"You mean the old house at the foot of the mountain?"
Cheng Xiaolin pulled off her top and smoothed it, blocking the two hemispheres that were about to overlap in Cao Shujie's disappointed eyes, while turning to look at her husband: "Tear everything off and rebuild?"
"Yes, I haven't lived in that house for many years." Cao Shujie said, "That's what I thought about it. Since we decided to come back for development, we improved the house a little bit. It didn't cost much, and it was comfortable to live in.
."
"It just so happens that the old house is not very popular anymore, so I just gutted it and rebuilt it, made the kitchen, bath, and bathroom more convenient, and installed a heater, so it won't be cold in the winter."
Cheng Xiaolin naturally had no objection to this. She nodded: "Okay, you can just take care of this matter."
Just after she finished speaking, Cheng Xiaolin mentioned another thing: "Husband, I plan to go to our kindergarten to apply for a job in the next two days. If they recruit people, I will go there and work first."
"Kindergarten is probably useless, and the salary is only a few hundred yuan a month." Cao Shujie is quite clear about this: "We have just come back and are finally free. Why not take some rest first and take Mengmeng around to play more?
chant."
"Well" Cheng Xiaolin got dressed and got out of bed: "I'll take a few days to rest and have a look. If the kindergarten doesn't work, I'll try to go to the elementary school. I can teach it in the capital. I can't do it if I can't come back."
Her mother, Wang Yuelan, had already prepared breakfast and called them, and the couple went over to eat.
Wang Yuelan didn't see her granddaughter and wondered: "Is Mengmeng still asleep?"
"Mom, she has to sleep until eight o'clock when she is in the capital, so don't worry about her."
"I steamed an egg custard for her. Let's keep it warm in the pot first," Wang Yuelan said.
Hearing what her mother-in-law said, Cheng Xiaolin nodded: "Mom, do you know that the kindergarten in our village is still recruiting people?"
"Kindergarten?" Wang Yuelan shook her head: "I really don't know, but your sister-in-law Qiuling knows, how about I call her and ask?"
Li Qiuling is one of the teachers in the kindergarten.
Cheng Xiaolin was still thinking about finding a job. She didn't have a job in Beijing in her hometown, but she felt that she couldn't just sit back and settle for nothing when she came back.
Besides, people tend to become lazy when they are free for a long time. She is not that kind of person.
"Mom, can you help me ask?"
"Okay, just wait a moment." Wang Yuelan called and came back shortly: "Linlin, your sister-in-law Qiuling said she was recruiting people, do you want to go?"
"I'm going to give it a try. I have to do some work." Cheng Xiaolin said, "I can just earn a few hundred yuan. Then I can take Mengmeng over and let her play with other children."
This is how I did it when I was in Beijing.
Her husband Cao Shujie was at work, so she went to a kindergarten and applied for a job. The only advantage was that she could take her daughter with her and earn some money.
After Cao Shujie finished eating, he asked his father Cao Jianguo: "Dad, do we still have a construction team in our village?"
"Yes, your grandpa Zhenggang organized a construction team to build houses in the surrounding villages." Cao Jianguo told his son about the situation.
"Sometimes when the family is out of work, they go to the city to build buildings, but the wages in the city are hard to come by, so they mainly work at home."
When Cao Shujie heard that Grandpa Zhenggang had experience in building buildings, it was even better: "Dad, Grandpa Zhenggang is at home, right? I'll go see him later and discuss building a house."
"Here, there is nothing to do now. I saw him walking with his grandson on the street two days ago." Cao Jianguo said.
That's it.
The two men were discussing when they suddenly heard Mengmeng's crying. Cao Shujie stopped talking about building a house and stood up and ran towards the bedroom.
When I opened the door, I saw that Mengmeng had gotten up. Maybe she woke up and didn't see her parents. She drooped her little head and cried. There was a lot of drool, tears, and snot, which had already wet a small piece of sheet.
.
"Mengmeng, daddy is here." Cao Shujie felt distressed.
"Dad, wow..." When the little guy saw his father, he felt even more wronged and cried a little louder.
She wasn't too cold yet. She stood up wearing a top and diaper and stretched out her hands to wait for her father to hold her.
"Okay, okay, don't cry anymore. After dinner, dad will take you out to play!"
While coaxing, Cao Shujie made a face and made his daughter laugh.
Then he hugged his daughter, laid her on her back on the bed, and took the quilt to cover her.
Seeing that Mengmeng wanted to cry again, he quickly said: "Mengmeng, don't cry. Dad will change your diaper and take you to see the big dog later. It's such a big one."
After hearing this, Mengmeng changed her attention and stopped crying.
She was waiting for her father to put her clothes on. As soon as she put on her shoes, she was about to run out: "Dad, big dog."
"Finish your meal first before going, otherwise the big dog will eat you." Cao Shujie said.
He didn't lie to his daughter.
Half an hour later, a family of three came out of the house. Cao Shujie was holding his daughter, and his wife Cheng Xiaolin was carrying a mother's bag, which contained her daughter's water bottle, diapers, tissues, wet wipes, etc.
