When I went home for Chinese New Year, I spent a million times more money on my foreign wife.

On a winter morning, Kaoshantun was still shrouded in a bluish-gray morning mist.

The tranquility of the village entrance was shattered by a low, rapid roar of engines as the rooster crowed its first crow.

The ground trembled slightly; the sound was not like a tractor entering the village, but more like a tank corps pressing in.

My second aunt was wearing an oil-stained cotton-padded jacket and was holding an enamel basin, about to pour out dirty water. When she heard the noise, her hand trembled and water splashed all over her shoes.

She didn't have time to curse; she stood on tiptoe and looked towards the village entrance.

Upon closer inspection, the sunflower seed shell in her mouth fell directly to the ground.

A black Toyota Prado led the way, followed by a line of heavy-duty construction trucks, all bearing the words "Hongda Decoration" in large characters.

Behind them were several large flatbed trucks covered with tarpaulins, which were components of the mobile modular housing, and at the very back was even a flatbed truck carrying a giant generator.

The convoy was impressive, kicking up snow dust that reached a height of two meters.

"Goodness gracious... what's going on?"

Next to my second aunt, Aunt Wang from next door peeked out, looking astonished.

"Hmph, besides that spendthrift son of the Chen family, who else could cause such a commotion?" Second Aunt rolled her eyes, threw the basin on the ground, and said, "They have a few bucks to burn, making such a fuss during the New Year. Aren't they afraid of tearing down that dilapidated house?"

The convoy drove straight to the front gate of Chen Yang's house.

Chen Yang was already dressed and standing in the courtyard.

As soon as the car came to a stop, the door of the first Land Cruiser opened, and the grumpy old man from yesterday's phone call—Boss Liu of the renovation company—rolled out like a nimble fat man.

His face had completely lost its grumpiness from last night; he was all smiles, his chubby cheeks squeezing into a flower-like shape.

"Brother Yang, right! Oh my god, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting!" Boss Liu rushed forward, grabbed Chen Yang's hands and shook them vigorously. "The people, materials, and equipment you requested are all here! They were brought in from the city overnight!"

Chen Yang withdrew his hand, patted Boss Liu on the shoulder, and pointed to the dozens of workers who had jumped off the truck behind him.

Although these workers were wearing thick cotton-padded coats, they all had dark circles under their eyes, clearly indicating that they had been dragged out of bed before they were fully awake.

"You've all worked hard."

Chen Yang didn't say any empty platitudes; he simply pulled out several bundles of unopened red bills from his pocket and stuffed them into Boss Liu's arms.

"This is a start-of-work bonus, two thousand yuan per person. Let's give the money first before we start working."

Mr. Liu held the heavy stack of cash, his eyes wide open.

He's been in the renovation business for over a decade, and he's always had to beg and plead for his wages. This is the first time he's ever encountered a customer who's already promised to pay him back before even starting work.

"Brothers! Did you hear that?! Yang-ge gave out red envelopes! Get yourselves together!"

At Boss Liu's shout, the workers who were yawning suddenly perked up as if they had been given a shot of adrenaline, and began unloading the truck with shouts of excitement.

At that moment, the curtain of the west room was lifted, and Katyusha came out.

She was wearing Chen Ma's bright red cotton-padded jacket with peony flowers, a Lei Feng hat on her head, and was even carrying a rusty shovel in her hands.

This red and green floral print outfit, typical of Northeast China, looked both tacky and trendy on her supermodel figure, giving off a strange sense of style.

"Chen! Where should we dig?"

Katyusha brandished her shovel, her azure eyes blazing with fighting spirit. She was determined to vent the humiliation of being chased by geese last night through physical labor.

"You don't need to dig, just watch." Chen Yang smiled and straightened the hat on her head.

"No! I'm... the supervisor!"

Katyusha spoke earnestly in broken Chinese, then walked over to the workers digging the trench, pointed at the permafrost, and shouted, "Harasha! Keep it up!"

