EBE Chapter 112 Returning to My Hometown to Visit My Brothers
Chapter 112 Returning to My Hometown to Visit My Brothers
The sun was high in the morning, and Gong Yong had finished tidying up the yard under the 10 a.m. sun after a busy morning.
The cement ground in the yard is now mottled and broken, with cement chunks falling off in many places.
Gong Yong walked around the old house and went up to the roof to check. He found that there were leaks in some places on the roof, and traces of the leaks could also be seen in the house downstairs.
He looked at the tiles on top; they were all covered with large tiles, but after all, decades had passed, and some places might still be leaking.
Gong Yong then asked his younger brother to call someone nearby to inspect the roof tiles and fix the leaks in the house, with the cost to be paid by him.
Then, Gong Yong picked up a hoe and went to Houyang Ditch. He carried the rotten leaves and soil that had not been cleaned for many years back to a corner of the courtyard with a bamboo pole and piled them up.
His brother's wife asked him, "Brother, what are you going to do with this mud?"
Gong Yong replied with a smile, "Needless to say, it naturally has wonderful uses."
After finishing all that, in Houyanggou, Gong Yong brought over steel bars, cement, and timber. He took out wood sawing tools from his spatial storage and sawed the slightly better pieces of wood piled on top of the firewood into rows, nailing them together to form a square frame.
He was worried that the soil behind the house might landslide, so he nailed a square frame, installed steel bars in the middle, both vertically and horizontally, and poured cement around the back ditch of the house to protect the old house.
Previously, the ditch was about 60-70 centimeters away from the house, but thanks to Gong Yong's efforts, it is now about 1.4 meters wide.
They also dug a ditch and installed a row of cement blocks with gaps to allow drainage, which not only facilitated drainage but also left a 1.4-meter gap for the drainage ditch behind the building.
This way, there won't be any landslides later on, and the windows at the back of the building can be opened, making it less dark and damp.
Next, Gong Yong collected all the firewood behind the wall, such as corn stalks, leaves, and tree trunks, which had previously been piled up in front of and behind the house.
After the cleaning was done, the area behind the wall with windows became bright.
Gong Yong then removed the old and broken glass from the back window of the leveled house next to the main room, replaced it with two new panes of glass, and also repaired the rusty parts of the iron rods.
Gong Yong took some sandpaper and scrubbed the rusty iron bars of the window, then applied a layer of ironwood oil to protect them. He had originally intended to replace them, but after thinking about it, he decided to make do with the old ones, since they were only rusty and still usable. He then applied a layer of tung oil to protect the window as well. This way, opening the window would allow for ventilation while preventing mosquitoes from entering the room.
After finishing all this, Gong Yong went up to the second floor, inspected the area, and found nothing that needed improvement.
He took away several old, dilapidated beds from the second floor, replaced them with two or three new beds and mattresses, and filled several rooms with them.
He took away all those old, useless things; perhaps Gong Yong collected the old things out of nostalgia.
He didn't take any of the old things inside, only keeping the old cabinet from his childhood and putting a new modular cabinet in the room.
If there were things in the old cabinet, he would put them in the new cabinet, such as children's clothes or cotton wadding. He would remove the empty cabinets, and the upstairs furniture would look brand new.
Then he went back downstairs. It was noon. Gong Yong handed the kitchen over to his brother's wife, who was over 80 years old, and she slowly cooked there.
Gong Yong started working again, starting with the yard. The yard used to be very large after the leveling was done, and it used to be used for drying grain, but now there's not much grain to dry.
Gong Yong first built a gentle slope at the entrance where there were steps in the middle of the yard and the house, and also installed an iron railing.
He was worried that the 80-year-olds might fall, so that even if they were in wheelchairs one day, he could push them out of their rooms by himself.
Next, he removed the threshold above the main door and replaced the main door with one without a threshold, so that even if he became inconvenient to use a wheelchair in the future, he could still push the door from the rooms to the yard.
After finishing, he used the red bricks from the wall that had been demolished earlier to move them one by one into the yard. He then built a trough about 60 centimeters wide and 1.5 meters long along the perimeter wall of the yard, filled it with a lot of soil, and made it easier to grow some edible garlic, scallions, and the like.
Gong Yong did this because his brother and his wife were, after all, over 80 years old.
It takes about five or six minutes to walk from their yard to the fields. The path is not very smooth, and they may fall. Moreover, as time goes by, their bodies will definitely become weaker and they will not be able to go that far.
So he simply fenced off several such areas along the wall in the yard so that they could grow their own vegetables and fruits.
These troughs are 60 centimeters wide, 5 meters long, and 40 centimeters high, making it easy for two elderly people to bend over and operate them. Three or four of them were made and installed next to the railing.
Furthermore, a space was left outside the main room, and about one meter wide was left on the left and right sides of the courtyard, and on the right side, which is the side where the kitchen comes out. Even a wheelchair can pass through in the middle, and even a person in a wheelchair can pick vegetables.
