From a distance, Li Xiu saw Li Bao leading the men as they worked. Li Guozhao was watching over the cement and red tiles, even pouring water for the workers. Thinking of his own younger brother, he shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. 'What a huge difference!' he thought. As he got closer, he greeted the crowd, "Thank you for all your hard work, uncles and brothers."
"Hey, don't mention it! You're paying us wages," Sun Dashan said happily, without stopping his work. "Nowadays, when anyone builds a house, they just provide two meals a day and everyone pitches in to help. You're the first one in the village to pay wages instead of providing meals. Everyone's short on cash right now, so they're all eager for a paying job!"
As dusk fell, the men who went to Little Nanshan to quarry stone and chop wood returned. Because there were so many of them, they brought back a large amount. Li Xiu took a look and figured that in another day, they could start building the house itself. At this rate—building the house, raising the courtyard walls, even plastering the interior walls with cement and whitewash—the whole project would be finished in less than ten days.
Calling Li Bao over, Li Xiu pulled a blueprint from his pocket and handed it to him. "We can probably start building the day after tomorrow. I need you to supervise the older brothers here. Just build according to this blueprint. Everything is written clearly on it, so don't let them make any mistakes. The windows and doors—I had them all custom-made based on this design."
Li Bao studied the blueprint, his surprise growing the more he looked. Six main rooms four meters high, two east-wing rooms four meters high, a three-meter-high courtyard wall, a main gate two meters wide and two and a half meters tall, and on top of the gate, three more single-story rooms three meters high. 'Is Big Bro trying to reach for the heavens?' he wondered. 'How much must all this cost?'
"Big Bro, how much is this going to cost?"
"Not that much. The stone and wood are free, and I didn't pay for the cement and red tiles either. The only costs are the wages for the men. The sand and the corn stalks for under the tiles are also free. We just have to buy the whitewash, and that stuff doesn't cost much," Li Xiu said with a smile, seeing Li Bao's shocked expression. "When it's your turn to build a house, build one like this. If you build a thatched hut, you'll have to re-roof it every couple of years, which also costs a lot. When the time comes, I'll help you build it."
Li Bao was a good kid. He always had been.
"Really? Thanks, Big Bro! When the time comes, it'll be enough if you just help me buy the cement, red tiles, and glass," Li Bao said happily after hearing Li Xiu's offer. He had two older sisters, a younger sister, and a younger brother. The family's savings were meant for him to build a house and get married. His parents would definitely be willing to spend a few hundred yuan to build a house just like his big brother's. With a good house, he could find a good wife, right?
He said cheerfully, "Big Bro, you go take care of your own business. I'll keep an eye on things here. First Great-Uncle and my dad have already agreed; the two old buddies will watch the site tonight. They said you shouldn't worry and should just go do what you need to do!"
Li Bao knew his big brother was busy and had to do everything himself. 'Cousin Li Hua and his three brothers show up on time during the day and leave right on the dot, as if they were just clocking in and out of a job. They don't care about anything else. I really don't know what they're thinking. Their own brother is building a house, and they couldn't care less. Second Great-Uncle is the same. He just wanders over during the day for a stroll, doesn't ask about anything. His health is poor so he can't do manual labor, but can't he at least help supervise? Li Xiu is his own nephew! No wonder Dad and First Great-Uncle say he's gotten muddled before he's even old.' Li Xiu just smiled and nodded. He still had to go to the carpenter's place.
"Second Great-Uncle, keeping busy?"
As soon as he entered Carpenter Sun's house, he saw the man making a cabinet. Carpenter Sun put down his tools, handed Li Xiu a stool, and said, "Sit down, let's talk."
The two of them lit cigarettes and sat looking at the blueprints Li Xiu had brought. Putting the drawings down, Carpenter Sun stubbed out his cigarette and said, "I can make all of this, but it's going to require a lot of good wood."
"Second Great-Uncle, don't worry about the wood. I'll have it delivered the day after tomorrow. The thing is, the Chuanqi ceremony is set for the eighth of next month, in the new house. Do you think you'll have enough time?"
