Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 490: Resting and Building a House

The setting sun dyed the white clouds red, and the lush green trees on both sides formed a vivid color with it. Liu Lizhen, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked to the right and saw that the car was driving on a bridge. There was a clear river under the bridge, and opposite the bridge was the territory of Qing'an.

It is now a little after six in the evening. After crossing the bridge, you can see the Qing'an Forest Farm. The workers at the forest farm have already returned home and the small train has stopped running. However, a coal-carrying train passes by from time to time. In winter, many people go to the side of the railway track to pick up coal. The diligent ones can pick up two baskets, but as more and more people pick up coal, the harvest is not much. It is better to go to the mountain to pull wood.

The red sun was hanging over the western mountain peak and had not yet completely set. Smoke was rising from the chimneys of every household. When they saw the familiar village, everyone's spirits were lifted.

They left Wangxing at a little after one o'clock. After more than five hours' drive, they were quite exhausted and so tired that they started snoring as soon as they closed their eyes.

Two cars entered the village and slowly stopped next to Old Xu's fence. There was a group of people chatting inside the house. When they heard the noise of the car, they walked outside. After seeing Xu Laonian, Xu Ning, Guan Lei and others jump out of the car, the two sides met each other, both with smiles on their faces.

Xu Laonian asked, "Did they all leave after dinner?"

"Yeah, you just left a short while ago, how come you just came back so recently?"

Liu Lizhen said, "Oh my god, Brother Lao Chai insisted that we stay and have lunch before leaving."

Xu Ning raised his hand and called to Wang Biao, Liu Tianen and Li Mantang, asking them to go with Wang Hu and Guan Lei to move things into the car. There were fish, pork and vegetables brought by the Sun family, a jar of fruit wine and bear meat and venison brought by Liu Zhu, and this time the Chai family did not bring any wine, but did bring two boxes of soda and five dried garden ginseng.

Originally, Xu Ning did not want to take the garden ginseng, but Xu Laonian was too industrious. When he was drinking with Chai Liangyu, he kept muttering about what ginseng wine tasted like. Chai Liangyu remembered what he said. When they were halfway there and got out of the car to get some soda, he found five garden ginsengs in the box. They must be of good age, and Chai Liangyu would have to buy at least ten years old.

Xu Feng has been pouting ever since she saw Xu Ning. She has been very depressed these days. Her parents and second brother are all gone, leaving only her and Wang Shujuan. She acts as if she is annoying.

Xu Ning saw her look, raised his hand to embrace her, rubbed her cheeks hard, and said with a smile: "Did you miss me?"

"I miss you! I see you didn't miss me at all. My sister-in-law had a hard time tying my hair into a bun, but you messed it up when you came back."

"Hahaha, I really miss you. Third brother brought you two more boxes of soda. Go take a look in the back."

"Really? Oh! Third brother must be thinking about me. Huh, when Third brother comes again, I must flatter him."

Liu Lizhen said nothing when she heard this. The days she was away were the most comfortable and relaxed days she had had since Xu Feng was born. As soon as she got home and saw this annoying guy, she felt a headache.

"My dear daughter, do you miss your dad?"

"I didn't think about it." Xu Feng glanced and told the truth.

"Oh mom, dad missed you so much. I even dreamed about you last night."

Xu Feng looked up and said, "You must be dreaming about Diao Chan."

"Hahaha, Feng'er is such a chatterbox, it's so refreshing!" Wang Erli grinned.

Xu Laonian, with a gloomy face, hugged Xu Feng and sucked her cheek hard. Xu Feng leaned back with disgust on her face, which made Xu Laonian laugh. Amid Liu Lizhen's scolding, Xu Laonian led the way into the east room.

When they saw two tables in the room with bowls and chopsticks on them, and two large pots in the outer room with steam coming out of them, Xu Laonian and Liu Lizhen immediately knew that they had not eaten either, and must be waiting for them to come back and eat together.

After Wang Hu, Liu Tianen, Li Mantang, Guan Lei and others moved the things into the house, they hurriedly washed their hands. At the same time, Han Fengjiao, Wu Qiuxia and Yang Shuhua were also carrying food to the east room. The evening dishes were prepared by Yang Shuhua, including stir-fried mushrooms, scrambled eggs with soy sauce, and cabbage stewed with vermicelli...

After everyone was seated, Wang Erli took out two bottles of Yuchun wine. When Xu Laonian saw the bottles, he immediately shook his head like a rattle and refused to drink anything. Finally, after Wang Erli and Liu Daming persuaded him a few words, Xu Laonian agreed to have a drink.

"Don't you want to drink something?" he asked the little boy, his eyes also looking at Wang Erli lightly.

Wang Erli said: "Erning hasn't had a drink in a while, why are you letting him drink?"

"Oh my god, he drank more than a pound of wine yesterday, and now he is drinking more..."

Xu Laonian's expression was somewhat gloating, and he wished that everyone would look at him strangely, but everyone in the room had a look of surprise on their faces.

