But Li Xiufen wouldn't allow it.
"My Miaomiao's hands are meant for holding a fountain pen to write, not for doing housework!"
Saying this, she took the lunchbox Gu Chunmiao used for work, filled half of it with cooked rice, added two spoonfuls of stewed dish, two spoonfuls of carp stewed with tofu, one spoonful of potato-braised duck, and some of the remaining vegetable dishes, filling the lunchbox to the brim and pushing it into Gu Chunmiao's hands.
"Miaomiao, go eat in your own room. The men outside are smoking and drinking; we don't want the ink smell on you to be ruined."
In Li Xiufen's eyes, there was no pickiness towards her daughter-in-law, only admiration for the talented woman from Tsinghua University.
He Zhanjun, standing nearby, was so shocked his chopsticks almost fell.
"Mom, didn't we have white flour steamed buns for everyone today? When did you secretly steam white rice?"
It wasn't that he was jealous of his mother treating his wife better than him; the issue was that this was something he had planned to do secretly himself.
When the dishes were being served earlier, He Zhanjun had taken a large bowl, secretly scooped a bowl of food, and taken two white flour steamed buns.
He had originally planned to wait until everyone started eating and no one was paying attention, then secretly bring the food to his wife. — After all, he was a man and had pride; how could he go running to bring food to his wife in front of the entire village?
But he never expected that before his "loving dinner" could be delivered, his mother had already fed his wife!
Looking at his wife and his mother exchanging smiles, the deep affection between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, He Zhanjun inexplicably felt a bit redundant.
..
In the evening, after the banquet dispersed, Li Xiufen used the excuse of wanting to talk with her old sisters and went to her neighbor Li Xiulan's house to stay the night.
The sisters lay side-by-side on the wooden board bed, and Li Xiufen made a decision:
"Xiulan, I've made up my mind. Our old house really needs to be torn down and rebuilt!"
"Our house was built when Zhanjun's grandfather was still alive. Back then, the family was too poor to afford so many wooden board beds, so Zhanjun's grandfather, learning from other provinces, built a large kang bed."
"For years, the family slept together like this; it was warm and saved on firewood!"
"But now it's not feasible. Zhanjun and Miaomiao just consummated their marriage, and the young couple is in their prime. What would it look like if I, an old woman, still slept on the same kang as my son and daughter-in-law? I can't come to your house to sleep every night either; your husband would have an opinion..."
"How dare he?!" Li Xiulan interjected.
Li Xiufen gently patted her female cousin's arm, "Baoguo is quite good. When you take things from our house, has he ever argued with you?"
Li Xiulan, unwilling to concede, retorted, "I take things from your house, and you take things from my house too. We're even; he hasn't lost out, so of course, he doesn't argue with me."
Li Xiufen smiled and brought the conversation back, "I'm serious. Our house is also quite old. Now that Zhanjun and Miaomiao have consummated their marriage, who knows, by this time next year, I might be a grandmother. I'm thinking we need at least four rooms: one for Zhanjun and Miaomiao, one for the children, one for me, and one for the main hall."
"Didn't your Baoguo build houses for others before? Have him calculate for me, how much would it cost to build four main rooms and three lean-to rooms, one for the kitchen, one for the outhouse, and one for the firewood storage?"
Li Xiulan, unable to keep things to herself, immediately got out of bed, threw on her clothes, and called her spouse He Baoguo over, carrying an abacus, much like Zhou Ba Pi waking up his long-term hired hand in the middle of the night.
He Baoguo muttered, "Can't this wait until morning? I'm already asleep!"
Li Xiufen said, "Baoguo, find a few people to help me build the new house. I'll provide two meals a day, and I'll thank you separately with two packs of 'Baihua' brand cigarettes. How about it?"
He Baoguo, a chain smoker, sobered up instantly, "Deal! Sister-in-law, tell me how you want it built?"
Li Xiufen held a thin piece of firewood, drawing on the ground as she explained. He Baoguo had experience as a "master builder," and since the prices of red bricks and tiles were also transparent now, he quickly did a rough cost calculation and gave Li Xiufen an approximate budget—
"If we use all red bricks and green tiles, it'll be about seven to eight hundred yuan, not worth it! Sister-in-law, I suggest you do what we did: build the outer layer with red bricks and then line the inner walls with a layer of mud bricks. This way, you can save half the cost of the bricks."
"For the roof, lay straw on the inner layer and a layer of small green tiles on the outside. For the beams, purlins, rafters, doors, and windows, use whatever usable materials you have at home and supplement with new ones if needed. I see you have wood in your yard; find someone to process it, and it won't cost much."
"For auxiliary materials like cement, lime, sand, and gravel, at most, a few dozen yuan will be enough."
"Then there's the cost of feeding the helpers. Two meals a day, according to our local custom, at least one hearty dish, plus cigarettes and alcohol. I'll rush the construction for you; fifty to sixty yuan should cover it."
"Calculating it this way, four main rooms plus three lean-to rooms, five hundred yuan should be enough."
Li Xiufen calculated in her mind, slapped her thigh, and said, "Let's build it! Tomorrow, you go help me find people to tear down the house. Zhanjun is on family visit leave for a few days, so he can help out at home, saving us one hired hand."
"Wait!" Li Xiulan quickly pulled her cousin aside and whispered, "Sister, didn't you say you wanted to try and get Miaomiao pregnant while Zhanjun is home? If you tear down the house, where will the couple sleep?"
Li Xiufen chuckled, "That's exactly what I want – for the young couple to be homeless!"
"Xiulan, do you remember we used to have a melon shed down by the slope?"
"Sister, you mean..."
Li Xiufen slammed her fist into her palm, "Openly, what's more satisfying than doing it secretly?"
"Tomorrow morning, I'll have people come and tear down that old house and the large kang bed! Then you can say you don't have room at your place, and I'll kick them out to the melon shed to make do for a few days!"
"Think about it, in the wilderness, a man and a woman alone, with sparks flying... Hehehe!"
Li Xiulan's eyes lit up, and she gave her cousin two thumbs up, a double like!
"Sister, they say the older the ginger, the spicier it is. Your plan is amazing!"
"In that case, I'll sprinkle some water on your bedding later and say the bedding at home is all wet. Then I'll give them one mattress and one quilt. It gets very cold down by the slope at night, and you can't light a fire in the shed, so the couple will be too cold to bear and will have to hold each other all night?"
"You tell me, a newlywed couple who just consummated their marriage, holding each other all night, in the wilderness with no one around... won't they go all out?"
Li Xiufen wore a sweet smile, as if she had already embraced her grandson.
A granddaughter would be even better.
As long as she looked like her daughter-in-law, she wouldn't be ugly.
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