A century of poverty

Chapter 114 Ordinary People?

At 3 a.m., we were woken up by the phone. The caller said, "Is this Su Lei? I'm delivering sand to you. I don't know which way to go off the main road, can you come pick me up?"

Zhiqiang: "Okay! You wait here, I'll come pick you up on my bicycle." After hanging up the phone, Zhiqiang left.

A little while later, a large 60cc tractor came into our yard with its wheels whirring. Zhiqiang helped unload the sand from the tractor and then it drove off.

When Zhiqiang came back, I saw that he had a large piece of skin scraped off his elbow and was still bleeding. "Look! Don't get all blood on your body. You didn't even notice that you scraped off such a big piece of skin and flesh? I'll bandage it for you!" I said, and found some strips of cloth to wrap it around his elbow.

He lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) for another nap. When it got light, after breakfast, he helped the plumber install water pipes at his older sister's house.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Su Lei parked his car to the side, picked up a bag, and came into the yard, shouting to the workers, "Come here! Come here!"

As he spoke, he stopped in front of Cai Ruyun in Anshui: "This boss is giving everyone a reward. Here's one T-shirt for you." He then took out a dozen sky-blue collarless T-shirts from his pocket and handed one to Cai Ruyun.

Upon hearing this, the bricklayers put down their shovels, the carpenters put down their rulers, and they all gathered around. One piece for each of them, three carpenters and six bricklayers, each took one piece. The workers praised one after another, saying, "Boss Su is really generous."

"It still has to be the boss."

I stood at the south gate, looking west, thinking it was a funny thing. But as I looked, something felt off, so I turned around and went inside.

The workers were all beaming with joy, gesturing and discussing the sizes of their T-shirts. Zhiqiang just stood there watching, not really involved.

Su Lei is a big, impressive boss, except for his brother-in-law. He works for him every day, getting up early to receive materials and watching over the piles at night.

But as the old saying goes, it's better to leave a village behind than a single person behind. Ten employees each received a vest. This guy who helped out for nothing didn't deserve the vest.

Zhiqiang remained calm and immersed himself in the workers' joy.

The day of the housewarming ceremony, traditionally called "raising the beam," is customarily celebrated with a meal and the help of relatives and friends. Among those present are Su Zhijuan, Su Zhiwei, Hei Xingan, and others—the "leaders" and "favorites" of this large family!

When everyone sat down to eat, Hei Xingan blurted out, "Zhang Qinglian got a good deal, eating for free."

I casually retorted, "What's so special about me? You're just here to eat for free too. What did you bring? At least I have to pay for the utilities, what are you paying for?"

Hei Xingan didn't reply, and Su Lei, who was sitting next to her, flashed an inscrutable smile.

He continues to rest here as always, entertaining his "friends and buddies" who come to visit him.

June 5th arrived, and after more than half a year, their house was finally completed.

Two rows of buildings: the main building at the rear, with a real upper floor and a floor slab roof; and the gatehouse at the front, with a false upper floor and wooden purlins.

It's a genuine building, with a professionally designed and fully furnished apartment.

The building has a makeshift structure with a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-and-mortar unit), an old-fashioned design, and the walls are simply painted white without any decoration.

The exterior looks the same from the front and back, with white ceramic tile cladding. The entire project was completed on June 5th.

Su Lei said the construction cost was 200,000. Whether that's true or not, outsiders have no way of knowing.

Our turn.

Su Lei explained that we could use one side of their front gatehouse after our house was demolished. He wouldn't be able to help anymore until we finished building our own and moved in, as his business had been delayed for too long and he needed to go back to manage it.

He didn't mention lending us money to build a house, but said that if we needed money to build a house, we could borrow from the old man, and he had already arranged it.

Honestly, we didn't want to build a house at this time because we didn't have the money on hand; Zhiqiang had lent it to a business friend.

But now that they've torn it up and it's in ruins, we have to cover it up.

