Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 84 - 83: Two Youngsters from the Zhang Family

Chapter 84: Chapter 83: Two Youngsters from the Zhang Family

Wang Shumei was always efficient. No sooner had they decided to build a house, and before Aunt Li could settle down at home, Wang Shumei had already dragged Lin Nianhe over.

Li Dahe had been terribly worried these past few days.

There were joyful events to be organized at home, a primary school being built in the Ten Miles Team, and who knows how many Educated Youths on the way...

All of these, one by one, overwhelmed the little old Team Leader’s head.

"Uncle Team Leader, Aunt Li."

Lin Nianhe stepped into the yard, greeting them cheerfully.

"Ah, here you are." Aunt Li hadn’t had the chance to talk to Li Dahe about the new Educated Youths that Lin Nianhe and the others were asking about and could only smile and ask, "Checked the house? Need repairs?"

Lin Nianhe shook her head with a smile: "The house is fine, I came with Sister Shumei."

"Ah? Miss Wang has something?" Aunt Li feigned ignorance.

Li Dahe watched as the trio played their parts, quietly listening while chewing on his cigarette.

He really didn’t feel like talking now. If he had to say something, he just wanted to ask Lin Nianhe how her studies were going.

It wasn’t that he had great expectations for her, but rather he didn’t want to see this little bastard in the fields anymore.

Others toiled with effort, she toiled with her hair.

Wang Shumei also smiled, saying: "I was thinking of building a house; it just so happened that we talked about it today. I thought I’d take the opportunity while the village’s uncles and dads are building houses to get it done."

"Ah?"

Li Dahe instantly perked up.

The little old man looked at Wang Shumei with eyes full of surprise: "Really? Educated Youth Wang, are you serious? You want to build a house? How big? How many people will live in it?"

"I want to build two rooms and a kitchen," replied Wang Shumei. "Xiao Lan and I each need one room, we don’t need much space."

"Ah, that works, that works!" Li Dahe nodded repeatedly, "It’s just right these days as they build houses, we can also bring back the materials you need, saving a lot of trouble."

Li Dahe had originally thought the three of them would live together, but then it occurred to him, right, Lin Nianhe had just tidied up the firewood room well, naturally she wouldn’t bother and spend money to move out.

Yet he also felt content, having one room emptied was already a pleasant surprise, if he asked for too much, he’d better wait for Wang Hong to come knocking on his door.

After pondering for a while, Aunt Li said: "You two girls living here, don’t stray too far from the Educated Youth Corps station, or we could just move the back wall back a bit, build the new house next to Miss Lin’s room, so you’re all in one courtyard."

Her suggestion coincidentally matched what Lin Nianhe had discussed.

Wang Shumei glanced at Lin Nianhe and said with a smile: "Or else Aunt Li really thinks of everything, I hadn’t thought it all through. Well, as for building a house, we don’t know much about it, we will have to trouble the Team Leader and Aunt."

"This girl, why so polite!"

Aunt Li beamed with joy.

Look at this, clever children just know how to speak, and they are much more endearing than those blockheads!

Wang Shumei generously took out one hundred yuan and handed it to Li Dahe, the full trust in her eyes made Li Dahe feel the weight of responsibility, patting his chest and promising to build her a good and sturdy house.

Thus, besides farming, the Ten Miles Team had an additional task—

Building houses for the Educated Youth Corps.

The Ten Miles Team lived constantly in busy, bustling celebrations, but five miles away, the Nine-miles Team was not so harmonious.

"Tsk tsk, the Team Leader is also kind-hearted, even giving the old house to those two little bastards."

"His family, from one to all, not a single good thing! Just that Zhang Dahu, snatched my grandson’s candy the other day! Scared my sweet grandson terribly!"

"They should just be sent to live in the cattle shed..."

Lately, wherever Zhang Dahu went, there were always people gossiping about his family.

Before, they were cautious, merely whispering.

But after today, it was different. The team leader asked the two of them to move to the old house to live, saying that in two months, more educated youths would be sent to the countryside, their Zhang family’s house was initially built with the help of fellow villagers, and now that only the two of them were left, living in such a big house was not appropriate, and they should give it up.

The so-called "old house" was actually the village’s old ancestral hall, which had been smashed up in previous years, leaving only its frame, even the doors and windows had been chopped and burned.

Moreover, this place was not meant for living originally, lacking a stove and even a heated brick bed.

Now it’s summer and still bearable, but when autumn comes, and then winter, it’s going to be freezing cold.

The team leader’s way of handling this was like a signal, giving the villagers the audacity to disparage their family without restraint.

In fact, Zhang Dahu noticed, Uncle Niu had brought back a lot of tiles a few days ago, which the commune allocated for the educated youths to build houses.

He saw those bricks and tiles went into the team leader’s house.

But he didn’t dare to speak.

Now, no matter what he says, people won’t believe him.

He had said before, when he seized the candy from Erhanzi, it was Erhanzi who first snatched it from his younger brother, Erhanzi was the first to start the fight, and many people saw it.

Even though many people saw it, no one was willing to testify for him, and no one believed what he said.

They say, sow melon seeds, reap melons; he and his parents and grandparents, like their ancestors, are all bad people, all deserved to be caged.

They say, it’s not easy to learn goodness, but slipping into badness happens quickly, and they can’t let him and his brother mix with the village kids anymore, lest they lead them astray.

They said a lot, and Zhang Dahu was fed up with hearing them, not caring anymore.

His parents committed sins, and he, as their son, could not escape either.

So, when Wang Wei asked them to move, Zhang Dahu said nothing, pulled his younger brother Zhang Erhu, and left their home of nine years with just a few clothes and half a bag of cornmeal.

The old house was located at the far west end of the village, a hundred meters away from the nearest neighbor, which very much suited the villagers’ wish to isolate them.

The brothers sat in the dust and cobweb-filled old house, at a loss what to do.

"Brother, I am hungry," Zhang Erhu said softly, clutching his stomach.

Zhang Dahu was also hungry.

He didn’t know how to cook without a stove, in fact, he had only learned to cook in a hurry recently, and the food he made couldn’t compare to their mother’s, and his brother had gotten diarrhea because of it several times.

Seeing his brother didn’t answer, Zhang Erhu pouted, tears falling down.

"Brother, I miss Mom, I want to eat the braised pork Mom made."

Zhang Dahu missed their mom too, very much.

He could live without braised pork, could go without it for a lifetime, but he just wanted their mom to come back.

The nine-year-old boy rubbed his eyes and said, "Mom will come back."

"Really?" Zhang Erhu cried, staring at him with hopeful eyes.

"Really."

Zhang Dahu nodded affirmatively.

He sniffled, stood up, and mimicked their mom, ruffling Erhu’s hair: "You wait, I’ll go find some firewood, and I’ll make you some food."

He didn’t know if their mom could really come back, but he knew he had to do something.

Because he was the older brother.

Zhang Dahu hadn’t walked out of the old house when someone blocked his way.

He held out a white steamed bun and handed it to him: "Here."

This person, Zhang Dahu recognized.