They planned to first take a look at the condition of the old house, and then go to see Cao Zhenggang to discuss building a house.
Now that it's settled, there's no need to delay this matter.
As they were walking, Cao Shujie said to his wife: "Let's go to the mountains to see the orchards later."
"Okay!" Cheng Xiaolin agreed.
Before they even arrived, someone greeted them: "Hey, isn't this Shujie? When did you come back?"
"Uncle Hai, I just came back last night." Cao Shujie saw Cao Jianhai and called Uncle Hai, and Cheng Xiaolin also called Uncle Hai.
While talking, Cao Shujie took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket: "Uncle Hai, smoke."
Cao Jianhai waved his hand and refused: "I've been diagnosed with a lung disease, and I stopped smoking a few years ago."
"Hey, Uncle Hai, you have to be careful." Cao Shujie put the cigarette back into his pocket again, but he didn't smoke either.
"Mengmeng, hurry up and call grandpa." Cao Shujie coaxed his daughter to call someone.
The little guy turned his head, looked at Cao Jianhai, and shouted openly: "Grandpa."
"Hey, Mengmeng is so good!" Cao Jianhai was a little curious and asked them: "Shujie, what are you doing as a family of three?"
"Uncle Hai, I'm going to take a look at our old house and think about tearing it down and rebuilding it." Cao Shujie said his purpose smoothly.
Cao Jianhai was stunned for a moment and asked: "Shujie, didn't you buy a house in the capital? You don't live there all the time, so you can just have the new house. Why spend the money on the old house?"
"Uncle Hai, I sold my house in Beijing, quit my job, and plan to develop in our hometown in the future." Cao Shujie said.
Seeing that he looked serious and didn't look like he was joking, Cao Jianhai was stunned: "Shujie, there is nothing at home. Compared with the capital city, it's like heaven and earth. How come you're back?"
"Ouch, did Brother Jianguo ask you to come back? I have to go find him and talk to him, but I can't delay your development." Cao Jianhai is still a warm-hearted person.
But this matter really has nothing to do with his father. Cao Shujie was afraid that his father would take the blame, so he explained: "Uncle Hai, it's really not my father's business. I came back after staying in the capital for enough, and the capital is like that."
"Growing fruits and doing some farming at home is no less than what you can earn outside."
After chatting for a while, Cao Shujie and his family of three left.
Cao Jianhai looked straight at the backs of Cao Shujie and the others, thinking about what Cao Shujie had said just now: "Isn't growing fruits less than earning outside? How is it possible? I have been growing fruits at home for more than ten years, and I am tired after a year."
I only got tens of thousands of yuan after working hard, but I heard that the monthly salary in the capital is more than 10,000 yuan, which is quite easy."
He wondered: "Did this kid come back because he couldn't survive outside?"
Thinking in my heart, people have already stepped into the house.
His wife Gao Shuying saw that it took him so long to come back, and asked him: "Old Cao, I asked you to go out to take out the garbage. Why did it take so long to come back? Did you go out to smoke secretly again?"
"What? I just met Shujie from Brother Jianguo's house and talked to him for a while." Cao Jianhai still couldn't figure it out.
His wife Gao Shuying asked: "Shujie? Didn't he just return to the capital after the Chinese New Year last month? Why are he back again?"
Cao Jianhai frowned: "I don't know, but Shujie just said that he quit his job in Beijing, sold his house, and plans to live in his hometown in the future."
When Gao Shuying heard what her wife said, she suddenly thought of a possibility. For fear that others would hear it, she asked in a low voice: "Old Cao, do you think Shujie came back to his hometown because he couldn't survive outside?"
Cao Yanhai wasn't sure either, but Cao Shujie's explanation just now didn't make sense in terms of common sense. He hesitated for a while and nodded: "It's possible."
"What do you mean it's possible? I think it must be!" Gao Shuying vowed: "During the Chinese New Year, I felt strange when I looked at them. They are supposed to be happy during the Chinese New Year, but Shujie's wife seemed to be pretending to be something. I
Sometimes she doesn't even respond when I call her."
…
Cao Shujie and his wife didn't know how Cao Jianhai and his wife were gossiping. They didn't meet anyone again during the second half of the road, and the family of three arrived in front of an old house.
The door is a solid wood door painted black.
The house was built according to the terrain and looks square. However, the courtyard wall has been in disrepair for a long time. Bricks have fallen off in some places and the wall is also full of cracks.
In some places, grass grows on the walls.
Use the key to open the lock and go in. There are a lot of weeds in the yard, and a little wild cat with gray hair was startled when they opened the door. It screamed "meow", kicked the ground with its four legs, and walked along a tree.
The crooked-necked tree on the wall jumped up to the wall. It stood on the wall, looking at Cao Shujie and his family of three with eager eyes.
Mengmeng didn't care about this. Suddenly a little wild cat appeared. She was so happy that she struggled hard to catch it in her father's arms. While kicking her legs, she shouted: "Dad, little kitten, look."
