Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 258

Zhao Chunni's son has cerebral palsy and is also a "glass child." Over the years, she has spent a lot of money on his medical treatment.

Not only did Zhao Chunni and her husband spend a lot of money and countless hours to take care of their son, but Old Zhang also spent a lot of money.

Of the six sons in the Zhang family, the fourth son, Zhang Ruifeng, is the most troublesome. And frankly, Zhang Ruifeng is unemployed, doesn't own much land, and his father, Old Zhang, has been subsidizing him quite a bit.

Of course, spending money was secondary. The main concern was that Zhao Chunni's eldest son, Zhang Yuzhuang, had been nearing the end of his life for the past two years.

There's nothing anyone can do about it.

It's clear from the fact that Zhao Chunni later gave birth to two more daughters that she and her husband, as well as the Zhang family, also wanted a son.

However, it is true that Zhao Chunni did not have any more sons.

This is not what she wants, but she has no other choice.

As Zhao Chunni gets older, it's practically impossible for her to have another son. And given her eldest son's current condition, he'll likely be terminally ill within two years.

Even if the Zhang family has no objections, it's ultimately not a good thing.

Therefore, the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is particularly poor.

Zhao Tingxu favored his grandson and preferred sons to daughters.

Could it be that the Zhang family isn't?

This is a very common phenomenon.

Humans are inherently selfish.

When Zhao Chunni went back to her parents' home, she cried several times, talking about her son's situation, but no one could do anything about it. They had gone to all the hospitals they could, and tried all the possible treatments, but to no avail.

Fortunately, Zhang Yumei also had excellent academic performance, which improved Zhao Chunni's status somewhat.

Zhao Tingxu kept his head down and didn't speak. He changed the subject and said, "Chunni, are the dumplings ready? I'm done eating. I'm going home later."

"What's the rush? We've come all this way," Old Zhang said.

Zhao Chunni was making dumplings when she said, "They're almost done."

Zhao Tingxu and Old Zhang chatted intermittently.

As we chatted, the topic turned to Zhao the Goose.

"This must be your second son's daughter, she's really pretty," Old Zhang said with a smile.

Zhao Tingxu laughed heartily: "That goose kid is smart. He's quick-witted too. He hasn't even started school yet, and he already knows how to make money through business."

Old Zhang was stunned when he heard this: How old is he? Making money? Doing business? Does the Zhao family really have nothing else to brag about? So they just drag someone out to brag.

Old Zhang knew the Zhao family inside and out, if not by name. The Zhao family was truly dirt poor.

Although most people weren't very wealthy in this era, the Zhao family's poverty was so exceptionally refined that it was known far and wide.

Sometimes, as an in-law of the Zhao family, Old Zhang felt a little ashamed. People would say that the Zhao family was... well, let's just say their situation was complicated.

Not only were they poor, but they also had a lot of problems.

So when Old Zhang heard Zhao Tingxu say that, he thought Zhao Tingxu was just bragging.

"Yes, yes, this girl is indeed pretty," Old Zhang repeated, though he didn't quite believe what Zhao Tingxu said.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tingxu immediately said, "My dear in-law, you don't know. Let me put it this way, my granddaughter is not only very clever, but she can also predict the future. Just like what happened just now."

Zhao Tingxu was halfway through his sentence when he turned back to look at Zhang Yumei: "Yumei, go and make some tea."

"Mmm." Zhang Yumei went to make tea.

Then everyone realized that they had been so busy that they had forgotten to make tea.

Zhang Yumei quickly brewed the tea, brought it over, and poured tea for Zhao Tingxu and Old Zhang.

Zhao Tingxu continued, "Just before I came in, Da'e said that her aunt's dog bites people and is no good. I didn't believe her, but then Da'e took a stick. I've been here a few times, and Chunni's black dog is really well-behaved. But today, as soon as I came in, it broke free of its chain, ran out, and bit me."

Zhao Tingxu held out his hand for Old Zhang to see; there were bite marks on his hand and arm, with two tooth marks.

Old Zhang looked down and looked quite troubled: "Oh dear, my in-laws got bitten by my own dog. No wonder my son wanted to make dumplings and invite them to stay for dinner today. Zhao Tingxu usually wouldn't stay for dinner."

Old Zhang felt guilty and quickly asked, "Did you apply buckwheat husks?"

Zhao Tingxu withdrew his hand and took a sip of tea: "It's nothing. It's not a big deal, it's not serious."

Zhang Yumei said, "My mom applied buckwheat dressing to my maternal grandfather."

Old Zhang was finally relieved.