It's fine if my father-in-law lends it to us. When we borrow the money from him, we'll make it clear that we'll use it until the end of the year, and then we'll pay him back when we get our money back. My father-in-law agreed.

The team of bricklayers, carpenters, and plumbers was introduced to us by Zhiqiang; we built for them first. Once they finished there, they came over to our side.

The bricklayer said he would take a two-day break after finishing his work, and we agreed. We also wanted to move our furniture and belongings there.

When I was moving, my first thought was to retrieve my valuables, so I took out the ten thousand yuan worth of gold. I went to my hiding place to retrieve it, but it was empty. I panicked and even lifted all the wooden planks, but still nothing.

I said, "Oh no, this thing is gone. It's been stolen."

Zhiqiang: "I told you I was wearing it, but you insisted I take it off. If I had kept it on, I wouldn't have been able to get rid of it. Now look what happened, I've lost it all."

I said, "Stop complaining. I'll go back to the wardrobe in that room and look in the clothes and bags!"

I went to the west room of the main house and searched through each bag one by one, but they were gone. I thought and thought, I just couldn't figure it out. I clearly put my wallet under the wooden board hanging behind the shop door, how could it be gone?

No outsiders usually come over. These bricklayers and plumbers come in for a drink when they're thirsty and then leave. They never stop. I've been watching closely, and they wouldn't touch our things.

In the spring, Su Lei was often around. Since he was family, I didn't guard against him. He would often be in the house, and I would tell him that I was going out for a short while.

It's been so long, I haven't even checked it since it was left there. I thought I was very careful, and I never imagined it would get lost. I don't even know when it got lost, but I'm sure it was lost while Su Lei was building the house.

Ten thousand yuan! That's two years' worth of pure profit, and it's all gone just like that?

I was heartbroken. I usually live frugally, even reluctant to spend money on an ice cream. Who could be so heartless? I was devastated for days, but I didn't tell anyone.

I need to stay strong; there are still major tasks like demolishing and building houses. I also need to open the shop every day and face competition. I'll just learn from my mistakes and take the losses as lessons.

Losing the gold won't stop me from eating and drinking; I won't wear it again if I don't have it. I consoled myself, after all, it's just material possessions.

I still need to focus my energy on important matters, but this matter weighs heavily on my mind and sometimes causes me a dull ache.

When the bricklayers started work, they first demolished the old house and placed the old roof beams at the foot of the slope behind Zhang Guo's house.

At this time, it was already the flood season with summer torrential rains.

After dinner, the sky became heavily overcast, a gust of wind blew, and a torrential downpour suddenly began, filling the ditches and trenches. After a brief respite, the rain resumed its downpour.

I said to Zhiqiang, "In this weather, no one will come to buy goods. I'll take the kids to that room, and you can close the door."

As I spoke, I rolled up my trouser legs. The child was wearing shorts, and I tightened his shoelaces. I opened the umbrella, pushed open the door, took the child's hand, and went down into the flooded yard.

The wind and rain were so strong that umbrellas were useless; you were soaked to the bone after just a few steps. Luckily, it was summer, so the water wasn't too cold.

The wind and rain were fierce, with lightning and thunder. I spoke loudly to my child to distract him and prevent him from being frightened.

We trudged through the mud and water toward the front gatehouse of the west courtyard. Because both the front and west courtyards had been raised, we needed to climb a one-meter-high earthen slope.

My four-year-old son and I held his hand. We struggled and strained to climb upwards, slipping down several times.

Suddenly, a flash of light illuminated the heavens and the earth. Crack! Crack! Crack! A thunderclap resounded from the ground, reaching us overhead and then beside us; the earth trembled beneath our feet.

I asked the child loudly, "Are you scared?"

Su Long answered loudly, "I'm not afraid!"

I grabbed his hand and shouted, "One, two, three!" Together we climbed up the muddy slope and went inside the house.