"I'll be done with my current work in the next couple of days. It's perfect timing if you bring the wood the day after tomorrow. I'll get right on it. I'll have my sons and nephews help out too, and it should take about half a month," Carpenter Sun replied. 'Three wardrobes two meters tall and one and a half meters wide, windows for nine rooms, six doors, a main gate two and a half meters tall and two meters wide, a large table, six chairs, a kang table, a set of kang cabinets, a wooden cart, a vanity with a drawer, a cabinet with three drawers of different sizes, and some farming tools… Just the labor for all this would cost nearly 50 yuan,' he thought. 'This Li Xiu is really spending a fortune.'
By the time he finished talking with the carpenter, it was already dark. Li Xiu went straight home. He hadn't slept at all last night and had to go into the mountains tomorrow. It was harvest season on the mountain, and he needed to find a "club." Relying on wild boars and such was too conspicuous. He had too little money on hand right now, only a little over 500 yuan in total.
'The labor costs alone will be nearly 200 yuan. On the day we start building, I have to host a banquet—at least seven or eight tables, which will cost forty to fifty yuan. Pots, pans, bowls, and other household necessities will be another 40 yuan. The bride price is 100 yuan. Then there's buying some things for my wife, plus the liquor for my father-in-law and meat for my mother-in-law, which will add up to another 100 yuan. I also want to buy my wife a watch, a bicycle, and a sewing machine—that's 300 yuan. The wedding red envelopes and banquet will be another 100 yuan.'
'I need to keep some cash on hand, too. My daughter will be born in the twelfth lunar month. In my last life, because my wife was malnourished during her pregnancy, our daughter weighed less than four jin when she was born. My wife's postpartum confinement went poorly, too, leaving her with chronic ailments. It was all because we had no money. Back then, we were struggling through a famine, and I failed to provide for my wife and daughter. This life, I absolutely cannot let them suffer like that again. Tomorrow, I'll go into the mountains for some ginseng. I won't go to the county town; I'll go straight to the city to get a better price.'
Before dawn, Li Xiu got up and headed into the mountains. To find ginseng, you first had to find a "club bird." Maybe his luck had improved after being reborn, because it didn't take him long to follow a club bird to a small patch. He ignored the surrounding plants, which were clearly not very old, and located the largest one. Li Xiu carefully used a small trowel to dig the ginseng out bit by bit. 'Wow,' he thought. The root was as thick as an adult's wrist. Li Xiu couldn't appraise it accurately, but he knew it had to be at least a hundred years old.
Looking up at the sky, he saw the sun was already high. He had to get to the city quickly. After packing everything up, he looked around and was dumbfounded. He was lost. He hadn't paid attention while following the club bird, and now he was nearly in the deep mountains. Li Xiu calmed himself and circled the area. Not far from where he had just dug up the ginseng, about seven or eight hundred meters away, he spotted another small patch of it.
Li Xiu walked around the new patch, found the largest plant, and started digging. It was about the same age as the first one. After some thought, Li Xiu dug up two more slightly smaller plants. He then returned to the first location and did the same, digging up two more smaller ones there as well. After packing them all securely, he began to slowly retrace his steps. By the time he walked out of Daqing Mountain, it was almost noon. He hurried toward the county town, a walk of nearly an hour. From the county town, the bus ride to the city would take another hour and a half.
The sun was about to set by the time Li Xiu came out of the pharmacy. He didn't have time to feel happy; he immediately got on a bus to head back. It was already dark when he arrived in the county town. He hadn't eaten all day. He found a restaurant, but they only had dumplings and noodles left. Not willing to spend the extra money on dumplings, he paid seven mao and five liang in grain coupons for a bowl of noodles. After finishing his meal, he started walking home in the dark.
Now, he no longer hid his joy. The large ginseng, the old doctor had said, was three hundred years old and had fetched him 1,700 yuan. The four smaller ones were all over a hundred years old, selling for 450 yuan each. In total, he had received 3,500 yuan. He still had one large ginseng left, which he was saving for his wife to use when she gave birth. The old doctor had specifically mentioned that the older the ginseng, the better it was for replenishing 'qi' and blood.
It was 1977, and 3,500 yuan was a huge sum of money. When his daughter was born, he would figure out other ways to make money. He would never let his wife and child suffer and be wronged again.