Chapter 748: Feelings in the Great Northern Wilderness
Wang Jianguo's hand holding the package froze in mid-air, and the coldness of the bills seeped into his palm through the oilcloth.
He looked at Zhao Shuzhuo's cracked fingers trembling with excitement, and remembered that last winter this man stuffed his only cotton pants into his hands and he himself drove piles in the canal wearing only his pants.
"Brother Shuzhuo, that's not what I meant..."
“What does that mean?”
Zhao Shuzhuo interrupted him, and the collar of his blue shirt was torn open.
"You calculated the money so clearly. Do you still treat us as outsiders? Do you think the people of Beidahuang are helping you just for your money?"
He pointed out the window.
"Look at the chimney of the brick factory and the red flag of the supply and marketing cooperative. Which one can be separated from you? Now that you are building a house, it is a happy event for our entire Jianye Village. How can you use money to attack others?"
The main room was so quiet that one could hear the sparks from the coal stove. Yang Huaiqing secretly looked at the package in Wang Jianguo's arms. He Yushui put the hot soup on the table, and the steam blurred her eyes.
Wang Jianguo looked down at the money in the oilcloth, remembering that in the black market, every penny had to be hidden in the soles of shoes, and people were separated by abacus and caution.
But Zhao Shuzhuo in front of him had tears in his eyes because he stuffed money into his mouth.
This man would hire the best carpenter for his new house and would jump into the freezing water to dig the foundation himself, but now he thinks that the man is treating his love as money.
"Brother Shuzhuo, I..."
Wang Jianguo's voice suddenly trembled. He put the package on the kang, reached out and grabbed Zhao Shuzhuo's arm, touching the patched lining of his sleeve.
"I'm just afraid... afraid of bothering you..."
"trouble?"
Zhao Shuzhuo suddenly laughed, his laughter was filled with anger, but he reached out and patted his shoulder.
"In the Great Northern Wilderness, is it troublesome to help your brother build a house? When the day comes for your house to be put up, I will invite all the villagers to the wedding banquet. If you ask for money again, I will put the money in the brick kiln and burn it!"
He Yushui then dared to step forward, stuffed the corn cake back to Yang Huaiqing, and whispered:
"Brother Shuzhuo, Jianguo is also afraid of owing everyone..."
Zhao Shuzhuo glared:
"What do I owe you? Here, you help me carry water and I help you build the wall. This is life!"
He bent down to pick up the package on the ground, and when he stuffed it back into Wang Jianguo's arms, his force was much lighter.
"Keep the money and use it to buy red silk for the new house. I tell you, Carpenter Liu's daughter is very good at embroidery..."
The ice on the wooden lattice window melted into thin streams in the morning light and dripped down the window frame. Wang Jianguo was watching Zhao Shuzhuo pushing the package onto the kang table, and the oilcloth made a rustling sound as it rubbed against the table.
The patch on the man's sleeve rubbed against the porcelain salt jar, causing the salt grains at the mouth of the jar to fall out and mix with the brick dust in his palm.
"Brother Shuzhuo, if you push me again I will get anxious!"
Wang Jianguo took a half step forward, his cotton shoes crushing the ice on the ground. He caught a glimpse of the cotton wool peeking out from the lining of Zhao Shuzhuo's cotton jacket.
That was an old quilt that he had forced upon the other person last year, and now the edges had been polished to a shine.
"The clinic is everyone's business, and you can use the commune's funding as you wish. But my house is my own home, and I can't let you use the public money to buy furniture, can I?"
Zhao Shuzhuo's pipe was swinging violently at his waist, and the patch on the tobacco pouch looked like a crooked flower.
"What do you mean by public or private?"
He suddenly raised his voice, and the sparrows on the beam fluttered away.
"Your house is built next to the clinic, and doctors can come here to drink some water when they are tired. How is this considered a private matter?"
He pointed out the window, where blue smoke from the brick factory chimneys was sweeping over the tops of the old elm trees.
"Old Sun said yesterday that when you put up the beams, he will pick the reddest bricks from the kiln to pave your yard!"