After the rain, the sunlight shone on the old reed fence, and surprisingly, the fragrance of reeds could be smelled. This reed fence had been on the roof for at least thirty years, and even after being rolled up and washed by rain and sun, its substance remained unchanged, and its fragrance was still there, which was truly rare.

After the heavy rain, the ground was flooded, and the roofs were also filled with water. We had to wait for the water to recede before we could continue working.

A week later, the ground stabilized, and the bricklayers went back to work.

No one saw a sidecar motorcycle and a van parked on the road. Several uniformed workers got out of the vehicles and entered the yard, shouting, "Stop! Stop! Who owns the house?"

I replied, "Yes, that's me. What's wrong?"

Staff member: "Stop construction immediately! Illegal construction is not allowed!"

I said, "Our construction is not illegal; the permits have already been issued. I'll show them to you."

The staff member took the permit and looked at it for a while: "Even with the permit, it's not enough. You've exceeded the permitted area; it's still an illegal construction."

Me: "How could it exceed the approved area? The approved span is eight meters. Look at the east side."

I pointed it out to them: "The purlin marks from the old house are still there. There used to be an old house on the west side with a property certificate. How could it exceed the permitted area? You couldn't possibly exceed it even if you wanted to!"

The staff checked and, sure enough, the purlin marks were still there. But they still said, "Your new house over there has the same permit as yours, but the total area exceeds the limit."

"No construction allowed, stop work! Who wants to come with us?"

Me: "Wait a minute, I'll change my clothes and then I'll go with you." I said as I went back inside to change.

After changing my clothes and coming out, I saw the bricklayers in the courtyard; the other staff had left.

Old Gao, the bricklayer, said, "Your older sister's side is ahead of schedule. She'll finish building first and leave you with this mess."

I said, "We have a property certificate for our old house. They said they'd go get the necessary permits, so let them. I really didn't know there was such a thing here."

Lao Gao: "What doesn't that boss know? Do you think he's an ordinary person?"

I called Su Zhichun: "Sister, the urban management officers came and ordered us to stop construction, saying it's an illegal structure. I told them it's a renovation of an old house, but that's not okay. They say we only have one permit, and the area on the permit doesn't match the building area. We haven't done anything wrong here, have we? What should we do?"

Su Zhichun: "I don't care about that matter; it was all handled by your brother-in-law."

Me: "Then you should talk to him and ask him what happened."

Su Zhichun: "He left after he finished building the house! We can't find him!"

"Beep beep, beep beep..." Then she hung up the phone.

I hung up the phone, went outside and discussed with the bricklayer that we wouldn't build illegally or stop construction, we'd just keep going and see what the urban management officers did when they came. Afterwards, I went to the village and reported our situation to the village officials.

Village official: "I've seen the houses you're building. They're within the permitted area. You can build them with peace of mind. I'll talk to you about the over-area issue when I go to the township. I won't tell you about it."

When the beam was being raised, a lot of manpower was needed, so the eldest and second eldest brothers brought seven or eight friends from the Liu family to help.

"Smashing the roof" refers to the eldest brother bringing fellow villagers, known as "house-smashing masters," to smash the ground. "Scratching the surface" refers to the third sister, second sister-in-law, and fourth sister bringing their nieces to help scramble the surface.

The house was enclosed by walls, and the roof was waterproofed. It had windows, a door, a stove, a kang (heated brick bed), and tiled floors—it was habitable for now. However, our savings had run out, and continuing would mean starvation; I didn't want to owe anyone money.

Although the money for building this house so far has been borrowed from my father-in-law, it was built under the instigation of Su Lei, and we had no choice but to build it despite the dilapidated state of the land. We will be able to pay it back in a few months.

Because construction started late, and the work was intermittent during the rainy season, and the bricklayers took on other jobs, the work was only completed by autumn.

We moved from the front gatehouse of the west courtyard back to our own large house. Although it was still rather simple, it was spacious enough, and since we built it ourselves, we were quite comfortable.