On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, it was still snowing.

This year is colder than usual, and there have been several snowfalls, each of which takes many days for the snow to melt completely.

As the saying goes, snow is not cold, and although the sky is snowing, as long as people are dressed warmly, it is fine.

Feet on the thick white snow make a small creaking sound.

After people walked by, they left a series of footprints in the white snow.

After a simple breakfast at home, Gao Mingcheng is going to take his wife and children to visit his parents for the New Year.

Naturally, I didn't go empty-handed, but brought two packs of gifts, a pack of two-pound dried longan, and a bag of apples.

Because dinner was to be eaten at Grandma's house, Grandma's share was also brought, which had a lot to mention, and it was inconvenient to walk over to hold the child, so Gao Mingcheng was ready to drive a tractor over.

"Maozi, we don't eat lunch and dinner at home, you two brothers can cook whatever you want! If you are bored, go to Uncle Chen's house to talk. Before leaving, Gao Mingcheng said a word to Maozi.

"Hey, Brother Mingcheng, don't worry." Mao Zi said with a smile, there are still some leftovers at home, besides, there are a lot of various kinds of food.

This year, compared to Maozi's previous years, has a much richer life, he is okay, his younger brother Yangyang is like falling into a nest of blessings, chewing snacks in his mouth every day, and eating fragrantly.

After saying goodbye to Maozi, Gao Mingcheng drove a tractor and took his wife and children to the old village.

After getting out of the car, many beauties held the child, and he carried things, and met people all the way, and said with a smile: "Happy New Year." ”

At the door of every house in the old village, there is red firecracker dust, and the air is even filled with a faint smell of gunsmoke.

Children dressed in new clothes are scurrying up and down the village road, and bursts of laughter can be heard from time to time.

This time, Gao Mingcheng detoured to the next road, first went to Grandma's house, and after giving the gifts, he went to his parents' house, all the people in this village live together, no matter who they want to go to, they can go through the path.

There are also a lot of people in Grandma's house today to pay New Year's greetings, these people are the younger generations in a room in the village, from the genealogy, the relationship is closer, but from the kinship, it is a little worse, so just go into the house to pay New Year's greetings, say a few auspicious words, sit down to drink tea and eat melon seeds and then chat, and do not leave food.

Gao Mingcheng didn't stay here for a long time, and soon took a lot of Mei and Xiao Xuxu to his parents' house.

When he passed, the house was very lively, the hall was full of people, and the men were still talking and laughing loudly.

This scene scared many beauties into the house.

Gao Mingcheng looked around and said, "Xiuxiu should be in her own house, you take your son and go over to find her." ”

Wang Xiuxiu has a big belly, there are many people in the family today, so she shouldn't have to work, and she can hide in the house and rest in the house in her in-law's house, who is not familiar with the place.

"Okay." Many beauties thought that this idea was good, so they took Xiao Xuxu to the house in Gaomingli, and when they entered, they saw Wang Xiuxiu in the house, but there were not only Wang Xiuxiu in the house, but also a few peers in the village.

Compared with Wang Xiuxiu, who married in from another village, many beauties are more familiar with these people in the same village, and as soon as she came, she naturally joined the topic, and the group talked and laughed.

Gao Mingcheng saw it outside the window, and he was relieved, he walked into the hall generously with gifts, greeted the uncles, and congratulated everyone on a happy new year.

Gao Yuanjian sat with a smile on his face, and when he saw Gao Mingcheng coming, he enthusiastically shouted Gao Mingli to pour tea for Gao Mingcheng.

This tea was bought at the cooperative, although it is not very expensive, but it is better than the coarse tea made by yourself, and it does not taste so astringent.

Gao Mingcheng took a sip of tea, and someone beckoned him to eat melon seeds and rice candy.

This rice candy is made by a family in the village, and his family has the best craftsmanship in making rice candy, so every year one month before the Chinese New Year, he begins to order to make sugar, you can spend money to buy it, or you can take the rice yourself to exchange.

In addition to rice candy, there is also core sugar, which is made of maltose and is more sticky, so it is placed in fried rice, and if you want to eat sugar, you have to pull it out of the fried rice, and the fried rice tastes fragrant and crispy, you can eat it empty, or you can eat porridge.

"Mingcheng, just now a few of us said that your father taught his sons well, and several sons are promising, your family is the one in the village!" The man gave a thumbs up as he spoke, indicating that their family was the best in the village.