He Yushui came out of the kitchen carrying freshly baked tortillas, and the hot steam from the bamboo curtain misted her eyelashes.
Yang Huaiqing leaned over the table and counted the creases on the newspaper on the package. Suddenly, he tugged at the corner of Wang Jianguo's clothes:
"Brother Wang, Brother Zhao said that Carpenter Liu can make a cabinet with medicine compartments."
Wang Jianguo didn't look back, but saw Zhao Shuzhuo's Adam's apple rolling and his rough palms rubbing the package as if he was touching the blue bricks just out of the kiln.
"Is this okay?"
Wang Jianguo suddenly unpacked the "new house" package. The cold light of the banknotes and silver dollars reflected the morning light.
"I've calculated that this is just enough to build a set of tables, chairs and a medicine cabinet."
He took out two cloth coupons and several industrial coupons, folded them into small squares and stuffed them into Zhao Shuzhuo's palm.
"You can do with the rest - if there's any extra, buy a stethoscope for the clinic or some glass medicine bottles."
The coal stove made a slight sound, and sparks splashed on Zhao Shuzhuo's sleeves. The man's fingers were suspended above the banknotes, and brick dust fell from between his fingers.
Wang Jianguo recalled last year's snowstorm. This man put a cotton hat on his head, and he ran ten miles to find a veterinarian wearing a straw hat. His ears were frozen like carrots.
"Brother Shuzhuo,"
His voice softened, pleading.
"Just consider it as a thank you in advance for helping me keep an eye on the work, okay? If you don't accept it, it means you think I'm not a good enough brother to you."
He Yushui put the tortilla on the table and said softly:
"Brother Shuzhuo, Jianguo wants to tidy up the house and make it brighter, so that when... when the family comes, they will feel more comfortable looking at it."
Zhao Shuzhuo looked up suddenly and saw the deep expectation in Wang Jianguo's eyes, which was very similar to the look on his face when he was squatting at the door of the supply and marketing cooperative waiting for the arrival of floral cloth.
Outside the house came the sound of Yang Huaiqing chasing a cat, and the sound of ice spikes falling to the ground was startled.
"Go, go, go!"
Zhao Shuzhuo suddenly clenched the banknotes, and the friction sound of the oilcloth was particularly clear in the silence.
"But I'm dead. The money left over after buying the furniture must be used by me to buy new things!"
He bent his cracked fingers, and there was dirt stuck in the cracks between his nails.
"I think the blood pressure monitor in the commune needs to be replaced, and we have to buy the best stainless steel tweezers that Doctor Yang mentioned!"
Yang Huaiqing cheered, and the tortilla fell on the tablecloth. Wang Jianguo watched Zhao Shuzhuo stuff the bill into the innermost layer of his cotton-padded jacket, close to his chest, where the warming patch he gave him last year was still.
"The foundation and the craftsmen..."
"do not worry!"
Zhao Shuzhuo interrupted him and his pipe banged against the table.
"Carpenter Liu was waiting for me at the entrance of the village this morning. He said he wanted to draw a blueprint based on the one in the city!"
When the door was pushed open, the March wind blew in snow foam, but it also brought the warmth of the brick factory kiln fire.
Wang Jianguo looked at Zhao Shuzhuo's back as he crushed the icicles. The patch on the back of his cotton-padded jacket swayed in the morning light like a small flag.
He Yushui stuffed the hot cake into his hand and said softly:
"Eat it quickly, the cake is getting cold."
The warmth of the cake came through the coarse cloth, and Wang Jianguo suddenly remembered what Yu Li said when she used snow water to boil medicine in the dilapidated temple in the black market:
"Home means there is a hot meal waiting for you."
At this moment, the money Zhao Shuzhuo took away, the hot cakes handed to him by He Yushui, and the medicine cabinet drawn on paper by Yang Huaixi are gradually building a real home on the frozen soil of the Great Northern Wilderness.
Wang Jianguo watched Zhao Shuzhuo re-tighten his shoelaces, the straw rope soles rubbing against the ice on the ground, and suddenly he felt the money in his arms become hot.