Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1017 How can this be so unreasonable? (Donation to Shoes Without Evil +)

The old man said, "Why are you so clueless, kid? I'm just planting a little bit of land and some scallions, what's it to you? It's such a big patch, just sitting there empty, what a waste! Sigh, these days people, they don't do anything themselves, but when others do, they get envious. Tell me, what exactly do you want?"

Huang Laowu said, "Write a guarantee, and you won't come looking for us no matter what happens. You can do whatever you want, as long as you take responsibility and handle any problems that arise. I guarantee I won't come even if you build this whole building and plant all the trees on it."

The old man said, "Why should I give you that guarantee? What does it have to do with me if you leak or collapse? Tell me, what does it have to do with me?"

Huang Laowu said, "What does this have to do with you? I've found you to be quite interesting. You bring all this soil up here to farm, and then it's none of your business? I'm the one who did it!"

The old man pointed downstairs: "There's still land over there. You've done so much, why don't you go find him?"

Huang Laowu said, "Nobody else came to build this building to plant anything, aren't you the one planting it?"

The old man was panting with anger: "What's wrong with me farming a little land? What's wrong with farming just this little bit? Did I steal or rob? Huh? Aren't you just looking for trouble? Are you bullying me? There's no way to bully someone like this."

Another man wearing glasses came up the stairs, looked at Xiao Wei, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Wei pointed and said, "The old man is in this kind of place. Let's come and take a look."

The bespectacled man examined it closely: "So, they're adding soil? I heard banging noises from upstairs at home, so I came up to check. Is this a suitable place to farm?"

Xiao Wei said, "We're not letting him plant it, and we're arguing about it right now. He says we're bullying him."

The man with glasses took them off and wiped them. This kind of weather is really tough on people who wear glasses; the snowflakes are so dense that you can't see anything with your glasses on.

The man with glasses put his glasses back on and walked over: "Who is it? Uncle Wang? What are you doing?"

The old man said, "I thought it was a waste to leave this upstairs like this, so I thought I'd put some soil on it and plant some scallions. But these guys came up here and started spouting nonsense, asking me to give them some kind of ridiculous guarantee, saying that if the building collapses or leaks, my family will be responsible. On what grounds? You be the judge, how can they be so unreasonable?"

The man with glasses turned his head and looked back and forth, gesturing with his hands to find the distance. He took a few steps to the left and right and said, "Uncle Wang, this won't do. This half of your roof is mine. What if it leaks? We've been neighbors for so many years, and I won't say anything else. If it leaks, you'll really have to compensate me. You have to give me a guarantee. Otherwise, you shouldn't bother with this half. I can't control what happens to other people's roofs."

Uncle Wang stared wide-eyed in astonishment: "You want a guarantee too? You, Xiao Gangzi, what do you mean?"

The bespectacled man, Xiao Gangzi, handed the old man a cigarette and said, "Uncle Wang, you watched me grow up, right? I certainly can't stop you from farming, but you're doing this on my roof! This building only has one layer of cement slab, and the waterproofing on top is only so thick. It won't collapse, but it's bound to leak. Who am I supposed to turn to then? The kind of land you're building, no one else can help me. I can only turn to you."

The old man tapped the floorboards with his hoe: "So hard, how can it leak?"

Xiao Gangzi said, "Uncle, this is cement, not stone. It seeps water. If you lay this floor, the asphalt underneath will definitely rot. That stuff is afraid of water. Once the asphalt cracks, it's all over. Then the whole roof will have to be torn down and rebuilt. It won't just affect my family. All the families on the fifth floor will come after you. Why do you have to do this?"

The old man looked down at his feet: "Are you serious?"

Xiao Gangzi said, "Really? How could this be faked? Shunzi's dad works in the moisture-proofing business. Go down and ask him."

The old man thought for a moment, then shoved the hoe into his son's hand and said, "I'll go downstairs and ask. You go back first." He strode downstairs.

Xiao Gangzi said to the old man's son, "Guizi, are you crazy? Your dad doesn't understand, and neither do you. You can grow crops on a roof? Let me tell you, if my house leaks, I'll move in with you. You can have all the food and lodging."

Guizi said, "Am I any good? The old man said to do it, how could I say no? Besides, I didn't know this thing was so precious, it's pretty hard, isn't it?"

Xiao Gangzi said, "What the hell did you learn in school? It's all wasted! I'm telling you, you can't do this anymore. Hurry up and turn over all this dirt off my roof. Asphalt gets damp easily, you know?"

Huang Laowu circled around and came back, laughing, "This will take some time. It looks like they started working on it while we were on our business trip. There are over seventy cubic meters of soil, damn, that's seventy or eighty tons! Do you think we can manage?"

Xiao Gangzi said, "He laid it out, and judging by the thickness, it's fine. If it were piled up, it would have collapsed long ago. Guizi, are you two playing with your lives, or are you playing with everyone's lives? If this collapses, I won't even know how I died. Mom, you'd better figure this out and compensate me."

Guizi asked, "Can it really collapse?"

Xiao Gangzi said, "You think it won't collapse even if you put seventy tons on it? Do you even know what seventy tons means?"

Xiao Wei said, "You guys are really something! How did you get so many up here? Just the two of you?"

Guizi said, "And my brother too, he carries them, several bags at a time, he's been doing it for over ten days."

Huang Laowu said, "It looks like we'll have to lock this door on the top floor from now on; it's too dangerous."

Xiao Wei said, "No need for locks, just for drying blankets in the summer. Let's set up a neighborhood committee. Hey, Gangzi, you take the lead, get a few families to discuss it, and you guys can send a few people to manage these things and promote safety awareness, okay? See how scary that is?"

Xiao Gangzi thought for a moment and said, "Okay, this has to be done. I'll go back and tell my dad. This is really something. Damn, I broke out in a cold sweat. I'll be scared awake even when I go to sleep if I don't check on this. How are we going to deal with this dirt?"

Xiao Wei looked at it and said, "Let's leave it here for now. In a couple of days, I'll have someone bring some large flowerpots, fill them with soil, and place them on the load-bearing walls around us to plant some flowers or something. It'll look nicer in the summer, and it'll save us from having to carry them down."

Chen Hui looked around and said, "We can't use it all. How can we use so much? More than seventy cubic meters."

Xiao Wei said, "We can just pour the rest in, it's easier than pouring it all in. Let's go, our clothes are all wet."

The first snow of winter, before the ground freezes, is wet. It will soak your clothes when it falls on you. But once it freezes, it won't be wet anymore. You can lie on the snow without getting wet.

Huang Laowu gave Guizi a thumbs-up: "Awesome. More than seventy cubic meters! I've learned something new."

Chen Hui handed him a cigarette: "Think things through in the future. If you don't understand something, ask around. You're scaring people."

As I went downstairs, I ran into Yu Qiu, who was carrying a large plastic bag as she came out of the convenience store.

Chen Hui said, "Hey, Qiu-ge, what are you busy with?"

Two more chapters are owed; I'll make up for them tomorrow. Thank you all for your support and donations. Also, please add my new book, "Woman, Flower," to your collection; it's a period drama with a captivating story.

(End of this chapter)