Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space

Chapter 1056: Homestead

"Village Chief Li, can we choose a spot at the east end of the village? I want to live close to Master Wei’s house."Xu Chunshan spoke honestly to avoid any displeasure.

"There’s space at the east end, but there’s no space close to Master Wei’s house." Xu was clever.

"Village Chief Li, we also want to be at the east end." The west end houses belong to the soon-to-arrive educated youth. It’s clear they won’t be easy to get along with; it’s better to live farther away for peace of mind.

"Alright, come find me tomorrow morning, and we’ll mark out the homestead for you."

Qu Xiaoli poured a bowl of brown sugar water for each of the two.

"Thank you, Auntie."

"No need to be polite; Auntie congratulates you two."

The two exchanged some pleasantries and left, without drinking the brown sugar water.

Walking down the road, Zheng Mingzhu suddenly sighed, "It wasn’t hard after all."

"Actually, I think you should be from Liu Family Village. If you were from Tangjiazhuang, you wouldn’t be able to handle it at all."

"Haha, am I lucky then?"

"Yes. Tomorrow we can start preparing to build the house."

"I have money, don’t worry."

"I only have less than a hundred yuan left."

"I have money, if nothing else. Money is something I have." Zheng Mingzhu chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Xu Chunshan felt a bit embarrassed, feeling somewhat like he was living off her.

"Don’t think too much about it; we’ll be a family soon, no need to fuss over such details."

Xu Chunshan nodded despondently. The feeling was indeed unpleasant.

The two arrived at the educated youth station. Zheng Mingzhu had locked her belongings in Xu Chunshan’s cabinet, so the other five really hadn’t noticed they had been there.

The women were cooking, while Shen Youjun was tilling the land, wanting to plant more cabbage.

Zheng Mingzhu joined in to help, both men working together.

"How’s it going? All sorted?"

"Yes, all sorted. Village Chief Li is truly a good person. Over there, Village Chief Liu was very courteous, didn’t make things difficult at all."

"That’s great, where are you planning to live?"

"We already bought a homestead from the village, going to measure it tomorrow, and waiting for the masons."

"Sounds good. You’re moving out, leaving only me behind then."

"Weren’t we told there’d be new educated youth coming?"

"Well, we don’t know what kind of people they are, unfamiliar."

"Just get along slowly. Through this experience, I’ve realized there are many good people."

The five girls in the main room were also chatting.

Today, Zheng Mingzhu brought back a kilo of eggs to fry with pickled vegetables for dinner, adding another dish.

"Zheng Zhqing, I quite envy you now. You can move out, live your own life."

"Haha. Everyone has their day."

"But we want to get married, if Li Family Village doesn’t accept our partners, that’s troublesome."

Although educated, the deep-rooted preference for boys over girls still exists. They all think a man marrying means settling here, but if a woman marries, wouldn’t she go to her husband’s place? That’s their worry.

"I think you should ask Village Chief Li, but on the way here, Xu Chunshan said I was fortunate to be from Liu Family Village. Because the two villages get along well. If they held grudges, any conflict would harm us."

The girls nodded; they had been here for six months, they knew what they needed to know.

Dinner was sorghum porridge and leftover flatbread from lunch.

Mixed wild vegetables, eggs fried with salty pickled vegetables. It looked oily and appetizing.

Zheng Mingzhu’s grain had not been divided, but none of the remaining five were unhappy.

After eating, the men took care of the fire, while the women bathed.

Xu Chunshan felt energized, excited.

Suddenly realized he hadn’t written home yet, thought he’d write when going to the township.

The next day, after breakfast, the two didn’t head to work together, took another day off to arrange everything, and went to Liu Family Village to deliver formal greetings.

Li Yungui and Li Yunqiang, two brothers, helped the couple measure three acres of the homestead.

Paid fifteen yuan to the village. Li Yunqiang gave them the paperwork.

The two then went to find a mason.

Zheng Mingzhu was a bit envious seeing the others’ blue-brick tiled houses.

"Shall we build such a house too?"

"But we can’t buy blue bricks." Xu Chunshan had heard from many villagers that lots of families wanted to build such houses; they wouldn’t stand out, but it’s said blue bricks are hard to come by.

"Yes, we might not be able to buy them."

"Let’s ask the mason if he has a way."

In the end, they agreed to find blue bricks. After discussing, they decided to build three main rooms, two side rooms, a bathroom, toilet, and the mason would provide both labor and materials, including yard walls, and install glass windows. It totaled 500 yuan.

Xu Chunshan felt heartache over the money. But Zheng Mingzhu thought it was worth it.

"It’s okay, I initially thought of spending a thousand yuan to gain a spot in Li Family Village, but now I’m a Li Family Village educated youth for only 500 yuan, and have a house. Isn’t that good?"

Xu Chunshan said gloomily, "I just feel awkward, as a man spending a woman’s money to build a house."

"Just earn money for me in the future, won’t that solve it?"

Xu Chunshan still felt very downcast, wondering when he’d earn back that 500 yuan with his daily wages.

Zheng Mingzhu understood it was his male pride, so she didn’t try to persuade him much. This was good, at least now he wasn’t entirely focused on his own money.

"Alright, let’s quickly go to Liu Family Village, deliver the greetings and get everything home. I’m worried they’ll divide my belongings."

Just then, Li Yungui drove over with a cart. "I’m headed to Liu Family Village, you two can join me."

It was a pleasant surprise; Zheng Mingzhu happily got on the ox cart.

Though slow, she didn’t have to walk, going with Village Chief Li meant even trouble-makers wouldn’t dare.

On the way, Zheng Mingzhu had a particularly engaging conversation with Li Yungui.

Li Yungui looked highly upon this female educated youth; she was knowledgeable and a sincere young lady.

Hopefully things continued this way; Li Yungui was quite satisfied with the village’s six educated youth.

Though not great at working, and a bit pampered, they didn’t cause trouble, worked steadily, if slowly and by the rules.

Such behavior was rare; hence, if they had requests that were not excessive, he would agree.

"Village Chief Li, our village is really impressive. When I first arrived, I always cried, some were displeased and told me if I had skills, I should go to Li Family Village, where no work was needed."