Chapter 26.2

When you visit someone, taking the biggest and best things will make others think you’re rude.

Taking the smallest and worst will make others think you’re petty. So don’t be too picky or too weak, choose something in the middle to be low-key and safe.

Ning Shu didn’t teach the children, after all, she didn’t have that experience. She just told them her thoughts, and they could choose whether or not to learn from them.

Through these three days together, they comforted Ning Shu’s loneliness in a strange world.

They brought her joy and helped her through her emptiness. And this kind of companionship, if nothing unexpected happened, might continue.

So Ning Shu wanted to get along well with them. Within her abilities, she would guide them and give to them. From what she could see now, they were worth it.

“I know, Mom. I like this small part, just like the tail of the river crucian carp yesterday, it’s especially delicious.” Yibao smiled, showing that the fried fish tail was particularly crispy, just like grilled fish, with the tail being the crispiest part.

Indeed, some people like the fish tail, some like the fish head, and some even like to eat the fish eyes.

Lin Haicai thought to himself that this wasn’t his own home, he was a guest at Sanbao’s home.

So he listened to Ning Shu’s words, not eating the biggest or the smallest, and chose a middle piece.

Ning Shu absolutely didn’t expect that here, there was another child who followed her words in doing things.

Lunch wasn’t finished yet when the people from the old house arrived.

“Lao San Daughter-in-law…”                                                                 

The people from the old house had come to build the thatched house. Yesterday at noon, yesterday evening, and all day today, the wall was almost finished.

Actually, building a house mainly focused on the foundation. Since this thatched house was next to the main house, they didn’t put much effort into the foundation.

Lin’s mother shouted a greeting from outside, letting them know that they were having a meal and none of them came in.

Ning Shu ate slowly. She was used to watching TV, playing with her phone, and eating at the same time in modern times.

Here, she was slow as she fed Sanbao and listened to Yibao and Erbao talk.

It was also interesting to listen to the children talk. In the era without TV and phones, listening to them talk passed the time.

Thinking about TV, Ning Shu felt the desire to buy one. Although modern TVs needed antennas and had few channels, they could still pass the time.

Unfortunately, Qinglin Bay Production Brigade hadn’t been electrified yet.

However, if TV wasn’t an option, a radio should do.

Ning Shu decided that she would ask Lin Guodong for a radio in her next letter.

She didn’t feel embarrassed about asking for anything, after all, she would repay it thro taking care buy stuff for three brothers.

Speaking of which, Lin Guodong had gained an advantage.

She calculated that hiring a nanny and private tutoring for the children would cost money.

With her here, the children had someone to tutor them, and the three chilsren were ahead of the others.

As for the nanny, she didn’t count herself, she lived in this house for free, responsible for their three meals a day and taking care of the three brothers a little.

When the thatched house was built, raising chickens and pigs would be left to Yi Bao and Er Bao.

Cooking was considered too dangerous for a five-year-old, but cutting pig grass and feeding chickens wasn’t dangerous.

Children of the same age in the village were also doing it, so she wasn’t worried.

Moreover, she also owns the land foundation and self-retained land here, which are all her ways of earning money.

Ning Shu finished the remaining food: “You guys take your time eating, I’ll go outside and have a look.”

The elders were all busy building thatched cottages, and it didn’t feel right for her to stay inside.

As Ning Shu stepped out, the people outside turned their gaze towards her.

Mother Lin was the first to speak: “Finished eating?”

“Yes,” Ning Shu approached them, “The three walls we worked on today seem to be in good shape.”

“Good. I’ll inquire about the auspicious day for roofing. Have you gone to the brigade leader’s place to get permission to cut trees?” Father Lin continued the conversation.

Ning Shu hesitated, “I’ve been busy these past few days and forgot about it.”

“Let’s go now. I’ll accompany you. It’s a good time since the brigade leader is also resting,” Mother Lin suggested.

“Alright. How many trees do we need? Should Father come with me? I’m clueless about this,” Ning Shu asked Father Lin again.

Father Lin replied, “Get a few more logs, about 20 should do, extra can be used for door panels.”

“Okay, Mom, could you please come with me?” Ning Shu asked.

“There’s no trouble for family. Building a house is a joyful event, even if it’s just a thatched cottage. It’s still a brick house, not everyone can afford to build one. Actually, building a house isn’t expensive nowadays; it’s the foundation that costs. The brigade doesn’t give the land foundation for free; you have to pay for it.”

“And there’s the labor cost. If you hire someone to build the house, you have to pay them. No one is willing to help for free.”

“Third daughter-in-law, how did your chestnut collection go?” Mother Lin remembered the morning when many people asked about the chestnuts collected by the third daughter-in-law, so she inquired. She wasn’t quite clear when everyone asked, and she usually didn’t interfere with what the third daughter-in-law did.

But this morning, she was surprised to hear that the third daughter-in-law was exchanging fruit candy for chestnuts.

Ning Shu replied as usual, “Didn’t I go back to my parents’ house a few days ago? My relatives there wanted chestnuts, but they didn’t have any, so I collected them here. As a military wife, I have principles; I don’t engage in profiteering. I exchanged the chestnuts for something else. I exchanged about 200 catties. Including my parents and relatives, about ten households, each gets 20 catties, which should be enough.”

“So that’s how it is. Chestnuts don’t cost much. You and Guodong have been married for five years and haven’t visited your parents’ home. Will 20 catties per household be enough?”

Usually, when a newlywed daughter visits her parents’ home for the first time, she needs to prepare quite a lot of things. Regardless of quality, the total usually adds up to around ten or so.

