After cleaning the chicken, Granny Zhao even chopped it up for them.
“Chopping chicken is tough work for little hands like yours—all done now. I’ll head off then. Oh, your little stools should be finished this afternoon. I’ll have Xiaoxuan bring them over.”
Granny Zhao washed her hands thoroughly and crouched by the hearth for a while to let the smell fade before heading out—lest some nosy neighbor catch a whiff.
“Alright, I’m done with the clothes too. Aunt Zhao, let’s walk together.”
“Sure—let’s go.”
Once they were out of sight, Lin Xiaohe closed the door.
“Xiaogu, keep an eye on the fire and peel some chestnuts. I’m going to sort through the house.”
They still needed wooden boxes for storage.
Too bad those were hard to come by.
She could ask Grandpa Dashu if he could make some.
She took out all the clothes Aunt Fang had given her and laid them on the bed, sorting through them one by one.
Some could be worn as underlayers here; others were too flashy and could only be worn over there.
She set the ones for here aside, and the others in a separate pile—easy to grab.
When she was done, she packed them back into the bag and tucked it under the bed against the wall.
She also pulled everything out of the cellar. The remaining cotton was enough for two more sets of clothes.
She’d take them to Aunt Xiang’s after dark to have them made.
Everything was neatly arranged, and the cellar had some breathing room now. The most valuable things in there were the few bags of grain.
Her parents weren’t well yet—when would the new house be built?
Only a home of their own would feel truly safe.
“Xiaohe, what’s on your mind?” Lin Cai saw his daughter frowning and asked.
“I’m just worried about living in the ancestral hall—we don’t even have a proper place to store things.”
Lin Cai frowned. “How about we start building the house?”
“Dad, you’re not even better yet—how can we build it?”
“It’s not that hard. We can give some grain to Uncle Deshan to oversee it—he’s a great builder, better than me at spotting what’s right or wrong. Then we can get a few village uncles to help. The house will go up fast.”
Hearing that, she started to think it might actually work.
She was getting eager.
“Then maybe we should give it a try. Next time Second Aunt comes, we’ll tell her.”
Speak of the devil.
Lin Xia rode up on her bike. Her mother-in-law had swapped shifts with someone so she could come today.
“Second Aunt, perfect timing—we need to talk to you.”
Lin Xia parked her bike at the door. “What is it?”
“We want to build a house. We’ll have Uncle Deshan oversee it and hire some village uncles to work. We need you to front it.”
“That’s easy—leave it to me. I’ll go talk to the brigade leader—it’ll probably take all afternoon.
You two wheel my bike inside so nobody takes it.”
She’d not only have to discuss where to build, but also cover all the details and say the right things.
It would take a while.
“Okay.”
She watched her second aunt walk away, then wheeled the bike inside.
“Xiaogu, keep an eye on things at home—I’m going to the other side to get some stuff. Second Aunt must’ve come today to take something back.”
She’d planned to go in the afternoon, but that wasn’t happening now—she had to hurry.
“Okay—if Second Aunt gets back early, I’ll take her over to Auntie’s place.”
Xiaogu was sharp—she understood right away.
“Good—I’m off.”
She brought along the chestnuts for Aunt Fang.
When she got there, only Uncle Yuan was at the shop with a few customers. She didn’t linger—just dropped off the chestnuts and left.
Then she rushed to the supermarket for a big shopping trip.
First, 20 jin of meat, then 20 jin of sugar.
All the most sought-after goods.
She couldn’t carry much more than that—this was already plenty.
She hurried back home.
When she arrived, Second Aunt still wasn’t back.
“Xiaogu, keep an eye on the fire—I’m going to the brigade office.”
She ran over, but no luck—Second Aunt wasn’t there, and neither was the brigade leader.
So she headed to the brigade leader’s house—and sure enough, they were there.
“Xiaohe, you’re just in time—listen in.” Lin Xia gestured for her to sit.
The brigade leader didn’t mind—Xiaohe had always been a thoughtful kid.
“The brigade doesn’t have any suitable homestead plots right now. You’ll have to clear the collapsed house and rebuild on the same spot—that means clearing the rubble first.
I’ve asked around—nobody’s got any mud bricks set aside for building.”
He’d been expecting this and had been asking around the village for a while.
No one had plans to build, so no one had stockpiled bricks.
“Half of the collapsed house was built with stone—that might still be usable.
But you’ll need bricks for the rest—and since no one was planning to build this year, nobody’s got any.”
“Hmm—that’s a problem.” Lin Xia frowned. “But you can’t not rebuild—you need a place to live.”
“I’ll see if I can get some bricks. Can you get the beams?”
The brigade leader frowned in thought. “Probably—a few families have them stored for when their kids build houses.”
Lin Xiaohe listened. “Second Aunt, are you thinking of getting blue bricks?”
“Yeah—otherwise there’s no other option.” Lin Xia nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. Might be able to pull it off.
Brigade Leader, my third brother’s laid up right now—I’ll have to trouble you to handle the building.”
“Don’t mention it—I’m the brigade leader, it’s my job.”
He agreed with a smile, then turned thoughtful. “Ah, Third Brother’s in a tough spot—but with a sister like you, it’s a bit better.”
“Sigh—back when I needed help, Third Brother went through a lot for me. Now that he’s struggling, it’s only right I help out.”
“But no one even bothered to tell me he was hurt. I only came back because someone told me my eldest brother’s family was falling apart and asked me to mediate—then I found out.”
She was fuming just thinking about it.
A bunch of animals—no, even mountain animals know to protect their young, more humane than them.
The brigade leader shook his head. “They were probably afraid you’d come back and kick up a fuss.”
By the time it was all done, coming back to complain wouldn’t help.
“Exactly! And they wanted me to talk sense into them—talk sense my foot! If I’m gonna talk, I’m gonna tell her to divorce! Look at my brother—what a mess. No wonder my sister-in-law looks sallow and worn out.”
The brigade leader didn’t chime in—it was fine for family to complain, but outsiders butting in would just stir up trouble.
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