Chapter 80: The New Home Begins

With the help of Xia Lidong and Liu Jianchang’s family, Jing Xi’s new house construction officially began.

They hired over ten uncles from the village, who had finished their farming work and had free time to help out.

At first, they agreed that providing a meal would be enough as compensation. However, Xia Lidong soon realized that feeding them was actually more expensive than paying wages.

Providing one decent meal per day for ten or more people would cost at least ten yuan. In that case, it was more practical to pay them directly—at least then, they could see the money in their hands.

After discussing it with the workers, they settled on a daily wage of one yuan per person for six to seven hours of labor. Everyone agreed to the arrangement.

This way, Jing Xi’s daily expenses remained around ten yuan. Even if she occasionally bought cigarettes or snacks for them, it wouldn’t cost much.

Elder Xia personally chose an auspicious day to begin construction.

That day, the weather was clear with a light breeze. The sun was warm but not scorching, making it a perfect day to work.

The first step for the ten uncles was to tear down the old house and clear out the debris.

Jing Xi set up a large cooking pot in Zhang Rui’s courtyard. Since it was the first day, she had to prepare a good meal for everyone.

Coincidentally, Zhang Rui’s family had just slaughtered some chickens. Jing Xi insisted on buying two from him and added vermicelli, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables to make a massive pot of stew.

At noon, Zhang Rui called everyone over for the meal, and everyone raved about Jing Xi’s cooking.

Little did they know, there was something special about the stew.

Xia Lidong was the first to notice.

“Wow, after eating this, I feel so full of energy!”

“Exactly! I don’t feel tired at all! I have to say, this chicken stew is amazing! I never expected such great cooking from someone as young as Jing Xi!”

Jing Xi smiled. “Thank you, uncles, for the compliments. But it’s really thanks to Auntie’s well-raised chickens—they’re big and meaty, which makes for a rich stew. I only used basic seasonings. Good ingredients make all the difference!”

“That’s true! This chicken tastes even better than the ones I raise at home!”

The men continued discussing the quality of the chicken, praising Zhang Rui until his face turned red with embarrassment.

By the end of the meal, all ten men, along with Jing Xi and a few others, had finished the entire pot. Everyone left the table so full they had to support themselves against the walls.

In the afternoon, the work sped up significantly.

A task that would normally take two or three days—demolishing the old house—was already 50% complete in just one afternoon.

At this pace, they estimated that by tomorrow, it would be completely cleared.

Jing Xi spent the whole afternoon weeding and hauling debris. Her hard work earned her praise from everyone who saw her.

Even Jin Fu and Chen Cheng, who usually found village life dull, came by to watch the construction unfold.

Liu Jianchang came up with the basic layout for the house.

Jing Xi wanted a two-bedroom, one-living-room design.

The kitchen would be in a separate wing on the left, and a storage room would be built separately on the right.

This way, after the autumn harvest, she would have a place to store grains and other supplies.

By the end of the first day, Yu Zhu’s old house was completely gone.

Once the area was cleared, they could start digging the foundation.

Xia Lidong and Liu Jianchang estimated that the house would take about two months to complete.

This timeline allowed Jing Xi to stay within her budget.

As construction progressed, Jing Xi’s days were packed.

Besides helping with the building work, she also had to assist at the village office with accounting duties. Her life was both busy and fulfilling.

Meanwhile, Xie Aiguo had restarted the village land inspection project.

With this, Xia Lidong got even busier.

In the end, he simply handed the entire land inspection project over to Jing Xi and focused solely on building the house.

Once the inspections resumed, their efficiency greatly improved.

Aside from a few large households that had illegally occupied land, most villagers were honest and only worked on their own plots.

As a result, Jing Xi and Xie Aiguo completed their work quickly and smoothly.

In less than two weeks, they finished inspecting the remaining village land.

The village’s blackboard report was updated, the required rents were collected, and all registered land information was now up to date.

Finally, when everything was done, Jing Xi let out a sigh of relief.

She had just slumped onto her desk, ready for a short rest, when she suddenly remembered—

Her one-acre vegetable field!

It had been a long time since she last checked on it!

Jing Xi leaped up from her seat, startling Xie Aiguo.

“What’s wrong, Xiao Jing?” he asked.

Jing Xi furrowed her brows. “Oh no! The vegetables I planted—I haven’t checked on them in so long! I haven’t even watered them! They’re probably all dried up by now!”

Xie Aiguo reassured her, “It rained twice. They should be fine. You should go check now if you’re worried—there’s nothing urgent here at the moment.”

Jing Xi nodded. “Alright, I’ll go take a look!”

With that, she quickly headed toward her field.

As she walked, she kept thinking, Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead!

As soon as she arrived, she saw Jin Fu, Chen Cheng, and a few others carrying buckets of water to the field.

At first, she assumed they were tending to the medicinal herbs they had planted.

But as she got closer, she realized—they were watering her vegetables!

The green onions and cilantro had already sprouted quite a bit. Their tender green leaves stood neatly in rows, looking fresh and healthy.

Could it be that Jin Fu and Chen Cheng had been taking care of her crops this whole time?

“Technicians!” Jing Xi called out, hurrying over. “Have you guys been watering my vegetables lately?”

Jin Fu nodded. “It’s just a small thing. You didn’t plant much, so it’s just an extra couple of buckets of water.”

Jing Xi felt a surge of gratitude. “Thank you so much! I’ve been so busy that I completely forgot about the vegetables!”

Jin Fu smiled. “We figured. Last time we were checking on the crops, we noticed your vegetables looked a little wilted. The soil was dry, so we figured they needed water. We carried a few buckets over, and they slowly perked up again.”

Jing Xi didn’t know how to thank them enough. “You’re welcome to take as many vegetables as you want! Consider it my way of saying thanks!”

Chen Cheng waved it off. “It’s really no big deal. No need to be so polite!”

After some back-and-forth, Jin Fu and Chen Cheng finally agreed that if they ever wanted some vegetables, they’d pick them themselves.

After all, cilantro and green onions grew fast, and Jing Xi wouldn’t be able to eat all of them on her own.

With the field situation settled, Jing Xi turned her attention back to helping with the house construction.

The foundation had already been laid. When she arrived at the site, everyone was taking a lunch break.

Today, Zhang Rui had prepared a meal of stewed cabbage with vermicelli, so everyone was eating together.

Jing Xi reminded herself that she needed to pay Zhang Rui for today’s meal. She couldn’t let him cover the costs and do all the work at the same time.

As soon as Xia Lidong saw her, he asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

Jing Xi shook her head. Before she could answer, someone handed her a cornmeal bun and a bowl of stew.

She recognized the man—it was Xia Lidong’s brother-in-law, Xia Lichun’s husband. She recalled that his last name was Zhao.

Quickly, she thanked him. “Thank you, Uncle Zhao!”

“No need to be polite, girl. If it’s not enough, let me know. Your Aunt Zhang brought a whole big pot—we probably won’t even finish it!”

“Okay!”

Jing Xi took a bite of the bun and realized—the cabbage and vermicelli stew was incredibly fragrant!

It must have been stewed with pork lard!

After finishing the meal, Xia Lidong shot her a meaningful glance. Understanding the cue, Jing Xi got up and followed him outside.

Once they were out of sight, Xia Lidong reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark, rough-looking object.

“Xiao Jing,” he said. “We dug this up while laying the foundation yesterday. Take a look—I think it might be important.”

Jing Xi took it from him and examined it closely.

It was an old promissory note!

And the borrower’s name was Kong Yi!