Hard work after winning the lottery

That night, the lights in the Hua family's house in Baixi Village stayed on until dawn before going out.

The decision to build a house was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples of hope in everyone's heart.

The next day, Hua Yun got up very early.

Instead of herding sheep, she rode her family's old, rattling bicycle—a 28-inch model that rattled everywhere except for its bell—and bumped her way to town.

She was going to hire the town's most famous architect, Boss Zhang.

Boss Zhang is a middle-aged man in his early forties. He wears gold-rimmed glasses and has a refined, scholarly air about him. He is quite well-known in the town and specializes in designing small villas for wealthy families.

When he followed Hua Yun, stumbling along the mud-brick house of the Hua family, a barely perceptible look of surprise flashed in his eyes behind his glasses.

Hua Yun ignored his gaze, but politely invited him into the house and poured him a cup of hot tea.

"Mr. Zhang, I would like to ask you to design a new house for my family."

"Build it on this old house site."

Mr. Zhang adjusted his glasses and professionally surveyed his surroundings: "No problem. Miss Hua, what are your thoughts and requirements regarding the new house?"

"Yes." Hua Yun's eyes shone brightly.

"I want it to have both modern conveniences and the charm of our rural courtyard."

Her voice was clear and firm, echoing in the simple main room.

"I want a spacious and bright living room with a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows so that sunlight can stream in directly."

"The kitchen needs to be big, with a central island, so my mom can cook comfortably without having to suffer from the smoke and tears streaming down her face."

"We need enough bedrooms. There are six people in our family, and everyone needs their own room. My brother's room needs to have a big desk by the window."

She paused, then turned her gaze to her grandparents who were sitting quietly beside her.

"I also want to design a large south-facing terrace for my grandfather on the second floor, so he can put up a deck chair, sunbathe, drink tea, and enjoy the view of the mountains."

"We can't lose the yard. We need to fence it off and leave a plot of land for my grandma so she can grow her favorite vegetables and peppers."

Hua Yun's description paints a vivid and warm picture of future life.

Boss Zhang listened attentively, his pen scribbling notes in his notebook. The surprise in his eyes had completely turned into appreciation.

Three days later, Engineer Zhang returned to the Hua family home with a thick roll of design drawings.

The blueprints were spread out on the eight-immortal table with a missing corner in the main room, and the family immediately crowded around, heads craning together as if they were looking at some rare treasure.

"My God! This is our future home?" Li Guifen covered her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise.

The house on the drawing is a three-story white building, designed in a simple yet grand style, with a beautiful pitched roof and an elegant terrace.

"Sis! Look! Is this my room? There really is a big desk!" Hua An pointed to a room on the second floor, his face flushed with excitement.

Hua Shu remained silent. His calloused hands, with a slight tremor, carefully stroked the square marked "Garage" and "Tool Room" on the blueprint, his eyes welling up with tears.

Grandma put on her reading glasses, leaned closer to look, pointed to the vegetable patch in the yard that had been specially marked, and beamed from ear to ear: "Oh my, this place is great, this place is great! From now on, we can just pick the scallions and cook them right away!"

Grandpa Hua Mutou stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the spacious terrace on the second floor, as if he could already see himself leisurely sipping tea and gazing at the distant, misty mountains.

He turned his head and looked at Hua Yun beside him. Her weathered face was full of satisfaction and pride.

"Okay, we'll cover it like this!"

Hua Shu slammed his hand on the table, the sound loud and clear, a decisive blow.

In the days that followed, Hua Yun became exceptionally busy.

She contacted the best construction team in the county, repeatedly confirmed the brand and quality of the building materials with the contractor, and carefully read the contract terms.

Li Guifen went to the town's temple to ask a highly respected master to calculate an auspicious day.

The groundbreaking date was set for three days later.

The day before construction began was the day we moved in.

The construction team has already temporarily built a simple shed next to the yard using corrugated steel sheets and wood for the family to live in during the construction period.

Although it was simple, the family felt sweeter than honey.

Before demolishing the old house, Hua Yun specially bought a camera from the town.

"Come on, everyone stand still! Let's take a picture with the old house!"

She called her family to stand in a row in front of the mottled mud wall.

In the video, the grandparents stand in the middle, the parents stand on both sides, and Hua Yun and her younger brother stand on either side of their parents.

Li Guifen raised her hand and gently stroked the wall that was cracked by wind and rain. She had plastered it with mud by hand when she married into the family, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Why are you crying? Building a new house is a wonderful thing!" Hua Shu said, but she also turned her head and secretly wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve.

This house holds most of their life's memories.

The birth of Huayun, the cries of Hua'an, the laughter of the siblings chasing and playing in the yard, the warmth of the family eating around the stove... scene after scene is etched into these bricks, stones, grass and trees.

"Dad, Mom, out with the old, in with the new," Hua Yun comforted them with a smile. "Our new home will hold even more wonderful memories."

"Snap!"

The shutter clicked, capturing this moment of laughter and tears, along with the old house behind it that was about to disappear, forever.

On the day the construction began, before dawn, the entire Baixi Village was awakened by the deafening sound of firecrackers going off in front of the Hua family's house.

Red firecracker debris covered the ground, like a festive carpet.

The roar of bulldozers echoed through the valley.

The villagers all rushed over to see what was going on, surrounding the Hua family's courtyard in layers.

"Tsk tsk, look at the grandeur of the Hua family's home; they hired the best construction team in the county!"

"Hua Shu really gave birth to a wonderful daughter! She's finally made it through!"

Among the crowd was Hua Yun's uncle, Hua Shi, who looked at the bulldozer wielding its iron arm with undisguised envy.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the bulldozer's iron arm fell heavily.

"boom--"

The first earthen wall collapsed with a crash, raising a cloud of dust.

In that dust, it seemed as if half a lifetime of poverty and hardship had vanished.

Li Guifen and her grandmother instinctively turned their faces away, but tears still streamed down their cheeks.

Hua Shu clenched his fists tightly, staring intently ahead, as if trying to etch this scene of tearing everything down and rebuilding everything into his very bones.

Hua Yun stood beside her family, without crying.

She just watched quietly.

Watching the old house that held her entire childhood and adolescence being razed to the ground amidst a deafening roar.

Instead of feeling too sad, I felt a surge of unprecedented pride.