Starting a new chapter in life

"You should put that idea aside for now. In Jiang City, we can buy pork without ration coupons, but here, we're unfamiliar with the area, so it's better to play it safe. Wait until we have a source of meat before considering it again," He Zhijun advised.

Jingyan listened to advice, but her good mood vanished when she ate the local dishes. At this time, the state-run restaurant didn't have many dishes to choose from. He Zhijun wanted her to eat well, so he ordered three dishes: braised pork, pickled bamboo shoots with pork, and smoked fish, along with two bowls of rice. Looking at the dishes, Jingyan happily ate a large piece of braised pork. But at that moment, she didn't know whether to eat it or not. The taste wasn't salty enough, and it was too sweet for her. Frowning, she scooped a spoonful of pickled bamboo shoots with pork and mixed it into her rice. She took a big bite, trying to suppress the sweetness in her mouth. Well, the taste was too bland?

He Zhijun watched her frown as she ate, so he picked up some food, took a bite, and frowned as well: "I forgot this is Haishi. The food here is mainly light and they like to add sugar. I probably haven't been back to eat in a long time, so I forgot about that. You're used to salty and savory food, so you really can't get used to this."

Jingyan wasn't actually a picky eater. After her initial discomfort, she started eating because she didn't want to waste food. Although she wasn't used to the taste of the smoked fish, the saltiness was acceptable. The two of them finished all the food without wasting any.

On the way home, Jingyan hesitated for a moment: "How about we see if we can find a second-hand store or something and get a coal stove so we can cook at home? I really can't get used to the food here. We also shipped grain, oil, salt and seasonings, we just need a stove, oh, and coal."

Having lived in the north for a long time, He Zhijun's family's cooking tends to be more suited to their tastes, so he didn't really notice it before. Now, if you ask him to eat at mealtimes, he wouldn't want to. "After that person you mentioned comes to see the house, I'll go to the neighborhood office to inquire about cement, lime, and other things. We have quite a few things to buy, so I'll ask them all at once."

When the two returned home, while waiting for someone, they first moved the cot and bedding box aside and checked that the tap water and lights were still working. However, the tap water pipes were in the yard, so they would have to move them to the kitchen and bathroom later.

Just after three o'clock, there was a knock on the door. He Zhijun opened the door and saw a couple. The man was strong and tall, and the woman was petite. Just as he was wondering if this was the person Jingyan had mentioned, Jingyan peeked out the door from beside him.

When she saw the woman, she was immediately amazed. This woman was truly beautiful, a true beauty from Jiangnan. She had a small face, a small mouth, and big eyes, giving off a pitiful and endearing vibe. No wonder she could tame the men from Northeast China; her appearance alone was enough to fully awaken a man's protective instincts.

Not only did she feel protective of the man, but she also really wanted to touch him. No, she had to resist. She gave him a bright smile and asked, "Is this your wife?" The man regretted bringing his wife along. His original intention was that having a woman around would make the family feel more relaxed and prevent them from thinking of him as a bad person. But in this situation, he wondered if this woman had any designs on his wife.

He pulled his wife into his arms, looking wary, but his wariness wasn't directed at He Zhijun, but at Jing Yan: "Yes, this is my wife." He emphasized the words as he said this. Jing Yan looked at him with a puzzled expression and reached out to take the woman's hand, but He Zhijun quickly stopped her.

"Come in and talk," He Zhijun said.

The man glanced at He Zhijun, nodded, and pulled his wife inside. Judging from his expression, he treated Jingyan as if she were a lecherous man and was being guarded against. He Zhijun helplessly pulled Jingyan to his side and whispered, "Don't stare at someone's wife like that. It doesn't look like you're a good person. Look how scared you've made her husband. Be more discreet."

The pretty girl being led by the man twitched her ears, then lowered her head, pursed her lips, and smiled secretly before reverting to her timid and harmless demeanor.

The man walked into the yard and looked back at Jingyan and her husband: "How do you want to renovate? Do you have any ideas?" As he spoke, he took out a notebook from the bag his wife was carrying, with a pen clipped to it.

