Reborn in the Millennium: Building a Fortune from Fishing

Chapter 108 Top beam
"Dahe, your yard is really big. Only the one at the entrance of the village can be enclosed." Erhu said enviously.

Their homes all have small yards, which are barely enough to grow vegetables, and are just a small area for storing miscellaneous items.

At this moment, all the workers had finished their work and gone back, leaving only Erhu and the others still there.

"You guys are all so crowded together, you definitely can't enclose a large yard."

The reason why no one lives near the county road is because of security issues. The county road was not safe in the 80s.

The old man was already doing well at that time, so he directly set up his homestead here, and the surrounding area was very spacious.

Qin Dahe told them about the beam raising tomorrow and said that he would treat them to a drink alone tomorrow night.

The three of them agreed readily that they would definitely be the ones to put up the beams.

After the beam is put up, several tables will be set up at noon to invite some relatives and friends to come over for a meal, depending on personal preference.

I have given out a lot of favors over the years. I will receive some money when I build a house, and I will receive another sum when I get married next year. Hey, it’s a huge profit.

But none of the young people like this kind of big banquet. It would be so much fun for the four of them to get together and drink.

"Dahe, are you planning to convert this motorcycle into a three-wheeler?"

"Well, I can't always use the big tricycle at home when I go fishing. It's better to get my own car for convenience."

"It must have cost a lot of money, right?" Tiedan said enviously.

The Qin family is really wealthy. This year they have a big tricycle and a big wooden boat. Now they have built a house and bought two motorcycles. Everyone is envious of them.

"It's not much money. You two can come over and help me when the time comes. I'll teach you how to modify the tricycle."

Erhu and Tiedan's eyes lit up when they heard this. They thought they could learn some skills. Since Hanwaer became an apprentice to the old carpenter, everyone looked up to him. At least he could support his family.

"This car is too old. There are many parts that need to be rebuilt. I have to buy a lot of materials from a repair shop."

"It's okay, we'll help you find it."

Qin Dahe then talked about the sealed tricycle business, saying that he could make some money this winter and teach the two brothers a lesson, and let them run it on their own next year.

"I have bought all the things. When the house is finished, I will ask those tricycle drivers to come over and weld the car heads. I will earn some hard-earned money in the winter." He wiped his hands on the black bear casually. His hands were very dirty.

"By then, the three of us will definitely smoke a lot." He glanced at the two of them.

"I'll buy it, and I'll definitely offer it to Shuangxi when the time comes." Tiedan said flatteringly.

"That's right." He chuckled.

He was just joking. They had been playing together since childhood, so there was no need to charge for teaching them welding skills.

"When you have learned the skills, you two can open a modification shop in town together. With the money you make, you can each marry two women." The market for modified cars in the rural areas here is huge.

Don't worry about whether it's legal or not. There's not even a traffic light here. As long as the car can move, you can drive.

"Nonsense, if you have money you can marry two people?"

"Actually, being handsome is okay. When I was in junior college, I was broke, but there were still senior girls sticking to me. Sometimes I had to go to two shows in one night." This is pure bragging.

Several of them obviously didn't believe that such a wonderful thing could not happen to their brothers.

"Pull the rope up, Erhu, use some strength."

The day of raising the beam finally arrived. Many relatives came and it was a lively occasion.

The third uncle, the boss who worked for the people to have more children, and the second uncle were all below, watching the four young men lift the wood up easily.

Erhu and Hanwaer are the main forces, and they are both very strong.

Wedge the beam firmly into the prepared gap, then put up the wooden boards and nail them on, then lay the bamboo mats and waterproof cloth, and the last layer is the tiles.

The thing about seeing underneath by removing a tile as shown in the movies is completely nonsense. They fill it with a lot of stuff anyway, so tiles alone are useless.

When Qin's father saw that the beams were set up, he also began to prepare firecrackers.

I bought ten firecrackers with a thousand bangs each, plus a few sky rockets, and spread them out in a row underneath.

After everyone came down, Qin Dahe started to light the fire. The crackling sound of firecrackers rang out, and everyone started to work together.

They tried to finish laying the tiles in the morning and would not work in the afternoon because they were hosting a banquet at noon and everyone would definitely drink with the meal.

There are many people at this time and the work is done quickly.

A person stands in the middle of a ladder and passes the tiles up from the bottom.

Qin Dahe was still a little unwell, so he was picking up bricks from below.

Yanyan mingled in the crowd and looked at the new house, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.

This big tiled house is really beautiful, and it has three balconies.

Other people also think this kind of house is quite fashionable, but the cost is too high. Just looking at the wood and concrete piles on it, you can tell that a lot of money was spent.

The old man smiled and started giving cigarettes to everyone, as today was a happy occasion.

Qin's mother pursed her lips as she looked at the new house. She was very happy in her heart because her son was about to get married.

