Chapter 26: A Parent’s Worries

Leaving his parents to rest after lunch, Zhang Guoqing followed his two brothers outside. Each of them went to find their own wives, while he went looking for his own Jiao Jiao to comfort her. Just thinking about those coarse cornbread buns and cornmeal porridge, it was no wonder his mother treated organic rice like a rare tonic. He couldn’t bear to let his Jiao Jiao and son eat that stuff either. It was better to split the household; at most, he could just give his eldest brother’s family more support and care in the future—it was only a few steps away, after all.

The second brother waited for their youngest brother to catch up. “Xiao Wu, about building the house, the two of us should discuss it together. If we buy tiles in bulk, we’ll get a better price, and they’ll even deliver them straight to us.

As for the bluestone, I’m thinking we shouldn’t buy it. There’s plenty at the foot of the mountain. Besides, if we pay some villagers to help out these days, it won’t cost much—how much is a day’s work point anyway? Plus, if the two of us go and quarry some bluestone ourselves, it won’t cost a thing.

I checked the prices in town before—just the bluestone for five rooms would cost nearly 30 yuan, which is about a city worker’s monthly wage. Other villages can’t even dream of building stone-and-tile houses. But here, the bluestone on our land is free.”

Zhang Guoqing agreed after hearing this. His second brother was good at planning—he’d clearly done his homework. It wasn’t that Zhang Guoqing cared about saving a few dozen yuan, but he didn’t want to draw attention. Besides, if his second brother was going to quarry bluestone himself, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing—that would hurt their brotherly bond.

“Second Brother, I’ll do as you say. You handle the arrangements—just get some people to help and quarry more stones for backup. That way, if we want to expand later, it won’t be such a hassle. I’ll cover all the labor costs for the bluestone. In a couple of days, I’ll be busy with my son’s three-day bath ceremony and won’t have time to help.”

“No need. Even among brothers, accounts should be clear. We’ll just settle up when the time comes. I’m building five rooms plus a kitchen and a wall—we’ll tally it up then. This afternoon, I’ll get people started. As for tiles and timber, let’s have Dad decide early on,” Second Brother replied. He knew his youngest brother was generous and wouldn’t let him suffer any loss, but he didn’t mind doing him a favor either.

Zhang Guoqing grinned and didn’t press the issue. When it came time to build, he could always help out more in other ways—no need to say it out loud.

“Alright. I’m planning to build just like the current setup: three main rooms, three rooms in the east wing, and three in the west wing—nine rooms in total. Plus a kitchen and a storeroom. We’ll fence off the whole homestead, and the backyard can be arranged however we want later.

Second Brother, you should build the same way. If you’re already planning five rooms, adding a few more won’t cost much and will look impressive. It’ll be nice if all three brothers have matching houses.

When your sons grow up, the east wing will be enough for them to get married. If you have more kids, the west wing will do. You can always add on later. You and your wife can have the main rooms to yourselves. With a big yard, you can raise pigs, and Second Sister-in-law can grow some vegetables and grains in the backyard. Bluestone doesn’t cost much, and even a thousand tiles aren’t that expensive. Dad’s already prepared the big beams for us.”

Second Brother hesitated. Building like this would look nice, not just a single row of rooms with a wall like he’d originally planned. When the kids grew up and got married, they’d need more space anyway. He and his wife were still young—there’d be more children in the future.

But what Xiao Wu said made sense. Leaving space in the east and west wings meant they could always add on later. “Xiao Wu, how much will all this cost? You know after splitting the family, we won’t have much left. We can’t spend it all—what if something happens?”

“Second Brother, I figure building like Eldest Brother’s place, with bluestone and those small pillars, won’t cost much. The tiles are the most expensive part. Figure 20 yuan for tiles and timber, 5 yuan for stonework, and for a five-person crew working 20 days at 10 work points per day—at 2 cents per point, or even 3 cents, that’s less than 30 yuan.

All together, such a big house would only cost about 55 yuan. That’s a generous estimate—so, are you going to build or not?” Zhang Guoqing was getting anxious. Usually, his brother was so clever—why was he hesitating now? If anything happened, wasn’t he and Eldest Brother still around to help?

He’d always envied Xiao Wu. Their grandfather had a dozen grandsons, but aside from the eldest cousin, Xiao Wu was his favorite.

Those were chaotic times—at the slightest sign of trouble, the whole village would run to the mountains. He was little then; his mother carried the food, Eldest Brother dragged him along, his feet covered in blisters, his face scratched and stinging from branches, but he couldn’t cry.

Looking ahead, he’d see their grandfather carrying Xiao Wu, all bundled up to keep the bugs off.

He was six years older than Xiao Wu, and that made him both envious and resentful. From then on, he didn’t like this silly kid. Xiao Wu always smiled at everyone, and more and more people liked him—even Eldest Brother would always talk about Xiao Wu.

Their grandfather would sneak food to Xiao Wu, and while everyone else was starving, their siblings were so thin their father had to go deep into the mountains to find food—only Xiao Wu stayed chubby, always acting silly to make their mother laugh.

He resented him for that. He’d pinch Xiao Wu’s chubby cheeks, but Xiao Wu never tattled, just smiled foolishly. When they got older, he avoided him, even as everyone praised Xiao Wu’s smarts. To him, Xiao Wu was just a fool, simple and carefree.

But as they grew, whenever anyone bullied him or Eldest Brother, Xiao Wu would charge in like a calf—maybe it was all that good food as a kid, or maybe he was just naturally strong, but soon all the kids in the area were afraid of him. He became the king of the kids.

When he met other kids, they’d whisper, “That’s Xiao Wu’s second brother.” He was respected because of his little brother.

Thanks to this silly kid, no one dared cross him. He didn’t know if he was jealous or what, but at home, he still didn’t like being around him.

Some people are just born to shine—when he was there, no one else could compare.

Xiao Wu was truly blessed, just like their grandfather said. And wasn’t it true? The famous “Golden Doll” Zhou Jiao, talented, beautiful, gentle, with a martyr for a father, a high-ranking official for a grandfather, and a soldier for a mother—so many people were waiting for her to grow up.

But in the end, this silly kid managed to win her over early on. And he didn’t even realize it—Second Brother worried someone might try to kidnap him out of jealousy.

Even now, he still couldn’t bring himself to like him. But after Xiao Wu had a chubby son, he was over the moon—he’d been acting crazy since last night. What he hated most was seeing him buttering up their mother in the kitchen.

Still, he felt relieved—thankfully, Xiao Wu was healthy. No matter how much he disliked his brother, he couldn’t let others bully him. So, in his eyes, Xiao Wu was just a silly kid, always making a fuss—shouldn’t he have just slipped a load of laxatives into the porridge and let them suffer?

Second Brother looked at him and nodded. If he didn’t agree soon, Xiao Wu might really bite him. This silly kid was single-minded—he’d give anything for his siblings.

“Alright, we’ll do it your way. Your second brother isn’t stupid. Go take care of your own business—I’ll talk it over with Dad.” Still annoyed, he gave Xiao Wu a smack on the head before leaving."