Han Fengjiao clapped her hands and said, "It's good to drink a little. How can a gentleman not drink?"

Wu Qiuxia said with a smile: "Not a big deal! It's okay if you drink less."

Xu Laonian looked around and said, "Why don't you talk about him? He said before that he had given up drinking..."

"Brother, wasn't it before? Now is now! There's nothing wrong with drinking less."

Seeing that Wang Erli, Liu Daming, Han Fengjiao and others were all speaking up for Xu Ning, Xu Laonian looked at Li Fuqiang who was sitting on the side with his head down and said, "Qiangzi, your brother betrayed you, how can you feel good about it?"

Li Fuqiang raised his head and smiled, "That's great, uncle. Actually... how should I put it? I broke my vow just after the first month of the lunar year, but it wasn't me who broke it..."

Yang Shuhua took over the conversation and said, "I asked him to drink it. It was a medicinal wine. Drinking a cup at night can relieve fatigue. He didn't drink it during meals. Brother, you can't blame your sister-in-law, right?"

Xu Ning grinned and said, "Then what are you complaining about? The reason why my elder brother and I quit drinking is mainly to express to you our determination to stop at nothing and learn to be good people again! How we behave now is obvious to our family members and outsiders. Now everyone in our village will praise us in various ways, right?"

Xu Laonian curled his lips: "He just flatters himself."

Liu Lizhen couldn't stand it anymore, so she went down and slapped Xu Laonian on the forehead, "Stop talking nonsense! What's wrong with my son drinking a little wine? You didn't drink? This guy is jealous of you. If you feel itchy, you can ride your donkey upside down and go to the moon to find Diao Chan!"

"Hahaha, it's what he deserves!" Xu Ning sat next to him and gloated, "My dad is mainly afraid that he won't be able to drink more than me in the future."

"I can't drink more than you? That's a joke! Let's have a competition someday and see if I can drink more than you."

Liu Lizhen stepped on her shoes and slapped him on the head, "What are you talking about? Do you know how to chat? Hurry up and eat. You're pissing me off as soon as you get home. I think you deserve a beating!"

"Pick up your chopsticks, pick up your chopsticks quickly..." Xu Laonian turned his head and greeted them.

Although they had eaten some glutinous rice cakes and biscuits to fill their stomachs during the half-day journey, these two things were too dry to stick in their throats, and even soda was difficult to swallow, so they were all a little too hungry. Even Sun Lianfang, who was usually the most lively, looked listless at this moment. She hadn't said a word since she entered the room, and her eyes were filled with tears when she saw the cabbage stewed with vermicelli.

Then everyone started chatting while eating. Xu Ning had known about Li Fuqiang drinking a cup of medicinal wine in the evening for a long time. Li Fuqiang told him about it in person. Xu Ning didn't get angry at all, or he understood it very well.

After all, Li Fuqiang is already in his thirties, and sometimes he has the will but not the strength to do things. After drinking the medicinal wine to relieve his fatigue, he feels more energetic, just like a young man in his twenties. In one word - fierce!
There is a saying that is true: there is no such thing as a spoiled field, only an ox that is tired to death. No ox can stand working non-stop for 365 days. Even a donkey needs to take a break. When Li Fuqiang learned that Xu Ning had broken his alcohol ban, he did not react. He had talked to Xu Ning about this before, and they had agreed on this at the time.

Xu Ning will definitely have to drink in the future, after all, his mother has been persuading and urging her son to drink. Li Fuqiang usually drinks a cup of medicinal wine in the evening, but he can't hold a glass of wine at the dinner table. His problem is that he is annoying after drinking, and he has not drunk enough. If others persuade him, he will drink it up, so he can't control himself at all, so it's better not to drink...

Liu Lizhen was lying on the kang, telling Han Fengjiao, Wu Qiuxia and others about what she had seen and heard during this long trip, while Xu Laonian, Wang Erli, Liu Daming and others were talking about the house.

Now both families' wells have been drilled. The well dug by Old Xu's family in the outer room was seven meters deep and water came out. The well of Old Wang's family was a large well in the back garden and it took nearly ten meters to dig before water came out. The guy from the well-drilling team asked Old Xu's family for 65 yuan and Old Wang's family for 70 yuan, which included the cost of the pressurized well and pipes. This price is not expensive. If it were the normal price, it would definitely be over yuan.

Xu Ning was thinking about asking Lao Wei to send some bear meat to that old man tomorrow. Since he had promised something, he should not forget it. This is the foundation of being a human being and survival. Reputation is extremely important in the mountains.

Most of the people who came to help build the house had never built a house properly before. They laid bricks very slowly because they had to align with the horizontal line, and they were not very skilled, so some people often had to redo the work.

This is just building a house for Old Xu's family. If it was for someone else, they wouldn't have to worry about so much. It's OK as long as the bricks don't fall off the wall. Besides, if someone else invites them to build a house, they have to think about whether it's necessary to go...

