Chapter 699: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 699: Building a New House Again

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Wang Xiaohua now had a clear life goal, no longer lost as he had been last semester.

Actually, the fundamental reason he had spent so much time studying last semester was that he had no clear plan for his life; besides burying himself in textbooks, he had no other way to dispel the confusion in his heart.

This was not a problem only Wang Xiaohua would face; most people go through such a stage in life, encountering similar problems.

After all, whose youth isn't lost?

And being lost requires trying, bumping into things, charging ahead, and groping around before one can walk one's own path.

All the effort last semester was not wasted; at least it made Wang Xiaohua recognize the gap in aptitude between himself and classmates truly suited to academia and research, and after hitting a wall, he turned back in time to seek another way out.

At the start of this semester, he drew up a study plan completely different from last semester's.

The basic content in class, he still had to learn well, because he had to earn enough credits, otherwise he couldn't graduate.

The time previously used for studying academics was now allocated elsewhere by him.

Through Wei Qian's recommendation, he joined a debate team and began learning debate and public speaking.

In his spare time, he began studying the Administrative Aptitude Test and Essay Writing, began studying Mao Selected Works, and began paying more attention to current affairs, carefully pondering political articles published on major national platforms like CCTV News and People's Daily.

All of the above was preparation for taking the Civil Service Exam in the future.

Wang Xiaohua discovered that studying these was much easier than doing academic research.

After all, his IQ was what it was; once he had a clear goal, executing it was not difficult for him.

Unlike doing research, which required aptitude and intuition.

Aptitude and intuition are mysterious things, invisible and intangible, yet they exist in some people.

Take the great mathematician Euler: he glanced at the Basel Problem and could guess that the sum of the squares of all natural numbers equals pi squared divided by six.

Or take Einstein: relying on astonishing intuition and genius imagination, he could perceive the connection between mass and energy.

Wang Xiaohua had now accepted reality; he knew he lacked this kind of aptitude and intuition.

Put plainly, he was just a Small-town Exam-taker.

Give him problems to solve and he could do it; give him exams and he could do it; but ask him to grope through a completely unknown field—that is, to do scientific research—and he would be completely at a loss, wanting to work hard but not knowing where to direct his effort.

It wasn't that he couldn't achieve results in this field, but one thing was certain: if he decided to pursue academia, the effort he would have to expend would surely be far greater than others', while the results might be far fewer.

With a clear goal, Wang Xiaohua felt that life at Tsinghua University was no longer as painful as before; he no longer compared himself with those aptitude monsters, focused on doing his best, and lived each day very fully.

The only regret was that Li Jianjia could not be by his side.

But he and Li Jianjia called each other every day, chatting about each other's lives and studies.

Wang Xiaohua told Li Jianjia that he had already begun accumulating knowledge for the Civil Service Exam, while Li Jianjia told Wang Xiaohua that she was preparing for the Postgraduate Entrance Examination; being a graduate student at Tsinghua University remained her unchanging goal, though she knew her chances of getting in were very slim.

At this time, on the Other Side.

Back in their hometown Shanggou Village.

Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan were building a new house again.

Their whole life, through decades of ups and downs, they had been rushing about and working hard to build a new house of their own.

The previous two times they built new houses, both ended unfinished due to various accidents.

Now this time, if they still couldn't build it, they would just accept their fate and not build anymore.

Since they had exchanged for Liang Xinghua's Homestead Land, they needed Liang Xinghua's cooperation to go to Town to handle some paperwork.

Wang Zhanggen therefore called Liang Xinghua, asking him to return to Shanggou Village for a trip.

Liang Xinghua was still quite easy to talk to; he readily agreed and came back the next day.

You have to know, he and his wife and children hadn't come back for the Spring Festival.

But now, for Wang Zhanggen's matter, he specially came back.

However, it was quite normal that they didn't go home for the Spring Festival.

After all, both elderly people at home had passed away, the last tie to their hometown was broken, coming back held no meaning; it was better to just spend the Spring Festival in the Big City, at least life would be more convenient.

"Xinghua, that Raw House, when do you plan to renovate it?"

While handling paperwork in Town, Wang Zhanggen casually asked Liang Xinghua a question.

Liang Xinghua revealed a simple and honest smile:

"Not urgent, not urgent, we'll talk about it later; it's not like we're in a hurry to move in now."

Actually, the main thing was that he hadn't saved up any money.

Previously, when he bought Wang Zhanggen's Raw House, the price was One Hundred Thousand Yuan; he only paid Fifty Thousand Yuan, and the other Fifty Thousand Yuan still hadn't been given yet.

Fortunately, Wang Zhanggen didn't urge him to pay it back.

But even though Wang Zhanggen didn't urge him, his own conscience would feel uneasy.

He was thinking that once he saved enough money, he would first pay back Wang Zhanggen's Fifty Thousand Yuan, and then consider the matter of renovating the house.

"At least you should seal the doors and windows first; mice and bugs getting in is a small matter, but if wind and rain come and the water soaks it, that wouldn't be good."

Liang Xinghua politely said:

"Later I'll see if I can get some things to seal up the doors and windows."

The two came to Town; because Zhang Zhongtian had already said hello, they quickly finished handling the paperwork.

Wang Zhanggen invited Liang Xinghua to Home for Lunch, but Liang Xinghua said he was going back to Shenzhen and had to work the night shift tonight, so he needed to go back early.

So after helping Wang Zhanggen finish the paperwork, he directly took a vehicle from Town to County Town, and then from the County Bus Station took a Long-distance bus to Shenzhen.

Wang Zhanggen didn't try to keep him, but gave him a Two Hundred Yuan Red Envelope, saying that since he came back to help with matters, he couldn't let him pay his own Bus Fare.

Liang Xinghua was deeply grateful for this, and seeing Wang Zhanggen trembling as he spoke his words of thanks, Wang Zhanggen's inner vanity was greatly satisfied, and he wore a smug smile.

"Don't be so polite with me; we're all fellow villagers, so hurry up and go, and have a smooth journey!"

Wang Zhanggen was just like this—he loved face very much, and deep down he desperately longed for others' recognition.

So he was always quite good to outsiders, but toward his own family he always put on a bad temper.

After completing the homestead land procedures, building the new house was put on the agenda.

This time Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan specially invited Wu Banxian to come and calculate an auspicious day for breaking ground.

They thought that the previous two times they built new houses, they had chosen the days themselves by consulting the almanac, and perhaps the days they chose were inaccurate, which was why both projects ended up unfinished.

This time inviting Wu Banxian to calculate the day would surely mean there would be no mistakes.

Wu Banxian collected three hundred yuan, calculated a good day for them, and told them that if they broke ground on the first day of next month, there would be no taboos at all, and wealth would come from all directions.

After choosing the day, Wang Zhanggen began to look for workers and buy building materials.

Now he could no longer personally do the masonry work himself, because he had a whole body of ailments, and carrying anything slightly heavy would leave him short of breath, so how could he still do this line of work?

So he had to find others to help do it.

So who should he find?