CHAPTER 110: CHAPTER 110: DECIDING TO BUILD A GYMNASIUM

In the blink of an eye, summer vacation arrived.

Lin Qin took her two children and Lin Yi to scout out the place in advance, letting the three of them familiarize themselves with it.

The calligraphy class at the training center is in the morning, the art class in the afternoon, and dance and piano classes alternate between morning and afternoon, staggered with the calligraphy class.

Apart from attending the training classes, the two children also need to practice at home and complete their summer homework. Only in the evenings are they able to play for a while.

Usually at this time, they help Lin Yi with work in the fields, playing and working at the same time, or run and jump around the island.

Lin Qin considered having someone level a piece of land to allow for ball games, kicking football, or jumping rope so that the children could balance work and rest.

Once she had thought of this idea, she couldn’t stop herself.

Lin Qin shared her plan with Lin Yi and Chen Wenjun.

Chen Wenjun was unconditionally supportive and immediately said, "I’ll go find Boss Huang later, talk to him about ordering some cement and gravel, and ask him to arrange for a couple of people to help out. A flat surface can be sorted out in a day or two."

Lin Yi shook his head in disbelief, "Wenjun, Ah Qin is just too idle at home, fiddling around with things aimlessly, and here you are, supporting her in this chaos?"

Chen Wenjun looked serious, "Dad, Ah Qin is doing it for the kids’ sake. I even plan to inquire about getting two swings installed and a couple of basketball hoops set up. It’ll be good for Ping’an to exercise more."

Upon hearing that it was for Ping’an, Lin Yi instantly fell silent and even thought about whether additional bars should be added, but eventually decided against it due to safety concerns.

When Huang Yuezhen found out about this, she proactively told Chen Wenjun, "You focus on your work; I’ll talk about this for you. Just tell me roughly how big you want it."

Chen Wenjun really didn’t know how big a basketball court should be, and instinctively looked towards Lin Qin.

Lin Qin immediately said, "I’ll go talk with you! After all, I’m just idle at home."

The next day, after accompanying Huang Yuezhen in dropping the kids off at their tutoring classes, Lin Qin went to work with her, arriving at the construction site just in time to hear the clanging of tools.

Huang Wenlong was overseeing the work, and upon seeing Lin Qin, he smiled and walked over to her, "What wind blew you here, sister-in-law?"

Lin Qin grinned, exchanged pleasantries for a couple of sentences, and then explained her purpose.

"I want to create a sports area on the island for the children, where they can play basketball or badminton. We need to level a piece of land; can you take on this job?"

Huang Wenlong seemed very surprised, "Sure, sister-in-law! I didn’t expect you to have such foresight! Creating a sports facility isn’t difficult; we can follow the school’s sports field standards. If your budget is ample, I suggest you build a gymnasium.

Since your family is on the island, with strong winds from the river, basketball should be fine, but badminton will be impossible. Plus, with the wind and rain, an outdoor facility won’t always be usable. An indoor facility would be different; you could use it to exercise whenever you wanted.

We don’t need to adhere strictly to standard designs; we could just build a taller building. A concrete roof would work too."

Lin Qin was taken aback, and after gathering herself, she took a deep breath and asked courageously, "How much would it cost to do that?"

Huang Wenlong calculated on his fingers and mused, "A little over ten thousand should be enough."

Seeing Lin Qin in a bit of a daze, Huang Wenlong said, "No need to decide right away, sister-in-law. You can talk it over with Wenjun when you get home. If you just want a level piece of land, we can do that too; it would be cheaper."

Lin Qin quickly expressed her gratitude and returned to the kitchen where Huang Yuezhen was cooking, immediately sharing the situation with her.

Upon hearing, Huang Yuezhen couldn’t help but take a sharp breath and hesitantly said, "Cousin, I think it’s better to go back and consult with your husband. Over ten thousand isn’t a small sum. If you ask me, I can’t give you advice either."

If it were her, she wouldn’t be willing to spend the money, but the Chen family has a special situation with Ping’an, and for Ping’an’s sake, Lin Qin and her husband might actually be willing to spend the money.

Lin Qin also knew that Huang Yuezhen couldn’t provide advice, so she helped out for a while until it was almost time for the kids to be let out of school.

After picking up the two children and bringing them home, Lin Qin cooked dinner and subtly probed the children’s thoughts.

"Ping’an, Yaya, do you like playing ball games?"

Ping’an didn’t respond.

Yaya, however, nodded with excitement and started chatting rapidly about school, "During P.E. class, the teacher lets us play badminton. I’ve already learned it; the boys mostly play basketball and volleyball, but brother can’t play volleyball, so he only practices basketball.

But he’s quite good at badminton, and every time we’re in P.E. class, I’ll play with the other girls for a while, and then go accompany brother to play badminton."

Lin Qin looked at Ping’an.

Ping’an smiled shyly and nodded, "Yaya accompanies me for half an hour. Even if I can’t catch the shuttlecock, she doesn’t get angry."

Ping’an’s limbs aren’t agile, he can only walk briskly, and sometimes he really can’t catch the shuttlecock in time. This has happened a lot, so people don’t like to play with him. Currently he can really only play badminton; he could probably play ping-pong too, but Yaya doesn’t fancy it, and if no one accompanies him, he can’t really practice.

Lin Qin mulled it over.

When Chen Wenjun and Lin Yi returned, Lin Qin immediately told them what she had learned.

"I think more exercise would benefit Ping’an; even if it doesn’t provide benefits, it doesn’t cause harm either. He should be moving more given his situation. Yaya can only accompany him in playing badminton, but the wind at our place is quite strong, making badminton opportunities rare. Boss Huang suggested constructing an indoor sports facility, which would cost around ten thousand."

This time Lin Yi didn’t express concern about money like before; instead, he looked at Chen Wenjun and gritted his teeth, "If it’s for the kids’ well-being, then it’s worth spending! If it doesn’t work out, I still have some money..."

Chen Wenjun immediately stopped Lin Yi from finishing his sentence, "Dad! We have money; I’m just thinking about how to organize it. If we were to build an indoor sports facility, where should it be located?"

The three of them walked out of the yard and surveyed various areas of the island.

Their house is located on the island near an opening; using the house as the dividing line, the area from the house to the opening is fully utilized—a side is exclusively used for planting lotus roots and rice, while the slope is used for fruit trees.

Behind the house, about fifty meters away, near the slope, there’s a pigsty built.

Between the pigsty and the house, there’s a vegetable plot on one side and a paddy field on the other, which can be used for both lotus roots and rice cultivation.

Behind the pigsty are three large plots fenced off for raising chickens, ducks, and geese; other areas are still unused, with fruit trees planted on the slopes.

To build an indoor sports facility, it could only be positioned behind the pigsty, completely opposite to the pigsty’s location, with the area for poultry relocated elsewhere.

The three walked to that piece of land for an on-site inspection.

Lin Qin mused aloud, "In that case, we also need to build another road."

Adding up all the bits and pieces, this project would likely require spending another around twenty thousand.

Chen Wenjun nodded, "Then let’s build it; earning is my responsibility, and how it’s spent is up to Ah Qin."

Lin Yi was amused, saying, "If we’re going to do this, let’s hurry so that before the summer vacation is over, we can build it and let the kids use it for a while."