“What? You’re planning to rebuild your house?”
The brigade leader puffed on his cigarette. “Tearing it all down and rebuilding from scratch?”
Lin Zhen nodded. “I’m aiming to get it done before the wedding. I’ve already arranged for bricks and tiles with the factory. As for the construction, I’ll need to trouble you to find a few experienced craftsmen.”
In this day and age, every production team had a few skilled builders, and their team was no exception.
The brigade leader agreed. “Alright, I’ll take you to invite those seasoned craftsmen myself.”
Since it was a house being prepared for marriage, no corners could be cut.
Lin Zhen’s plot of land was quite large, and he had bought all of it. Now, he was rebuilding the house.
Tsk, tsk… who knew how many people would be green with envy.
But Lin Zhen was capable, and Educated Youth Song wasn’t short on money either. Envy was all others could muster—they couldn’t compete.
The brigade leader was a decisive man. Once everything was settled, he energetically took Lin Zhen to find the experienced builders.
The busy farming season had passed. Though there was still work to be done, they could spare some hands to help with the construction.
In those days, building a house required not only paying wages but also providing meals.
Song Wei couldn’t cook, and Lin Zhen would be busy overseeing the entire construction, leaving him no time to prepare meals either. So, they needed to hire two aunties to help with cooking.
When Aunt Xinghua heard about it, she said, “There’s no need to pay me. I’ll help you for free.”
“That won’t do,” Song Wei insisted. “Even though we’re close, clear accounts make good friends. Please don’t refuse, Auntie. I’ll pay you fifty cents a day, and I’ll need to hire another auntie to help too. The dishes might not be extravagant, but I’ll make sure everyone is well-fed.”
If she paid the other auntie but not Aunt Xinghua, even the best relationship couldn’t withstand such exploitation. No one would be willing to help for free based on goodwill alone.
In the end, Aunt Xinghua reluctantly agreed. She also recommended someone skilled at cooking—another familiar face to Song Wei, Auntie Ma.
Aunt Xinghua and Song Wei went to find Auntie Ma together, and along the way, Song Wei bought some pickled vegetables from her. Auntie Ma’s pickled vegetables were truly delicious.
With the cooks settled, the brigade leader and Lin Zhen quickly gathered the construction crew. The skilled craftsmen were paid fifty yuan a month, while the laborers earned thirty-five yuan. The team leader helped select those who were honest, hardworking, and unlikely to slack off. Everyone knew each other well since they were all from the same team.
Once the team was assembled, Lin Zhen moved all his belongings to the educated youth quarters. Only then did everyone realize he was planning to rebuild his house!
That’s right—Lin Zhen moved to the educated youth quarters. There were empty rooms there, and all he needed to do was bring over his furniture and clothes, tidy up, and he could move in. He didn’t even need to build a new kang bed—Luo Yecheng, who had been arrested, had previously lived in a single room, and the kang in his room was still in good condition. All Lin Zhen had to do was move his things in.
The wolf and the fox followed him to the new place. The silly roe deer and the sika deer were kept in the backyard, enclosed by a simple fence.
News of Lin Zhen’s rebuilding project spread quickly, and everyone in the production team came to inquire about it.
“Lin Zhen, your house was perfectly fine and spacious enough. Why rebuild? It’s such a hassle.”
Lin Zhen replied, “It’s for the wedding. I want to get it built before then so we won’t have to worry about renovations later if space becomes tight.”
“Oh, in that case, do you need more help? My son is strong—let him lend a hand.”
“The team is already set. If we need more hands later, I’ll let your son know.”
Lin Zhen answered their questions politely but firmly declined any attempts to add more people to the crew. His stern expression and imposing presence deterred anyone from pushing too hard.
Naturally, some tried to find a way in through Song Wei.
Building the house came with free meals and wages—everyone wanted a piece of this rare opportunity to earn extra income.
But there simply weren’t enough spots for everyone.
Both Lin Zhen and Song Wei were unmoved by either soft or hard tactics. The key was, no one could out-argue them or outfight them.
All they could do was whisper among themselves in private.
“Lin Zhen is really treating Educated Youth Song well—rebuilding the house just for the wedding. He never treated his own family this nicely.”
“They’re not even married yet, and they’re already wasting money like this. Young people just don’t know how to manage a household.”
“So ungrateful. We’re much closer to him than the people he hired, yet he didn’t ask anyone from our family to help.”
“Educated Youth Song must really have some skills—she’s completely charmed Lin Zhen. He’s afraid she’ll have to live in less-than-ideal conditions.”
But they didn’t dare say these things to Lin Zhen or Song Wei’s faces, fearing they might get beaten up.
Even so, when Aunt Xinghua overheard them, she rolled up her sleeves and confronted them head-on.
The families of those selected for the job also spoke up in support, since Lin Zhen and Song Wei were generous with the wages and ensured everyone was well-fed.
Before construction began, Lin Zhen and Song Wei made a special trip to the city to buy rice and flour.
The vegetables came from their own garden and didn’t cost much. Occasionally, Song Wei would bring back a fish, and their wolf would sometimes return with a wild rabbit or pheasant.
The treatment was almost too good to be true. Since none of the workers were lazy to begin with, they put even more effort into their work.
Over at the educated youth quarters, something else was completed even before the house—a little creature that Song Wei had nearly forgotten was about to hatch.
Yes, it was the eagle egg they had brought back from the northwestern grasslands.
For the first few days, Song Wei had checked on it, but during the busy farming season, she had completely forgotten about the egg.
One day, Li Juan excitedly rushed to find Song Wei, holding the nearly hatched egg.
“Song Wei, Song Wei! Your bird egg is about to hatch!”
Song Wei leaned in for a look. Sure enough, there was already a crack in the eggshell, and the little creature inside was pecking away at it.
Song Wei’s eyes lit up.
“Really? I thought it wouldn’t hatch.”
When they had first incubated the eagle egg, it was just an experiment. If it didn’t hatch, they planned to discard it.
Unexpectedly, it was actually hatching.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the pecked opening in the eggshell grew larger and larger.
The onlookers clenched their fists, itching to help.
But of course, they couldn’t.
A bird of prey needs to break out of its shell on its own; otherwise, it could affect its health.
Fortunately, the little one was determined and finally pushed its way out of the shell.
But the effort exhausted it, and now it lay motionless on a soft towel, too weak to move.
Song Wei asked, “Does it need to be fed minced meat?”
Lin Zhen stood up. “I’ll prepare it.”
“It’s so ugly,” Hei Dan said with a look of disgust.
To be honest, Song Wei felt the same way.
Its sparse, wet down feathers clung to its body, even sparser than a chick’s, making it look bald.
But she didn’t want to discourage the eaglet.
“Human babies are also ugly when they’re born, but they grow into their looks eventually. It’ll become handsome too.”
Hei Dan nodded. “Oh.”
Then he added, “But why do I feel like the kids in the production team are getting uglier as they grow up?”
Song Wei: “…”
Without enough to eat, constantly exposed to the sun, and always running wild, few children in the countryside had fair and delicate skin. Most were tanned, with two streams of snot hanging under their noses.
They really weren’t much to look at.
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