My village can't be like this

Chapter 648 Window Strip Cutting

After looking at the horses and discussing business, Lin Hui and his companions said goodbye.

They came here for work, not for tourism, and there are still many things waiting for them to deal with.

You have to know that there are quite a few people from their crew, and every day of delay costs a lot of money.

It just so happened that Zhang An had no intention of keeping the guests, so he happily walked out with the few people.

When Lin Hui and his group left, Zhang Jianwen stayed.

"Uncle, why did you want to persuade me to agree to them just now?"

There was no one else around, so Zhang An naturally asked directly.

If Zhang Jianwen hadn't spoken just now, he would have planned to reject the other party directly.

"Because they offer a lot of money, and we villagers can earn this money, so we definitely can't give it to outsiders. And before I came here, Director Lin told me that as long as their filming here goes smoothly, they will help us shoot a promotional video for free. They have given such a benefit, so shouldn't I say a few good words for them?"

Zhang Jianwen was not embarrassed and directly told Zhang An about his private transaction with the other party.

For Lin Hui and his team, filming nearby requires the help of the villagers in many things.

In addition, he also wanted to give face to the landlord of Changqing Village. He had traveled all over the country for so many years and knew that in this era when the people in the mountains were tough, sometimes it might be better to build good relationships with the locals than to spend money directly.

Zhang Jianwen obviously didn't think too much about it. It was just that the other party gave him too many benefits, and he just felt he couldn't take it back.

"I think you should think about it carefully. Their job is easy to get paid and the work is not hard."

Zhang Jianwen's last sentence was the truth. Compared with the farm work that everyone usually does, this job is extremely easy.

He originally thought that other people in the village could take over this job, but he didn't expect that they would look down on it. It was meat in their mouths, and he would be reluctant to give it up, so he started to persuade Zhang An.

"Okay, I'll think about it for a moment."

Seeing that his uncle was about to sell him out, what else could Zhang An say?

After Zhang Jianwen left, Zhang An went home and drank some tea. He had been talking to these people for a long time, and his mouth was dry.

When he arrived at the backyard, he found that Yan Qian had come over and was playing with little Siqi in the backyard.

Nowadays, after the brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts in the village go to school, there is no one to play with the little ones.

Now that Yan Qian came over, it was always much happier to have someone to play with him than to be alone.

"When did Sissi come over?"

Zhang An greeted the little girl with a smile.

"Brother Zhang An, I've been here for a while. Is this the wooden sword you made for Qiqi? It's really beautiful."

Miss Xiaoyan is the only child in the family. During the time she has been in the village, she has become closer to her older brother Zhang An.

"Yes, you like it, or I can make one for you."

Seeing some interest in the little girl's tone, Zhang An said with a smile.

"Really? Thank you, Brother Zhang An."

When the little girl heard what Zhang An said, she immediately became as happy as a child.

So Zhang An spent some time making another wooden sword for the little girl.

Taking into consideration that Miss Xiaoyan is a girl, Zhang An narrowed the wooden sword a little, and then used a planer to make it much thinner. It is obvious at first glance that it is a ladies' sword.

After Miss Xiaoyan got her own wooden sword, she started playing with the little guy in the yard.

The big and the small were fighting with wooden swords, laughing and having a lot of fun.

Seeing this, Zhang An smiled and shook his head, then continued to do his work.

Seeing that the morning was almost over, he hadn't done much work and was just busy playing.

"Brother Zhang An, please come to my house for dinner tomorrow."

Near noon, Miss Xiaoyan had played enough with the little guy and was about to go home when she said to Zhang An shyly.

"Ah, is there something wrong?"

Hearing Miss Xiaoyan's invitation, Zhang An stopped what he was doing and asked curiously.

"Because tomorrow is my birthday, I want you guys to come over, Brother Zhang."

The little girl plucked up her courage and looked at Zhang An with great anticipation.

"Okay, we'll go over and celebrate Xixi's birthday tomorrow."

Zhang An did not disappoint the little girl and agreed very readily.

"Then I'll go back first."

After getting Zhang An's reply, the little girl immediately ran home happily.