He was so small when he was born, but in the blink of an eye twenty years later he has grown this big.

Moreover, my son is promising and can earn money.

She happily took her aunt and others to the kitchen to prepare meals. Most of the dishes had been cooked in advance, so now they just had to heat up the meat dishes.

There were five tables of guests at noon, and a temporary stove was set up. After the tiles were removed, the tables were set up in the yard.

The tables, chairs, dishes and chopsticks were all borrowed from various households. This is how things are done nowadays. Unless you are a wealthy family, no one would be willing to eat in a hotel.

She also prepared three red envelopes and gave them to the silly kids. They have been helping wholeheartedly throughout this period.

When their son was sick, these people almost treated this place as their own home. They were so busy that they would not go home until dinner time.

Mother Qin was secretly grateful in her heart. They were all good kids. She would have to let Dahe take care of them more in the future.

There are four lines of work over there laying tiles, and they work very quickly.

There is no need to put any space in the middle for the two balconies, and the two wooden guardrails are directly exposed, which saves some effort.

A little cement will be laid under the tiles to consolidate them, at least to provide some safety in windy weather.

Every time the cement ran out, they would shout and another bucket would be handed up.

It wasn't until eleven o'clock that the tiles were completely laid, and now it looks much more beautiful.

However, the rough framework of the attic inside has only been completed, and a lot of things still need to be added. The furniture has not been moved in yet, and the old carpenter is still preparing the materials.

In addition to applying putty inside and outside, it will take at least ten days to complete the work.

This is still considered slow. Others who are getting married in red brick and tile houses are now starting to make dolls in their houses.

Qin's mother started to invite people to dinner, and Qin Dahe simply washed his face and started to open the wine for everyone.

Grandpa and auntie kept calling out, their little mouths as if covered with honey, not missing a single one.

Everyone praised his behavior, as none of the young people had such a good way of dealing with people.

He went around helping everyone open their drinks and get cigarettes, with two packs on each table.

There is another pack as a return gift. I bought ten packs of Hongshuangxi cigarettes this morning. The money spent on cigarettes alone was over 600 yuan.

Today, I collected over 3000 yuan in gifts, and with the food, I can only say I made a small profit. Gifts are usually around 200 yuan these days, and close relatives like my second uncle need at least yuan to be considered generous.

I helped my mother clean up the yard for half a day in the afternoon. It was such a mess and we had to return the tables, chairs, dishes and chopsticks. The other three stayed to help.

A few of them made an appointment to drink together in the evening. Naturally, they didn't drink much at noon. They were young and didn't like such occasions.

Qin's mother came over and took out red envelopes, giving one to each of them.

"Auntie, what is this for?"

"Why do we get red envelopes when we help with the work?"

The silly kid was so anxious that he put the red envelope on Qin Dahe on the ground. He had owed favors to others since he was a child, and this time he was finally able to help a little, so how could he dare to take the red envelope.

"Listen to me, take it all, fifty yuan each, let's have some fun and buy some cigarettes." Mother Qin held the silly child down, her face flushed with anxiety for the little one.

"It's not much money, so you guys should deal with it as you wish in the future."

Having said that, I went in without giving them a chance to pay back the money.

Qin Dahe chuckled and did not accept their red envelopes.

"Take it all. From now on, we brothers will rely on each other and live a prosperous life."

To put it bluntly, from now on, when each family's parents pass away, they will be the ones to carry them. There is no need to be polite. The fifty yuan can only be regarded as pocket money given by Qin's mother to the three of them.

They could only accept it reluctantly, but they said that they would prepare the dinner and Qin Dahe would only be responsible for buying wine.

Qin Dahe then drove a tricycle and returned the items to each household along the way.

The remaining Double Happiness cigarettes were given to each of the three of them. Their return gifts were taken back by their parents, and they did not have any Double Happiness cigarettes on them.

At this time, the yard had become deserted, and the couple sat on a bench admiring their new house.

"Lan'er, the house is built. Once Abao gets married, we'll live comfortably." Father Qin said with satisfaction.

Qin's mother nodded in agreement. The major matters had been taken care of, and the rest of the time was just to save money. Life would have to be better.

This is the most common mentality of parents, but after getting married, having children and raising them, and having an adult stay at home, is not that easy.

It’s better now, as most families have only one child. In the past, a family with four or five children would have no peace at all.

In their family, the first child is a girl and the second child is a boy, otherwise they would have to continue having children.

The two of them calculated their family savings and realized that buying putty powder and workers would be another expense, and they would also have to spend a lot of money on social obligations during the New Year.

By the time I get married, I will have only about ten thousand yuan left, and I won’t be able to rest this winter.

Generally, farmers have the most leisure time in winter. Planting rapeseed is not like planting cotton, where you have to be busy from the beginning to the end, from planting the seeds to selling the cotton.

