Chapter 62

After finishing his meal, Li Chen went into town.  

He first went to the post office, but the letter still had not arrived.  

Then, he turned a corner and headed to Zhou Fengshou’s house. The business deal from the previous day had been completed.  

After deducting the principal, they had made a total profit of 2,000 yuan.

As per their agreed-upon shares, Li Chen received 50%, taking 1,000 yuan; Zhou Fengshou received 40%, getting 800 yuan; and Chen Qiang received 10%, earning 200 yuan.  

Zhou Fengshou and Chen Qiang were overjoyed.

They had not expected to make so much money in just one day and kept saying they should celebrate.  

Li Chen refused to join them and warned them not to be too ostentatious. Then, he went to find a well digger.  

The craftsman he brought back confirmed that their courtyard was suitable for digging a well.

Although he could not determine the exact depth needed, he still marked a location.  

Thus, the well-digging plan was set in motion.  

With the location confirmed, there was no need to hire workers; they could do it themselves. It just so happened that Li Chen had nothing much to do recently.  

Of course, he could not handle it alone—he needed two more people.  

When Mother Li found out, she immediately went home and called Li Dabin and Li Sanhong.  

At that time, Li Sanhong was not home, so Mother Li told Li Dabin to ask Li Sanhong to help Li Chen dig the well together.  

Li Dabin agreed without hesitation. He Zhaodi did not object either; in fact, she fully supported it.  

However, when Jiang Ailing heard that her husband was expected to help, the first thing she asked was: “Mother, will they give us labor fee?”

Shen Yiyi had not yet discussed this with Mother Li before she ran back, so Mother Li did not know either. But that did not stop her from getting angry. “We’re all family—what labor fee are you talking about?”  

After hearing this, Jiang Ailing was displeased, but she did not dare to argue with Mother Li. She only said: “Mother, Sanhong might not be able to go. My eldest uncle is planning to raise pigs next year, and the production team has already approved it. He wants to take advantage of this free time to build a pigpen and asked Sanhong to help. Mother, my uncle has helped my sister and me a lot since we were little. Now that he’s asking, I’d feel bad refusing him, so…”

This was essentially Jiang Ailing’s way of rejecting Li Sanhong’s involvement in helping Li Chen dig the well on his behalf.  

Mother Li, feeling indignant, retorted: “Your words don’t count. I’ll ask Sanhong myself when he gets back.”  

Jiang Ailing curled her lips indifferently.  

Sure enough, when Li Sanhong returned, Mother Li asked him directly.  

Li Sanhong glanced at Jiang Ailing, then at Mother Li, looking torn. In the end, he sided with his wife. “Mother, my wife is right. Her eldest uncle has helped her family a lot. Now that he’s asking for my help, I should go. Second Brother already has Eldest Brother helping him, and Chen Qiang is close with Second Brother. He can ask Chen Qiang to lend a hand.”  

Mother Li took a deep breath, telling herself not to get angry. Of course, she knew Chen Qiang could help.  

But Chen Qiang was Chen Qiang.

Li Sanhong was Li Sanhong!  

Li Sanhong was Li Chen’s blood brother, not Chen Qiang.  

After all, they were all her own sons. Naturally, she hoped they would support each other.  

She also had another intention—she had clearly noticed the tension between her second son’s household and her third son’s household. She had wanted to use this opportunity to break the ice between them.  

Unfortunately, none of them understood her good intentions.  

Shen Yiyi certainly did not understand, nor did she want Li Sanhong to come and help.

Given Jiang Ailing’s temperament, who knew what kind of trouble she might stir up afterward?  

But the moment Mother Li heard they needed help, she had rushed home to call for assistance, leaving Shen Yiyi with no chance to stop her.  

Just as she was thinking of a way to refuse, Mother Li came back, looking embarrassed, and told her that Li Sanhong would not be able to make it.  

This was exactly what Shen Yiyi wanted, so she said: “Qiangzi heard we were digging a well and already offered to come help. If Sanhong can’t come, then just leave it be.”  

Mother Li looked disappointed, but Shen Yiyi pretended not to notice.  

What Mother Li had not expected was that a few days later, when she noticed that Li Sanhong had yet to help Jiang Ailing’s uncle build the pigpen, she casually asked why he had not gone.  

Jiang Ailing, looking embarrassed, replied that her uncle had changed his mind—raising pigs consumed too much grain, so he had decided against it.  

This infuriated Mother Li. Yet, at this moment, Jiang Ailing had the audacity to sidle up to her with a shameless grin.

Jiang Ailing had changed her mind. Now, she wanted Li Sanhong to go help the second family, and she even asked Mother Li if she could speak to the second son’s family about it.  