Looking at the little girl jumping around like a child, Zhang An couldn't help but shake his head.

He had been thinking for some time about what excuse he could use to send the giant centipede away.

Now it seems that the little girl's birthday can be used as an excuse.

"Tomorrow is Saturday, let's go to Xixi's house for dinner."

At noon, Su Ying came back from school and Zhang An told his family about this.

"Ah, why are you going to Xixi's house for dinner out of the blue?"

Su Ying was a little confused when she heard this and didn't know what Zhang An meant.

"Tomorrow is Xixi's birthday. She has invited us, so we must go."

Zhang An said this with a smile, and Xiao Siqi nodded beside him. For a little foodie like him, although he didn't know what a birthday was, he knew there must be something delicious.

"That's fine, but take a look at what gift we should prepare."

Su Ying nodded, but since someone had invited her, she definitely couldn't go empty-handed.

"Leave this to me, you don't have to worry about it."

Zhang An gave his wife a look that said, "Don't worry, I'm here for you."

In the afternoon, after spending half a day, Zhang An finally cut all the wood.

The preparation work is basically finished here, and all that remains is to start assembly.

At night, Zhang An entered the space. After a while, the giant centipede died quietly and unconsciously.

Zhang An's original purpose of raising them was to prepare the main medicine for Miss Xiaoyan.

So during the entire breeding process, Zhang An did not interact with them much and did not even give them names.

Because he was worried that there would be too much interaction and he would be reluctant to take action when the time came to develop the child.

Even though he didn't like centipedes, snakes and the like, he would develop a bond with them if he kept them for a long time.

Especially when the little centipedes grow to a certain size in the space, their intelligence will be improved. Although they are not as smart as the little tigers, it will also be shown.

So during this period of time, every time he came to check on or feed the babies, he would no longer pay attention to them.

Even so, Zhang An still felt a little reluctant at this moment.

But when he thought of the chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep he raised, he immediately felt that he was thinking too much.

When he was slaughtering chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep on weekdays, he didn't have such thoughts in his mind. Especially when he thought of Xiao Yan calling him "Brother Zhang An" during this period, and her happy smile when playing with his son, Zhang An no longer hesitated.

Then he shook his head, throwing all the distracting thoughts out of his mind.

Fortunately, in this space, he could let the giant centipede die without feeling any pain.

After sending everyone away, Zhang An looked for a wooden box in the space to put the things in.

But the wooden boxes he had made before were too small, and this big guy, which was more than one meter long, could not fit in them at all.

There was no other choice, Zhang An could only make a suitable wooden box on the spot.

The next morning, Zhang An got up and started searching the house.

"Dad, are we out of the rebar left over from last time?"

After searching the side room to no avail, Zhang An had no choice but to ask his father.

For safety reasons, built windows need to have window bars inserted so that there is no need to worry about someone entering when the window is opened.

Rebar is undoubtedly the most suitable material for making window strips. It is hard, not easy to deform, and there is no need to worry about someone using tools to pry it open.

"It's long gone. There weren't many left anyway. Last year, when your second uncle's family remade their windows, I came here to take them and use them."

Zhang Jian thought about it before talking to Zhang An.

The remaining rebars in their house last time were all left over from when they hired Carpenter Lin to make doors and windows for the new house.

At that time, Zhang An was worried that it would not be enough, so he bought some more. Although there were some left after all the windows were opened, there were not many.

When Zhang An went to the provincial capital last year, he took it and used it when his second uncle Zhang Jianjun was modifying the windows at home.

"Okay then, I'll buy some later."

Although the windows have not been assembled yet, Zhang An doesn't like the feeling of cramming at the last minute, so he prefers to prepare everything first before starting, to avoid being short of this or that later.

Steel, like cement, is sold in Hongyan Town, so Zhang An doesn't have to go to the city.

We drove to the town entrance and found a family selling steel before entering the town.

"Boss, do you have eight-round rebar?"

Zhang An walked in and found the boss, and asked directly.

"Yes, yes, how much do you want, little brother?"

When the boss heard that business was coming, he immediately came over to greet him happily.

