Chapter 222 Happy Grandma Chen

Chapter 222 Happy Grandma Chen

Chapter 222 Happy Grandma Chen

At the Nanshan construction site, the bricks and tiles needed to build houses for four families were piled up in front of each family’s homestead, forming a mountain. A thatched hut for night watch was also built at the intersection.

Brother Li Xiaoyang, who was playing with Wang Daobiao's son at the intersection, saw the two men pulling the cart over and said to Li Changle, "Uncle San, when will Grandpa come to replace us?"

“Isn’t it the same to play here as to play at home?”

Li Xiaotao pulled Li Xiaoyang and said, "Brother, we still have to help clean the fish when we go back. It's better to stay here."

"Lazy dog!"

Li Changle cursed with a smile, and he and Chen Yongwei pulled the cart to the thatched shed, where they saw two bed frames made of bamboo nails.

The two men lifted the palm-plank bed and placed it on top, covered it with a straw mat, tied bamboo poles to the four corners of the bed frame, and took out the mosquito net, intending to tie it on top of the bamboo poles.

"Awei, isn't this how the mosquito net is tied?" Before he finished speaking, Jin Chan walked into the thatched hut with a basket of vegetables, smiling.

Li Changle hurriedly put the mosquito net on the bed and said, "Achan, teach Awei to hang up the mosquito net. I'll go inside and take a look."

"Oh!" Chen Yongwei quickly picked up the bamboo pole and handed it to Ah Chan, "How did you do it?"

"Aren't there two bamboo poles over there? Take one and put it in..."

Li Changle walked out of the thatched hut and headed towards the row of dilapidated houses at the back.

I saw three houses that had been simply renovated by Zhang Dejin. The roofs were covered with old tarpaulins borrowed by Li's father from the village. The carpenter's table saw, sawn wood, and various tools were already placed inside.

When I came out of the house, I saw Jin Hui coming from the ditch behind with a trap in his hand. "A Le, where have you been working these past two days?"

"Still near Zhushan Island. Where did you go?"

"I'm still fishing in the same area where I caught silver pomfret last time. I didn't even earn back the money for the diesel today. I'm going to try another place."

"It's time to move to another place." Li Changle pointed at the trap he was holding. "Is the water at the foot of the mountain big? Is it convenient to wash things?"

"It's convenient. We built a pool under the ravine. It's convenient for washing nets, clothes, etc." Jin Hui said as he led him to the back of the house.

There is a small stream about one meter wide at the foot of the mountain. Although the water volume is not as large as that in the ditch past the old house's well, the water in the ditch is as clear as that over there.

"It's September now. Your house should be finished by the end of the Chinese New Year, right?"

"I don't know. How long did your family use it?"

"It took nearly four months. After the foundation was laid, the stone walls were built very quickly. They could be built more than one meter high in a day. The carpenters had to make the doors, windows and door frames in advance so that they would have time to build them."

"It's better to be quick. If it can be completed after New Year's Day, we can move into the new house to celebrate the New Year." Li Changle pointed at the homesteads of several other families, "They are not planning to start construction yet?"

"They said August is windy, so we'll wait until after this month to see when to start construction."

"Yes, my father also said that we will start the construction this month. We are afraid that there will be a big typhoon, and the thatched hut will be overturned."

"If it's windy, you can pile up the wood and other materials at my house in advance."

"Okay, I'll go to your house when the time comes."

Li Changle followed him outside and returned to the straw hut. They saw Jin Chan and Chen Yongwei standing on the side of the road talking. "You two talk while I go to the beach to get some water."

"Awei, you go with Brother Ale. I'm going home to cook." Jin Chan walked towards home with a basket of vegetables, blushing.

Chen Yongwei hurriedly pushed the cart and followed Li Changle towards the beach.

"You didn't invite Ah Chan to your home for dinner?"

"Yes, she did. She helped grandma for a while in the afternoon. She said that Uncle Jin would come to my house later, so she would not go over."

The two men arrived at the beach and saw that the tide had risen. They filled three rubber buckets and pulled the cart back.

Li Xiaoyang and his brother caught up with him and said, "Uncle San, we are all hungry. Please ask Grandpa to come quickly."

Li Changle glared at him unhappily, "Grandpa is still busy at home, how about you go back and clean up the shrimps?"

Li Xiaotao got a headache when he heard about cutting shrimp whiskers. "Brother, forget it. Let's go to the thatched hut and sleep."

Chen Yongwei looked at the two brothers and smiled, "Xiaoyang, wait a moment, my grandma will bring you food."

"Okay, tell my grandfather not to come. We'll eat and keep watch here all night."

"That sounds good, but when the thieves take everything away from the construction site, you won't even know about it." Li Changle glanced at the two of them, "Guard well, don't run around."

"I understand." Li Xiaotao made a face at him and ran towards the thatched hut.

Li Changle stepped forward to help push the cart back. When he got home, he saw that the well was already busy. Xiang Xiaoyu and his brother also came home and sat at the table with Li Xiaoqing and others, cutting shrimp whiskers and picking shrimp threads.

As they were going to Chen's house for dinner in the evening, Li's mother invited three more people to help. The group of people worked until dark, killing all the fresh produce, drying it in the sun, and pickling it.

The jellyfish in the big vat have been pickled for the third time. This time, three more water vats have been filled. After another week of pickling, they can be sold.

Li's mother and daughter-in-law went to Chen's house to dry the dried cuttlefish. Li's brothers and Chen Yongwei fetched water to wash the yard. The sea fish smell was strong, and if it was not washed clean, flies would swarm towards this side.

Li Changle came back from Accountant Chen's house and gave the more than 80 yuan he earned from selling snails and eggs to Xiang Xiaoyu.

