A Young Woman's Heart

Early in the morning, the two left the house under Zhuang Lianlian's watchful gaze.

Old Chen stood at the door, put on his worn-out cloth shoes, and glanced back at Zhuang Lianlian: "Please take care of the dishes and chopsticks."

"Okay, I'll take care of it. And... Uncle, you can just call me Lianlian."

"it is good."

We set off at 5:30 and arrived at the construction site at around 6:00.

The location is in a suburban area.

What's under construction here is a relatively upscale residential area, and Lao Chen is in charge of laying the marble.

He's considered a 'senior worker' here, so his salary is relatively high.

Those like Chen Cheng, who lack technical skills, can only do manual labor and are considered 'unskilled workers'.

"What am I supposed to do?" Chen Cheng asked, squinting as he took the helmet and gloves from Lao Chen.

If the temperature stayed this high all day, it would be very comfortable. Unfortunately, although it was only six o'clock, the sun was already high in the sky, and the air around us was quite warm.

“You go move the marble, and follow this man later.” Old Chen pointed to a man next to him. “Xiao Huang, could you please look after my son? He’ll help you move the marble.”

“Alright, leave it to me.” The young man called Xiao Huang nodded. He was not as tall as Chen Chenggao and looked to be about thirty years old with dark skin. However, he was actually only twenty-four years old.

He's currently working as a laborer for Old Chen, moving stones while learning to lay marble. Once he masters marble laying, he can be promoted to a 'senior craftsman,' at which point his salary will be much higher.

Moving marble requires not only strength but also skill.

Because marble is a single piece, it is difficult to carry on your shoulder like a sandbag, or move it piece by piece like a brick.

Each piece of marble is very heavy, and you have to be careful when placing it on the trolley to avoid breaking it.

When Chen Cheng first started moving a few smaller marble slabs, he found it easy, but when he started moving marble slabs weighing fifty kilograms or more, he found it difficult to keep up.

Xiao Huang can move such a large rock by himself, but Chen Cheng cannot.

To take care of him, the two of them moved stones together, and he could only console himself by saying that it was about 'improving efficiency'.

However, in reality, it is actually holding others back.

There are marbles that weigh 100 pounds, which really require two people to work together. After moving each of these large stones, Chen Cheng has to drink a lot of water.

The bottled water I bought this morning is long gone. Although there is hot water available at the construction site, it is too hot to drink in the summer and doesn't quench my thirst at all.

Once the stones are transported to their destination, if they are on the third or fourth floor or higher, they must be pulled up using pulleys.

First, the marble was placed on a platform, then the other side of the rope was pulled down little by little, and the platform gradually rose up...

Even with the pulley system reducing most of the effort required, it's still quite difficult to keep going.

Most importantly, endurance and patience are essential.

If you try to pull too fast, it will actually feel more strenuous.

This inexplicably gave Chen Cheng the feeling of raising the national flag.

The time spent working was exceptionally fulfilling.

What seemed like a long half-day passed by in a flash, and soon it was lunchtime.

The father, who had been tiling the marble upstairs, was also covered in sweat and looked no less exhausted than the woman.

After all, when installing some marble, you have to hold it yourself, and just holding it is tiring, let alone aligning it and then applying it yourself.

Cutting marble also produces a lot of stone dust, which makes Lao Chen's throat uncomfortable. Even when he's not working, he always has to clear his throat and spit out a mouthful of phlegm to the side.

"Ha—cough—spit!" Old Chen spat again, then poured the last bit of water into his mouth. "Let's go, kid, go eat!"

"Oh." Chen Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and followed his father to the construction site canteen.

There was a long queue in the cafeteria, but it was still quite spacious.

The food here is very cheap, but the presentation is really not flattering. The rice is probably made from old rice, and the vegetables aren't very fresh either.

Many dishes with broth are a sticky, gooey mess, and Chen Cheng, as a normal person, would never have any appetite for them.

However, he was so hungry that he ate the food with relish, even though it was so simple.

"After today, I won't go to my part-time job tonight. I need to go to the fruit shop to tell them that I won't be staying there anymore, and I also need to thank them," Old Chen told him about his afternoon plans.

"Oh."

"How are you? Tired?"

"I'm not tired," Chen Cheng said defiantly.

"Haha, looks like you can still hold on?"

"Of course I can keep going. Do you think I'm the kind of person who likes to give up halfway?" Chen Cheng took a big gulp of beer. "Speaking of which, do I even get paid for this?"

