sinovels Chapter 56 Celebrating Completion
Chapter 56 Celebrating Completion
Xu Chunsheng took the shoes and asked:
"Thank you, little sister. How much did it cost? I'll give you the money."
At that time, a pair of liberation shoes cost five or six yuan, which was a considerable expense for Cheng Runshu.
"Brother, this is for you; it's a token of my affection."
"Sister Runshu, I appreciate your kind gesture, but I still need to give you the money."
Cheng Runshu pursed his lips, somewhat disappointed:
"Brother, are you really not understanding, or are you pretending not to understand?"
"I've always thought of you as a younger sister. You have better options."
After speaking to Cheng Runshu, Xu Chunsheng turned and left.
……
Apart from Secretary Li's visit earlier, nothing particularly noteworthy happened for many days afterward.
The side slope was still bustling with activity:
The laborers carried timber and bricks, the workers built walls and erected pillars, and the carpenters rushed to make gates and build beams. The sounds of planing wood and hammering nails were mixed with talking and laughter.
"Bring up a few more tiles, and another bucket of cement..."
Several bricklayers were carefully crouching on the roof, laying tiles one by one, occasionally having people on the ground pass them some tiles and cement.
Several thick fir beams can be seen resting on the wall piers, their ends secured with a thick layer of mortar. Columns are built from the ground for support.
The beams are neatly arranged with wooden rafters, and a layer of blue tiles is laid on top of the rafters. The tiles are stacked one on top of the other, the gaps are filled with mortar, and the eaves are aligned.
In this way, when it rains, the rainwater will flow down the gutters and not into the house.
Moreover, the green tile roof is sturdy and durable, more so than the yellow mud and straw roof, and does not need to be renovated every year.
In just over twenty days, the pig farm was completed. All that was left was for the walls to be more stable so that on an auspicious day, the piglets could be put inside, and the pig farm would come to life.
Xu Chunsheng pushed open the door of the pig farm and saw two rows of pig pens of equal size and about half a person's height. The cement troughs inside the pig pens were smooth and not rough to the touch. Each pig pen also had a drainage hole at the back. Wastewater from washing the pig pens and pig manure would all be discharged from this hole and flow into the manure pit through the drainage channel outside.
A spacious passageway is left in the middle. The lower half of the wall is solid, while the upper half is made of red bricks arranged in a staggered pattern to allow for ventilation, as well as several large windows.
The sun shines through the openwork wall, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
Xu Chunsheng stepped into the passageway, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his skin. His toes involuntarily curled up, and he sighed:
"very nice!"
Two figures, one tall and one short, stood at the entrance of the pig farm, calling out to Xu Chunsheng inside:
"Erwa, come out quickly, the firecrackers are going off!"
"Brother, come quick! Let's set off the cannons!"
Xu Chunsheng turned around and smiled:
"They're here."
On the day of the roof-raising ceremony, Xu's father set off a small string of firecrackers. There was no other meaning to it; it was just to bring good luck and ward off bad luck, which is a custom that is generally accepted in the countryside.
Who would have thought that Xu Yaomei would find out about this, and she would keep nagging about it at home:
"Hey, you guys set off cannons without telling me!"
"Well, they're studying, so they can't set off cannons with you guys."
That's why Xu Chunsheng specially bought a string of firecrackers, waiting for Xu Yaomei to have a holiday, so that the whole family could come over early in the morning to set off firecrackers.
When Xu Chunsheng came out, he saw that his father had hung firecrackers on a tree branch.
The youngest sister grabbed Xu Chunsheng's hand, jumping and shouting:
"I'll order, I'll order."
Xu Chunsheng walked over, tore off some used plastic film from the ground, attached it to the fuse of the firecracker, then lit a bamboo stick and handed it to Xu Yaomei:
"Light the film, and when it catches fire, run back, understand?"
"good!"
Then I saw Xu Yaomei, not far from the firecrackers, stretch out her hand and bring the bamboo strip close to the plastic film. After seeing the film ignite, she casually threw away the bamboo strip and ran back as fast as she could, screaming:
"Waaaaah—"
The film shrank as it burned, quickly igniting the fuse, and then a series of crackling firecracker sounds followed.