Seeing this pretty foreign woman in a floral-patterned jacket directing them, the workers worked even harder, their pickaxes swishing and sparks flying everywhere.

Chen Yang turned to Liu Laoban and instructed him: "First, demolish the toilet and install a complete set of integrated bathroom fixtures. The sewage pipes should go directly to the septic tank and be double-insulated. I don't want to see the pipes freeze and crack."

"Understood! We've brought insulation materials used in Antarctic research stations!" Boss Liu assured him, patting his chest.

The courtyard was bustling with activity, almost like a battle was being fought.

The exterior wall insulation panels were quickly installed like puzzle pieces, the old windows were completely removed and replaced with triple-layered vacuum soundproof glass, and even the old incoming power line was replaced with a thicker industrial cable.

This isn't renovation; it's a complete demolition and reconstruction.

At this moment, Chen Ma ran out of the house and saw several workers moving an old-fashioned cabinet out of the house. She was so anxious that she slapped her thigh.

"Oh dear! That's a cabinet your great-grandmother left behind! It's all solid wood! Don't throw it away!"

It was an old-fashioned varnished cabinet with severely peeling paint, the doors couldn't close properly, and it smelled musty inside.

"Mom, it's full of wormholes, the tobacco and alcohol have rotted." Chen Yang pulled his mother back.

"Why replace it with a new one! This cabinet can last for another thirty years! Is this how you live? This is a sin!" Chen's mother stomped her feet in distress, clutching the cabinet door tightly.

Chen Yang didn't try to persuade her; he simply took out a bank card from his pocket and stuffed it into his mother's hand.

"Mom, there's 500,000 in this card. We'll take the money and buy a mahogany house in the county."

Chen Ma froze, clutching the light card in her hand.

Five hundred thousand?

Buy a broken cabinet?

She looked at the broken cabinet, then at the card in her hand, and suddenly realized that the cabinet was indeed a bit of an eyesore.

"Um... be careful of the door frame when you move it, don't bump it." Chen Ma let go of the door frame, put the card in her pocket, and rushed into the kitchen. "Oh, I'll go boil some water for the workers."

In less than a morning, the Chen family's courtyard had been completely transformed.

The old furniture was piled up like a small mountain and was hauled away by trucks.

The brand-new integrated bathroom modules were lowered into the backyard by a crane, and a row of solar panels was even installed on the roof.

The villagers crowded around the Chen family's doorway, craning their necks as if watching a spectacle.

"Wow, what kind of toilet is that? How come it glows?"

"I heard it's fully automatic, so your butt won't get cold when you sit on it!"

"The Chen family has really struck it rich this time. Look at that huge chandelier, isn't it crystal?"

On the outskirts of the crowd, Auntie held a handful of sunflower seeds, but didn't crack a single one.

Looking at Chen Yang's brand-new front door, and then back at her own dilapidated house with its windows still covered with plastic sheeting, she felt a surge of bitterness welling up inside her.

She spat fiercely, turned around and walked home, just in time to see her own old hen wandering around in the middle of the road.

"What are you looking at! You eggless thing!"

My aunt kicked it, and the old hen flew up onto the wall with a pitiful clucking.

Chen Yang stood in front of the newly renovated floor-to-ceiling window, looking at Boss Liu inside who was debugging the smart home system, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Brother Yang, as you instructed, the underfloor heating has been installed throughout the house. The electric boiler is powerful enough that the house will reach 30 degrees Celsius in ten minutes." Boss Liu wiped the sweat from his brow. "This speed is unmatched in the entire province."

Chen Yang glanced at Katyusha, who was perched on the smart toilet seat studying the buttons, and smiled.

"Money is not an issue; all I want is to feel comfortable in this moment."

Just then, a noisy argument suddenly came from outside the door.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! This is an illegal structure! Who gave you permission to build here?"

Chen Yang raised an eyebrow. In the middle of the New Year, why would someone go out of their way to cause trouble?