Next to the right-hand kitchen wall, where the pigsty used to be, there were also two or three troughs, each 1.5 meters long, 60 centimeters wide, and 40 centimeters high, filled with fertile soil from the trench.
Gong Yong also mixed cement and then reinforced the outside of the small square and rectangular troughs he had built with cement.
In this way, the two elderly people can grow some flowers and plants without having to bend over much.
He also left behind a few small hoes, only forty or fifty centimeters long, two of them, as well as sickles, rakes, and the like.
After filling the soil with mud and leveling it out, Gong Yong took out several bags of vegetables he had prepared to plant from his storage space and planted the vegetables that could be grown this season.
After planting, he asked his brother and his wife what vegetables they wanted to eat. After they ordered, he planted those vegetables as well.
And so, there were five vegetable planting troughs like this in the small courtyard. They could grow most basic vegetables, not many, but enough to eat.
This was Gong Yong's backup plan for his brothers and their wives, worried that their two children would be unfilial and rarely come back, leaving the two elderly people without food.
Rice, flour, and cooking oil can be delivered to your door by phone, but vegetables can't be delivered every day, and the village is in a remote and quiet location, which is not very convenient.
Then, Gong Yong took out an air conditioner from the space.
Since air conditioner outdoor units are easily stolen if installed outside, he came up with a solution: he installed the outdoor unit in the kitchen and the air conditioner itself in a leveled room next to the main room.
This way, the outdoor unit cannot be seen from the outside; it can only be seen when you enter the room.
Gong Yong hid the outdoor unit in a cabinet. If an outsider went in and didn't look carefully, they wouldn't be able to find the outdoor unit. It could only be seen from inside the kitchen, like a shell that was blocked from the outside.
After blocking it, Gong Yong placed an iron shelf on top so he could put some things on it.
After finishing all that, it was 2 p.m. The brother's wife shakily finished preparing lunch. She made a meatball, cooked some vegetables with the beef meatballs made by the older brother, which was something the elderly couple could eat, and also cooked some beef, which was flavorful and tender.
The three of them ate a simple meal. The brother and his wife said, "Brother, you've prepared so much, how can the two of us finish it?"
Gong Yong asked, "Brother, how should we prepare this mutton? How do you want to eat it?"
My brother's wife said, "Well, now we can only use it for hot pot or soup. Our teeth aren't good enough anymore, so we can't eat it."
Gong Yong said, "Okay, I'll cut the mutton off the bone, roll it up, freeze it, and then cut it into mutton rolls. How about we have hot pot tonight?"
Gong Yong's brother's wife said, "Okay, brother."
Then Gong Yong removed the mutton, leaving only some lamb ribs. He also removed the thigh meat and rolled it up.
Wrap the lamb in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. For the other lamb parts, like lamb trotters and lamb heads, remove the parts that need to be removed and set them aside.
Gong Yong used a blowtorch to singe off the hair from the sheep's trotters and head. After that, he took out a large iron pot, put these things in, added seasonings to remove the gamey smell, and prepared to make soup for hot pot that evening.
After finishing these tasks and refilling the fire in the stove, Gong Yong got busy again.
His brother and his wife are getting old and their bones aren't strong enough to do much work, so Gong Yong is worried they might fall. As for Gong Yong, he looks to be under 40 and is very healthy.
Gong Yong put all the burning materials in front of and behind the house together. He quickly sawed the unchopped firewood into pieces and placed them there to be chopped into firewood when he had time.
Next, Gong Yong looked at the trees in front of and behind the house. Some of the branches were too thick, so he took a chainsaw, jumped up, and sawed off those branches to make room for the house. This way, they wouldn't fall down and hit the tiles or damage the house.
After trimming the trees in front of and behind the house, he jumped down from the trees and put all the branches in the yard to dry.
Then he went to check on the cement in the room, which was almost dry and would probably be completely dry by tonight.
My brother's wife said, "Brother, let me prepare a room for you upstairs. That way, you can sleep upstairs tonight, but you don't have anywhere to sleep downstairs."
Gong Yong said, "There's no need. You can go upstairs. I've already taken care of everything upstairs. If you're sleeping alone, this main room is so big. I can just put away your things and put the bed out."
The brother's wife didn't expect that her brother's space could be stored and moved in and out so easily, so she didn't insist on going upstairs to make up the bed for her brother.
Then Gong Yong walked around and felt there was nothing left to do, so he stopped and started taking out the mutton that had been frozen in the freezer to cut. He cut five or six plates of mutton into rolls and placed them aside.
The mutton soup he had been simmering was almost ready, so he took out some seasonings, such as ginger and garlic dipping sauce, sesame paste, and other condiments, and laid them out in a row, preparing for hot pot tonight. He also took out some mutton tripe and beef tripe.
