Chapter 107 - 108: Changing the Foundation
Cursing and grumbling, Liu Heizi found Gu Shulin. "Village Chief, I’m not taking that house! It’s way too unlucky. I haven’t even moved in, and I already found bones. You have to give me a different one."
Gu Shulin was busy clearing his own homestead and was stunned when he heard the news. "What bones? Didn’t Chief Li say the old government soldiers cleared everything out?"
"I wish they had cleared it all out," Liu Heizi said, looking aggrieved. "They’re still just sitting there in the cellar. The moment I went in, it scared the daylights out of me! My heart’s still pounding. Here, feel it, if you don’t believe me."
Gu Shulin was speechless.
"Village Chief, just say something! Are you going to give me a different plot or not?"
Gu Shulin replied, "But all the plots have been assigned. Where am I supposed to find another empty one for you?"
Liu Heizi pointed at the land next to him. "Here, there... aren’t those empty plots? Just give me one of those. I can lay a new foundation.
Anyway, I refuse to stay in that house. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps."
Gu Shulin said, "That’s not possible. This is all farmland. Everyone is counting on this land to grow food.
If you’re really unwilling, your only other option is to go toward the back of the mountain. See if you can squeeze in a plot with the others over there."
"No way! The back of the mountain is at the very end of the village. It’d be a different story if you gave me a spot near the entrance."
Gu Shulin said, "There is an empty plot across from Seventh’s place, but I don’t know what the ground is like there. If it’s soft and muddy, you’ll be the one to suffer later if you build your house on it.
Honestly, the corpse isn’t a big deal. You just need to have it properly removed, burn a couple of sticks of incense, and that’ll be the end of it, right?
Besides, which of these old houses hasn’t had someone die in it? If you’re going to be that picky, no one would have a place to live."
"’Easy for you to say. If it were you, you’d probably run faster than anyone,’" Liu Heizi muttered under his breath, not daring to say it out loud.
"I’ll go take a look first then. If it’s solid ground, I’ll take it."
Gu Shulin waved his hand. "Go on, hurry and take a look. If it doesn’t work out, just go back and clean up your assigned place. Life has to go on."
"Thank you, Village Chief," Liu Heizi said with a grin. "I’ll head over right now. Since I have to build a house anyway, I might as well find a spot I’m happy with."
* * *
"Lao Gouqi, you’re slacking off already and the yard isn’t even clean!" Liu Heizi’s voice carried over from a distance before he even appeared.
Ancient Wen Heng calmly hid the drink bottle in his hand behind his back. "Heizi, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home cleaning up?"
"Don’t get me started. It’s been a nightmare," Liu Heizi said, his eyes darting back and forth across the empty plot opposite them. "What’s the land like over there? Have you checked it out?"
"Who has the time?" Ancient Wen Heng replied, not understanding what he was getting at. "Isn’t everyone busy cleaning their own houses right now?"
"Then lend me a tool. I need to see if this plot is solid ground. If it’s really hard-packed earth, we might just become neighbors."
Ancient Wen Heng pointed to a hoe tossed in the corner. "You’d better check it carefully. This is no laughing matter."
Liu Heizi casually said he would, grabbed the hoe, and charged into the patch of tall grass.
But a moment later, he walked back out, dejected, his feet covered in mud.
"You guys really hit the jackpot," Liu Heizi said, scratching his head in frustration. "Looks like there’s a spring over there. Water’s just bubbling out. Getting water will be even more convenient for you than for the families living by the river."
Ancient Wen Heng said, "You shouldn’t be so picky. After all, someone was able to live in that house before, and you won’t have to waste energy laying a new foundation."
"What am I supposed to do?" Liu Heizi explained his predicament helplessly. "My mom and my wife won’t even go near the place now. How are we supposed to live there in the future?"
Ancient Wen Heng fell silent. ’This is a tough one,’ he thought. ’Anyone would be upset in his shoes.’
Liu Heizi put the hoe back where he found it and walked away, muttering, "Sigh... I guess I’ll just have to look for another place. Why does this crap always happen to me?"
Jin Qianqian said, "We really lucked out."
Just as they were about to get back to cleaning, Li Cuicui came running over secretively.
"Seventh, you and that wife of yours from the Jin family need to search this yard thoroughly. A big house like this must have some hidden valuables. If you dig anything up, don’t say a word."
Ancient Wen Heng was speechless. ’Does this old lady have X-ray vision or something?’
"Let me tell you, while I was clearing my foundation, I dug up a small earthenware pot. It had a full fifty taels of Silver and some copper coins inside! This is enough to rebuild the house completely.
When your foreman comes tomorrow, have them build me two tile-roofed rooms as well." Having come into a windfall, Li Cuicui wanted to spend it quickly for good luck, and building a house was the best option.
Jin Qianqian put on an envious expression. "Mother, your luck is really incredible."
Li Cuicui said, "Of course it is. In my whole life, I’ve never made a major mistake, except for marrying your father.
But, your father doesn’t know about this Silver. Don’t you dare let it slip. If the Silver ever comes up, just say you lent it to me."
After saying this, Li Cuicui let out a breath and stared intently at the couple. "You two aren’t unwilling to help your mother, are you?"
"Mother, why is that?" Ancient Wen Heng asked, helping her sit on the stone slab they had just been using.
"Sigh... it’s your father. He still hasn’t given up hope, waiting for the youngest to come back. You know he’s always favored the youngest, but that boy is completely unreliable. I have to put some restraints on your father.
As far as I’m concerned, whatever conditions you brothers had when you split from the family, he’ll get the same.
If your father has the means, he can subsidize him himself. This is my own nest egg that I managed to hold onto."
’She’s so refreshingly pragmatic,’ Jin Qianqian thought, giving her mother-in-law a silent thumbs-up in her mind.
Ancient Wen Heng was silent. ’Why isn’t the old lady asking my other brothers?’
But Li Cuicui seemed to read his mind. "Your older brothers can barely manage on their own. How could they possibly have the means to build a house for me right now?
If I hadn’t seen you two hire a foreman yesterday, I wouldn’t have made this move. The worst that could happen is I just hold onto the Silver a bit more tightly."
What further solidified Li Cuicui’s decision was something else: whenever there was work to be done, Gu Dashishi would clutch his already-healed wound and openly slack off.
’Am I supposed to make all the mud bricks for the house by myself, piece by piece?’
Before, she might have gritted her teeth and endured it, but not anymore. From now on, she was going to do things the easy way.
Ancient Wen Heng nodded slightly, tacitly agreeing to her plan. "In that case, Mother, you don’t need to rush to clean up. Tomorrow, you can just pay Foreman Ding’s laborers a bit extra to take care of it."