Chapter 320

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

By the time it was past eleven at noon, Chai Mi and Song Qiushui had returned.

After arranging things, she cooked with Su Wan; everyone ate, then rested for a while at noon.

Chai Mi was just thinking of resting too when she suddenly remembered that during the meal just now, her father Chai Youqing hadn't been there.

Chai Mi called Chai Xiu over: "Xiu'er, come here. What did your dad go off to do?"

"Don't know."

"Speak human."

"Went to Da Shulinzi to get purlins."

Chai Mi hummed: "Went by himself? Then he didn't know to call a few more people to go together? Doing it alone, when would he finish? Huh... wait, Xiu'er, was it you who egged him on? Your dad got anxious, so he went."

Shaking her head, unconcerned: "That I don't care about. I just said if you don't get the purlins back, my sister will get angry when she returns, so he went."

Chai Mi gasped: "Are you stupid? I'm telling you, the reason I had you do this was: you can go shamelessly tell Song Qingshan. I'm too embarrassed to say it... how could you be clever on your own and tell our dad? With his temper, could he bring himself to steal?"

Chai Mi got a splitting headache.

She knew her father Chai Youqing better than anyone; for sneaky things, he definitely carried a psychological burden.

"I couldn't do it either, so I just told our dad." Chai Xiu said.

"If I wanted Dad to go, would I need you to tell him?" Chai Mi frowned: "You really... your brain only thinks about how to play, not a serious thought in it."

Chai Mi scolded Chai Xiu a few sentences, and Chai Xiu didn't talk back.

Just stood quietly taking the scolding, actually quite obedient; seeing Chai Xiu not resist, Chai Mi didn't make any excessive demands on her either.

After all, Xiu'er now has face and skin; that day Su Wan even said not to let Chai Mi scold Chai Xiu anymore. Chai Mi could only glare at Chai Xiu and then went out.

Chai Mi also knew that recently her father Chai Youqing hadn't done little work, and his performance was passable; as a daughter, demanding too much of him wasn't quite right either.

Chai Mi came out of the house and ran into Liu Zhijing, who had just finished his work and was preparing to go to Chai Mi's house to eat; she stopped and asked: "Da Zhi, do you know what my dad went off to do? He didn't come back for the noon meal."

"Don't know..." Liu Zhijing really didn't know.

Chai Mi sighed: "Since he wasn't working over there, he definitely went to the forest. And went by himself."

Liu Zhijing knew that Chai Mi's warehouse needed several purlins, so Chai Youqing going to get purlins made perfect sense; only going alone, he'd be at it until the year of the monkey.

And Chai Youqing isn't a young man anymore; no matter how capable, he's not comparable to twenty-somethings.

The moment Chai Mi thought of Chai Youqing running off to Da Shulinzi alone, she got a damn headache.

She knew her dad too well; that place is desolate, him alone cutting over a dozen purlins and carrying them out — isn't that asking for his life?

The problem is...

Chai Youqing definitely would carry them out himself; he's thin-skinned, too embarrassed to ask for help.

Chai Mi rubbed her forehead; having a livewire for a dad is truly worrisome.

And carrying wood would be fine, but the problem is Chai Mi also knows that Chai Youqing this person he...

How to put it?

Useless?

Not quite.

But definitely not too reliable.

If he runs into a rascal, her dad's steamed-bun personality, he'd definitely be eaten down to the bone.

"Da Zhi, how about this: you go eat a bite at my place, then come with me to Da Shulinzi! My dad went to cut purlins alone, and there's still no sign of him!"

Hearing this, Liu Zhijing immediately said: "Forget eating, we'll eat when we get back. Your dad can't finish alone, I'll go help. Or call a couple more people?"

"Fine."

Liu Zhijing went back to Chai Mi's house to call people; after all, there were over a dozen people building the warehouse over there, a casual call would get several.

Meanwhile Song Qiushui was hugging a freshly steamed bun gnawing on it; seeing Chai Mi come out, she came out too, and hearing Chai Mi and Liu Zhijing's dialogue, the bun nearly choked her: "What thing? Your dad went by himself? That'll take until the year of the monkey? Go go go, I'm going too!"

As she spoke, Song Qiushui couldn't help but stick out a thumb: "Chai Mi, your dad is really badass. Dares to take any job, this job he goes himself, really damn impressive. No wonder you always said before, when your dad worked, he wore your mom out. Seeing it today, sure enough... sick in the head."

Chai Mi didn't mind what Song Qiushui said, pursing her lips to show: "He's just like that, damn annoying."