When the topic of house renovation came up, Jing Yan immediately snapped out of her reverie and stopped staring at the woman. He Zhijun patted her on the shoulder and said, "Tell me what you want first, and I'll add to it as I see fit."

Jing Yan nodded, let go of He Zhijun's hand, and led the way into the house: "We're going to build a kitchen here, and we need to build a stove. If we can add a firewall in the next room, we'll build the stove against that wall. If we can't add a firewall, we'll build it against the window."

The man nodded and scribbled in his notebook, noting down her request.

"Once the location of the stove is determined, a cupboard needs to be built opposite the stove. The longer the cupboard, the more things can be stored."

"Don't you consider building a ready-made cupboard out of wood? If you use bricks and cement, it will be more troublesome to dismantle it later," the man asked.

Jingyan looked at He Zhijun, who said, "Then we'll leave this cupboard for now and discuss it later." The man nodded and made a note: "What are we going to do in the next room?" he asked casually.

"Let's go to the bathroom." With that, she walked to the next room first. After the group went in, Jingyan said to He Zhijun, "You can talk about this side. There are some things I'm not very clear about either."

He Zhijun nodded: "We're planning to build a bathtub here. We'll drill a hole at the bottom of the tub to connect the water pipes. You'll need to drill a hole in this wall so the water pipes can go through."

The water pipes in the yard need to be rerouted to get into the house. There should be a faucet in the kitchen and another one here. The faucets don't necessarily have to be near the bathtub; we can always run a pipe there later. But they absolutely must be there. Do whatever is most convenient for you.

The man continued taking notes: "Is the water from the bathtub meant for watering the garden? It would be best to build a drainage ditch and line it with cement so the water won't seep into the soil and prevent dampness from causing mold on the walls inside the house." He pointed to the obvious mold spots on the exterior wall.

He Zhijun nodded: "You can decide on this."

The group then went to the living room. Jingyan pointed to the innermost wall and said, "You can see if we can open a window here. This room is a bit dark. If it's cloudy or rainy, we'll have to turn on the lights. I don't like overly dark environments."

The man stepped forward and looked at it: "It's not a big problem to open a window here, but the window can't be a big one, otherwise I'm afraid the wall's load-bearing capacity will be compromised. After all, it's an exterior wall, so safety should be the priority."

Jing Yan nodded: "I'd be content with just a window; I don't need a big one."

The group walked to the first-floor bedroom area. Jingyan pointed to two adjacent bedrooms and said, "I want these two rooms to have heated brick beds. I know it would be best to turn this area into a kitchen, but the current house layout is already set and it's not easy to change. So I was thinking if we could build two smaller stoves here. Although the stoves don't look very nice here, they'll be fine for boiling water and making soup, and there won't be much smoke."

"Um, how about we consider ceramic tiles?" the man asked somewhat uncertainly.

Jing Yan and He Zhijun both looked at him. He could tell from their gazes that they didn't know, so he explained, "If you want it to look nice, you can put a ring of ceramic tiles around the stove. The tiles have patterns, but I've only ever seen blue and white glazed tiles. If the whole room is painted white, these tiles won't look out of place. They're easy to clean and look nice, but they're not cheap."

He Zhijun nodded: "Even if it's a bit expensive, we shouldn't need much here. Make a note of it and ask about it when we go to buy materials later."

The man quickly wrote it down, then went into the bedroom. "How big do you want the kang (heated brick bed) to be?"

Jingyan pointed to the walls at both ends and said, "Connect the east and west sides, with a width of two meters, what do you think?"

The man roughly measured with his steps: "That's about two meters wide and a little over three meters long. Isn't that too big?"

Jingyan shook her head: "It's better if it's bigger, so that even if guests come, they can sleep comfortably." After saying that, she looked at He Zhijun. Although He Zhijun also thought it was a bit big, he thought that if they had children in the future, as long as the side of the kang was blocked, the children wouldn't fall off no matter how much they rolled around on the kang. So he thought it was quite acceptable and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the two agreed, the man stopped talking and wrote it down. "This wall is a single-layer wall, so it won't be too difficult to make a hole in the corner. This kang can be built. The chimney can be built on the outer wall. I see that the other side of the outer wall is also your garden. Don't worry, it won't take up too much space."

