Chapter 38 : Awkward Topic

Han Zhenyu was about to leave when Grandma Du called him, “Zhenyu, wait a minute, didn’t you move out? Let me get you some food and pick some vegetables to take back, otherwise, what will you two eat?”

“Grandma, no need. I bought food in the village. We won’t starve.”

“Then I’ll pick some vegetables for you.” Aunt Du said as she grabbed a basket and went to the vegetable garden.

She picked a basket of peppers and large beans, with several cucumbers and tomatoes underneath, and went into the house to fill half a bag of potatoes.

“Take these with you. Your uncle and your grandfather will bring you more tomorrow when they go there.”

“Thank you, Aunt. I’ll be leaving now.”

Han Zhenyu didn’t hesitate, tying the things to his bicycle before heading back to the Sanhua Brigade.

When he arrived at the brigade headquarters, Su Xieqiu was boiling water in a clay pot, covered in dust.

The pot had been borrowed from Han Lei’s house, and she had built a simple stove with a few stones.

Seeing her in a rush, Han Zhenyu immediately stopped his bike and walked over, “Let me do it.”

Su Xieqiu exhaled and said, “The stove isn’t fixed properly. Go to the foundation and get some bricks to fix it. It will be more convenient to boil hot water in the future.”

It would take a while to build the house. Now that it’s hot, they could use the sun to warm up and take baths, but they would need to boil water later, so having a proper stove would be more convenient.

“Okay.” Han Zhenyu had rushed back specifically to pack these items.

He asked, “Has the brick been delivered yet?”

“It’s been a while since it was delivered.”

Su Xieqiu saw that the water in the pot was boiling, so she poured out two bowls of water to cool, and poured the rest into the thermos.

The kettle and bowl had both been bought by Han Zhenyu in the morning.

“Are you hungry? Do you want me to make you something to eat?” Su Xieqiu asked, seeing that he had returned so quickly and not knowing if he had eaten.

Han Zhenyu replied, “I ate at my grandpa’s house. What about you? Did you eat the steamed buns I brought?”

“I ate two and shared the rest with the brick workers. It was lunchtime when they delivered the bricks, and i couldn’t let them go back hungry.”

In fact, Su Xieqiu hadn’t eaten any of it. She had given all the buns to the workers and ate food from the space instead.

Han Zhenyu nodded, turned off the fire at the bottom of the pot, and took the dishes off the bike.

“These are the vegetables my aunt picked for me. Han Lei will deliver food to the foundation in the evening. Starting tomorrow, we can cook there.”

“Grandpa and I have agreed not to provide meals for the hired workers, so they can all go home to eat. You just need to cook for Grandpa, my uncle, and my eldest uncle.”

He paused for a moment and said, “My two cousins from my aunt’s family should come to help as well. There will be about six or seven people to cook for. If it’s too much for you, ask Yuejuan from my uncle’s family to help. When the time comes, let her stay with you to keep you company.”

He was worried that Su Xieqiu would be scared living here alone, so he planned to ask his cousin to come and stay with her.

The brigade headquarters was next to the Sanhua Brigade’s primary school. There was no toilet here, so if they needed to go, they would have to use the school’s facilities. It was fine during the day, but definitely unsafe at night.

Su Xieqiu quickly shook her head and said, “No, I can prepare meals for these few people by myself. My grandfather and uncle are here to help. If I ask my cousin to come, their family will be too busy to manage everything.”

If she didn’t have the space, Su Xieqiu would have been happy to have someone come and keep her company.

But since she had to take things out of the space every day, it would be very inconvenient to have someone constantly with her.

Seeing that she refused so quickly, Han Zhenyu asked, “Aren’t you afraid of living here alone?”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I don’t go out at night, and no one can get in if I close the door.”

Su Xieqiu had checked it this morning. The door was quite solid, and she would find a few wooden stakes to prop it up from the inside. The only way to get in would be to tear the door down.

Han Zhenyu nodded and reminded her, “Try not to go out at night, use a chamber pot when it’s convenient.”

“Okay, got it.”

When it comes to the topic of going to the toilet, both of them feel a little embarrassed.

Han Zhenyu stood up and said, “You take a rest. I’ll go get some bricks and see if Han Lei and the others have finished cleaning up.”

“Oh, okay.”

After he left, Su Xieqiu couldn’t help but laugh.

They had been married for half a year, yet they felt embarrassed talking about any sensitive topics. It was rare to see a couple who were so unfamiliar with each other.

She took the dishes Han Zhenyu had brought back into the room, looked at the half-basket of peppers, and decided to make a simple version of pickled peppers with soy sauce and vinegar.

The peppers prepared this way tasted particularly good and could be stored for a long time.

She poured some vinegar and soy sauce into the casserole, added some salt, and then poured in a large ladle of water and brought it to a boil.

By the time Han Zhenyu came back with the bricks, she had already prepared the soy sauce, vinegar, and chili peppers and was boiling cornmeal in the house.

These noodles were from Yang Lanhua’s room. Su Xieqiu had put them in her bag and brought them here this morning.

There was only a borrowed clay pot here, and she couldn’t make pancakes with it, so she decided to make some cornmeal dumplings instead.

Han Zhenyu smelled a faint aroma of soy sauce as soon as he entered the room. He sniffed and asked, “What did you make?”

Su Xieqiu pointed to the basin next to her and said, “Aunt picked a lot of peppers. We can’t finish them all at once, so I made them into spicy sauce to prevent them from going bad.”

Han Zhenyu opened the lid and looked inside. A rich aroma of sauce hit him in the face, and the emerald green peppers soaked in the sauce looked delicious.

He smiled and praised, “It smells really good.”

Su Xieqiu smiled and said, “It tastes great too. You can try it tonight.”

“Good.”

Han Zhenyu rearranged the stove and said, “I have to go to the city tomorrow morning. Do you need anything? Or do you want to come with me?”

Su Xieqiu thought about it and realized that all the daily necessities were in the space, so there was nothing to buy for now.

Since Han Zhenyu must be going for serious work tomorrow, it wasn’t the best time for him to be strolling around. So, she shook her head and said:

“My grandfather and uncle are coming over tomorrow, and there will be a lot of workers. I will stay here to help boil some water, so I won’t go with you. You can take care of the preparations.”

Han Zhenyu replied, “Okay, after the house is done, I’ll take you to visit the city.”

“Okay.” Su Xieqiu set the boiled noodles aside and started washing tomatoes and cucumbers.

Han Zhenyu saw that there wasn’t much water left in the bucket, so he poured the rest into a basin, went to the school to fetch a bucket, and then headed to the foundation.

When Sun Dashu saw him coming, he immediately smiled and called out, “Brother Zhenyu, everything is ready. Can you see if there’s anything else that needs fixing?”

“Not bad, very good.” Han Zhenyu nodded with a smile, touched the thick wooden door, and said, “Where did you find this door? It looks pretty solid.”

Han Lei replied, “My eldest brother borrowed it from his father-in-law’s house. You can return it to him after the house is finished. I was originally planning to use the broken wooden door from my house, but my sister-in-law said that this place is too close to the mountain, and it’s not safe at night, so she asked me to find a sturdier one.”

“Good.”