Buckwheat is cooling in nature and can detoxify. For antibacterial effects, you should also take some anti-inflammatory medication.

Of course, Zhao Chunni's dog has been with her for many years, so it's unlikely to carry rabies. Generally, you can tell if a dog has rabies by looking at it.

Dogs that get rabies often suffer from mental impairment and may even go crazy. If a rabid dog bites a person, the consequences are more serious. However, if a pet dog that isn't rabid bites someone, it's usually not a major concern.

Since there is no rabies vaccine available here, we can only rely on folk remedies and try to tough it out; there's no other way.

Zhao Tingxu took a few sips of tea and continued, "Don't even mention it. If my granddaughter hadn't hit that dog on the head with a stick, it wouldn't have let go."

Zhao Tingxu couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "At this crucial moment, only Da'e didn't let us down. That's really great."

After hearing Zhao Tingxu say that, Old Zhang felt more favorably toward Zhao Da'e and said, "That Da'e is indeed a very good kid."

Zhao Tingxu had nothing to brag about; his son was a disappointment, so he could only boast about his youngest daughter.

But if the eldest daughter is bragging about her younger sister at her parents' house, it's fine if Old Zhang isn't around. But if Old Zhang is there, it becomes extremely inappropriate.

All Zhao Tingxu could do now was keep praising Zhao Da'e's strengths.

This left Zhao Da'e a bit bewildered: "Hiss... the old man really has nothing to say, so he's starting to make conversation. When did I become so strong that I could uproot mountains and dominate the world? Did I tear tigers apart with my bare hands and kick black bears? Did I cut down ten acres of corn stalks in one go?"

Forget it, you guys keep bragging.

Zhao Da'e then pulled Zhang Yumei to play in the yard. Since her aunt's dog was gone, there was no problem with them going out to play.

When Zhao Da'e arrived at the yard, he climbed onto the tractor to take a look, and the water vat was indeed quite nice.

Zhang Yumei watched from the side, afraid that Zhao Da'e would fall.

In Zhang Yumei's eyes, Zhao Da'e was, after all, just a child, and she was just a child who coaxed the child.

Zhao Da'e played in the yard for quite a while before going back inside when it was time to eat.

Zhao Chunni had already prepared several main dishes, including sausages, pig's head meat, and aspic. There were quite a lot of them.

Zhao Chunni pointed to the few ducks in the small stone enclosure on the west side of the yard and said to Zhang Ruifeng, "After dinner, catch two ducks and take them back to my dad."

Zhang Ruifeng agreed.

Zhao Da'e glanced at the ducks; they were quite plump, probably weighing seven or eight pounds each. She didn't particularly like duck meat, but they looked quite appetizing.

When it was time to eat, Zhao Da'e sat obediently to the side, eating dumplings with his head down, listening to them brag.

Old Zhang didn't drink much alcohol, but he forced himself to drink two ounces of baijiu (Chinese liquor).

As for Zhang Ruifeng, he had a very low alcohol tolerance; after only two ounces of liquor, his face turned red and his neck became swollen. He also started to stutter a bit when he spoke.

“Dad, don’t worry. I promise I’ll finish the housework in four or five days.” Zhang Ruifeng said, “It’s just a few tens of thousands of bricks, not a big job. When spring comes and the river thaws, I’ll drive over and haul sand. It wasn’t easy for Tiesheng and the others to build their house, so as their brother-in-law, I’ll naturally contribute money and labor.”

Old Zhang was stunned for a moment: Old Zhao's family is going to build a house?

This is huge news. At least for Old Zhang, it's definitely big news. Old Zhang knows the Zhao family quite well.

In this era, building houses by farming is virtually impossible. The land doesn't belong to individuals; it belongs to the village collective. Individuals may own some land, but it's all reclaimed land; they cultivate it themselves. Yields are pitifully low, grain prices are poor, and income is extremely limited.

Old Zhang has retired, and his sixth son, Zhang Laoliu, has taken over. He now earns a little over a thousand yuan a month; with that kind of salary, building a house would only take two or three years.

However, the Zhao family is not an option.

The Zhao family does nothing but farm; how can they build a new house?

Although Old Zhang thought this in his heart, he still said with concern, "Building a house is good. A new house is bright and spacious. My fourth son's new house looks bright and spacious."

Zhao Chunni's new house was built not long ago.

The new house has large windows, so it gets plenty of sunlight and looks bright and airy. Plus, the new houses are much larger than the old ones.

In the past, adobe houses couldn't be built too big. One reason was that the adobe walls of adobe houses weren't particularly stable.