The youngest girl ran to her father, who was closest to her, and leaned against his legs. She covered her ears with her little hands and stared wide-eyed at the firecrackers exploding, as countless pieces of paper were blown apart and fell from the sky.
The firecrackers stopped exploding soon, but some people still had tinnitus in their ears.
"Wow—"
Xu Yaomei lowered her finger, sniffed the lingering gunpowder smell in the air, and excitedly shouted:
"When firecrackers go off, pig farms thrive. Livestock prosper and granaries are full, wealth flows in and life is prosperous."
The whole family laughed at the youngest sister's sudden blessing, and Xu Chunsheng even asked directly:
"Haha, you little rascal, where did you learn that?"
Xu Yaomei raised her chin, pouted, and said:
"Hmph, it was Teacher Tang who came up with this idea, I'll remember it in a minute."
The family was generous with their praise and compliments to Xu Yaomei.
Amidst the laughter and chatter of the family, Xu Chunsheng locked the pigpen door and then lifted his youngest sister up to sit on his shoulders.
The family left the pig farm chatting and laughing, heading home.
"Dad, didn't you ask someone to choose an auspicious date? Have you chosen one yet?"
"I've chosen two dates, the 18th of the third lunar month and the 22nd of the third lunar month, both of which are quite suitable."
"Today is the fifteenth, so I'll go to the livestock station later to ask if the piglets I ordered a few days ago have arrived. We'll just have to come when all the piglets are ready."
"Yes, I will."
Xu Yaomei rode on Xu Chunsheng's shoulders, wiggling her bottom from side to side twice, then shaking her brother's head:
"Brother, I want to go too!"
Xu Chunsheng unconsciously tightened his grip on his sister's hand:
"Sit still and don't move around. You can't go this time. Have you forgotten that you haven't finished your homework? You have to go to school tomorrow. If you haven't finished your homework, you'll get a slap on the hand."
"Let me go with you, I'll write tonight."
"The kerosene lamp is too dim at night, it's bad for your eyes, and you'll become nearsighted, which won't look good. From now on, let's do our homework first during holidays, then go play, okay?"
Xu Yaomei was a little discouraged: "Okay."
He immediately perked up, "From now on, I'll definitely do my homework first, and do it quickly and well!"
Xu Chunsheng put his younger sister down from his shoulder, saying:
"Okay! Did Teacher Tang hear that? From now on, Teacher Tang will be our witness."
Hearing her brother say this, Xu Yaomei noticed Tang Changping sitting under the eaves and greeted him happily.
"Oh! Hello, Teacher Tang, I will definitely do my homework carefully."
Mother Xu quickened her pace to open the door, saying apologetically:
"Oh dear, when did you arrive, Teacher Tang? There was no one home. I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."
Tang Changping stood up: "I just arrived a little while ago, I apologize for disturbing you."
As Mrs. Xu opened the door, she warmly welcomed everyone:
"No bothering you, no bothering you at all. You're welcome to come and visit often. Eldest son, go get Teacher Tang a bowl of tea. Second son, you and Teacher Tang sit for a while and chat."
"Red Army, come help me open the fire. Teacher Tang, stay for lunch today, I'll cook early."
Without giving Tang Changping a chance to refuse, she hurried off to the kitchen to get busy.
Before leaving, he arranged for his younger sister to wash some fruit.
Seeing the Xu family bustling about because of his arrival, Tang Changping looked at Xu Chunsheng somewhat awkwardly:
"Go tell Auntie not to bother anymore, I'll be leaving in a bit."
Xu Chunsheng picked up a bamboo chair with one hand, placed it next to Tang Changping, plopped down, and casually said:
"Since you're already here, have a meal before you leave. There's no rush. Even if you didn't come, we would still need to eat."
After hearing what Xu Chunsheng had to say, Tang Changping sat down hastily, took a book out of his bag, and handed it to Xu Chunsheng:
"Congratulations on the successful launch of your pig farm. I saw you reading a pig farming manual last time; this is the new version of pig farm management methods. I hope it will be helpful to you."