"Of course there will be. I'll talk to you and the boss about it. At the very least, you'll get some living expenses. As for the remaining salary, it will basically be settled at the end of the year."

"What a hassle."

……

Chapter 117 Pickled Radishes

The hot weather showed no sign of rain, even though it had been sunny for over a week.

"Does it mean it won't rain until the end of the month?" Mo Xueyao, wearing only a tank top, stood in front of the air conditioner fan, playing with the ice cubes on it, and muttered to herself.

If only the winter rain and the summer sun could switch places.

This kind of weather must be very comfortable.

She thought to herself.

However, Hangzhou's distinctive feature is its four distinct seasons, which means it offers different scenery to see in each season.

If it's like spring all year round, it can become boring and monotonous after a while.

Li Wanyan was carefully processing the dried cherry radishes. After cutting them, there was a large pile that needed to be washed again.

There were clean glass jars on the ground, all bought from the supermarket last night.

These glass jars are only the size of aluminum cans. Don't let their small size fool you; they're not cheap because they're double-walled, thick, and come with lids for maximum sealing.

Since there are no earthenware jars in the city that can be used to seal pickled vegetables with mud, these glass jars are the best choice.

The clanging sounds echoed in Mo Xueyao's ears as she sat down on the ground after finishing her lunch.

The floor in my house is a cement floor painted red. It has been used for more than ten years, and it looks like it has developed a patina, making it slippery.

When she was little, she seemed to deliberately splash some cold water on the ground, then slide around naked on the ground, treating it like a slide.

Its only advantage is that it's relatively cool in the summer—when you first lie down on it.

Although Mo Xueyao was only wearing a tank top, she couldn't help but lift the hem to reveal her navel.

She was only wearing a pair of briefs on her lower body, which made her look quite unkempt.

—For a girl.

This is a habit I had when I was a boy, but it's really cool.

Who can blame us when we don't even have air conditioning at home?

When I was a boy, I could even lie down shirtless.

In the sweltering summers before air conditioning was available, I used to often take a shower and then sit down and enjoy the electric fan.

The only time it's cool to use the fan is right after you've taken a shower. Once your body dries, it gets hot again, and then you have to take another shower.

She recalled taking seven or eight showers a day when she was in junior high school, but ended up getting heatstroke.

The television was on, and a summer animated film was playing.

However, she had already seen these before, and it always felt like they were being replayed.

New cartoons won't be available until after 4:30 PM.

In terms of animation, China seems to be 20 or 30 years behind Japan. It's already 2000, but they're still showing animations from the 1980s or even the 1960s.

For example, Ultraman, the space hero from the 1960s, is being broadcast on the TV channel right now.

Fortunately, Mo Xueyao is not picky, especially when it comes to her favorite tokusatsu dramas, she doesn't mind watching them repeatedly.

However, if it's a plot you know by heart, you might seem a little distracted.

The clinking of bottles and jars made her eyelids gradually droop, and she drifted off to sleep.

It wouldn't be bad to spend a hot summer day in a dream.

In her dream, she dreamt that she was turned into a monster by aliens, forced to face Ultraman, and then killed in terror and without being able to resist.

A sharp, tearing pain shot through her body, jolting her awake from her dream.

"Hoo..." When she opened her eyes, she saw the night sky outside the window, with a golden moon hanging high in the sky and several bright stars beside it.

Although there aren't as many stars as in the suburbs, there are still quite a few. They connect together like a vortex, making it hard not to be captivated by them.

On the windowsill, a row of glass jars were neatly arranged, containing cherry radishes that were being pickled.

Although it has only just begun marinating, it already looks very appetizing.

Li Wanyan sat next to her, having already switched channels to watch Animal World.

Mo Xueyao blinked, tilted her head, and asked, "Wanyan..."

"Ah."

Is today tomorrow?

"Huh?" Li Wanyan was taken aback, then reached out and pinched her cheek. "Are you still half asleep?"

"Huh? Ah... no, I was just asking if it's tomorrow."

"Tomorrow means the next day that hasn't arrived yet."

"Yeah, right... oh... right." Mo Xueyao chuckled and hugged Li Wanyan's waist as she got up, but then lay back down weakly on her lap. "What I mean is, I didn't sleep until the next night, did I?"

"Hmm, no." Li Wanyan picked up a glass of cold water with ice cubes and took a sip. "But you've been sleeping since noon."