Knowing that Lin Xia had decided to marry Jiang Weidong at the end of the year, Lin Shu was quite happy.

With such a good man like Jiang Weidong by her side, Lin Xia’s life would be much easier and less frustrating.

She wouldn’t be constantly angry, and naturally, that would reduce her risk of breast cancer.

Zhang Guiqi had already packed all the sanitary incense, and Brother Lu Erge had checked and tied everything up. To prevent any loss, they prepared a bit extra.

Jiang Weidong, concerned that the fish might spoil on the way, insisted on only taking the sanitary incense back and left the fish for Lin Shu.

A few days later, he would return to visit Lin Xia and bring back the clothes Lin Shu had made.

Harvesting was complete in the production team.

As they harvested, they threshed the grain and quickly dried and delivered the public grain.

With the wheat harvest over, they had to plow the fields, use the leftover stalks as firewood, and then plant corn once it rained.

With the help of farming machinery, the pressure on the various teams to plow the fields was greatly reduced, allowing the incense-making team to focus on their work.

The brigade leader fulfilled his promise and sent workers to help build two new tiled houses for the Lu family.

Fang Dihua had already collected sorghum stalks, and now that she needed them, she gathered them back from those she had given them to in previous years.

Once the news that Fang Dihua needed sorghum stalks spread, good families quickly gathered them for her and even helped get them from relatives and friends.

After all, it wasn’t a free handout; the Lu family would repay them later.

The green bricks, black tiles, and large blue stones bought by Lu Da and the mud bricks from the brigade had arrived.

Lu Erge’s previously traded wood had also been swapped out, and carpenters had been contacted to make new doors and windows.

The brigade leader and his team first cut down the mature locust trees, poplars, and catalpa trees, removed the stumps, and then refilled and compacted the ground.

Next, they dug trenches, laid down the foundation lines, and compacted the soil.

The old Lu family houses had foundations about two steps higher than the yard, and the yard itself was higher than the street outside, so rain rarely flooded in.

The new house needed a solid foundation, and without the brigade leader’s help, building it would have required a lot of effort.

With the brigade organizing the work, the foundation was completed in a day and a half, and the walls went up quickly.

Then they prepared for the beams, purlins, and roofing.

Everything went smoothly, with no need to wait for an auspicious date.

They could proceed with the red cloth, offerings, and the beam-laying ceremony right away.

Aunt Li and other women helped bind the sorghum stalks into bundles.

On the day of the beam-laying, they were able to get everything done without delay.

To build the house, they first covered the beams with a layer of mud, then put on the tiles, and finally added the ridge tiles.

The house was completed.

Building a house for other families often requires saving materials for ten years, preparing for half a year, borrowing food, eggs, vegetables, and asking everyone for help.

But for the Lu family, they only needed a bit of preparation.

As soon as the wheat harvest was over, they started working and finished building two large brick houses in just seven days!

Such speed made the old Chang family extremely envious, not knowing what to say in their frustration.

Old Chang’s family had their own problems:

His nephew Zhang Peijin had rebelled!

The bald bandit was caught and sentenced to five years of hard labor!

Widow Sun had a terrible reputation now, and no one dared to talk to her!

Lu Changfu was now in a much lower position!

Lu Shaocai and Zhao Meifeng were eager to curry favor with Lin Shu!

Other members of the cooperative were waiting for the Lu family’s chemical factory to make money and share the profits!

Who could he complain to?

Apart from his own family, he couldn’t find anyone else to share his grievances about the Lu family.

Moreover, the brigade secretary and brigade leader were protective of the Lu family.

He couldn’t dare to complain, as it would offend the officials and bring trouble.

He wasn’t old enough to be senile yet.

On the day the house was completed, Lin Shu, along with Sister Lu Er, Xu Erzhu’s wife, and Li Aunt, prepared two tables of sumptuous dishes to entertain everyone who helped with the construction.

Previously, Jiang Weidong, Lin Xia, and others had also sent several pounds of candy as a celebration.

Lin Shu discussed with Fang Dihua to give out a piece of candy to everyone who came to congratulate, regardless of age—just one piece per person.

By building their own house, they made the villagers’ mouths a bit sweeter and made everyone happy.

Thus, the yard was filled with villagers who came to join the festivities.

The brigade leader took this opportunity to announce some regulations.

He wiped the sweat off his face with his rough hands and said loudly, “The secretary doesn’t like to hold meetings, so I’ll speak on behalf of the brigade here.

Lin Shu is truly deserving of the city’s recognition.

She cares about all the cooperative members.

She didn’t need to go through all this trouble.

Lu Shaotang is a military officer, and his salary is enough to support the family.

She didn’t have to do this. It’s because she sees us working hard all year round, earning just a few dozen bucks.

You all know, what can you do with that money? To buy a new set of clothes, you have to rotate among the family members, right?”

Many people responded, “Yes, our work points are still decent. Usually, it’s a little over three cents, sometimes up to four cents. Other brigades only get a bit more than two cents, which is even less valuable.”

