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Chapter 222: The Phone Call
Chapter 222: The Phone Call
Widening the roof deck can prevent water leakage? The construction foreman immediately understood why this method could work upon hearing the idea.
In the town and the city, many buildings over five years old, especially those over seven or eight years, have experienced water leakage on the top floor. Some cases are severe, with cracks in the roof deck, causing indoor drizzles during heavy outdoor rainfall.
This issue stems from the lack of experience among many workers in the past, resulting in insufficient foundation depth, leading to foundation settlement and water leakage.
However, water seepage through the wall seams under the top-floor roof deck is a widespread problem, affecting almost every household living on the top floor. Over the past two years, he has frequently heard about people seeking his help to fix water leaks, but he hasn't found an effective solution.
He noticed that their walls were moldy, and they didn't dare place their wardrobes against the walls.
Not only the construction foreman but also Wen Wan knew that the top floor was prone to water leakage. In modern times, the stairwells of old urban buildings are plastered with graffiti advertisements for plumbing and water leak repairs.
Before her rebirth, she had rented the top floor of an old apartment after her divorce, and the walls near the ceiling had grown moss due to water seepage during rainy days.
Water leakage and seepage on the top floor are indeed significant issues. The construction foreman laughed and said, "That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of it before? Haha, I'll remind everyone who builds a house about this from now on."
Zhou Father smiled and said, "Not only the roof deck, but also the windowsill, or the window lintel, extends outward by over thirty centimeters. By pouring a cement board, we can open the window a little even on drizzly days, preventing stuffiness. It was my daughter-in-law's idea."
The construction foreman praised, "Your daughter-in-law must be very knowledgeable!"
"Of course! She knows a lot. She translates for a publishing house daily, English, French..." Zhou Father began his performance again, this time boasting about Jiang Xia's abilities rather than his own.
Wen Wan pursed her lips, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes. Zhou Father probably didn't know that his daughter-in-law could earn money as a translator for a publishing house because she had a good father, not because she was proficient in many foreign languages. Not wanting to listen to Zhou Father's praise of Jiang Xia, she called the construction foreman aside and whispered, "I also want the roof deck of my house to extend outward a bit."
The construction foreman replied, "In that case, we'll need to add an extra board on the outer side and make it wider. But since you've already secured everything, adding it now will require dismantling the edge boards, which is time-consuming. The remaining wood isn't sufficient either, so we'll need to find additional wood to support it. It can't be done in one day. If you want to widen it, we can't pour the roof deck today; we'll have to postpone it for a day or two."
Wen Wan frowned upon hearing this and couldn't help but say, "Why didn't you learn from the neighboring houses and extend it a bit when you were building it?"
Construction Foreman: "..."
He had built so many houses, and this was the first time he had encountered such an unreasonable owner.
Patiently, he explained, "Although extending the roof deck outward sounds like a solution to prevent water seepage, your house is designed to have two and a half floors, right? Water leakage and seepage usually occur on the top floor. Since you're building two floors, I don't think it's necessary to extend the first floor. You can extend the second floor later."
Wen Wan just wanted the new house to be built quickly, and she didn't want to live with her two sisters-in-law. She agreed that the water seepage issue was severe on the top floor, and since they were building two floors, they could extend the second floor later. "Let's leave this floor as it is! No changes. Just remember to extend the next floor."
"Okay, let's start laying the roof deck."
Jiang Xia's construction team had already mixed a large batch of concrete, and buckets of concrete were being hauled up with ropes.
To avoid disturbing the workers, Jiang Xia had returned to the ground.
Zhou Chenglei stood above, helping to pull up buckets of concrete from the ground and then passing them to the workers behind him.
Behind him, a worker took the bucket and passed it to another, who then handed it to another, and so on, until the last worker in the chain received it and poured the concrete onto the roof deck.
Each person worked swiftly, taking less than a minute to pass a bucket up.
Below, several others were busy filling buckets and mixing the concrete.
Today, they needed to pour concrete for two roof decks.
The kitchen and tool shed next to the house had their bricks laid, and the roof deck for that level also needed concrete.
Therefore, a large amount of concrete was required.
Jiang Xia watched for a while before turning her attention away. Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan were arriving in the capital city by train today, and Jiang Dong should be back at school by the afternoon.
She had asked Jiang Dong for Ye Xian's phone number the last time they spoke, and now she decided to call Ye Xian to ask her to take good care of Jiang Dong.
So, she went home, got on her bicycle, and after telling Zhou Chenglei where she was going, she rode off to the production team.
Wen Wan stood by the roadside, watching as Zhou Chenglei's muscular arms hauled bucket after bucket of concrete upwards.
Everyone else was wearing white vests, but he was dressed in a shirt, his sleeves rolled up, revealing his bulging biceps and graceful, powerful arms. He worked swiftly and vigorously, pulling up bucket after bucket of concrete as if he would never tire.
She couldn't help but stare at him in admiration.
Zhou Chenglei was naturally perceptive and noticed the gaze that had been fixed on him. He glanced over and paused his actions, pulling his sleeves down before continuing to haul the buckets of concrete upwards.
During this era, it was rare for men like Zhou Chenglei to wear white shirts all day, especially in the village. In the scorching summer heat, most villagers wore only vests, and some even worked shirtless in the fields and at the docks.
But at some point, Zhou Chenglei had become the subject of many admiring glances, and he had grown accustomed to wearing long-sleeved shirts.
Even so, the attention he received remained unwavering.
...
Jiang Xia pedaled her bicycle to the production team, parked it, and walked into the office, only to find that the person sitting at the telephone had changed; it was no longer Zhou Li.
Instead, a woman around Zhou Li's age from the neighboring village, whom everyone called Aunt Hong, was there.
Jiang Xia smiled and greeted her, "Aunt Hong, why are you here today?"
Aunt Hong smiled and replied, "From now on, I'll be here."
After saying this, she glanced around and then whispered to Jiang Xia, "Zhou Li was disciplined, and now she's taken my place as the support staff in our office."
Aunt Hong was overjoyed! She had finally made it and gotten herself a desk job!
Previously, when they said she was support staff, it meant she was a cleaner and did odd jobs, all kinds of work!
Jiang Xia raised an eyebrow, surprised that Zhou Li would become support staff, doing odd jobs.
She probably felt so frustrated that she wanted to pick a fight with Wen Wan again.
Jiang Xia smiled and said, "Congratulations, Aunt Hong, on your promotion. I need to make a call."
Aunt Hong immediately replied, "Go ahead, I'll get some water to drink."
She then walked away, holding a brand new enamel cup meant for serving others.
Zhou Li had been disciplined for listening to a phone call she shouldn't have and doing something she shouldn't have. Jiang Xia couldn't afford to make the same mistake!
So, she dialed a number.
It was the number for the dormitory management office at Ye Xian's school. After connecting, she provided Ye Xian's dormitory number and name and asked the person on the other end to call Ye Xian to the phone.
The person on the other end asked her to call back in five minutes, then hung up.
Just after five minutes had passed, Jiang Xia called again and heard Ye Xian's voice, "Hello, this is Ye Xian."
Jiang Xia's voice turned slightly somber as she said, "Xiao Xian, it's Jiang Xia. Has Jiang Dong returned to school?"
(End of Chapter)
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