An Hao’s face turned as red as a ripe shrimp, while Qin Jian’s expression seemed calm with no ripples, but a faint smile had already softened his eyes and brows.
"My goodness, you just walk right in without even knocking!" Tian Niu couldn’t help but tease, "Such a lovely scene you’ve disturbed."
"Well, if I don’t knock, you didn’t remind me either!" An Ping glared at Tian Niu, regretting his impulsive action and perhaps also regretting seeing An Hao kissing Qin Jian.
"Alright, enough chit-chat. It’s getting late, let’s start working early," Qin Jian stood up, cast a glance at An Hao, and directed the group to go out and start working.
The yard was overgrown with weeds; the first order of business was to clear out the small courtyard.
He took off his jacket and began cutting the grass with a sickle in hand.
Jian Ying climbed up a tree with a saw, starting to saw off wildly grown branches.
An Ping and Tian Niu carried sand and gravel from the riverbank, and even spent money on some cement, applying it to the crumbling walls.
Their bustling activity alerted the other colleagues living in the village.
When they heard that Qin Jian was helping out a friend with work, they all swarmed over.
Seeing that the yard’s Captain was sweating buckets, they all stripped off their outer coats and plunged into the tide of labor.
By the time An Ping finished his task at hand, he couldn’t find any work left to help with.
Since they didn’t need him anymore, he went straight into the house to check on An Hao.
An Hao sat on the edge of the kang bed, watching the bustling scene outside, feeling a warm fuzziness in her heart, not knowing what to say. Seeing An Ping come in drenched with sweat, she beckoned him, "Are you hot? Are you thirsty too?"
"Isn’t it just? The weather is getting warmer day by day," An Ping replied, wiping his sweat with his sleeve.
"An Ping, look how many people have come to help us work. We can’t even offer them a sip of water. Go home and bring the kettle for boiling water. Take Dad’s tea leaves, too, and boil some more water in the kitchen," An Hao said. Since her legs weren’t convenient, An Ping, who never thought of these things, would be directed by her.
"Sure, don’t worry, sis. Is there anything else you need? Just tell me all at once."
Well, although the house was tidied up, there was not a single decent piece of furniture.
Bai Xue’s room was empty when she married over, once belonging to Bai Yanjiao.
It was usually just used for storing odds and ends, tools for doing work.
Later, it was because of Bai Yanjiao that their father had cleared out that room. He moved everything from Grandma’s house over there.
Initially, after Grandma passed away, everything in the house stayed as it was; An Hao and An Ping would come over every so often to clean up.
It was because they emptied the room for Bai Yanjiao that they moved everything out, leaving Grandma’s home unused and thus becoming overgrown over time.
Now that she had moved back, and Bai Xue was more than eager to kick him out, why should she show them any courtesy? Everything here belonged to her and should all be brought back.
Thinking this, she said to An Ping, "An Ping, I live here with nothing but a kang to sleep on, no essential household items. When you go back, move all the things that originally belonged to this house back here. Also, bring back the dowry mother left and everything that belongs to me, without missing a single item."
Wasn’t it about dividing the property? Let’s make the division thorough.