Back to my 1980s

Zhao Hua turned to look at Meng Qinghe. He had been interrupted by Zhao Ru and had forgotten to ask how the tent was going.

He looked up in the direction of the shed; several pillars had already been laid. Zhao Hua turned to look at Meng Qinghe and said, "Hey! Qinghe!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Meng Qinghe looked up.

"How's your shed coming along? Have all the wooden stakes been buried yet?"

Meng Qinghe nodded and said, "Yes, it's all buried. I helped Dad bury it this afternoon. He said he'll go find some planks tomorrow morning and then start laying the tiles."

Zhao Hua was taken aback by this and asked curiously, "Why do we need to find planks? Can't we just build it up directly?"

"Huh?" Meng Qinghe was also stunned. She hesitated and said, "Don't we need wooden planks? Dad said that when other people build houses with tiles, they always lay a layer of wooden planks underneath."

A gentle night breeze made Zhao Hua feel very comfortable. He lay down and looked at the starry sky, saying leisurely, "No need for planks. I forgot to tell him beforehand that the tiles I bought are three in a row and ten in a row. We just need to put up a few wooden stakes in the middle, then block them with wood, and we can just put them on top."

Meng Qinghe frowned and said, "Will this be sturdy? There's no shelter by the roadside; wouldn't the wind easily lift the tiles off?"

Zhao Hua smiled and said, "A piece of asbestos tile weighs about twenty pounds. It's not something that can be lifted by ordinary wind. Have your father drill a hole in each of the asbestos tiles and tie them to the horizontal wooden stakes underneath with ropes or iron bars."

It's just a simple shed. As long as you don't mind wasting the asbestos tiles and are willing to chisel a few holes in the whole tiles, it's very easy to build a sturdy structure. You can even do it by hammering a few wooden stakes into the ground around the perimeter.

After discussing the asbestos tiles, the group silently gazed at the starry sky and soon fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Zhao Ru got up and went to sell fish with Meng Qinghe. Zhao Hua gave Meng's father a rough lesson on how to set it up, and he could clearly see the pained expression on Meng's father's face.

It's understandable that Meng's father felt uncomfortable about having a hole punched in something brand new, but he also knew that this was the simplest way to secure it. His pained expression flashed by, and he began to chisel the hole with nails.

Zhao Hua watched for a while and saw that he had already started laying the tiles, so he didn't stay any longer.

There's no way I'd help. My own house is still under construction; what kind of person would go around helping others? At most, I could offer some pointers.

After having breakfast at home, Zhao Hua strolled over to the tractor driver's house. The old bricks were all used up, and there definitely wouldn't be enough new bricks, so he had to go to the brick factory to get some more.

Instead of waiting until the new bricks are almost used up before hauling them in, it's better to start preparing now.

After telling the tractor driver that he would need the vehicle after lunch, he returned to the educated youth settlement.

Looking at the cement that had been delivered last night, and seeing so many stars in the sky, he hadn't covered it after unloading it at the educated youth settlement, since it would be usable by daybreak anyway. After instructing Master Zhao to use cement instead of mud for all future mud mixing, he looked at the cement and thought for a moment.

These dozens of bags of cement only cost two hundred yuan. This afternoon he went to pick up bricks, but without a permit, he could only pick up 10,000 bricks at a negotiated price, so he would have to spend two hundred yuan more than last time.

He glanced at the people working on the construction site. There were so many people here now, and his two sisters-in-law were also there, so he didn't need to stay here and keep an eye on things.

Remembering what Xu Qian had asked him last time, Zhao Hua turned around, went home, got on his bike, and decided to go find Xu Qian.

He had been to Xu Qian's house before, so it didn't take him long to find it this time. He arrived at Xu Qian's house in no time. He knocked on the door a few times, and a middle-aged woman with a good appearance came and opened the door a moment later.

She gave Zhao Hua a wary look and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Zhao Hua could tell from her appearance that this must be Xu Qian's mother, because Xu Qian's eyebrows and eyes were about 70% similar to hers. He smiled and said, "Hello, Auntie, I'm here to see Xu Qian. My name is Zhao Hua."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged woman carefully examined Zhao Hua for a moment, then glanced back at the inner room. After hesitating for a moment, she opened the door and turned around, saying, "What do you need her for? Come in, she's not up yet, I'll go wake her."

Zhao Hua hesitated for a moment before entering the room. Mainly because he wasn't familiar with Xu Qian's family, and he had just grabbed a random piece of clothing while taking a shower last night, so his current attire made him look like a hooligan.

But then she thought, since they've already invited her in, what's there to hesitate about? If she leaves now or doesn't come in, she might seem more like a good-for-nothing in Xu Qian's mother's eyes.

From the look in her eyes just now, Zhao Hua could tell that she must have heard of his name.

Then it's better to be more open and honest, so that Xu's mother doesn't think that she can only deceive her daughter and that she's timid when she sees her family.

When Xu's mother went to call Xu Qian, Zhao Hua, having nothing else to do, stood in the small house and looked around Xu Qian's courtyard.

The courtyard wasn't big, unlike his house. Xu Qian's house had a side room built at the entrance of the courtyard, where the kitchen was located. Beyond the side room was a small courtyard, and beyond that was the sleeping area, which appeared to be three rooms from the outside.

The houses were all made of red bricks. Zhao Hua stood in the outer wing of the courtyard waiting for Xu Qian, without going into the inner room. After a while, Xu's mother came out, but she was alone. Xu Qian did not follow her out.

After entering the room, Xu's mother moved a stool for Zhao Hua, washed a ceramic cup, poured him a cup of tea, and asked, "Are you Zhao Hua?"

Zhao Hua nodded and smiled, "Yes, Auntie, I'm sorry to bother you so early."

Xu's mother glanced at Zhao Hua's bicycle parked outside and smiled, "It's alright, the young man is quite diligent, getting up so early, unlike my Xiaoqian, who sleeps until the sun is high in the sky every day. She's getting dressed now and will be out in a bit."

What else could he say? Zhao Hua laughed and said, "People our age tend to sleep in. I had something to do today, so I got up a little early. Otherwise, I usually sleep for a long time before getting up."

Xu's mother smiled but didn't respond. She had already heard from Xu Qian what Zhao Hua did for a living. If he got up that late, he wouldn't be able to sell fish or anything else in time.

She smiled and tentatively asked, "Xiao Zhao, I heard you're planning to set up some kind of small workshop. Did you come so early today just for that?"

Zhao Hua felt a little upset. She wished she hadn't come so early and had waited until they were all at work so they wouldn't have run into each other.

But since they had already run into each other and she had asked him why he came, he couldn't hide it. Otherwise, once she found out his purpose from Xu Qian, his impression of her would plummet.

He was even hoping they could help out at his workshop in the future.

The key point is that he didn't even bring a gift; he just barged into Xu Qian's house. After thinking for a moment, he laughed and said, "No, no, it's like this: I'm planning to build a new house, a red brick house, but bricks are hard to buy, so I came to ask Xu Qian if she has any connections."

Hearing this, Xu's mother looked at Zhao Hua with a half-smile and said, "Were the bricks we got from Jiang Yue last time not enough?"