Jingyan smiled happily. She had only been here for a few days, but she already missed the kang (heated brick bed) at home. Now that she had something to do here, she felt happy just thinking about the days to come.

Everyone walked from the bedroom and went up the stairs to the second floor, directly onto the large terrace: "I also want to add two clothes racks on the terrace so we can air out our blankets in the summer."

The man pointed to the area around the terrace: "Should we put up some iron railings here? If we have children at home, it's dangerous for them to come up and play without being stopped."

He Zhijun nodded in agreement: "But this house is quite old. The iron railings need to be fixed with nails. Won't that cause leaks?"

The man looked around carefully and shook his head: "The waterproofing here is very good, and I checked the drain pipes and they are clear, so there shouldn't be any problems. If you're still worried, you can do a waterproofing touch-up after the railings are finished, but I can't do that; you'll have to find a professional."

"Can you replace the floors of every room, whether they're earthen or brick, with cement floors?" Jing Yan asked.

The man nodded: "This is bricklaying work, which I can do. I can also build kitchen cabinets, though they won't be as fancy as the ones you buy outside, but I guarantee they'll be sturdy and practical."

He Zhijun asked, "So, after you've seen all this, how will your wages be calculated?"

“You buy all the materials. I’ll earn three yuan a day for labor. But our school starts on March 1st. After school starts, I can only come on weekends. So during this time, I can build the kang (heated brick bed) and stove. Before school starts, I can get the two stoves and two kangs ready. Is that okay?” the man asked.

“Do you know anyone else? Would it be faster if we had more people? I mean, it would be best to get all of this done before school starts. Of course, if there's really no time, the work on the terrace can wait, but it's best to finish everything inside the house. I still need to bring the furniture in. If we do it little by little, the furniture will have to wait outside.” He Zhijun asked.

The man looked at his wife, whose voice was soft and sweet: "Don't Chen and the others who passed the exam with you also know some masonry? When you're building the kang (heated brick bed), they can go and fix the cement floors in the two rooms upstairs."

Once you've set up the stove in the living room, you can start working on the cement floor, which will save a lot of time. They can also help with things like drilling holes in the walls. But will you help negotiate the cost or will they negotiate it themselves?

The man also thought of this and looked at He Zhijun. Jing Yan's heart stirred, and she pulled He Zhijun aside and asked, "You, by the way, what's your name?"

"Liu Qiang".

"Liu Qiang, have you considered outsourcing the work? We'll give you all the work, we'll set a deadline, and you'll make a list of what we need to buy, not just the names of the materials, but preferably the quantities as well. We'll buy the materials before you need them, and you'll be responsible for the construction."

Of course, you'll need to find and decide how many helpers you need yourself. We'll determine the total cost to complete the work, and we'll pay you in two installments. The first installment will be on the third day after work, if we're satisfied with your work, we'll give you 30% of the payment.

"Once you've finished all the work and we've inspected it without any issues, we'll settle the remaining 70% in one lump sum. As for how much you'll pay your helpers, we won't interfere; you can calculate that yourself. Is that acceptable?"

Liu Qiang looked at his wife. After listening to Jing Yan's words, the woman pondered for a moment, then nodded at Liu Qiang. Feeling more confident, Liu Qiang quickly agreed, "Then I'll go back today to calculate how much material I'll need and also figure out the labor costs. Is that alright?"

He Zhijun smiled and said, "Sure, you know the place. Just knock on the door when you come tomorrow. I'll have to ask you for help if I encounter anything I don't understand when I'm buying materials."

Liu Qiang was very happy. After thanking her repeatedly, he took his wife's hand and left. After they had gone far away, Jing Yan said, "His wife is really beautiful, and her voice is so sweet and gentle."

He Zhijun pursed his lips: "So delicate and weak."

Jingyan glared at him: "You, is there something wrong with your aesthetic sense? Besides, didn't you notice that woman's personality and appearance don't match? Liu Qiang finally decided to take on the contract because she agreed, so she must be very shrewd and decisive, otherwise a Northeastern man wouldn't be so obedient."

He Zhijun looked at her with a puzzled expression: "Isn't it the right thing to do to listen to your wife?"