"I bought it to make window strips. There are five windows in total. Here are the dimensions. Take a look and help me cut them."

Zhang An took out the data he had prepared long ago and handed it to his boss.

"Okay, I'll take a look."

The boss is more familiar with this kind of thing than Zhang An, because there are too many people in the rural area who buy rebar to install window strips.

After a while, the boss calculated and gave a rough number based on the size and gap brought by Zhang An.

After listening to this, Zhang An felt that there was no problem and simply agreed.

Then the boss took him to the place where the steel bars were piled nearby to select the materials and then cut them into strips.

Even though the diameter of the eight round rebars is less than one centimeter, it is extremely troublesome to take them home and cut them yourself with a hacksaw.

It just so happened that the boss had an electric grinding wheel, so it could be done in just a few strokes, which was very convenient.

If the boss told him that there was no electric grinding wheel, Zhang An would definitely turn around and leave and go to another store to have a look.

Zhang An paid the money, packed the cut steel bars, and prepared to go home.

"Zhang An, wait a minute, wait a minute."

But just as I started the car, I heard someone calling me from behind.

If he hadn't opened the car window, he might not have been able to hear it.

"So it's you, Fifth Brother. Where are you going so early in the morning?"

Zhang An stretched his head and saw that the people calling him were the brothers Yang Laowu and Yang Laoliu from the village, so he started to greet them.

"My uncle's youngest son got married. We went there for two days and came back by train this morning. I was planning to walk home, but I didn't expect to run into you."

The reason why the Yang Laowu brothers called Zhang An was simply because they wanted to hitchhike back home.

In the village, there are many people who share the same idea as them, especially those who go to the market every time.

Now in the entire Changqing Village, Zhang An is the only one who has a car, so many people in the village already know Zhang An’s license plate number and the appearance of his car.

But Zhang An didn't care. They were all from the same village, so it would be okay to give it a try when it was convenient.

"Why are you here so early to buy steel bars?"

When passing by the truck bed, Yang Laoliu saw the cut steel bars inside, and asked after getting on the truck.

"Yes, the sheepfold at my house has been built. Now all we need is doors and windows. I'll buy some window strips and build the windows at home."

When the foundation of the sheep pen was being dug a few days ago, Yang Laoliu also went to help, so Zhang An was quite polite to him.

"It's better for you guys to do it yourself. You can just pick up whatever you need and do it."

The Yang brothers were very envious of Zhang An, who was skilled in carpentry.

In the village, carpenters are the most sought-after, even stonemasons who can build houses are inferior to them.

After all, carpentry work can be done by one person, but stonemasonry work requires a group of people.

Especially from large items like doors, windows, and cabinets to small items like chairs and benches, and even the coffin supplies that everyone needs after a hundred years, all of them need to be made by carpenters, so carpenters have a very high status in the village.

"Hahaha, what's the big deal? Everything is nothing more than learning Chinese characters. You can learn it after learning from a master."

Zhang An used to think so too, but after learning the craft from Carpenter Lin, he realized that there was nothing special about it.

"Hey, not everyone is like you and can learn from Carpenter Lin."

Speaking of this, Yang Laoliu sighed even more.

If it were someone else, they might not think so much about it, but he is different.

Because many years ago, he went to find Carpenter Lin and wanted to learn the craft from him.

But Carpenter Lin had a strange temper and had no intention of accepting him.

And it wasn't just him, other people in the village also had their items confiscated.

Over the years, looking at the entire village, Carpenter Lin has only taught Zhang An besides his own son, and it was Carpenter Lin who took the initiative to teach.

After such a comparison, Yang Laoliu felt quite complicated.

"It's nothing. Anyway, technology is becoming more and more advanced in society. Many things can be done by machines in the future. It's not worth spending so much time learning this."

Zhang An naturally knew what Yang Laoliu was thinking, so he spoke to comfort him.

But it is true. Carpenters are still popular in the past few years. After a few years, many furniture will be produced directly by factories and can be purchased directly with money.

Although carpenters at that time could still make some things by themselves, many people thought they were too expensive and would rather buy cheaper factory products.

(End of this chapter)