CHAPTER 275: CHAPTER 266: BUILDING ANOTHER HOUSE

Sun Manyu recalled when she first met Li Wenyuan for matchmaking, Li Wenyuan asked how her relationship was with Yu Xiaolian, and she unexpectedly said, very good.

Later, when the Li Family agreed to the marriage, Sun Manyu felt a bit relieved. Fortunately, she had deceived Li Wenyuan at that time. If he had known that her relationship with Yu Xiaolian was terrible, this marriage might not have happened, right?

However, thinking about having to put her pride aside to get along well with Yu Xiaolian, Sun Manyu still found it hard to do.

She couldn’t stand Yu Xiaolian’s arrogant, overbearing demeanor. She already showed great restraint by not causing trouble for her; she just couldn’t force a smile at Yu Xiaolian.

Recalling how, during their private conversation, Li Wenyuan constantly mentioned Yu Xiaolian, Sun Manyu felt quite aggrieved.

If it weren’t for Yu Xiaolian being so young, Li Wenyuan might not have wanted to marry her, Sun Manyu, right?

Sun Manyu felt uncomfortable but had to convince herself to endure it, endure it; as long as she successfully married into the Li Family, her good days would come.

After handing over the fruit and vegetable seeds to Yu Changhe, Yu Xiaolian instructed him to plant them in water when the weather warmed up in a few days.

Yu Changhe had tasted those exotic fruits from the supermarket, and hearing that they could now be grown in his backyard, he was quite happy.

He carefully put away the seeds, "How are your mother and your siblings?"

Lately, he had been busy with the workshop and hadn’t returned to Xiangyang Lane to see Mrs. Sun and the two little kids for a long time, and he was quite concerned.

Mentioning the two little ones, Yu Xiaolian’s face showed a faint smile, "They’re all fine. They’ve already learned to sit up and crawl quickly. I guess in a while, they’ll be walking."

Yu Changhe chuckled, "Who knows when they’ll start calling mom and dad. By the way, the chili powder you left last time is all used up. Have Mancang bring another cartload back sometime?"

Yu Xiaolian nodded. Now with so many eyes around, she couldn’t just fill up the storeroom directly—that would arouse suspicion. So, she had to ask Sun Mancang to drive the cart and pull from the back yard of Taotao Residence.

"Dad, my mom said she wants to move back in a few days. She said there’s no one to talk to over there, and it’s livelier in the village."

"But... the kids might choke on the smoke." Yu Changhe wanted Mrs. Sun to return too. Having built such a big house with effort, not being able to live together as a family always felt regretful.

Yu Xiaolian said, "I thought about it. Why not move the room for boiling the base ingredients to the stone house at the back yard?

This way, it’s almost two miles away from where you live, so it shouldn’t be a nuisance."

All her maternal relatives were here, and others’ families spent their days being kind and loving together, leaving Yu Changhe as the only one alone. Mrs. Sun always felt for Yu Changhe. After all, after a day’s work, others would return to a warm family, while Yu Changhe was left alone, which didn’t feel like much of a home either, and wasn’t a good solution.

"Would moving it to the stone house be a hassle?"

"What hassle? Just have them prepare the ingredients and push it over with a wheelbarrow." After all, there were many hands to do work now, and the strong laborers from the Sun family were all full of energy.

The men of other families in Taohua Village had to go out to work bags to earn money and were dead tired by the end of the day, earning the same money as them. At such times, the men of the Sun Family were quite grateful to Yu Xiaolian.

Nine hundred wens a month, and the work wasn’t hard.

Besides ten under the age of ten, Sun Fourth Grandpa’s family also had Sun Fourth Grandpa and Grandma not earning money; the rest were all working.

Twenty-five people, each earning nine hundred wens, the Sun Family would clear twenty-two and a half taels a month. How couldn’t they be happy?

Sun Fifth Grandpa’s family earned a bit less because some grandsons were sent to school, and the granddaughter was still young, only two sons and three daughters-in-law could be utilized.

Sun Fifth Grandpa was still quite robust and also worked along.

Including Sun Fifth Grandpa, their family had only seven working, earning six and three-tenths taels a month.

Sun Fifth Grandpa was quite content and planned to save a bit more before finding an empty space to build a house.

Living at the Yu Family wasn’t a permanent solution. Although their house was big and had many rooms, no matter how good they were, it wasn’t their own home.

A golden or silver nest doesn’t compare to one’s own doghouse.

Yu Changhe said, "That’s good. Then I’ll tidy up the stone house later, set up two stoves tomorrow, and let your mother come back in a few days. Ever since she went back to Xiangyang Lane, your grandmother has been grumbling, missing her and the two kids. Letting her come back is also good."

Yu Xiaolian asked, "Dad, how come Mrs. Li isn’t working in the back yard but is wandering around the front yard?"

Yu Xiaolian referred to Sun Dalin’s wife when mentioning Mrs. Li, while they usually called Mrs. Li’s niece Mrs. Little Li or Manying’s wife.

Mentioning Mrs. Li, Yu Changhe frowned. This Mrs. Li relied on having three daughters-in-law at her command. No matter what work Yu Changhe assigned to her, she would pass it on to her three daughters-in-law. Yu Changhe had reprimanded her several times, but whenever he did, Mrs. Li’s attitude in admitting fault was good, so he couldn’t say much more.

Moreover, Mrs. Li never slacked off from work. Her three daughters-in-law were willing to work more, willing to let their mother-in-law work less. Yu Changhe felt helpless. If he sent her back, it wouldn’t look right, but if he didn’t, it felt like Mrs. Li was lazing around and doing nothing, still earning wages every day.

Yu Xiaolian furrowed her brows, "Dad, if Mrs. Li is just wandering around all day without working, then send her back. I’ll talk to her."

Yu Changhe said, "If I send her back, I’m afraid she’ll throw a tantrum and beg me. Otherwise, I’d have sent her back long ago. As I see it, we don’t need so many people in the workshop now since we haven’t grown chilis yet."

The monthly payroll for these people was also a significant expense. In reality, his workshop didn’t currently need so much manpower, more as a way to look after his relatives to help them live better.

Yu Xiaolian suggested to Yu Changhe, "Dad, the chilis are about to be weeded soon. If it doesn’t rain recently, we’ll need to water them manually. You can retain a few people for the workshop, and the rest can be assigned to weed out in the fields. As for Mrs. Li, if she refuses to leave, have her go and weed in the fields."

Yu Changhe nodded, "That’s a good idea, send them wherever’s needed."

After all, he was paying wages, so there was no reason to pay them for nothing.

Especially those strong lads from the transport team, when they’re not delivering, they have lots of idle time.

"By the way, since you gave them wages last month, your Fourth Grandpa has been more flush with cash and wants to build a few more rooms. Do you want to use the materials left from when we built our house for Fourth Grandpa’s?"

"No, my Fifth Grandpa doesn’t have money to build a house right now. In a few months, when he has some money, he definitely needs to build a house too. Let’s save the remaining green bricks and tiles for my Fifth Grandpa."

Although Sun Fourth Grandpa was more shrewd, she preferred the honest and straightforward Sun Fifth Grandpa.