Chapter 123: Fulumen Tower

  He Axiu sighed: "Such a beautiful chicken coop is even better than where people live, and this pigpen is even bigger than where people live..."

  Zhong Gensheng laughed and said, "It's all Tuniang's idea. She said that if we build it like this, it won't collapse in a few decades, and we won't have to repair it every year like we do with the earthen ones. This pigpen is built so big, later on we can raise more pigs inside, kill them slowly, after all, we use pigs every day, we can't just slaughter one or two a day, that's too tiring. The green bricks are specially made thick, even five or six pigs won't be able to knock it down..."

  He Ahxiu was overjoyed in her heart, and her eyebrows and eyes were all excitement.

  The pig and chicken entered their new home, still a bit anxious, but seeing the people at home, they slowly adapted. He Qiu added food for them, and to her surprise, they all ate, humming softly, and eventually calmed down.

  Shen Sisi tied her beloved sheep to the door of her own room, patted its head, fed it some hay, and then entered her own room to start packing up her belongings. She didn't have much else, just a few tattered clothes and shoes, but she didn't mind. However, her quilt and bedding were all new, which made her feel happy as she tidied them up. Looking at the spacious room, she felt joyful, finally having her own private space... from now on, it would be so much more convenient to come and go.

  She ran to the mirror and wiped it clean, looking at the yellow-haired little boy in the mirror, her thin arms and legs were really pathetic.

  The road to becoming a beauty is long and arduous.

  Deep in thought, silently holding back tears.

  Niu Laogen entered Niu Xiaohua's new house, looking at her new clothes, new furniture, new bed, new cabinet, and the silver hairpin on her head. Her face was clean and tidy, and her complexion had improved greatly. Niu Laogen felt a deep sense of relief and said in a low voice: "Girl, seeing you like this, I can finally be at ease. From now on, you must work hard at the Zhong family's place, listen to them obediently, they are good people and won't treat you unfairly. You must also be good to your younger brother and sister, I think Tuniu and Erbao Sanbao are all promising kids... in the future, you will be their sister-in-law, so you must be a good sister-in-law..."

  Niú Xiǎo Huā's eyes stung, and she solemnly nodded her head.

  The old cow instructed her a few more sentences, letting her pack up her own house, and then came out again to help move all the miscellaneous items in the yard into the storage room.

  Watching the house being cleaned up bit by bit, Zhong Gensheng's heart was filled with indescribable joy.

  He Axiu then gathered the quilts and clothes of several children, and tidied up the books in Er Bao's and San Bao's rooms. Only after that did she leave the yard, smiling at Zhong Gensheng: "......it feels unreal to move in here..."

  "I am too..." Zhong Gensheng said with a smile: "I never thought about it even in my dreams..."

  "After getting used to it, it becomes real..." said Niu Laogen with a smile.

  "Old root, stay for dinner tonight..." Zhong Gensheng laughed and said: "Today is a happy day, let's have another good drink..."

  "Alright..." The old cowherd readily agreed, then seeing Wang coming over, he smiled and said: "I'll head back home first, I'll come again tonight..."

  Zhong Gensheng had been troubled by him all day and smiled: "Going back to rest is also okay, just come early tonight..."

  Zhong Gen Sheng responded with a "yes" and left.

  Wang Tufu looked at the new house and smiled, saying: "...... Ten or so days ago when I saw this house take shape, I knew it was going to be extraordinary. Today, coming in and taking a look, it's indeed extraordinary..."

  "You must be laughing at me, come sit down, have you eaten?" Zhong Gensheng asked with a smile.

  Wang Tudou nodded and said, "You said yesterday that you were moving today, so I had lunch and took a break before coming. I'm a bit late, but it's okay, right? I was afraid of coming too early and disturbing your family..."

  "You've come at the right time, everything is ready. Actually, there's nothing much to move in the house..." Zhong Gensheng smiled and said: "This room looks quite empty now, but when the trees in front of the yard grow bigger and we add some furniture after living here for a while, it'll look like a real home..."

  "It's not that your house is too big, it just feels empty. If I could live in a house like this, I'd laugh out loud every night..." Wang Tudou said with a gentle smile.

  Zhong Gen Sheng said a couple of words to him, then took him to a small courtyard next to the side door of the large kitchen. He smiled and said: "When building the house, this place was left on purpose. Later, pigs will be killed here, so that the women and girls in the family won't see it and be afraid. It is separated from the front yard and connected to the backyard... The pigpen is just behind..."

  Wang Tudou smiled and said: "This place is good, with just two wooden boards, we can divide the meat..."

  As he spoke, he walked with him to the pigsty in the backyard and laughed: "This pigsty is great?!" As he said, he still fondly touched it. Even if his family was relatively well-off when slaughtering pigs, they didn't dare use green bricks to build a pigsty. They couldn't bear to do so. Seeing the Zhong family like this, I was truly envious.

  "Just afraid of collapse, use this brick to build it up, and it won't need to be repaired for decades." Zhong Gensheng drove a pig out and went to the side house, laughing: "I'll go find some rope and a wooden board table, the old furniture from the old house is actually useful, in the storage room, I'll go get a suitable one..."

  Having said that, he left.

