Chapter 518: The Movie
Chapter 518: The Movie
Zhou Chengsen didn't want to be bothered by his mother's concerns, and he pointed to the pile of bricks outside the house, changing the subject, "Whose bricks are those? Are they your mother's?"
Usually, when bricks are placed near a piece of land, it means that someone is preparing to build a house on that land. However, this piece of land was the homestead of several brothers, and one part belonged to his mother. That's why Zhou Chengsen asked this question.
Zhou Mu replied, "Those are the bricks Ah Lei bought to raise the height of the courtyard wall."
Zhou Chengsen glanced at the courtyard wall, which was already quite high. Moreover, the top of the wall was filled with broken glass. Was he going to raise it even higher? Could it be...
"Have you been robbed recently?"
Zhou Mu: "No, there's always someone at home. What thief would dare to come? Ah Lei wants to raise that wall to block that window."
Zhou Chengsen understood. He had also seen Zhou Guohua's wife looking over from that window two or three times.
That window was directly opposite the second floor of the house. Through the balcony and windows, one could see the situation in the second-floor living room, so the curtains on that side were always drawn.
Their fourth brother, another one who always kept his uniform buttons fastened, couldn't stand being spied on from time to time.
When the weather was cold, the window was always closed, but now that the weather was gradually getting warmer, the window would be open more often. That's probably why Ah Lei bought bricks to raise the height of the courtyard wall.
"Are you raising the wall tomorrow? It's good timing with the May Day holiday. I'll be at home, so we won't need to hire anyone. The three of us can finish it in one day."
"No need. Zhou Bingqiang's wife said she would raise the wall herself, fearing that if we raise it, it would block her luck. If they don't raise it, then we will."
Zhou Chengsen's mouth twitched, and he refrained from commenting.
Jiang Xia reminded him, "Second brother, Ah Lei said that the price of bricks has gone up again. They're one cent more expensive per brick. The factory manager said they would continue to rise. You wanted to go back to the village to build a house, right? Do you want to order a batch of bricks? If you don't have enough money, we can help."
Zhou Chengsen: "No need. I have enough for the bricks."
Zhou Mu: "Then why don't you order 30,000 bricks? You never know when the price will go up again."
Currently, the price of bricks had already risen by one cent. One cent didn't sound like much, but building a floor required around 20,000 bricks, so that was an increase of 200 yuan.
This didn't even include the bricks for the courtyard wall. If they were building a large courtyard, they would need quite a few bricks. If they calculated based on 30,000 bricks, that would be 300 yuan.
Three hundred yuan—if the second son didn't have a fishing boat, and he and his wife could only rely on their salaries, it would take them three or four months to save that amount.
Jiang Xia: "Besides bricks, sand, rebar, and cement are also a little more expensive than when we bought them. It's better to build earlier. Second brother, if you don't have enough money, just let us know. We can help."
Zhou Chengsen: "I know. Thank you, fourth brother and sister-in-law. If I don't have enough, I'll ask you."
If the small squid fishing season could last until the end of this month, then it should be enough.
Around seven in the evening, Zhou Chenglei finally returned home.
Jiang Xia asked, "Did you settle everything?"
Zhou Chenglei nodded, "Everything is settled."
With the May Day holiday tomorrow, he planned to go cut some bamboo the next day. In the evening or the day after, he would go back with Jiang Xia to have a meal with Jiang Fu and Jiang Mu. At the same time, they could transport some bamboo to the city house to build a trellis. When the watermelon vines grew, they would need to climb up the trellis.
Jiang Mu had just returned from a business trip, and Zhou Chenglei wasn't sure if the garment factory issue had been resolved. Either way, he should go and check in on them.
During dinner, Zhou Chenglei also asked Zhou Chengsen if he wanted to order a batch of bricks in preparation for building a house.
Jiang Xia's factory building was set to commence construction in mid-May, and Zhao Chenglei planned to order two to three hundred thousand bricks in the next couple of days. He wanted to see if he could get a better deal due to the large quantity he required. Zhao Chengsen, on the other hand, was also planning to order bricks, and they could do it together.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Fu said, "Go ahead and order them! Sooner or later, you'll need to order them anyway. If you don't have enough money, I'll help you out."
Zhao Chengsen replied, "No need, we have enough. The income from deep-sea fishing during this period has been pretty good. When the time comes, your brother and I will go and order them together."
The next morning, Zhao Chenglei got up early, cut some bamboo, and then went to the brick factory with Zhao Chengsen to place an order.
Since Zhao Chenglei was ordering 300,000 bricks at once, he could get a discount of one cent per brick based on the price before the price increase.
The factory manager asked, "When do you need the bricks? You're ordering quite a lot. We can't produce them that fast."
Zhao Chenglei responded, "In about 20 days."
After the construction began, they would also need to dig the foundation, which would take several days.
The factory manager said, "Alright, that's no problem. I'll try my best to get them ready by then."
"Thank you," Zhao Chengsen replied.
After paying a deposit and agreeing on an approximate delivery time, the two brothers left the factory.
Not long after they left the factory, they ran into Zhou Bingqiang, who was riding a bicycle towards them.
Zhou Bingqiang greeted them, and they passed each other by.
Zhou Bingqiang entered the brick factory and greeted the factory manager, casually asking, "Did Zhou Yongfu's second son come to order bricks to build a house?"
He guessed that this time, it was Zhao Chengsen who was preparing to build a house.
The factory manager replied, "No, it's Zhao Chenglei who's preparing to build a factory. He ordered 300,000 bricks. Wow, that guy really knows how to get things done. 300,000 bricks, I wonder how big of a factory he's building."
The factory manager's son was the same age as Zhao Chenglei, but since he wasn't as capable as Zhao Chenglei, the manager couldn't help but sigh.
Zhou Bingqiang: "..."
His wife was worried that raising their courtyard wall would block their neighbor's luck, so she insisted on raising their own wall to block the neighbor's fortune!
Now that the neighbor was building a factory, how could they block their luck? Nevertheless, Zhou Bingqiang still bought some bricks and raised their courtyard wall.
When Zhao Chenglei returned home, it was just in time for lunch. After finishing his meal, he tied up several bundles of bamboo and set off for the city with Jiang Xia.
First, they needed to transport the bamboo to the new house and unload it there before driving the tractor back to Jiang's house.
On their way back to Jiang's house, they passed by the city's opera house. It seemed like it was a holiday, and there were many people around.
Zhao Chenglei slowed down the tractor.
At the entrance of the opera house, Li Xiuxian and Liao Ruixiang had just bought tickets and were about to buy some sunflower seeds to eat when Li Xiuxian heard the sound of the tractor. Instinctively, she turned her head to look, and startled, quickly entered the opera house.
Liao Ruixiang saw this and quickly followed her inside, putting his arm around her waist. "What's wrong? You don't want sunflower seeds anymore?"
Li Xiuxian whispered, "Don't touch me. I'm not sure if my brother and sister-in-law are here to watch the opera."
Liao Ruixiang released his arm and took a few steps away from Li Xiuxian, looking outside. "Who?"
"They're driving a tractor. Forget it, I'm not watching anymore. I'm going home," Li Xiuxian said, her heart filled with fear, not knowing if Zhao Chenglei and Jiang Xia had seen them.
Liao Ruixiang looked out onto the street. "The tractor is gone. It didn't stop, and there are so many people here today. They didn't see us."
"No, I want to go back..." Li Xiuxian was terrified.
Liao Ruixiang: "Okay, okay, okay, then let's not watch anymore. We'll wait until the tractor is far away before going out again, alright?"
Li Xiuxian nodded.
(End of Chapter)
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