Just clean up the fields, then sow seeds or seedlings, and there will be very little follow-up work.

Seedling sowing means to cultivate seedlings first, use a special mud press to make cylindrical culture soil with small holes, and then sow seeds for seedling cultivation.

This is what we did in previous years when the cotton harvest was late: we would first cultivate the seedlings, then dig holes in the fields after the cotton stalks were formed, and then plant the cultivated seedlings with soil.

This method is troublesome, but it can make rational use of the space in the field, and the rapeseed yield of seedlings grown in advance is also higher.

Another way is to sow seeds on demand. Just dig holes, sprinkle a few seeds and a few fertilizers in each hole, then cover with a thin layer of soil and water. This is the most labor-saving method.

His family is so busy this year that he has no time to grow seedlings, so he has to do this.

The couple calculated the time carefully and had to go to the fields to work soon, they really couldn't afford to delay.

"Leave the housework to Dahe. You cook in the morning and come with me to the fields in the afternoon." He worked in the morning, at least to gain back the time.

"Okay, he can do it."

Their son has always performed well, and the couple is relieved.

If we delay any further, rapeseed will be completely out of the question.

The weather this year is particularly abnormal. It was hot for several months and then dropped rapidly. Many people in the village fell ill.

Even those who grow crops are a little confused and can only rely on experience.

People from the agricultural technology station don’t come down either, alas!

In the evening, the brothers gathered at Hanwaer's house. Since they couldn't cook in the new house yet, they could only eat at Hanwaer's house.

I didn't bring anything for grandma this time. The best gift he could give her was to let the child learn carpentry.

Erhu and the other two prepared a lot of snacks to go with the wine that night. There was braised duck, two kilograms of crucian carp, and a dish of pig ears mixed with peanuts, which went very well with the wine.

"Where did you get such a big crucian carp?" He was surprised to see such a big crucian carp. It was wild, and you could tell by looking at its fur.

"Brother, I caught it." The silly boy said happily. He was very good at catching crucian carp.

"Cena, take me fishing when you have time." Erhu and Tiedan looked bitter. They hadn't caught a big fish for a long time and they were thinking about it every day at home.

"In Li Gezhuang." The silly boy said without reservation. It was cold recently and no one stole his nets, so he spread out all 19 traps.

The two were delighted. It would be easy to find a fishing spot. The river on the Ligezhuang side was connected to the outer river, but it was separated by a sluice gate. They just had to go there and try it a few times.

Qin Dahe was also itching to go, but he was afraid he would be disappointed this winter because his family was too busy.

We moved three boxes of beer today. As usual, the kid ate a bowl of rice before starting to drink with them.

Wild crucian carp is very fat. It takes only 20 minutes to cook before it comes out of the pan. It is fragrant and the fish meat is soft and fluffy.

Moreover, the silly boy must have raised this fish for a day in advance, so it didn’t have any earthy smell at all. He liked it as soon as he took a bite with chopsticks.

"Brothers, let's go, everyone will become richer and richer, haha."

"drink."

There was laughter and chatter at the table. Grandma was sitting by the fire in the kitchen. When she heard the laughter in the house, a smile appeared on her face.

The naked kids are also getting married, and now that the silly kid has learned a skill, it should be soon too.

She thought happily in her heart, but frowned and covered her chest. It seemed like something was blocking her throat, and she couldn't cough, and she didn't dare to cough.

Dr. Li told him that her body could not withstand the severe coughing now, and if she could endure it, she could live a few more days.

She just ate some porridge and didn't dare to eat anymore. Eating more would make her feel even more uncomfortable. Now she is hanging on by a thread.

She wanted to wait until the weather got colder before leaving. If she left now, the child would have to waste time learning carpentry.

In the old man’s mind, his own life or death is not important, the most important thing is that his grandson can learn a skill.

"I'm telling you, if that bastard Xiao Xiang dares to steal your net again, we'll beat him to death." Erhu said fiercely.

A few days ago, Qin's father's shrimp cage was stolen. Someone said that they saw Xiao Xiang from Xu Village holding a flashlight and going to the county road in the middle of the night, so Qin's father naturally became suspicious.

But he didn't get angry. He was waiting for the opportunity. He definitely couldn't take action.

"That guy has a hole in his brain. He even dared to steal fish from the big lake of Third Master's home. If Third Master wasn't afraid of offending people, he would have sent him to labor camp long ago."

Qin Dahe curled his lips. Xiao Xiang's family was not actually poor, but their family tradition was too crooked. His father had been beaten for stealing before, and the kid followed suit and was beaten a lot when he was a child.

His mother didn't care. As long as her son could get the advantage, it didn't matter if he got beaten a little. Every child grew up getting beaten.

(End of this chapter)