By the time he finished washing the side dishes and arranging them on plates, it was around 6 p.m. The small pot on the stove was bubbling away, the rich mutton soup emitting a delicious aroma. Gong Yong and his brothers and sisters-in-law sat down by the stove and began their dinner, eating and chatting happily. The two reminisced about their youth and childhood antics, making for a very enjoyable and nostalgic meal.
One of the brothers' wives said, "Brother, I'm sorry." Gong Yong was taken aback and said, "Brother's wife, what's there to apologize for?" The brother said, "Brother, I'm sorry." Gong Yong was stunned again, wondering what had been going on these past few nights. His brother's wife had been apologizing to him. Gong Yong said, "Go ahead, what's wrong?" The younger brother said, "Brother, when we were young, we were ignorant and did many wrong things, causing you so much worry at your age. We feel very ashamed." Gong Yong said, "No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. As long as we move forward bravely, that's enough." The brother said, "Brother, although I did many stupid things and I'm sorry to my wife, I don't know why our parents did what they did. I'm also a beneficiary, so I have no right to speak. I think since we're brothers, let's not say so much. Now that you're older, and I'm older too, let's not talk about those unpleasant topics, okay?" The brother said, "Okay." The two brothers took a sip of wine and continued eating their mutton slices. The evening was relaxed and pleasant.
After dinner and drinks, Gong Yong saw his brothers and their wives upstairs. He then tidied up the old table and chairs in the main room, creating a large space, and put out the bed. He hadn't slept the night before and decided to get a good night's sleep. After setting up the bed, Gong Yong took a hot shower and prepared for bed. Before sleeping, he took out his phone and called the local gas company's customer service hotline. Luckily, they still had human assistance available at this hour. He told them he wanted to install natural gas and asked about the cost per account, receiving a clear answer. Gong Yong then asked, "Could you arrange for someone to install it tomorrow?" The woman on the other end said, "If possible, they should arrive around noon or afternoon tomorrow." Gong Yong said, "Okay, thank you for your help." This was Gong Yong's initial preparation.
Gong Yong worried that as his brothers and their wives got older, they wouldn't be able to gather firewood themselves and would go hungry, so he decided to install a natural gas account. After finishing all this, Gong Yong still couldn't sleep, so he got up and went to the pigsty.
He checked the toilet; the toilet bowl needed replacing. Then he went to the pigsty and figured raising pigs was out of the question, but raising a few chickens, ducks, and geese wouldn't be a problem. He went inside and saw his brother's two dogs quietly guarding the two sides of the yard. That was alright; there were a few chickens and a few ducks, but not many. Gong Yong looked around and found only two or three duck eggs and two or three chicken eggs, which he guessed would be his brother and sister-in-law's source of nutrition. Gong Yong thought for a moment and decided to go to the market tomorrow to see if he could buy any chicks, ducklings, or goslings for his brother to raise. However, they would need feed and grain, and Gong Yong would have to think about those things carefully.
Gong Yong walked slowly, circling the village road and inspecting the items around the houses. He then thought for a moment that he needed to cut down some more bamboo. Looking around, he didn't see any major problems. The even older house behind the old one was dilapidated and had no economic value. He planned to ask his brother tomorrow if the back house needed repairs; it was an even older house, so he figured they wouldn't ask for repairs, and it would be good enough if they could just keep the lower houses in good condition.
Gong Yong looked around. The house mostly used electricity, but he was worried about occasional power outages. He considered it for a moment. Installing two solar panels at the highest point of the roof might be convenient for the elderly couple. It seemed like a good idea. Finally, Gong Yong climbed onto the roof and inspected the top. He noticed a slope between the side kitchen and the main house, which was perfect for installing the panels on the other side, where they would receive direct sunlight when the house faced west. Moreover, the location wouldn't be easily noticed by most people. He decided to install two larger solar panels there, connecting the wiring. This way, even if there was a power outage in the surrounding area, his house would at least have electricity, thanks to the storage box. With that thought, he climbed down, returned to his room, lay down on his bed, and began meditating, waiting for dawn.
The morning sunlight, like rosy clouds, streamed into the room, creating a kaleidoscope of colors. The moment Gong Yong opened his eyes, a golden light flashed within them. He quickly got up, tucked his bed into his spatial storage, making the space more spacious again, and then lit the stove. Actually, the stove had been burning all night, but it was almost out, so Gong Yong lit it again and reheated the leftover steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and sesame balls from yesterday morning, intending to eat them again today. He also cooked a pot of congee with preserved egg and lean pork for a change of pace. While the congee was cooking, he checked the room next to the main room that he had leveled; it wasn't dry enough to walk in yet. Today was the second day, and it wasn't quite dry yet; it should be ready in three days. He was thinking of building a wall that was both leaky and airtight, so that the interior wouldn't block the sunlight and would be comfortable. So Gong Yong had to find a solution, and he began taking out the trees he had cut down, sawing them into strips, and laying them out to dry in the sun. A day later, in the evening…