After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

Autumn was approaching, and it looked like it was going to rain, so a few people decided to fix the leaks in the house.

Originally, this was all Xiao Yong's work, but now they couldn't wait any longer. While Xiao Yong was taking a break, the group got to work.

Qin Lie stood shirtless on the roof ridge, holding a trowel in his hand and stepping on a few broken tiles.

"Fourth brother, mud." Qin Lie didn't turn around, but stretched his hand behind him.

Li Dongye squatted on the edge of the eaves, a blade of grass he'd plucked from somewhere dangling from his mouth, a lump of kneaded yellow mud in his hand. He suddenly tossed it upwards, shouting, "Catch!"

The clump of mud traced a parabola and landed steadily on the tile next to Qin Lie's hand.

"Good aim." Qin Lie scooped up some mud with a trowel and smeared it into the gaps in the roof beams with nimble movements.

"That's right, don't you even know what I do for a living?" Li Dongye straightened up, wiped the sweat from his face, his roguish face covered in grime. He took off his vest and casually draped it around his neck, revealing a lean but muscular physique. "It's already autumn, and it's fucking hot."

Jiang He was lying on the ladder handing out tiles, his face was sunburned red, and his hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, making him look like a wilted eggplant.

"Third brother is so biased. Why does he get to read under the tree while I have to come up here and stand in the sun? I'm going to get dehydrated, I'm going to turn into a dried-up human body."

Under the shade of a tree, Gu Qiangying sat on a bamboo chair with a thick medical book spread out on her lap.

Hearing Jiang He's complaint, he turned a page of his book without even looking up. "If you could memorize the 'Compendium of Materia Medica,' I'd let you sit down too."

"Then just kill me." Jiang He pushed the tile onto the roof, hanging precariously from the ladder. "Where's my sister? I want water! I want cold water!"

As they were talking, Lin Qingqing came out carrying a large enamel basin. The basin contained well water, several sliced ​​watermelons floating in it, and a large pot of mung bean soup.

She changed into an old outfit, rolling up the sleeves to her elbows, revealing her two lotus-root-like arms. In the sunlight, her skin was dazzlingly white.

"Stop shouting, isn't your throat dry?" Lin Qingqing walked to the bottom of the ladder, looked up at the men on the roof, and said, "Come down and rest for a while, have some melon."

Upon hearing the noise, Li Dongye immediately perked up.

He leaned over the edge of the roof and peered down, his gaze falling directly onto Lin Qingqing's white skin through her neckline.

"Oh, Qingqing is so considerate." Li Dongye whistled, his peach blossom eyes fixed on her. "Is this melon ripe? I won't eat it if it's not ripe."

Lin Qingqing glared at him irritably, slammed the basin on the stone table, and said, "Eat it or don't, it's up to you to feed the pigs."

"Eat, eat, eat! I'll eat all the poison Qingqing gave me."

Li Dongye braced himself against the eaves with one hand, nimbly flipped and jumped down, kicking up a cloud of dust as he landed.

He rushed to the stone table, grabbed a slice of watermelon without washing his hands, and started eating it. The juice dripped down his chin to his chest and then down his clearly defined V-line.

Jiang He slid down the ladder and squeezed next to Lin Qingqing, nuzzling his head against her shoulder. "Sister, I want to eat too."

Lin Qingqing handed him the biggest piece, saying, "Slow down, don't swallow the seeds."

Qin Lie was the last to come down.

He walked to the well, pumped the water a few times, and then stuck his head under the tap and rinsed it vigorously.

When he looked up again, water droplets flew wildly down his stiff, short hair. He shook his head and strode over to the stone table.

Lin Qingqing had already saved a piece for him, and carefully picked out most of the seeds from it.

"Big brother, here you go."

Qin Lie took the watermelon and ate it in a few bites, leaving only the rind. He looked at Lin Qingqing's cheeks, which were slightly red from the sun, and frowned. "It's sunny, don't stand outside, go back inside."

"It's alright, I just brought you some water." Lin Qingqing fanned Jiang He with a palm-leaf fan, and Jiang He hummed comfortably.

After finishing his melon, Li Dongye's restless hands started acting up again. He moved behind Lin Qingqing and, while Qin Lie went to get the mung bean soup, quickly pinched her lower back.

"Qingqing, I really put in a lot of effort on the roof just now, my back is sore." Li Dongye lowered his voice, his warm breath brushing against her ear. "You have to give me a massage tonight."

Lin Qingqing trembled and almost cried out. She turned around to glare at him, but met Li Dongye's mocking eyes.

"Fourth Brother, have you no shame?"

"What's the point of having a face? Will you be able to get a wife if you have a face?" Li Dongye laughed even harder, reaching out to grab her wrist. "Come on, give me a kiss. A kiss will give me more energy to work."

"Snapped!"

A stone flew over and hit Li Dongye's hand precisely.

Li Dongye withdrew his hand, hissed, and turned to look under the shade of the tree.

Gu Qiangying closed the book and pushed up her glasses: "Fourth Brother, don't be so hot-tempered in broad daylight. Save your energy, don't waste it all on words, otherwise you'll be too weak when you really need to exert yourself at night."

The air in the courtyard seemed to freeze for a second.

Qin Lie paused in his soup-drinking motion, his gaze sweeping heavily over Li Dongye's groin.

Jiang He chewed on a watermelon rind, tilting his head to look at this and then that, suddenly chuckled, "If Fourth Brother goes soft, then..."

"Get lost!" Li Dongye cursed, picked up a stone and threw it back. "I'm tough as nails! Gu Laosan, stop being sarcastic. If you're so capable, come up here and do some work."

Gu Qiangying ignored him, stood up, dusted off her trousers, and walked into the house with her books. She paused briefly as she passed Lin Qingqing.

"The world is about to change."

Lin Qingqing was taken aback and looked up at the sky.

The sky, which had been bright and sunny just moments before, was suddenly filled with a dark cloud that seemed to have rolled in from the west. The cloud was as thick as lead, rolling in with a suffocating heat.

got windy.

The old locust tree in the yard rustled loudly in the wind, and dust swirled upwards from the ground.

"Damn, it's really going to rain!" Qin Lie threw down the bowl. "Quick! Cover it with the tarpaulin! The roof isn't sealed yet!"

The men sprang into action instantly.

Qin Lie and Li Dongye climbed back onto the roof, even faster than before. Jiang He handed them a tarpaulin from below; the wind was so strong that the cloth fluttered wildly, almost knocking him over.

"Make sure it's compacted! Don't let the wind blow it off!" Qin Lie roared, his voice breaking in the strong wind.

Without any warning, large raindrops began to pelt down.

At first, there were only a few scattered raindrops, which hit the tiles and sent up a wisp of white smoke. Then, the raindrops became denser, forming a gray-white curtain of rain.

"It's raining too hard! Retreat!"

Qin Lie placed the last brick on the tarpaulin, wiped the rain off his face, and waved for Li Dongye to go down first.

Several people scrambled down from the roof and rushed into the main room with their tools.

……

Mutombo will be making a comeback tomorrow.