Mother Li recalled how, over the past few days, the eldest son had been working at the second family’ place and was allowed to stay for meals—every meal consisted of white rice and meat dishes.  

She understood immediately.  

With a mocking tone, Mother Li sneered: “So when there was no payment, you wouldn’t let Sanhong go, but now that you know there’s meat and rice, you suddenly want him to go? Keep dreaming!”  

Jiang Ailing’s face turned ugly at Mother Li’s words. “Mother, what are you saying? Wasn’t it unavoidable before? How was I supposed to know my uncle would change his mind about building the pigpen? Now that there’s time, what’s wrong with helping out? Weren’t you the one who said we’re all brothers?”  

Mother Li would be a fool to believe her. “Forget it. There’s no chance now!”  

“Who even cares!” Jiang Ailing scoffed.  

Mother Li was so angry that her chest ached, and she walked away.  

Shen Yiyi learned about this incident from Wang Yan while she was out exchanging vegetables.  

She merely smiled and said nothing, refusing to give Wang Yan the gossip she was hoping for. Wang Yan watched her leave, somewhat disappointed.  

By now, it was already late autumn. Most households had finished harvesting their vegetables, leaving only Chinese cabbages and white radishes.  

Since Li Chen had also planted cabbages and radishes, Shen Yiyi did not take any. Instead, she exchanged for some dried vegetables, which saved her some work.  

While Li Chen and the others were digging the well, Shen Yiyi was not idle either. She dried the small fish that Li Chen had caught and made two trips to town, bringing back nearly 30 jin of lean pork, which she turned into dried pork.  

She also took the Three Baos to the backyard to harvest the cabbages and radishes, storing them in the cellar.  

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Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. On the day before the production team distributed the grain, the well was finally completed, with bricks neatly laid around the inner walls.  

Shen Yiyi settled the wages for Chen Qiang and Li Dabin—ten days of work, calculated at one yuan per day, so each received ten yuan.  

Chen Qiang had no objections, but Li Dabin refused. “Sister-in-law, we’re family. You don’t need to pay me.”  

Besides, this was too much. Previously, when he had helped build houses for others, he had only earned seven or eight mao per day, and that did not always include meals.  

“Big Brother, this is only right. Thank you for helping Brother Chen and me. As the saying goes, even between brothers, accounts should be settled clearly. Just take it.” Shen Yiyi said with a smile.  

Fearing that he would still refuse, she added: “If you don’t take it, I’ll just give it to Sister-in-law or Mother instead.”

After all, they had not split the family.  

“That’s still too much.” Li Dabin said. Over the past few days, he had been eating lunch and dinner at their place, and it had been the best meals he had ever had in his life.  

Shen Yiyi insisted on giving it.  

She was determined to hand over this money—not because she was overly generous, but to prevent any potential problems in the future.  

After all, her home was only a few steps away from Old Li’s Family. Carrying water from her well would obviously be more convenient than fetching it from the communal well.  

Of course, she was not opposed to allowing it in special circumstances, but the decision had to remain in her hands. She did not want people using their contribution to digging the well as an excuse to take it for granted.  

Seeing her persistence and noticing that Chen Qiang had already accepted his share, Li Dabin had no choice but to take the money as well.  

The moment he stepped out the door, his weathered face, aged by years of hard labor, lit up with a rare smile. Since he seldom smiled, it looked oddly unnatural.  

So much so that when he returned to Old Li’s Family, Mother Li was startled at the sight of him. “Eldest, have you been possessed?”  

Li Dabin simply pulled out the ten yuan Shen Yiyi had given him. “Mother, Sister-in-law gave me ten yuan as wages.”  

Mother Li’s expression changed instantly. “Did you ask her for it?”  

Li Dabin shook his head. “I told her I didn’t want it, but she insisted on giving it to me. Qiangzi took his as well.”  

Hearing this, Mother Li finally smiled.  

Since the family had not split, the money should have been turned in for communal use. But when Mother Li noticed Jiang Ailing eyeing the money in Li Dabin’s hand, she waved her hand decisively. “This money is rightfully yours. Keep it for yourself.”  

Upon hearing this, Li Dabin handed the money to his wife.  

Jiang Ailing watched as He Zhaodi smiled, feeling so envious that her nails nearly dug into her palms. She grumbled resentfully: “Mother, didn’t you say there wouldn’t be any wages?”  

“If there had been wages from the start, you wouldn’t have sent Sanhong to your uncle’s place, would you?” Mother Li’s face darkened, her tone dripping with sarcasm.  

Jiang Ailing froze, then muttered under her breath before stomping away.