  Wang Tudou waited until all the tools were ready, took out the knife he had sharpened early in the morning, and when the pig was tied up, he let Zhong Gensheng retreat to the front yard, saying with a smile: "Don't get yourself covered in blood and stain your new clothes. I'll do it myself, I'm used to it every day, my hands are familiar with it..."

  Zhong Gensheng smiled and agreed, closing the small side door behind him. He looked at He Ashu, who was sitting in the courtyard chopping vegetables, and said: "In the future, when you kill pigs, you don't have to avoid it anymore. It's just right here in this small courtyard..."

  "That's good... " He Axiu smiled lightly and said, "The old house is all empty now. We brought everything we should bring, except for the well, which can't be moved. I'm reluctant to part with it. And there's the vegetable garden in the backyard. I thought that in the future, we wouldn't grow those kinds of vegetables anymore, so as not to have them stolen away. I'll clear out a piece of land in the backyard of this house and plant some vegetables. Even if it's barren land, planting more will be enough for us to eat..."

  "You just wait and see, once the vegetables behind the old house are all picked, you won't be able to do that anymore..." Zhong Gensheng chuckled: "You'd better hurry up and pick them all too, or else they'll get stolen. Although napa cabbage and such aren't worth much money, now that we have a cellar at home, we can store them there for eating, and there are also thieves in the village..."

  Actually, those who are jealous just can't stand seeing others' good fortune, even if it's just a small thing like picking a scallion. It makes them feel more balanced in their hearts, and many people have this kind of psychology.

  He said that, He Qiu immediately got up and took the basket: "I'll go pick some vegetables, you come help me carry them back to the cellar later. You go to the village head first to see why Da Bao and others haven't returned yet, if they didn't sell well today, it's late..."

  "Hmm, I'll go take a look..." Zhong Gensheng was also worried, so he went to the village head.

  Shen Sisi carried a wooden tray into the side yard, received the pig's blood, and chatted with Wang Butcher about the Wang Xiuciai family in their village.

  "Hey, what can be done? They've started fighting and it's getting out of hand. The girl's family refuses to return the betrothal gifts and is demanding that Wang Xiutai compensate them with another daughter. They've called in all their relatives... Wang Xiutai has lost both his money and his wife, so he won't give up easily..."

  Wang Butcher smiled as he skillfully cut the meat: "This commotion has been going on for over a month, with fighting that's getting out of hand. I heard the girl's family didn't get compensation, so they went to the authorities to file a complaint. Wang Xiutai naturally refused, and I even heard he hired a lawyer... What's the point of all this? Even if someone dies, what can be done?"

  "It's estimated that in the county town, it's even more lively and can't be opened, being laughed at by others, is really...". Wang Tudou said softly: "This case is estimated to have become a big strange case in our county town, causing a sensation for a while..."

  After all, this is a remote northern mountainous area. In ten or eight years, there are no big cases, unless the disaster year comes, it's almost the same, so this matter has become the topic of everyone.

  Shen Sisi listened with relish and laughed: "How much compensation does that girl's family want?!"

  Wang Tudou sighed and said, "I heard that they want 500,000 yuan, it's really pitiful. A life is gone, and the family members are treating it as a bargaining chip for money. If it weren't for the sake of dividing up the money, those weird relatives from the girl's family wouldn't be making such a big fuss. It's all because of self-interest, who would have the leisure to cause trouble otherwise? I heard that they've even brought over countless distant relatives, what good can come of this, it's just a bunch of noise..."

  Just then, Da Bao and others came back with the gong frame on their backs. As soon as they returned, they called Shen Sisi, "Tuni, I have something to discuss with you..."

  He joyfully walked in with a smile and didn't even have time to take a look at the new house, but instead rushed towards Shen Sisi.

  Shen Sisi carried a bowl of pig's blood out of the side room and said, "What's going on that you're in such a rush? Sit down first and talk about it, have some water. You came back so late today, aren't you hungry? Eat something first..."

  Dabao drank a big cup of water excitedly and sat down by the well, laughing: "I came back late because I had something to do. I just ran into Dad at the village entrance and paid off Er Gouzi's wages, sending them back. Dad went to help Mom pick vegetables in the old house, and Sibao followed him. Only I came back..."

  No wonder he alone bore so many heavy loads on his body and didn't feel tired at all.

  "Let's eat first..." Shen Sisi said, and then went into the kitchen to bring out some buns. "Just make do with these for now, I'll cook something delicious later. Where's Si Ba? Why did he run off? Isn't he coming back for dinner?"

  Dabao shook his head and said, "Someone invited us to eat something, otherwise, how could Sibao not come back for dinner?" Although he said so, Dabao still took over the black pancake, without any dislike, took a bite, but was not very hungry, eating extremely slowly, with a smile on his face. "It was the boss of Fumanlou who invited us to their restaurant to have a good meal. Sibao, Erdan and I were originally afraid to eat, but later we were really starving, so we ate. To be honest, it was delicious, but not as good as Tuniang's cooking..."

  He finished speaking with a silly grin.

  Shen Sisi furrowed her brow and said: "Why invite you to dinner?!" The intention of the drunkard is not in the wine, could it be the braised meat?!