But the third daughter-in-law only gave 200 catties of chestnuts. While it seems like a lot in quantity, it’s quite cheap. It only amounts to four or five yuan altogether, which will be divided among ten or so relatives.

She felt a bit embarrassed about it. Normally, if there weren’t any property divisions, the first visit of the third daughter-in-law to her parents’ home would have been prepared by the mother-in-law.

“Not enough? They didn’t give any gifts at my wedding. Giving them chestnuts is already quite polite. Mom, you don’t need to worry about this,” Ning Shu pretended to be indifferent.

In reality, she didn’t want to dwell on the topic of the original host’s family.

Seeing her daughter-in-law say this, Mother Lin didn’t say anything further.

The two of them arrived at the brigade leader’s house. The brigade leader’s name was Lin Hongfa.

Although he and Lin’s family were already five generations apart, there was still a blood relationship.

Lin’s father had to call the brigade leader ‘elder brother’, and both families had dealings in happy and sad occasions.

“Elder brother… Is elder brother there?” Mother Lin called out at the gate of the brigade leader’s house.

“Sister-in-law is here, and Guodong’s wife is also here. The old man is sleeping, you guys sit down, I’ll go call him,” the brigade leader’s wife came out from inside, smiling.

“Thank you, sister-in-law, we’ll wait here, it’s not a big deal, it’ll be sorted out soon,” Mother Lin said.

“Aunt,” Ning Shu also greeted.

The brigade leader came out soon after, “Sister-in-law is here, and Guodong’s wife is also here. What’s the matter?” Seeing them both together, the brigade leader felt curious.

However, since Guodong’s wife was also there, he also worried that something might be wrong.

After all, Guodong’s wife was quite an oddity in their Qinglin Bay Brigade.

Looking across the whole Qinglin Bay Brigade, was there any mother-in-law like Guodong’s wife, so lazy? Although it’s true that no other man in any household was as promising as Guodong, the wife couldn’t be so lazy either.

When Guodong’s wife first arrived in the village, she was quite hardworking. At that time, he had a good impression of her.

At that time, when the educated youth first arrived in the village, several young men and women seemed unable to do any work, but he didn’t expect Guodong’s wife to be so capable.

But it had only been a month since they moved to the countryside, and Guodong’s wife was already engaged to Guodong and married.

At that time, he thought that although the two got married quickly, Guodong had potential, and Guodong’s wife, being a high school graduate, seemed suitable.

Little did he know, after they got married, Guodong’s wife stopped working. Later on, they even argued about dividing Guodong’s family property…

And for a whole five years, Guodong’s wife became the two most emblematic representatives of the Qinglin Bay Production Brigade.

Lazy and wasteful wife.                                      

So when the brigade leader saw Ning Shu now, he still felt a bit afraid. A good man shouldn’t quarrel with women.

Ning Shu was unaware of the brigade leader’s thoughts. Seeing the brigade leader come out, she greeted, “Brigade Leader.”

Mother Lin said, “Elder brother, the third family is building a brick shell house. My husband asked the third daughter-in-law to get a permit to cut 20 trees for roofing.”

The brigade leader nodded, “Alright, you guys go cut the trees first, I’ll send the permit later. It’s 20 cents per tree, 20 trees for 4 yuan. When I send the permit later, you can pay me then.” Of course, the brigade leader knew about Guodong’s family’s plan to build another brick shell house.

A few days ago, Lin Brother was collecting brick shells, and these days, when people passed by Guodong’s house, they naturally saw the half-built brick shell house.

So the brigade leader wasn’t surprised that they came to get the tree-cutting permit.

Mother Lin said, “Okay, okay, no problem, then we’ll go first.”

So, Ning Shu simply went with Mother Lin. In between, she only said two sentences, a total of five words:

“Aunt,” and “Brigade Leader.”

When Ning Shu and Mother Lin returned home, Mother Lin told Father Lin about getting the permit.

Meanwhile, Ning Shu saw a few kids playing in the yard. She thought they had finished eating, intending to tidy up the kitchen.

But then she heard Yi Bao say, “Mom, the dishes are washed, and the table is wiped clean. Big sister did it.”

Ning Shu looked at Lin Qingmei, “Thank you so much, Qingmei.”

As the first grandchild of the Lin family, Lin Qingmei had been quite favored since birth.

So although she had a quiet personality, there was a hint of agility in her bones. Hearing Auntie Three say thank you, she smiled shyly, “No need to thank me.”

She received a brand new aluminum lunchbox from Third Auntie yesterday. Although it was the reward for her father helping to build the brick shell house, she wasn’t a child and knew Third Aunt was being polite.

Her mother also said that it was unexpected to receive an aluminum box from Third Aunt this time.

And these past two days, they had been eating at Third Aunt’s house.

So washing a few dishes wasn’t a big deal.

“It’s just a small matter, not worth Third Sister-in-law saying thank you,” Qian Aifen felt that city people’s mouths were different from those in the countryside; they kept saying thank you all the time.

Ning Shu didn’t know how to respond to this.

Saying thank you was a habit of modern life.

With many service-oriented industries in modern times, like Pizza Hut or Starbucks, where there were waiters to serve, people generally said thank you.

Plus, Ning Shu ran a group-leader business herself. Every time a customer came to her shop to pick up goods, she would say thank you.

So sometimes saying thank you was just subconscious, and it couldn’t be changed in a moment.

However, she didn’t know that in the eyes of many rural people like Qian Aifen, this was considered urbanites being particular.

But Lin Qingmei had washed the dishes for her, how should she thank the little girl? Suddenly, Ning Shu thought of something, “Qingmei, what’s your shoe size?”