Since the blue bricks had already been transported back, the Yang family used their off-work hours to prepare and level the foundation site.
By the time all the rice seedlings in the village had been transplanted, and after a few rainy delays in between, it was already late May when the house construction officially began.
Digging and laying the foundation on the first day took longer, but since only a single room was being built and most of the helpers were relatives from the same clan, everyone worked very hard.
As a result, the foundation was completed in just one morning.
The day before, Chen Yichen had bought two jin of pork, one fish, two blocks of tofu, and some dried goods.
As the weather was gradually getting warmer, food didn’t keep well, so Grandma Yang had already processed everything in advance.
The pork was stir-fried with salt, the fish and tofu were pan-fried, and the dried goods were soaked early in the morning.
Lunch preparation was therefore very quick.
Including the workers and the Yang family, there were nearly thirty people in total.
Even though everything was cooked in large pots, they still prepared seven dishes and one soup:
Braised fish chunks, green pepper tofu, stir-fried pork with chili and mushrooms, sweet potato vermicelli, cucumber stir-fried pork, water spinach, stir-fried dried beans with eggs, and loofah soup.
Only half of the meat and fish were used for lunch; the rest was saved for dinner.
The house was completed in just three more days.
On the fourth day, they originally planned to raise the main beam, but the sky was overcast and looked like rain might come.
Grandpa Yang checked the old almanac.
Since the remaining work could be handled by the family alone without outside help, he decided to postpone the beam-raising ceremony by two days.
After the house was finished, the Yang family saw there was still leftover lime and cement, so they went to the river to carry sand and used it to plaster the interior walls.
Although the walls still looked rough and gray, they no longer shed dust.
Yang Tao inspected it and was very satisfied.
Over the next few days, the Yang family also helped build two small adjacent rooms out of adobe bricks—one for a kitchen and one for bathing or storage.
The kitchen stove was also built for them.
During these days, Yang Tao was still assigned to cutting pig grass.
Since she only needed to fill one bundle per day, she usually finished work earlier than the rest of the family.
One afternoon, she was cutting bitter melon in the kitchen when she suddenly heard voices from outside—Chen Yichen had arrived with the Yang family.
He was now eating meals regularly at their home.
While washing his hands outside, Chen Yichen told her that he had contacted a carpenter named Duan from the village and ordered a bed, a table, four stools, a wardrobe, and a dining cabinet.
He asked if she needed anything else.
After hearing this, Yang Tao added a wooden bathtub for bathing and a large water bucket.
Then she said,
“These things must cost quite a bit of money, but they’re all necessities for living, so I thought we should just make them all at once.”
“It won’t cost that much,” he replied.
“My family heard I was getting married and sent me more money.”
“We’ll get all of these made, and once we’re done, we’ll go to town in a few days to buy you a few sets of clothes.”
Yang Tao looked at her own clothes—washed pale, with patches on the sleeves—and suddenly felt a bit of anticipation.
After all, which girl didn’t like looking good?
She only had two or three sets of clothes to rotate, and they were all old.
When washing them, she didn’t even dare use too much force for fear of tearing them.
So she smiled sweetly at him and agreed.
Then she showered him with praise as if compliments cost nothing.
Who wouldn’t like hearing nice words?
In the end, she praised him so much that Chen Yichen became embarrassed and quickly went inside.
After dinner, Grandpa Yang took out the old almanac again and discussed the wedding date.
“Both the 22nd and the 28th are good days.”
“The furniture will be ready by the 22nd, and after another week of airing, the house should be dry enough by the end of the month.”
“How about the 28th?”
He looked at Chen Yichen.
“Alright, let’s hold the wedding banquet on the 28th.”
“On the 22nd, I’ll take Tao Ya to town to register the marriage and also let her take a look around.”
After saying that, Chen Yichen took out a thick stack of money from his pocket and handed it over.
“Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt.”
“This is 500 yuan in bride price.”
“My grandfather said he couldn’t attend the wedding, but he didn’t want Tao Ya to be wronged.”
“This… this is too much.”
“We originally agreed on 100 yuan, that’s enough.”
“You should take the rest back.”
Grandma Yang tried to push the money back after keeping only 100 yuan.
The rest of the family was also completely stunned.
In the countryside, even 50 yuan as bride price was considered high.
Most marriages were settled with just two or three bundles of rice as dowry.
The 100 yuan the Yang family originally requested was already considered extremely generous in the area.
It was mainly because they knew Chen Yichen was an educated youth and might not earn many work points, so they wanted to secure more for Yang Tao’s future.
Fifty yuan would be kept as her dowry, and the other fifty would stay with the Yang family in case the couple struggled to survive after marriage.
But Chen Yichen did not take the money back.
“This is the elder’s intention. Please accept it, Grandma.”
“I still have enough money for our life after marriage.”
After saying that, he didn’t wait for further discussion and left for the educated youth residence.