephew and uncle.

The three of them returned to the village and first went to Ge Changfa's house to give him the money for the snow eel. The 13.6 jin of snow eel was sold for more than 80 yuan.

Ge Changfa happily took out two packs of Big Red Eagle cigarettes with mouthpieces from his pocket and stuffed them into the two men.

"Thank you, thank you!" He smiled so hard that his teeth were showing. "I knew it was worthwhile to sell it to you. I can get at least twice as much."

"Get lost~" Li Changle stuffed the cigarette back into his hand, "You think you can get rid of us with just a pack of cigarettes? If you want to give us a gift, give us two."

"There are two missing. I'll add them later."

"It's interest!"

"Okay!" Ge Changfa smiled and stepped forward to pat the bicycle, "Good boy, you bought a bicycle while building a new house, your family must be very wealthy!"

Chen Yongwei patted the brand new seat cushion and said, "It's not new, it's second-hand, and I only spent a few dozen dollars on it."

Ge Changfa didn't expect to spend only a few dozen yuan, and said in surprise: "Not bad, not bad, I will buy one when I save up money."

"I won't brag to you anymore. My family is working on the new foundation. We have to go and take a look too."

"When my wife comes back, I'll go help too."

"No, today we're just mowing the grass, there's no heavy work, you can help when the heavy work is done."

After saying this, Li Changle sat in the back seat and took his nephew home. The little guy got out of the car and ran into the house, throwing himself into Li's father's arms, chattering with his little mouth.

"Grandpa, I'm here to see you. My mother and the others will be here later."

"Okay, okay!" Father Li hugged his grandson and happily went to get malted milk to mix for his grandson and great-grandson to eat.

Li Changle put away the cigarettes and alcohol and went to Nanshan with Chen Yongwei. When they got there, they found that the grass had been cut clean. Several children went to the foot of the mountain to pick wild fruits to eat, while Li's mother, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were bundling grass.

The eldest and second brothers were swinging hoes and digging out the small mulberry trees and stinking toon trees growing in the ground.

"Brother, are the slabs in that row of houses still there?"

Brother Li smiled and nodded, "Yes, it's all stone walls, and the cracks in the walls were filled when they were built. If the door and the roof are still there, we can spend some money to repair them and it can still be lived in."

Li Changle walked up to the stone wall and kicked it hard. It was indeed solid. He looked around the rooms one by one and suddenly found that there were stoves in two of the rooms.

"Ah Le, this is a good location. This is where the village used to dry shredded squid, dried fish, sea bass, and seaweed."

Grandma Chen whispered, "I caught fish myself, dried them, and sold them. Not only did I not make any money after working for several years, I even lost a lot of money."

"It's normal for public business to lose money. It would be strange if it didn't." Li Changle stepped back and stood in front of the house, looking at a row of ten or so houses. After thinking for a while, he called Brother Li and the other two.

"Brother, let's wait for my brother-in-law to come and take a look at these stone walls. If they are still usable, we won't tear them down. We can use them as a backyard in the future, and we won't have to build a wall."

After hearing this, Grandma Chen nodded and said, "That's fine. There's a mountain behind it. If we don't fence it off, wild animals will come down the mountain at night."

Li Changan said worriedly, "Ah Le, if we keep this place as a backyard, the roofs, doors and windows of the three rooms will cost a lot of money.

If I calculate the cost of materials and labor for the two foundations at the entrance of the village, the money my family has saved is still nearly a thousand yuan short.

This is after factoring in the money you paid for the beads. We have three rooms but only two are used, so the difference is definitely more.”

"Your second sister-in-law's brothers just bought a metal boat together with others. Ah Xi's family hasn't paid back the money for building a house yet, and now they don't even have a place to borrow money. Your second sister-in-law plans to sell the few silver dollars she brought as a dowry, but I don't know how much is left?"

Brother Li was also worried, "My family doesn't have enough money to build a house, and your sister-in-law is planning to sell the gold earrings she brought as a dowry."

(End of this chapter)