Chapter 141 Rebuilding the Ancestral Home

On the third morning, right after finishing breakfast, Ding Peng drove a jeep into the county seat. He went to procure the red bricks, lumber, cement, and glass that Weihua needed. By evening, he returned driving the jeep, accompanied by a convoy of more than ten military trucks loaded with all the required materials. Weihua's brothers-in-law organized the villagers and Weihua's nephews to unload the supplies, while the soldiers simply ate a quick supper at Weihua's house and headed back overnight. Weihua's brothers-in-law kept the helping villagers behind, and Weihua's sisters served stewed pork with vermicelli to entertain them. Since all the materials for rebuilding the house were now ready, the construction should begin right away. Seizing this opportunity, Weihua's eldest brother-in-law detained the more enthusiastic villagers to discuss the rebuilding plans.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, the villagers arrived at Weihua's house with their tools. Weihua's brothers-in-law had already cleared out everything from the house. As soon as they arrived, the reconstruction commenced. First, the villagers leveled Weihua's ancestral home, hauled away the adobe rubble and other debris, and once the site was cleared, began digging the foundation. A famous quote by our founding leader says, "The masses have boundless strength," and this proved entirely true. In just one morning, a foundation 120 centimeters deep and 70 centimeters wide was completed. The villagers then began laying the foundation and walls with red bricks and cement, while carpenters hurriedly crafted roof beams and windows nearby. Meanwhile, Weihua's sisters prepared meals at home for the workers. Only Weihua remained idle, unable to help because he knew nothing about such labor. His sisters wouldn't even let him do the heavy lifting of carrying bricks and cement, fearing he would overexert himself since he was unaccustomed to it. When he tried to hand out cigarettes and pour water for the villagers, they felt a bit intimidated by him, leaving Weihua rather depressed!

Indeed, the villagers were now somewhat in awe of Weihua. Ever since those dozen military trucks arrived yesterday carrying all the supplies needed to rebuild his ancestral home, the villagers realized that Weihua must be someone of immense importance. After the banquet hosted by the Weihua family concluded, the departing villagers chattered incessantly, unanimously agreeing that little Weihua must have become a high-ranking official and had now returned in glory to renovate the ancestral hall; otherwise, he wouldn't have made such a grand spectacle of it. In the eyes of these villagers, having money was nothing to fear, but having power was truly terrifying. Those with power naturally possessed wealth—wasn't there a saying that getting promoted leads to making a fortune? Becoming a high official certainly meant amassing vast riches. Such gossip could hardly be blamed on the villagers, as they lacked formal education, with the highest academic qualification in the small village being merely junior high school.

Through the diligent efforts of the villagers, Weihua's ancestral home was completely rebuilt in just three days, and the new doors and windows were installed. The indoor floors had been paved with cement, though they were not yet dry; the exterior wall seams were pointed with cement, and over half of the courtyard was cemented as well. The remaining portion was turned into a large flower bed by Weihua, though he suspected his sisters would be more likely to grow vegetables in it rather than flowers. The original wooden fences were entirely replaced by 130-centimeter-tall wooden picket fences, painted with white oil to prevent rotting. Although the house was finished, Weihua could not move in yet because the fresh construction was still damp and humid, requiring a few days to dry out properly. Gazing at this red-tiled brick house standing tall, the villagers' eyes were filled with envy.

On the very day Weihua's ancestral home was completed, the military truck departing from Dalian carrying the gifts Weihua had prepared for his family finally arrived tardily. It turned out the vehicle had suffered a major breakdown on the road, which, compounded by poor road conditions and unfamiliar geography, caused a delay of several days. Weihua did not blame the delivering soldiers; instead, he offered a few words of comfort and presented them with several packs of fine cigarettes. Weihua's brothers-in-law organized his nephews and villagers to unload the cargo. On this day, the villagers had their eyes opened once again. The mountain village was still without electricity, meaning there were no televisions there yet, though some had seen black-and-white sets in other villages; none had ever laid eyes on a color television. The high-capacity solar batteries prepared by Weihua came in handy, allowing the villagers to watch television programs in their mountain village for the very first time—and in full color at that. That evening, nearly the entire village crowded into the courtyard of Weihua's eldest sister.

The situation improved greatly the following day when Weihua presented each of his sisters' families with a color television and a matching high-capacity solar battery set. From then on, his sisters' households officially entered the electrical age. With Weihua's ancestral home rebuilt, it was naturally time to renovate his sisters' houses. Since the village had plenty of able-bodied laborers, the reconstruction of all his sisters' homes began simultaneously. The sisters temporarily moved in with other villagers, leaving their belongings piled outside without any fear of theft. The villagers possessed a rustic simplicity, adhering to the ancient virtue that nothing dropped on the road is picked up, and doors need not be locked at night, so there was no need to worry about their possessions at all.

A few days later, Weihua moved into his newly rebuilt ancestral home. Several of his unmarried nephews rushed over to live with him, partly to hear Weihua recount novel stories from the outside world, and partly because Weihua always had delicious food and fun toys, and wasn't too strict with them. Since Weihua couldn't contribute much labor, he stopped checking on his sisters' ongoing house renovations, leaving the funding and material procurement entirely to him, while their houses were already nearing completion anyway.

Late one evening, after finishing television and lying down on the kang, the eldest son of Weihua's sixth sister asked:
"Little Uncle! I want to join the army! Do you think that's okay?"

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