Era: Seven money-losing girls? They're trying to trick me into having a daughter again!

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Lai Gouzi, who was following behind Liu Wang, quickly chimed in, "Dawei, don't worry, we brothers will definitely work hard and won't let you pay us for nothing!"

"That's right! Dawei, the wages you paid your brother Daqiang... hehe, we don't need to pay that much, just give us whatever you think is fair!"

Fang Wei looked at the faces in front of him and sneered silently to himself.

What help? What do you mean by "I'm just killing time"? To put it bluntly, he's just jealous of the hundred yuan he gave his older brother and Yang to share!

You should know that in Laotang Village in 1984, one hundred yuan was enough for a strong laborer to work for more than half a year without eating or drinking!

"Da Liu, thank you in advance."

Fang Wei didn't want to be taken advantage of, so he said politely.

"But there's not much work to do at the old forest farm now. It's just weeding and turning over the soil, all rough work. My older brother can do it all by himself."

"Huh? Weeding and turning the soil is work too!"

Liu Wang grew anxious and advised, "If you let Daqiang do it all by himself, how long will it take? More people mean more hands!"

Fang Wei smiled but didn't respond to his comment. Instead, he said, "Besides, the situation at the old forest farm is quite complicated right now. I still need to figure things out slowly. Having too many people would only make things more chaotic."

"How about this?"

Seeing Liu Wang's increasingly tense expression, he added, "We're all from the same village. If the old forest farm ever needs more manpower in the future, I'll definitely come to you."

Liu Wang's expression froze for a moment.

He wasn't stupid; he understood perfectly well the refusal in Fang Wei's words, but he couldn't find a good reason to continue persuading him.

Fang Wei has already said that "we will give priority to the villagers when we need manpower in the future." If he keeps pressing him for answers, he probably won't get anything out of it.

"Okay...okay."

Liu Wang forced an awkward smile at Fang Wei, "Well... Dawei, you'd better keep your word."

"Don't worry, I remember."

Fang Wei nodded with a forced smile.

Liu Wang and his group could only slink away again.

Fang Wei watched their retreating figures and sneered. He pulled the wet towel off his shoulder and threw it into the bucket next to him, then bent down and picked up the trowel again.

"Da Kuan, come here, hand me these bricks."

"Hey! They're here!"

……

The afternoon sun was even more intense.

Fang Wei stood shirtless on the roof, filling the gaps in the tiles with mortar with a trowel. Sweat streamed down his back, staining his waistband with a large dark sweat stain.

The courtyard wall has been built to a height of about half a person.

On the foundation of the new kitchen, the first layer of blue bricks has begun to be laid.

Uncle Li stood atop the wall, holding a spirit level, squinting as he carefully measured: "A little to the left—yes! Half a finger more—good! That's it! Hold!"

Following his instructions, Fang Wei steadily and firmly embedded the wall bricks into the mortar.

His house has been under repair for three days now, and only a few idle men with nothing better to do occasionally glance over here.

Wu Shaoli placed the mung bean soup she had specially bought and a plate of steamed sweet potatoes on the table, and said to Uncle Li and Li Dakuan:

"Uncle Li, Da Kuan, take a break. I've made some mung bean soup and steamed sweet potatoes."

"Here we go!"

Fang Wei jumped down from the roof, picked up a sweet potato, and swallowed it in a few bites.

The sweet potato was still a little hot, so he opened his mouth wide, exhaling hot air, chewed a few times, and swallowed. Wu

Watching from the side, Wu Shaoli couldn't help but smile. She reached out and wiped the sweet potato bits from the corner of his mouth, then poured three bowls of mung bean soup and handed them to Fang Wei and the other two: "Here you go, Uncle Li, Da Kuan, this is for you."

"Thanks, Shao Li."

Li Dakuan accepted the mung bean soup somewhat embarrassedly, and after drinking it, he picked up a steamed sweet potato and ate it.

During the three days he and his father worked at Fang Wei's house, they ate much better than when they worked at other people's houses. They had meat almost every meal, and occasionally some White Rabbit milk candy to take home for their child.

Whether it's boiled water or herbal tea, it's available whenever you want to drink it.

Li Dakuan used to look down on Fang Wei, a man who couldn't even support his wife and children, but now he thinks Fang Wei is a really good person.

"Honey, let's make braised pork for dinner tonight, make a lot, and also a loofah, egg, and lean pork soup."

Fang Wei sipped his mung bean soup and said to Wu Shaoli.

"No need! Shaoli!"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Li quickly refused, saying, "A simple meal is fine; there's no need to cook meat every day. Enough to eat is enough!"

He's worked for so many years, and no family has ever let people like him eat meat every day!

If he keeps eating like this, he might be too embarrassed to take his wages when it's time to settle the bill.

"It's alright, Uncle Li."

Wu Shaoli smiled politely and picked up the plate of sweet potatoes that had already been eaten.

"The meat has been bought. You can sit and rest for a while. Don't work right after eating. Just call me if you need anything."

"David, you're wasting so much money."

Seeing that Wu Shaoli had finished speaking and left with the plate, Uncle Li felt embarrassed to chase after her and try to persuade her to leave. He could only say to Fang Wei, "Your work isn't tiring, we can just eat whatever we want."

"Uncle Li, what are you thinking about?"

Fang Wei feigned surprise as he looked at Uncle Li, and chuckled strangely, "It was my daughters and I who wanted to eat it, how did it become something made especially for you?"

"Hey! You little rascal!"

Uncle Li wanted to scold the kid when he heard this, but in the end he just said, "Fine, then my son and I will take advantage of your daughter's fame and have a meal of braised pork!"

Fang Wei chuckled and nodded, "Okay, eat as much as you want. I don't have much else, but I'll make sure you're full!"

……

Several days passed quickly, and the house was finally repaired on the seventh day.

Fang Wei stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking up at the house he had repaired with his own hands.

The new kitchen was built with blue bricks all the way to the top, and the wall seams were neatly grouted. Inside, a new stove was built, with space reserved for three iron pots, and white ceramic tiles were laid on the stove surface.

This is the first of its kind in Laotang Village; even the stove in Village Chief Zhou's house isn't tiled.

Uncle Li was taken aback when Fang Wei said he wanted to use white ceramic tiles, saying that it was too elaborate and expensive, but Fang Wei insisted on doing it.

"The stove is a place my wife uses every day, so keeping it clean makes her feel more comfortable cooking."

When Uncle Li heard this, he couldn't help but glance at Fang Wei a few more times, but in the end he didn't say anything more and just carefully laid the tiles.

The girls' rooms have also been completely transformed.

As per Fang Wei's request, the original old kitchen was converted into a large room, more than 20 square meters in size, and a large communal bed, more than 20 feet long, was built against the wall.

Let alone seven daughters, I could sleep three or four more!

The roof was replaced with new gray tiles, and the window was replaced with a sliding window with glass.

The courtyard wall was raised by one and a half feet, and a ring of broken glass shards was embedded on top of it. Fang Wei had Uncle Li do this on his own.

A new squatting pit for the outhouse was dug, the sides were paved with blue bricks, and a rain shelter was built on top.

Fang Wei has finished building the new chicken coop he promised his daughters. Although it's just a simple wooden frame, it's much better than the old broken bamboo basket!