In the past, when Chai Youqing helped Chai Zhongxiao and his wife work, he was this virtue. Greedy for morning and night, working without a stopping point, insisting on making it seem like he was so capable.

What fucking use is being capable?!

Did life get better?

No...

Life nearly fell apart.

And made Su Wan a body full of illness, truly abstract.

Chai Mi did feel that hardworking and capable could make life a little better, much stronger than lazy people.

At least, Chai Youqing was much stronger than Chai You De.

Chai You De, besides drinking, just smoked, didn't do any work, and damn well thought about beautiful things all day.

As a child relied on parents to raise him, grown up relied on wife to raise him, later still rely on son to raise him.

Chai You De even more damn abstract.

Of course, these few of the Chai Family, all very abstract.

Compared to normal people, they're quite abnormal.

Just like this time Chai Youqing went to carry purlins; obviously there were many helpers at home, just call a few to go together, wouldn't that be it?

Chai Mi guessed Chai Youqing was afraid people would say he stole from others, something he never really did in his life.

But that big forest belongs to everyone — whoever wants to take from it takes from it; in a place no one manages, that's taking, not stealing.

Besides, Chai Youqing hauling the purlins back — wouldn't people still find out they were stolen?

Isn't that purely a brain that's not quite right?

Normal logic: shouldn't it be that since everyone knows the wood came from the big forest anyway, whether stolen or taken doesn't matter, known is known, so what of it?

Chai Mi also knew Zhu Gaozhi stole an Emperor, and no one said anything...

(Of course, Zhu Gaozhi's case doesn't count as stealing either. Zhu Di left no clear testament; he had Yang Shiqi forge a succession edict for him. Theoretically his position was illegitimate. But he governed well, so no one quibbled. If the Ming Dynasty fell in his hands, he'd be a Second Emperor of Qin.)

Song Qiushui smiled: "Fine, better than my dad. My dad's even more fucking abstract. I've been busy making money lately, ignoring their matchmaking talk, so the two of them suspect my fucking sexual orientation has issues..."

Chai Mi was amused into clutching her belly laughing: "Hahahaha. Your dad... is abstract enough too."

Before long, Liu Zhijing led out three or four young men, and they all came out together.

Chai Mi didn't stop them — more people, more hands.

Everyone jumped onto Liu Zhijing's tractor, "chug-chug-chug" driving toward the Niuhe River bend.

The tractor bumped along to the river bend's edge; from there into the deep forest they had to rely on their legs. Chai Mi jumped off, glanced around — from deep in the woods came a faint, muffled "hng-hng" sound.

"Hear that! Your dad's still chopping!" Song Qiushui's ears were sharp.

Chai Mi sighed helplessly.

Several people walked deeper, one foot deep one foot shallow. Not far in, they saw Chai Youqing with his back to them, sticking his butt out, huffing and puffing at a young poplar thick as a wrist. Sweat had soaked a large patch of the old jacket on his back; at his feet lay seven or eight debarked trunks haphazardly, length and thickness fairly uniform, but still far from fourteen.

"Dad!" Chai Mi shouted.

Chai Youqing startled with a shudder, the axe nearly flying from his hand. He whipped around, face covered in sweat and mud, eyes dodging, carrying the panic of being caught: "Ah... how come you're here?"

"Not come? Not come and you planned to chop till dark?" Chai Mi walked over, swept a glance at the wood on the ground, then at her dad bent double with exhaustion, anger rising: "Told you to get purlins, and you just stubbornly do it alone? Wouldn't call a few people? Got your head stuck in a door?"

Chai Youqing hemmed and hawed, rubbing his calloused hands: "I... I saw they were busy building walls, didn't have the nerve..."

Song Qiushui tugged Chai Mi's sleeve, said in a low voice: "Ai-ya, enough. Your dad's tired enough already, you don't need to nitpick everything. What's with the nonstop yapping, just haul it back."

As they spoke, Chai Zhongming was there too.

After getting his own firewood hauled home, he came back to watch Chai Youqing, making Chai Youqing cut a few trees for him.

After all, Chai Youqing had agreed back then.

Chai Mi glanced at Chai Zhongming, cursed inwardly: What the hell is this undying old geezer doing here?

Chai Zhongming was the village's notorious lifelong bachelor — he had no shame.

Him being here definitely meant trouble.

Chai Mi asked Chai Youqing: "How many cut? Enough?"

"On... only eight." Chai Youqing's voice was weak, "Still short quite a few..."

"Chopping this bit of stuff took a whole morning? Uncle Chai, your efficiency is really something." Song Qiushui couldn't help needling — she most despised this kind of slacking while being manipulated.

Chai Youqing's face reddened further, head buried lower.

