Feng Qingxue and her sister, Qingyun, were dumbstruck at the sight.
Soon, Feng Qingxue regained her composure and carried on with her work silently, while Qingyun’s small eyes kept darting towards their uncle and his wife. Their cousin was so lazy, they must be having a hard time!
Wang Zhengguo and Miao Fengqin were both amused and exasperated.
"We spoiled your cousin rotten. Now it’s impossible to make her change," sighed Wang Zhengguo.
Feng Qingxue expressed her understanding and didn’t pursue the discussion further. "Uncle, go wash your hands. The food will be ready soon," she said.
After washing his hands, Wang Zhengguo went to the parlour to drink some water. Miao Fengqin and Feng Qingxue started serving dishes. Before they finished setting the table, Wang Jiao emerged from her bedroom, plumped down at the table, and picked up her chopsticks.
Just as she reached with her chopsticks to pick up a piece of fish belly, Wang Zhengguo knocked her hand with his own chopsticks.
"Dad, what are you doing? You hurt me!" Wang Jiao shouted, dropping her chopsticks on the table.
Wang Zhengguo looked at her unimpressed. "Who taught you manners? The elders haven’t even sat down or picked up their chopsticks, and you started eating? You have no respect. Plus, after eating melon seeds all day, look how dirty your fingernails are. Did you wash your hands? If this continues, next time, you can skip dinner and starve for all I care," he scolded.
Wang Jiao grudgingly went to wash her hands and returned to her seat.
However, Feng Qingxue and Qingyun noticed that her nails were still dirty and not thoroughly cleaned.
Nevertheless, this was just a minor episode that quickly passed.
In the rural households, there was no rule to be silent during meal times. Thinking about the roof tiles in the yard, Feng Qingxue said, "Uncle, a while ago, you and Auntie took Cousin to visit relatives, then you got busy digging the river. When Lu Jiang’s house construction began, someone passed a message to me. Lu Jiang’s wages are with me, so there’s no need to deplete Uncle Lu’s savings."
"I was just about to tell you," started Zhengguo, "in this good weather, before the harvest season begins, we should hurry up to get people to build the house. I’ve arranged everything. The work starts day after tomorrow. We will have around twenty strong laborers. First, they’ll make the mud bricks, which should take about a day. Once the bricks dry, we’ll construct the house, which should take no more than two days. I told them it would be fifty cents a day, not including meals. What do you think about that?"
Feng Qingxue quickly responded, "If Uncle thinks it’s a good idea, then it’s a good idea, I have no objections. I might not be able to come over then, so I’ll leave everything to you, Uncle."
But Miao Fengqin complained, "Why do we have to spend money? When we built our house, we provided two meals and nobody mentioned money. Fifty cents per person means ten dollars for twenty people, that’s sixty dollars in three days. Who spends so much on construction?"
"What do you know? The situation with Lu’s family and ours is different." Wang Zhengguo retorted. As the party secretary and the leader of a work brigade, he had numerous flatterers and many relatives and friends who were willing to help, so there was no need to mention money. On the contrary, Lu’s family was less privileged, and they couldn’t afford to serve meals to the workers, instead, they had to part with some money. Also, to use the resources from the brigade they had to pay the workers to keep them quiet.
Feng Qingxue chimed in, "Auntie, I think what Uncle said makes sense. By paying wages for their work, we clear off our obligations. After all, making mud bricks and raising beams require materials. Once we pay them, no one would accuse Uncle of being partial."
"Okay, okay, you two are right. I won’t interfere," she conceded.
When Miao Fengqin heard that Feng Qingxue’s explanation would prevent anyone from accusing her husband of misusing his position, she felt relieved and was glad that she had this intelligent niece.