"So much?" The two brothers looked at the money in their hands with some disbelief.

"There are dozens of kilograms of Buddha's hand snails. One yuan per kilogram costs dozens of yuan." "Are they really sold at one yuan per kilogram?"

"Yes!" Li Changle thought of what happened that night. "I'll help you retrieve the octopus fishing jar tonight. We'll try another place next time."

"Isn't it good there?"

"It's too far away. You're young and it's not safe to go there at night. It's better to go to the rocky beach next to the pier."

"Okay!" Xiang Xiaoyu put the money away, "Uncle Ale, Xiaoxing has to sign up tomorrow morning, so we'll go back first."

"Xiao Yu, bring Xiao Xing to my house for dinner." said Chen Yongwei as he walked in carrying a bucket of water.

"Thank you, Uncle Awei. We ate here." Xiang Xiaoyu pulled Xiang Xiaoxing and ran away.

When Li Changle and his companions arrived at Chen's house, they saw two octagonal tables set up in the yard. Li's mother and the mother-in-law helped to serve the dishes to the tables, and several children gathered around the table to eat peanuts and melon seeds.

Old Man Jin and Father Li were smoking and chatting there. Grandma Chen came out with a can of wine and looked at everyone with her face full of wrinkles smiling.

The old lady was very happy. For so many years, the family had only been lively during the Chinese New Year when the children came back to pay New Year's greetings. This was the first time it was so lively.

Mother Li came out with a porcelain bowl and put the sea cucumber stewed with chicken on the table. "Grandma, you made so many delicious dishes, how can you finish them?"

"I didn't cook any delicious dishes. These good things were sent by Ale and the others." Grandma Chen happily invited everyone to sit down.

"Look, the chickens, ducks, fish and meat are all here. Most of the chickens and ducks you raised went into my family's stomach this year."

Grandma Chen smiled and said, "Why didn't you tell me? Ah Wei and I had three meals at your house in two days!"

The two old men were being polite, and the aroma from the table was making people's mouths water.

"Grandma, grandma, why don't we have dinner yet? We are all hungry!"

"We are hungry, let's eat, eat!"

Everyone was hungry after a busy day, so after a few polite words, they sat down and started eating.

Mother Li smiled and said to Old Man Jin, "You are still the best. Your two families will be only a few steps away from each other. It's not like my family. Ah Xi rarely comes to visit me a few times a year."

Jin Chan and Chen Yongwei matched their horoscopes and decided to get a small deposit in September, and then a big deposit before the wedding after the New Year. The small deposit was 360 yuan, 32 yuan for wool, and two silver dollars, and the big deposit was 880 yuan.

The Jin family was also very satisfied with the gift money given by the Chen family. Jin's mother also said that they planted several plots of cotton this year just to use as a dowry for their daughter.

Old Man Jin smiled and nodded, "It's good now. My daughter Ah Chan is honest. We just don't want to marry her off to another village, so we've kept her here until now."

The Jin family is small, so he has a son and a daughter. His daughter is now married to the man next door, so he will have someone to help him in the village in the future.

Li Changle smiled and said, "Uncle Jin, thanks to you for keeping Ah Chan for two more years, otherwise Ah Wei would have no place to find a wife."

Old Man Jin thought about it and it was true, "It's also their fate."

Mother Li smiled and said, "Yes! It's fate for the two of them."

"Don't talk, eat your food and drink your wine!" Grandma Chen said to the children at the table, "Eat whatever you like."

"I know, grandma." The children were also hungry and ate voraciously.

Everyone was going out to sea at dawn so they didn't dare to drink too much. Father Li also didn't drink much as he had to keep watch at night. After three cups, he started to eat.

The meal took more than an hour to finish. Chen Yongwei wanted to go to the beach with Li Changle to help the Xiang brothers collect cans, so he followed him to Li's house.

When they got home, Li Changle called his elder brother Li and his second brother Li, divided the money he earned from selling fish in the afternoon among the three of them, then picked up the tools for fishing and took Chen Yongwei out.

"A Le, don't delay when you get there, and come back early." Brother Li warned him worriedly.

"Don't worry, I'll go help Xiaoyu collect the jars, and I won't go there anymore."

After hearing this, Brother Li nodded, opened the door and walked into the house.

Li Changle and Chen Yongwei walked to the alley entrance and said, "Take the money back first and put it away to avoid losing it on the road."

"Okay." Chen Yongwei turned around and ran back home. When he entered the house, he saw the old lady muttering something in front of the Buddhist shrine. "Grandma, I'll give you the money for today's catch."

Grandma Chen took it and said, "Ah Wei, come and bow twice, talk to your ancestors, your grandfather, and your father, and ask them to bless you and Ah Le's family, so that everything will go smoothly and be safe in the future."

"Oh!" Chen Yongwei hurriedly stood in front of the shrine and bowed twice respectfully. He looked up and saw the old lady's eyes were red. "Grandma, the new house will be built soon, and your granddaughter-in-law will be found. Why are you still crying?"

"Grandma is happy!" Grandma Chen wiped her eyes, "Thanks to your brother Ale's help, our family is what it is today. You should follow Ale and do your job well. Don't be cunning and cunning. You should be grateful to others. Do you remember?"

"I know, my brother is still waiting for me, please close the door and go to bed early."

"Go ahead. When you come back, remember to visit Nanshan. Don't leave everything to your uncle!"

"I know."

Grandma Chen followed him to the gate of the courtyard and watched him close and lock the door before she turned back to the Buddhist shrine, where she sat looking at the incense and candles and muttering to herself.

"Old man, did you hear that? Awei is going to get engaged next month. Don't worry, life at home is getting better. When Awei's wife gives birth to a great-grandson and brings Agui back, I will go down to accompany you..."

(End of this chapter)