Chapter 18

Li Dong was stunned. His daughter said she was saving money to help him get a wife, which meant she wanted to find a stepmother for herself. The problem was, it sounded a bit strange.

Who would do such a thing? Not to mention, Xiaojuan, who looked to be about three or four years old, said it with a serious expression, saying she was saving money to help her father get a wife.

This... This was too strange, and even more so, Li Dong found it both laughable and tearful that he had the support of everyone.

No, why did everyone in the village think this way? Li Dong was a bit scared. Stop joking around, getting a wife for himself, the thought of a strong and ambitious wife forty years later made his scalp tingle.

He had barely escaped from the clutches of fate, and now they were preparing to push him into the fire.

Moreover, they were divorced, but according to his daughter, her mother had no intention of finding someone else. Therefore, his daughter had warned him several times not to have any improper thoughts.

In this regard, Li Dong did very well. He was in his thirties, and he had long given up on such thoughts. However, after traveling back to 1978, he suddenly felt much younger, and his body was quite restless.

No, it must be a side effect of time travel. If he really became ten years younger, he couldn't even think about it. Li Dong shook his head hurriedly. Joking, getting a wife, what if he couldn't come back, what would happen to the girl?

"Uncle Guofu, look, our family is practically destitute. We can't drag others down."

Li Dong's eyes darted around, and he finally found a reason. Look at the destitute state of his home. The house was small, with only one room, and the outer wall had collapsed in many places.

Yes, and the roof had a spot that let in light. Xiaojuan's mother had passed away last year, and her father had drowned himself. The roof hadn't been plastered with mud last winter. The mud and thatch roof needed to be repaired every winter.

Especially the roof, which needed a layer of mud and a layer of thatch. Otherwise, it would leak rain the next year. This year, the weather was bad, and there hadn't been any rain for over a month. In previous years, with more rain, Xiaojuan's house would have been like a sieve.

"Poor? So what? The poorer, the more glorious."

"Exactly, kid, save more money. Borrow some from your relatives in the city, and with everyone's help, we can repair the house and build another room. Then you can get a capable wife, and in a few years, everything will be better." Grandma Wu smiled and said, "But don't waste money anymore."

"Xiaojuan, keep an eye on your father."

Beside them, Grandpa Liu puffed on his pipe, with a cigarette from Li Dong still in his ear. "Look, this cigarette costs at least two mao. Don't waste money like this in the future."

Li Dong thought to himself, why didn't Grandpa Liu say anything when he was smiling and happy just now?

But now, all the old men nodded in agreement, thinking Li Dong shouldn't buy such expensive cigarettes.

Fortunately, he hadn't boasted. If they knew it cost 4.6 mao per pack, they would have criticized him to death.

"He does need to be managed. Without a proper wife, it won't work."

Han Guofu frowned. "We've already agreed to repair the house. After the autumn harvest, each family will send someone to help. Li Dong, you'll be a bit tired lately. After work, go to the riverbank to transport some stones and sieve some sand for the foundation."

There was a lot of mud and sand in the stream. Usually, when building a house, they would sieve the sand under the big trees. Li Dong was stunned. How did this get decided so quickly? This was feudal remnants, completely undemocratic and unfree.

What kind of society was this? The whole village was preparing to help him get a wife. This was too much. Li Dong looked at Xiaojuan. "Xiaojuan, don't you want a stepmother?"

"What stepmother? Everyone is helping to find a good one." Grandma Wu patted Li Dong. This kid was lazy but had a good character. He had given the children candy when he first entered the village.

The old people who came over were given cakes, and he said he brought some cream, which was sweet and soft, even toothless old people could eat. Grandma Wu took a bite, and it was sweet and oily, full of egg flavor. She ate a small piece and put the rest in her pocket to take home for her grandson.

Li Dong was speechless, being lectured by everyone. This was forced marriage, and why was Xiaojuan nodding along? This girl was leading the charge. No, he had to educate her later.

"Alright, it's settled."

"Everyone will come to help after the autumn harvest."

Han Guofu called out to Han Weijun. "Weijun, start teaching Li Dong how to make adobe bricks tomorrow."

"Alright."

Han Weijun patted Li Dong's shoulder. "Get up early and come to my place."

No, Li Dong shuddered. Making adobe bricks, he knew this job, and it was absolutely terrifying. Making adobe bricks was a heavy physical labor job, and only the strong could handle it.