The adobe walls were made by stacking adobe bricks, without any fixing material; they relied entirely on the adobe bricks for support. Basically, chopped millet stalks were used to act as a tensioning agent in the soil, similar to the function of modern steel reinforcement.

The area does produce red clay, which is quite suitable for building houses due to its excellent adhesion. However, over time, exposure to wind and sun will cause cracks to appear. Therefore, structurally, it is not inherently safe.

Because everyone feels this structure is not very safe, it is impossible to make the wall particularly long. Generally, the width is 3.6 meters and the length is 4.5 meters.

This width and length were determined by countless generations of people, but the specific reasons for these dimensions are unknown.

In those days, the width of a typical house, whether made of stone or adobe, was only 3.6 meters. Aside from the width of the walls themselves, the purlins were generally 3.3 meters wide.

The issue of length requires the main beams of the house.

This main beam is made entirely of wood.

The roof beam is usually made of ordinary wood from the ground up to about four or five meters. At this length, the wood is of particularly good quality and quite sturdy, making it a better choice for a roof beam. Further up, it becomes less sturdy, and the physical strength required for a person also needs to be considered.

After all, it's all done by people now, and a piece of wood is still very heavy. A four- or five-meter-long roof beam weighs about four or five hundred pounds, and it needs to be carried to the top of the wall for installation, which requires more than a dozen strong young men.

We also need to consider whether the walls can withstand this pressure. Will the weight of the beams deform the walls? So, naturally, the shorter the better.

Anyway, the longest beams in the single rooms with adobe walls here are basically no more than 5.5 meters long; any longer and they can't support the weight.

Old Zhao's house is the same.

The house is small and rather cramped inside.

There was nowhere to sit or stand, which was extremely uncomfortable.

Zhao Tingxu snorted coldly, unable to vent his anger, but he was still uncomfortable.

"How about we build the house next spring, Big Goose?"

Zhao Tingxu was unsure of the situation, so he lacked confidence. He simply didn't have the money to build a house, so he looked at Zhao Da'e as he spoke.

Zhao Da'e was enjoying his dumplings; they were buckwheat dumplings and pork and sauerkraut dumplings, and they tasted really good.

Zhao Da'e wanted to thank Zhao Tingxu: "Old man, thank you for getting bitten by the dog, so I could eat such delicious buckwheat dumplings."

Buckwheat has a fragrant aroma and tastes better than wheat flour.

"Building a house... we'll definitely build a house next year."

Whether or not you'll be given a place to stay is another matter.

Zhao Da'e can build houses, but only for his own residence.

Zhao Da'e knew from his past life that making money was difficult; the first thing to solve was the problem of making money in the long term, which meant solving the problem of the shredder. Even if he only earned a hundred or two a day, that would still be a huge sum of money.

In this era, the average wage is only around thirty to fifty yuan. Wages are high in the city, but the cost of living is also high.

We can't just make money in the city and spend it in the countryside.

In the city, everything costs money: food, clothing, housing, transportation. Even drinking water costs money.

In the countryside, you can save money. In the summer, you can grow your own vegetables, and in the winter, you can eat potatoes, cabbage, radishes, carrots, and the like, which are much cheaper. There's also pickled cabbage.

Regardless of the era, Zhao Da'e believes that money gives one a sense of confidence. Without money, life becomes difficult. First, solve the basic living problems, then solve the problem of a new house.

It's too early to say anything now, but hauling bricks and sand is something that can be done.

The red bricks were bought on credit by Zhao Da'e. It's not that he didn't pay for them, but it's more accurate to say that Zhao Da'e has little intention of paying them back. Anyway, the brick factory won't be closing down for another two or three years. As for sand, in this era, you can haul sand from the Hetao region.

This is free; you don't need to spend any money.

Anyone can haul sand there, and no one is in charge.

In two more years, it won't be good anymore. Too much sand has been dredged from the riverbed, and the environment has started to deteriorate. So, it will no longer be allowed to dredge sand privately. Although you can still sneak it in, if you get caught, you'll just be fined or something, which isn't worth it.

Besides, since it was free to use his aunt's tractor, Zhao Da'e was inclined to say a few nice words.

"Speaking of hauling sand and bricks, I was thinking of finding someone else, but my grandfather said, 'Your own daughter has a tractor, why would you ask someone else? Wouldn't that make outsiders laugh?' He said, 'Let your uncle do the work. He'd be more than happy to do it.'"

Old Zhang's expression froze: "You'd be happy to help for free? I've really learned something new. Moving bricks and sand requires fuel, doesn't that cost money?"