The problem was, Chai Youqing really was slacking. He'd run his mouth and promised Chai Zhongming, so Chai Zhongming came to collect. He stalled saying he hadn't finished, fudging it.

So the actual progress was especially slow.

"Ai-yo, turns out Second Grandpa's here too." Chai Mi impatiently glanced at Chai Zhongming, understood most of it, said with displeasure: "You old man, what are you doing hanging around here?"

Chai Zhongming only then spoke slowly, drawing out his tone: "Yo, it's Chai Mi girl and Qiu Shui. You two busy, I was just passing by, thought I'd take a look. Your dad's honest — said once he's done chopping he'd send a few over for my shed. Neighbors helping neighbors, right?" He bit down especially hard on the word "send".

Chai Mi cold-laughed inside, face expressionless. She walked to the pile Chai Youqing had chopped, kicked it with her foot: "Just these few small branches, for a shed? Your standards are pretty low."

Chai Zhongming's face was thick too: "Heh, make do. We're not like you lot, building a proper warehouse. Your dad's righteous, he agreed didn't he?"

Chai Mi didn't take his bait, turned to Liu Zhijing: "Da Zhi, you guys lend a hand, move these logs onto the truck. Dad, stop chopping too, this much is enough for the warehouse."

"What? Enough?" Chai Youqing stared, pointing at the ground, "Only eight! Still short six! The warehouse roof..."

"I say it's enough, it's enough!" Chai Mi couldn't be bothered with him. Then to the young men: "You guys work hard, chop ten more logs."

No one said a second word, just started working.

With many hands, they finished chopping in a short while.

Added up to seventeen or eighteen logs.

Without a word, everyone bent to shoulder the logs and drag them toward the tractor. Chai Mi helped too — strong, carrying one in each hand. Seeing this, Chai Youqing hurried to help move them.

Chai Zhongming saw the situation, got anxious. He stepped forward two steps: "Girl, this... your dad's promise to me..."

Only then did Chai Mi look him in the eye, gaze calm yet edged with cold hardness: "What did my dad promise you?"

"Ju... just send a few logs!" Chai Zhongming pointed at the ground, "Look, he already chopped them..."

"Chopped means they're yours?" Chai Mi's mouth twitched, "This forest is public, or does it belong to your Chai Zhongming family? Whoever chops owns it? My dad's honest, couldn't refuse and agreed — that's his muddle-headedness. The wood for my Chai Mi's warehouse was approved by Village Chief Liu Zhanggui. Got objections? Go talk to Uncle Changgui. If he says the wood goes to you, I Chai Mi won't keep a single one — I'll send them all to your door!"

Chai Mi spoke "Liu Zhanggui approved it" with finality. Chai Zhongming's smile froze completely. He could bully Chai Youqing, but wouldn't dare cross Village Chief Liu Zhanggui. Liu Zhanggui had high prestige in the village; if it came to a real showdown, Chai Zhongming wouldn't get the upper hand.

"Ah... Village Chief approved it..." Chai Zhongming dry-laughed twice, eyes flickering, "Then... then fine. Since it's public business, I won't meddle. You're busy, you're busy..." He said this, shouldered a thin log, and slunk away toward the forest edge, steps much faster than when he came.

Watching Chai Zhongming leave, Chai Youqing finally let out a long breath.

"Look at your pathetic backbone!" Chai Mi threw the wood into the truck bed, dusted her hands, "One Chai Zhongming scares you this bad? He wants wood you give it? Who the hell does he think he is? Dad, not to lecture you, but your guts are smaller than a chicken's! He doesn't have shit — give him two big slaps, what's he gonna do?"

Chai Youqing kept his head down, just silently moving wood.

Chai Mi didn't scold her dad further — problem solved was enough. She helped load the remaining logs onto the tractor bed, packing it full.

"Dad, you sit up front." Chai Mi pointed at the spot next to the tractor driver's seat, which could fit one person.

Chai Youqing was a bit surprised, looked at his daughter's expressionless face, then at the crowded truck bed, hesitated, then climbed up beside the driver's seat. Liu Zhijing started the tractor, chug-chug-chug driving back.

All the way, Chai Youqing kept his head down, barely speaking.

Song Qiushui, though, was full of energy, leaning on the truck bed rail, telling Chai Mi: "I'm telling you, those brothers are all our Old Song Family people. Not to mention anything else — they hadn't even finished eating, just came to help. Chai Mi, you've got to show appreciation."

"That's a given. They're all your brothers, what else would I say? This afternoon you guys don't go work, I'll go back later and cook another full table, we'll eat a proper meal."