"No."

Li Dong smiled bitterly as the villagers, who had come to join in the fun, went home to cook. He looked like he had no will to live. How did this get decided so quickly? He hadn't even spoken yet.

"Dad, money."

After everyone left, Xiaojuan held out her little hand for money. Li Dong was both amused and exasperated. This little girl, a black-hearted cotton jacket, was taking advantage of him. He took out thirty yuan and hesitantly gave her twenty-five. "For Dad, keep five."

Li Dong regretted it. He had boasted too much. The expenses for the journey, dining out, and giving Huang Yingnan a one-yuan tip had already cost him more than three yuan. Buying fabric cost another three yuan, and buying meat cost two yuan. The canvas backpack was exchanged for hairpins and two pairs of stockings.

The remaining stockings, sold for 90 fen per pair to the saleswoman at the department store, revealed a secret to Li Dong. The saleswomen at the department store privately accepted some items. Without the money from selling the stockings, Li Dong wouldn't even have thirty yuan.

Boasting, he had boasted too much. Now, Li Dong only had about thirty-six or thirty-seven yuan. Xiaojuan grabbed the thirty yuan with a suspicious look, thinking this new father wasn't honest.

Li Dong shuddered. This girl was suspicious. Fortunately, he had hidden the rest, or she would have found it.

"Really, that's all."

This little girl, learning all the wrong things, put away the money. "Dad, I'll keep the money for your wedding."

"Alright, alright."

Li Dong was helpless, thinking about having to learn how to make adobe bricks with Han Weijun the next morning. He sighed, wondering what he had done to deserve this.

His daughter saving money for his wedding, and the whole village helping to build the house and find a wife, this was really going to be the end of him.

Sigh, the meat didn't taste good anymore. He ate two bowls of rice porridge and went to bed, not even touching the stewed meat. The next morning, before dawn, Xiaojuan woke him up. "Dad, get up and eat."

"Huh?"

It was still dark. Eating now, Li Dong was both amused and exasperated. "Xiaojuan, it's still early."

"Dad, you forgot, you're going to learn how to make adobe bricks with Uncle Weijun."

Xiaojuan had made a bowl of coarse grain rice for the morning, as he would be doing heavy work. She also stewed a few pieces of meat from the previous day. Li Dong sighed, wondering why he had such a hard life.

He thought he had a little cotton jacket, but it turned out to be a black-hearted one. Forty years later, he would have a strong daughter. What a disaster.

Li Dong washed up and took the bowl of rice from Xiaojuan. The bowl was heaped with rice, topped with a spoonful of meat broth and a few pieces of meat. It smelled really good. Li Dong hadn't eaten much the night before, and he was really hungry. He quickly finished the heaped bowl of rice.

Comfortable, he drank some water and glanced at Xiaojuan, who was drinking rice porridge without any meat. He was surprised. "Xiaojuan, why aren't you eating the meat? We stewed a lot yesterday."

"I don't do heavy work, so I don't need to eat meat." Xiaojuan's answer made Li Dong's eyes well up. "Why not eat meat if you don't do heavy work? That's not right, at least not in Dad's opinion. You're still growing, so you need to eat more meat." He opened the food cabinet and was about to take out the stewed meat to the kitchen.

Xiaojuan stopped him. Li Dong was helpless, and the little girl refused to eat. In the end, she mixed some meat broth with her rice and ate it happily. Looking at Xiaojuan enjoying her meat broth and rice, Li Dong felt he needed to work harder and get more sun.

At least next time, he would bring more shirts and stockings. Li Dong glanced at the screen, which showed it was past twenty minutes. He hadn't gotten much sun these days. He needed to work harder.

"Dad, I'm going over."

"Dad, study well, don't be lazy."

Pfft, Li Dong, who had been excited and planned to build a kingdom for Xiaojuan, almost tripped on the threshold of the courtyard gate. He would fix the gate when he repaired the courtyard, removing the threshold.

When he arrived at Han Guofu's house, everyone was already up. Han Weijun had already laid out the tools in the west corner of the courtyard, where they made adobe bricks. Some adobe bricks were already drying there.

Han Weijun and his brothers made these during their free time, preparing to build a house for the third brother. Li Dong didn't come empty-handed; he brought two pork ribs. "Aunt Chunhua, stew these ribs for Xiao Hao to supplement his strength."

"This child, why be so polite."