"After the beginning of spring, Gao Fuqiang's family is about to build a house, and your house has been around for many years, is it time to rebuild it? Ming Cheng, just now your father said that he wanted to build it, but he didn't have so much money in his hand, so I said what were you afraid of? He had four sons, and if one of them gave a little, wouldn't this house be built? Mingpeng himself is engaged in the construction site, he is looking for someone to buy cement and steel bars, and looking for someone to do things, it must be cheap and good! ”

"Your grandmother is getting old, she has suffered all her life, and it is time to live in a new house and enjoy happiness!"

It was Gao Mingcheng's cousin who spoke, and he didn't come and go much on weekdays, but this New Year's Day must be moving around with each other.

Gao Mingcheng also understood what he meant, and immediately said: "Uncle is right, it's time to build a house at home." Dad, are you going to tear it down and rebuild it, or do you want to buy another piece of land? Are you planning to burn bricks or buy bricks? As for the money for building a house, it is not a big deal for a few brothers to contribute a little. ”

He didn't have a big package, but the family wanted to build a house, and as a son, he must have to give some money.

When it comes to building a house, Gao Yuanjian's face is full of redness, and the whole person seems to be a few years younger.

The older generation in the village can see the construction of a house as a big deal.

If you can build a good house in your own hands and leave it to future generations, it is a very face-saving thing.

Gao Yuanzhi said: "Tear down and rebuild!" This piece of land is in a good location, and I don't want to build a house somewhere else, besides, you don't live here on weekdays, so you just tear it down and rebuild it, and when the house is built, we will take your grandmother and move to your eldest brother's side to live. ”

"Your eldest brother will take care of the purchase of cement, sand and steel bars, and I can rest assured. As for bricks...... I think of it this way, burn some bricks, and buy some bricks. ”

As soon as Gao Mingcheng heard his father's words, he knew that his father was thoughtful, so he nodded in agreement.

Brick burning is a manual job that also requires a lot of firewood.

If you want to burn the bricks of a house on your own, that's a big project!

For example, Gao Fuqiang's family, his family spent a whole year of hard work from digging kilns, cutting trees, making bricks, and burning bricks!

Last year, his family was burning bricks, and when his family built a house this year, the brick kiln could be rented to other people to burn bricks.

Gao Yuanjian felt that his family's manpower was limited, and the firewood was also limited, so he planned to burn only one kiln of bricks, and spend the rest to buy it.

The reason why we still have to burn a kiln brick is in line with the idea of saving money.

Because of this thought, Gao Yuanzhi began to save a pile of firewood this year.

When it came to building a house, everyone in the hall was very interested, and they began to talk about how to build it, where to build the kitchen, and how many miscellaneous rooms to be built, whether to build one floor or two floors.

Gao Fanmao strongly recommends building a two-story building.

He said eloquently: "Who is still building a floor now?" Where to stay! What's more, your family has a large population, this son has found a wife, and the daughter-in-law has also given birth to a series of babies, not to mention two floors in the future, three floors may not be enough to live! ”

Gao Yuanjian smiled with a smile on his face and said, "There is no need for three layers, just two layers." I have never lived in a building in my life, and this is to be built, and it is indeed necessary to build a two-story building! It's not just me, you're going to build a house in the future, and you'll have to build a two-story building. ”

"That's, that's."

"I think so too."

They began to talk about the orientation of the house, the height and size of the rooms, and the style of the doors, windows, and furniture.

Gao Mingcheng sat aside, he didn't say much, and only said a few words when he was asked.

Seeing that the elders were happy, Gao Mingli and Gao Mingwan found Gao Mingcheng, and the two brothers gave Gao Mingcheng a look and motioned to go out to talk.

So the three brothers quietly went out of the hall.

There were many people in the hall, and the brazier was burned to keep warm, and people sat in it, it was quite warm, and this time it came out, and it was blown by the wind and snow, and the trace of warmth that was still left just now was completely dissipated in the wind and snow.

The three brothers walked into the courtyard, and Gao Mingli first said: "Second brother, third brother, how much money do you pay for the house built at home?" If you come out more, I probably won't be able to do as much as you! ”

Gao Mingli is paid a dead salary, unlike Gao Mingcheng and Gao Mingwan, who can make money, besides, he still wants to save money to buy a house in the county.

Although it's good to live in the second brother's house, you can't live in it for a lifetime, and you still have to buy your own house.

Gao Mingcheng, as a person who has experience in building houses, immediately calculated an account for the two of them, and said: "The family built the house on the original land, and the land does not need to spend money, and after the old house is demolished, there will be some good bricks and tiles, which can be used to build a pigsty and chicken coop." ”

"Mom, Dad, Big Brother, and your mountains have a lot of good wood, which is enough to make beams, purlins, and rafters, which saves money for buying wood."