"Uncle Meng and Brother Bao work very efficiently. My uncle and aunt had just left for more than half a day when they had already finished cutting the materials for the beams, columns and purlins. Then they went home to make furniture. Aunt Liu and my brother and sister-in-law come over almost every day to help with cooking."

"Ah, then I'll go over and take a look. How are they living in Shitou's house?"

Li Fuqiang said, "That's great. Brother Bao and his two apprentices live in the west room. The east room and the outer room are full of wood and sawdust. You can let Leizi live here."

Xu Ning finished the rice in the bowl, sat on the stool and gave Guan Lei a look. He stood up and followed Xu Ning to the outer room. Wang Hu and Li Fuqiang also followed him out.

Just when Xu Ning was about to cut the bear and venison, Liu Lizhen shouted, "Old man, smash it!"

"What are you doing, Mom?"

"Give your uncle Meng some of the meat to cut for him. Jinbao will be working hard. Ask your aunt to cook for them when she's free. Also, bring five bags of snacks that Tielin sent over that day..."

"Know!"

Xu Ning asked Wang Hu to cut the meat, while he went to the cabinet in the west room to look for the liquor. The liquor was bottled from a loose basket, but it was the best loose basket, which meant that only the wine in the middle was put into the bottle after the head and tail were cut off.

"Brother! I'm going too." Sun Lianfang quickly put on her shoes and ran to the outer room.

Guan Lei frowned when he heard this: "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to chat with my sister-in-law, what's up?"

Sun Lianfang stiffened her neck, but thinking that Guan Lei would only respond to soft words and not to hard ones, she deliberately raised her hand to touch his face and said with a smile: "You don't want me to go? Look at you, little guy, why are you so popular? Your little face is so hot..."

"If you want to go, go ahead. I don't care." Guan Lei bent down and picked up three or four pounds of bear meat and venison, as well as more than two pounds of pork.

It’s not that Xu Ning didn’t want to take more for the Meng family. The main reason was that he had already eaten some of the more than 70 kilograms of bear meat at the Sun family, and divided half of it with the Chai family. When he got home, he had to cut some for Lao Wei and ask him to deliver it to the brothers in the drilling team, so there wasn’t much left.

At this time, Guan Hua lifted the door curtain and walked out. Sun Lianfang turned around and asked, "Hua'er, do you want to go and chat with your sister-in-law?"

"Go ahead, I'll get something."

Wang Hu pulled her arm and led her out the door, saying, "You don't have to take anything."

"Let's go, it's almost eight o'clock, they should go to bed soon."

After Xu Ning finished urging, he took the barbecue and went out. Li Fuqiang snatched more than two pounds of pork from Guan Lei, and the group hurriedly walked on the dark street.

At this moment, the lights in Old Meng's house were on. There were two yellow light bulbs hanging in the yard. Five people were bending over and working with planers under the light. The light stretched their shadows very long. When the wind blew the light bulbs, the shadows also swayed.

Xu Ning walked outside the fence, turned around and looked at Meng Quezi, and they both grinned silently.

"Uncle Meng, Brother Bao!"

"Hey! You just got home?"

"Yeah, I just finished my meal, why aren't you taking a break now?"

Zhang Jinbao said: "This is to teach Yinhe and the other two how to use a plane. It's just right for making some stool legs."

Xu Ning, Li Fuqiang and others entered the courtyard. Sun Lianfang and Guan Hua greeted them, and then Liu Fenfang and Meng Ziyan, who were sitting in the house, came out to greet them.

"Oh my god, what day did you get home?"

"Aunt, I just came over after I got home and had dinner."

Liu Fenfang said, "I thought you would be back at noon, but then I heard from your second aunt that you would not be home until the evening... Why did you bring meat? We haven't cooked at home these days, so we have three meals a day at your house."

Xu Ning smiled and said, "I hunted the bear meat in Sandahe, and the venison and pork were given to me by others. I thought my brother Bao and his friends were tired from working, so I took some meat and cooked a small meal for them in the evening. They can also have some wine to help them relieve their fatigue."

Meng Quezi smiled and said, "Look how thoughtful Er Ning is. Okay, stop working and go into the house to get some tea."

Then, everyone walked slowly into the house. Meng Ziyan, Sun Lianfang and Guan Hua became quite familiar with each other after meeting each other. They chatted in the outer room while making tea for Xu Ning and others. Liu Fenfang saw that the three of them were chatting so happily that she did not disturb them and went to the west room to grab two plates of melon seeds.

"Try this. These are the melon seeds your uncle's third apprentice sent to me the day before yesterday."

"Eh."

While they were drinking tea, eating melon seeds and chatting in the house, Zhang Jinbao's two apprentices and Meng Yinhe were packing up tools in the yard.

This is a compulsory course for apprentices. After finishing the work, the tools must be put into the box to avoid losing them.

(End of this chapter)