Li Chunhua took the ribs without hesitation. Meat was always welcome, even if it wasn't fatty enough to render oil. The children were almost drooling, as they hadn't had meat in a long time. The last time they had meat was during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Han Guofu and his two daughters-in-law, especially Zhang Qiuju, the eldest daughter-in-law, had initially been against Han Weijun teaching Li Dong to make adobe bricks. Her husband was already tired from work, and teaching Li Dong, who was lazy, would be exhausting.

But seeing Li Dong bring at least half a pound of meat, Zhang Qiuju smiled. The meat was earned by her husband, and her children would definitely get more. It was good.

Han Weijun called Li Dong over. The tools were all ready, with a rectangular wooden frame on the stone mill and a stone hammer with a handle. The stone hammer was about twenty centimeters square, with a T-shaped wooden handle.

Li Dong finally understood why it was called heavy labor. The stone hammer must weigh several dozen kilograms. He grimaced, thinking making adobe bricks wasn't a job for humans.

"I'll make a few for you to watch."

Han Weijun started working, placing the wooden frame on the stone mill and sprinkling a layer of ash inside. "Before filling with soil, sprinkle a layer of ash so the adobe brick can be easily removed."

He then started digging soil to fill the mold, first with a large shovel of soil, filling half the mold, and then another shovel, placing it in the middle. "Watch carefully, this is a total of three shovels, but there's a trick."

Han Weijun smiled, saying they had a saying: three shovels, six steps, twelve strikes. He then stepped on the soil, starting with the corners and then the middle, until the soil was two inches higher in the middle and one inch higher at the ends.

Next, he used the large stone hammer, bending down to lift it. Han Weijun hit the soil while teaching Li Dong. "Hit the front first, then the back, and finally the middle. The order can't be wrong, or the adobe brick won't be good."

"Don't hit the wooden frame."

Han Weijun explained, making the first adobe brick slowly so Li Dong could watch carefully. Otherwise, Han Weijun could have made one quickly. After making the adobe brick, he opened one end of the mold and leaned it against the stone hammer.

"Be careful, flip the adobe brick horizontally, not vertically, or it might break."

Han Weijun flipped the adobe brick and moved it to the stack. He held the adobe brick by the ends. Li Dong nodded, but he was already feeling bitter.

Han Weijun asked Li Dong a few questions, and he remembered everything quickly. After making two adobe bricks, Han Weijun handed the tools to Li Dong. Li Dong tried, and while shoveling soil was fine, the stone hammer was too heavy.

After making one adobe brick, Li Dong's arms were sore and his legs were numb. This job was beyond him. A house needed at least a few hundred adobe bricks, which would be the end of him.

No, he couldn't do it. Li Dong knew his limits. After making three adobe bricks, he was exhausted. "Brother Weijun, it's not early anymore. Go eat, you have to go to work soon."

"Alright, take the tools back later."

Han Weijun nodded, seeing that Li Dong had done well. Li Dong, however, was feeling miserable. Making a few adobe bricks had almost killed him. Making hundreds or thousands would be worse than death. He had to find a way out.

When he got home, Xiaojuan was happy to see Li Dong bring the tools back. She thought her new father had learned well. Li Dong looked at Xiaojuan, this troublemaking child. "Xiaojuan, let's build a brick and tile house, okay?"

On the way back, Li Dong remembered that in the future, Han Village had brick and tile houses with black tiles and horse-head walls.

It must have started a couple of years ago. Yes, even earlier, in the early 1970s. Li Dong slapped his thigh, thinking how foolish he had been. He should buy bricks and tiles, cement, and hire people to build the house. It was still possible in this era.

As long as it wasn't speculation, he had been foolish. Adobe bricks, forget it. This was a life-threatening job. He couldn't do it. He needed to get more sun. Today, he would go dig sweet potatoes. If he went to the shady spot, he would definitely give in. He would go to the paddy field.

He would get at least ten hours of sun. To avoid making adobe bricks, he planned to carry water, or at least step in water. Han Guofu, hearing this, thought Li Dong was motivated to get a wife. He nodded in satisfaction, thinking Li Dong was finally making progress.

Indeed, for a young man, nothing was more motivating than getting a wife. Li Dong saw Han Guofu looking at him with a satisfied nod but a strange expression. What was going on?

'Why do I feel something is off?' Li Dong thought, worried that something else might happen.