Chapter 48

"Did you hear? Lin Mu's family is going to weave a Northeastern kang? His father isn't at home, and his grandfather is still letting him do this nonsense!"

"They even want to knock a hole in the wall, isn't that just ruining the house!"

...

In just one night, Master Wang slept at Lin Mu's relatives' house. By the next morning, the news had already spread throughout the neighborhood.

At this time, the sky was bright and clear. Master Wang had already gotten up early. With the materials prepared the day before, and with the help of Lin Mu and the old man, they mixed the mud and began to tidy up the side room.

Digging the wall, laying bricks, adding mud, building the chimney...

A group of children who hadn't yet started school ran to Lin Mu's house to play, and a few nearby neighbors came to take a look.

Lin Mu saw their surprised or concerned gazes, but he didn't want to explain himself.

Any explanation now would be weak and powerless, unable to shake their deeply rooted beliefs. Only by letting them experience the benefits would all the doubts disappear.

About a meter away from the side room was the kitchen, but they didn't knock through the kitchen wall. Instead, they built a stove directly against the wall outside the house.

"This stove isn't for cooking, it's mainly for heating the kang. You can boil a kettle on it, and when you cook, just put the portable pot on it. It's very convenient," Master Wang said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

The side room and Lin Lin's room had both been fitted with a kang. Since the two rooms were separated by only one wall, the flue channels were connected, so only one stove was needed.

Because most of the preparations had been done the night before, by around four in the afternoon, the kang was already completed.

"Thank you, Master Wang. I'll quickly make some food. Stay here for one more night and rest," Lin Mu said, handing him a cup of water.

Master Wang smiled and said, "No problem. Let's start the fire first. The new kang needs to be dried out, but you can definitely sleep here tonight."

When Lin Ye and Lin Lin came back from school, they were excited to find that their small room had indeed been transformed. Although the kang still felt a bit damp, the water heating panels had already made the rooms very warm, warmer than spring, which was especially rare in the cold winter.

The neighbors who had originally had doubts were now in the room, and they had no more questions. This temperature was something they had never imagined.

Every winter, who wasn't cold in their house? Even after drinking hot water, they still felt the chill.

But this newly installed water heating system kept the room extremely warm, and you only needed to wear thermal underwear. It also emitted moisture, making the air in the room not feel dry.

They had some fixed traditional beliefs, but these were not unchangeable. For thousands of years, if the Chinese weren't forced to leave their homes, they wouldn't have moved away. But after just a few decades of reform, they easily accepted the lifestyle of working outside.

On the contrary, those who stubbornly stayed at home were often mocked.

After the kang was completed, many villagers came to see the commotion and experience the warmth. Feeling the tangible benefits, they no longer doubted Lin Mu and instead praised him.

A group of Lin Ye and Lin Lin's friends climbed onto the kang, which was already covered with a hard plastic mat, and played around, very busy.

Even busier was Master Wang, who, upon seeing the villagers, gave them small pieces of paper with his phone number written on them, which he had prepared in advance.

After a busy day, it wasn't until around nine that the neighbors gradually left.

Because the kang was specially made larger, four people sleeping on it didn't feel crowded. So the old man didn't go back to the main house but stayed in the side room with Lin Mu, Lin Ye, and Master Wang, experiencing the warmth that permeated through the bedding.

"Grandpa, you've seen the effect. When I order more bricks and materials, give Master Wang a call and have him come to weave the kang in the main house. Otherwise, by the end of the year, it will be too busy to do it," Lin Mu suggested.

The old man was already extremely satisfied and agreed, "Sure, there must be many people in our village who want to do this. Master Wang, you'll be very busy then..."

...

The next morning, after eating breakfast, Master Wang received the final payment from Lin Mu and left. He would probably come back again during his free time to earn extra money.

Lin Mu didn't rush to leave. He helped tidy up the yard, stacked the coal in the woodshed, washed the large clothes that the family found hard to clean, and did all the other tedious tasks. Only then, at the old man's urging, did he head back to school.

On the way, he met Chen Shaofei and a few others, nodded and smiled, and left. After he left, Chen Shaofei indeed didn't bully his younger brother and sister anymore and even helped the old man with some tasks, which made Lin Mu feel more grateful.

Chen Shaofei hesitated for a moment, smiled back, and stood there, watching Lin Mu leave.

A young man beside him said anxiously, "Brother Shaofei, why didn't you go talk to him? The next time he comes back will probably be at the end of November when the school is on holiday, and that will be close to the New Year!"

The other two people also looked at Chen Shaofei with confusion.

Chen Shaofei said with a complex tone, "Forget it. We offended him before, and now we don't have the connections to help him find a job. Let's wait until after the New Year. For now, I'll learn at my uncle's repair shop. Besides, Lin Mu is in his senior year of high school, so he probably doesn't know many people. Let's not trouble him for now..."

The young man who spoke earlier became even more anxious, "Brother Shaofei, what are you saying! The engagement you arranged, the girl is already reconsidering because you don't have a job. If you don't find a good job, this engagement will be off!"

Chen Shaofei suddenly became agitated, "So what if it's off! Even if it's not off, what's the point? Getting married and staying in this village for the rest of my life? When will I be like Lin Mu, making big money so my mother doesn't have to borrow money for medicine? My mother is sick, and that woman is asking for this and that. I'm going to break off the engagement now! I have to save the money for my mother's medicine!"

After saying that, he really rushed towards the neighboring village. The three young men couldn't stop him and could only sigh and follow behind him.

...

Sitting in the car, Lin Mu, bored, opened his phone and browsed the forum.

After these few days, most of the fans of "Wuxia Story" had already bought and read a copy. The most anticipated part was, of course, Lin Mu's serialized "Lian Cheng Jue."

The love described in "Ren Dan Ru Ju" was so simple and pure, and so deeply sad, that many fans, even after reading Lin Mu's last book review and wanting to stab him with a knife, still felt moved by the love between Ding Dian and Ling Shuanghua. The criticism of Lin Mu quickly faded.

PS: As promised, with 600 recommendations, I'm adding another chapter.

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