The brigade leader continued…

“The skills for making incense were learned by Lin Shu when she went to the city. It’s meant to help our production team create a profitable business so that we don’t just get three cents worth of work points all year. With this incense factory, we should be able to get at least five cents by the end of the year.”

“Really? Five cents is quite a lot!”

“Yes, and I haven’t heard of any production team making five cents from farming alone. Only the coal mines seem to get five or six cents.”

The secretary, puffing on a cigarette, waved his hand for everyone to be quiet and listen to the team leader.

The team leader said, “I’ll be straightforward today. If anyone goes around spreading rumors, feeling jealous, making sarcastic comments, or tries to steal techniques or jobs from the incense factory, I won’t scold you. I’ll just remove your family from the profit-sharing list of the incense factory. Don’t come crying later.”

“Don’t worry, team leader, we won’t drag our feet. We’ll actively help by cutting mugwort, planting chrysanthemums, and mint.”

“Yes, we won’t be a hindrance! We’ll help with buying the timber!”

Seeing their enthusiastic response, the team leader was pleased.

“Alright, everyone just focus on farming. We’ll definitely see returns by the end of the year.”

The incense factory’s business was looking good, and profits were certain, with no ambiguity.

“Alright, don’t delay the work at the incense factory. If you just came to watch, hurry up and go home to eat,” the secretary waved his hand, ushering people away.

The newly built house needed to be aired out for a few days.

Fortunately, the summer heat would dry it out quickly, and then the incense team would officially move in.

During the days when the house was being built, Fang Dihua and Lu Erge continued to work on incense production, racing to finish their tasks.

Jiang Weidong came to pick up goods every few days, and Lu Dage and Zhang Guiqi kept delivering to the county.

Lu Dage had become addicted to pulling in orders.

He didn’t involve himself in the house construction or worry about it.

His mind was on expanding production.

He even considered having Lin Shu move her family into the new brick house and using the three central rooms as the incense-making room.

Fang Dihua flatly rejected this idea.

The old house was more comfortable than the new brick one.

With half-meter thick walls, it stayed warm in winter and cool in summer.

The foundation was solid and didn’t get damp, and although it didn’t have tiled floors, it was still very comfortable.

She had no intention of moving.

Moreover, where would they cook?

The main room would be gone!

So Lu Dage gave up on that idea and focused on getting more orders.

He was determined to visit every unit in the county and then move on to neighboring counties and cities.

No matter where he went, he always carried unity incense with him.

Upon arrival, he would light a stick at the bus station, train station, or guesthouse.

He could even sell incense in state-owned hotels, public toilets, and state-owned bathhouses.

He had always been good at selling, but after a few trips to the city, he became even more skilled.

Regardless of size, he never came back empty-handed.

Even if the other party didn’t want to place an order, they could still buy a few packs.

After all, incense is needed in summer.

This time, he sold fifty packs to the bathhouse, fifty packs to the train station, and another fifty packs to the guesthouse.

He could sell one or two packs just by walking around, never being picky about small business.

He always said that even mosquito legs are meat.

Each small pack of sanitary incense was thirteen cents, and they earned five cents from each pack!

With such high profits, why worry?

Five cents?

He worked as an accountant, busting his ass, and the monthly subsidy was only five bucks!

So, what’s the big deal about that salary?

On this day, it was time for Lu Shaotang’s salary to arrive, and as usual, it was delivered by Zhou Weimin, who brought the remittance slip.

Zhou Weimin, dressed in his mailman uniform and wearing a grass-green hat, looked envious and said, “Sister Lin Shu, your husband really makes a lot of money.”

Lin Shi glanced at him and said, “You don’t see how hard and dangerous his work is.”

Zhou Weimin scratched his head and said, “Oh right, I was just thinking about how much money your husband makes and forgot about his hard work and danger.”

After all, he had been sacrificed once before.

This time there were two remittance slips, and one was from Chen Yanming?

Lin Shu looked at it in surprise.

Chen Yanming had sent her eighty bucks?

What did this mean?

Zhou Weimin asked, “Sister Lin Shu, is something wrong?”

He had delivered Chen Yanming’s remittance slips before, but the amount was the same as Lu Shaotang’s.

This time, Chen Yanming’s remittance was less.

Lin Shu smiled and said, “Don’t rush off. Let me get you some peaches to take back.”

The peaches and plums at home were ripe.

After Zhou Weimin left, Lin Shu put the remittance slips in her drawer and locked it.

She planned to ask Lu Shaotang about it later.

“Little sister, did you receive a letter just now?” Zhao Meifeng came over with a bundle of red wool yarn.

Lin Shi asked, “Big sister, where did you buy this wool yarn?”

She had wanted to buy a few pounds, but it was really hard to find.

No matter which supply and marketing cooperative she went to, as soon as they got the stock, it was taken by insiders before it could even be displayed.

Even Jiang Weidong needed to use connections to buy some.

Lin Shu didn’t want to owe anyone a favor, so she hadn’t bought any herself.

Zhao Meifeng smiled and said, “I got this from the capital. Here, take it.”