"Cement and steel bars or something, with the big brother coming forward, how much can it be a little cheaper, this part is the money that should be paid, the bricks are going to burn a kiln, and the rest is spent to buy. This kiln brick is only 10,000 bricks at most. ”

"Dad is planning to build two floors, I estimate that there will be four rooms on the first floor, eight rooms up and down, a total of more than 20,000 bricks, if the building is wider, it will be more, and in addition to the kitchen, bath room, it is estimated that there will be more than 30,000 bricks in total. And then the tile, it is estimated that it will cost about 10,000 pieces. If you spend money to buy it, the price of red bricks is 5 cents a piece, and small tiles are 7 cents per piece. ”

"The workers who build the house, the eldest brother is already a big worker, and if you invite a big worker and a few small workers, and there are people from the village who will come to help do things for a few days, then this salary is not much."

"I made a rough calculation, about 5,000 yuan, and I can build a house."

Now it's just 90 years, wages haven't risen much, prices are okay, and you can save some money by building a house in the village, just counting the cost of building materials and labor.

After Gao Mingcheng finished settling the accounts, Gao Mingli lowered his head and pondered, his brows furrowed very tightly, and he looked at the second and third brothers with uneasy eyes.

As if guessing what he was thinking, Gao Mingwan said: "Mingli, you are the youngest, and you have only been working for a short time, and no one will say anything if you go out less." ”

Hearing this, Gao Mingli breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that he only needs to pay some money, and the big head is still the other three brothers.

Well, the main thing is that the second brother and the third brother are out.

Gao Mingwan looked at Gao Mingcheng, Gao Mingcheng was also refreshed, and said: "I'll give out a thousand yuan, you look at it, and my parents must also have money in their hands, I have to have about three or four thousand!" ”

Gao Yuanjian can make a lot of money by steaming wine for people a year, and in previous years, he generally earned 16 to 2,000 yuan, and he raised two pigs at home, and after selling them at the end of the year, he made another income.

In addition, the vegetables in the field are sometimes sold at the Junling Old Market, as well as the money for going into the mountains to dig medicinal herbs every year, which is also a small amount of money.

Another one, during the New Year's holidays, their brothers also gave money more or less.

If it costs 5,000 yuan to build a house, and Gao Mingcheng pays one-fifth, then no one can say that he can't do it.

Gao Mingwan stared at the old house and said, "Actually...... There are six rooms in total, which is enough to live in. ”

Gao Mingcheng also glanced at the old house and said, "If you make up your mind not to live here in the future, the six rooms will naturally be enough." ”

The eldest brother Gao Mingpeng has bought another house to live in, and he has also moved away, but Gao Mingwan and Gao Mingli have not yet separated, and Gao Shufang has not yet married, so when Gao Mingcheng is settling accounts, he will calculate it according to a total of eight rooms.

However, although Gao Mingwan and Gao Mingli have not separated, they are afraid that they will not return to live in the village.

As for Gao Shufang, she is a girl, and sooner or later she will get married.

Speaking of Gao Shufang's marriage, Gao Mingcheng also began to choose someone for her, but he didn't pick a suitable one for a while.

But there is no doubt that Gao Shufang will definitely marry in the county.

"I also think six rooms are enough! You see, there are three rooms on the first floor, the middle is the hall house, one on both sides is for parents to live in, one side is for grandma to live, there are three rooms upstairs, Shufang lives in one, when I go home for the New Year's holiday, I and the third brother each live in one, enough! Gao Mingli's eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed.

If you build two fewer rooms, you will naturally spend less.

But Gao Mingcheng told them that even if he built two fewer rooms, it would only be less brick money, and the other account he calculated was only the money for building the house, and the furniture was not included.

But Gao Mingli was already a little more relaxed, and he said, "What is this? The beds and cabinets in the room are a bit old, but they can still be used! ”

He thought very openly, anyway, he didn't want to live in the village permanently, so it would be nothing, as long as he didn't let him spend a lot of money, he could accept it! There is really no bed, even if you make a bunk on the floor!

Gao Mingwan also said that it was enough to have a bed and a cabinet in the room.

Seeing this, Gao Mingcheng couldn't help but laugh.

It's that he thinks too much, and always thinks that since a new house has been built, then the things in the new house must naturally be new, so that it is commensurate. (End of chapter)