Chapter 196 - 187: Grand Occasion at Dragon King Pond

Chapter 196: Chapter 187: Grand Occasion at Dragon King Pond

Zhao Wendong took the hint, immediately pulling out a filtered cigarette and placing it between his father’s two fingers. Then, like an eager lackey, he took out a lighter and lit it for Zhao Dashan. Zhao Dashan took a few deep drags before speaking in a resonant voice.

"Building a house, now that’s a real science. Especially a brick-and-tile one—it’s completely different from an adobe house. When the Commune was building its supply and marketing cooperative, I went to help out. Let me tell you..."

"Whoa, whoa, stop, Dad. Don’t tell me about it; I won’t remember it all anyway. Your leg should be good enough for you to get around on crutches before spring, so you can just come and supervise it for me in person then."

Zhao Dashan nodded, a smug look on his face.

"Alright, then. I’ll go and keep an eye on things for you. Ah, you young people are inexperienced. It’s normal that you can’t handle this kind of thing."

The ladies, who were chatting amongst themselves but still paying attention, pursed their lips to hide their smiles. Zhao Wendong also had to force himself not to laugh. Seeing Little Tuanzi staring at him with her big, sparkling eyes, he reached out and gently pinched her little cheeks, which had just started to fill out.

"What’s up? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Third Brother, when are you and Third Sister-in-law going to have a baby?"

"Haha, you’ll have to ask your Third Sister-in-law that."

Zhao Wendong smiled mischievously, and just as he expected, Little Tuanzi turned her gaze to Lin Zhiyin.

"Third Sister-in-law, when are you and Third Brother going to have a little baby?"

"Hahaha."

"Zhao Wendong!"

Everyone in the room burst out laughing. Flustered and angry, Lin Zhiyin lunged over and fiercely pinched the soft flesh of Zhao Wendong’s waist. His joy instantly turned to sorrow; having brought the trouble on himself, he couldn’t laugh anymore.

"Okay, okay, I’ll stop. I’m going to go set up the mist net first. Then we can go tell Grandpa and Grandma the good news."

Zhao Wendong found an excuse and slipped away. Zhao Wenjun and Zhao Wenwu immediately followed him out the door. The two of them would now do whatever Zhao Wendong said, unwaveringly following Brother Dong’s lead.

"Where should we hang the mist net?"

"Over there. There are trees on both sides, so this spot in the middle is perfect!"

Zhao Wendong scanned the area, finally pointing to a spot in his yard that was on the sparrows’ regular flight path.

In a few years, the sparrow—this little creature called *jiaqiao* in the Northeast and "old house thief" in many other places—would be replaced by bedbugs and the like in the Four Pests campaign. But for now, they were still a primary target for elimination. The store-bought mist net was far superior to a handmade one. Not only was it more concealed, like a veil of white gauze, but its mesh was also dense and strong. Any sparrow that flew into it was guaranteed not to escape.

"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, get two of the longest poles."

"You got it!"

Zhao Wenjun and Zhao Wenwu started picking through the woodpile behind the house. Every household in the mountain villages had a woodpile like this, some in the front and some in the back. Whenever people went up the mountain and saw good wood, they’d grab it on their way back. Nobody managed this sort of thing back then. The lumber mills were only interested in old-growth trees over a hundred years old, and the Forestry Bureau had only just been established, so there were no forest ranger positions yet.

Soon, the two had selected a few slender pine saplings, each four to five meters long. They hacked off the branches to make them into poles, tied iron rings to the tops to support the net, and once everything was ready, the three of them unfolded the three mist nets they had bought. Each net was about four meters long and three meters high. They fastened them to the poles, then arranged the four poles in a straight line, burying them in the spot Zhao Wendong had designated.

Aunt Wang, who was nearby, saw what they were doing and jogged into her house. A moment later, Wang Dali and his two brothers hurried over to help. With their help, the three mist nets were soon arranged side-by-side in a straight line, secured in Zhao Wendong’s vegetable garden.

"All set! Let’s see where these sparrows can run to now!"

Zhao Wendong stood with his hands on his hips, looking with satisfaction at the three huge, white mist nets. Linked together, they formed a blockade about 12 meters long. The height of the nets was adjusted to about 1.5 meters off the ground, the perfect altitude for low-flying sparrows. Illuminated by the sun and set against the white snow, you wouldn’t even notice them unless you got close, let alone a flock of sparrows flying about chaotically.

"We’ll head back now, Team Leader."

Seeing the work was done, Wang Dali and his brothers said their goodbyes and went home. They had rushed out in such a hurry that they hadn’t fully put on their hats and gloves, so getting home sooner meant less time freezing. Zhao Wendong smiled and waved them off, while Zhao Wenwu watched their retreating backs with some confusion.

"Third Bro, how’d those guys get so wimpy?"

Zhao Wenwu’s standard for what made a man hadn’t changed since he was a kid: anyone who dared to fight him was a hero, and anyone who avoided him was a coward. Zhao Wenjun looked at his second brother with amusement.

"You’re a married man now. You can’t just think about eating and fighting all day."

"And sleeping."

Zhao Wenwu retorted indignantly.

"Hahaha!"

Zhao Wendong doubled over with laughter, slapping his second brother’s shoulder. ’These days of family bickering are so damn great.’

"Oh, right, Third Brother, when are we going into the mountains to fish?"

Zhao Wenjun was still thinking about the haul from that waterfall pool deep in the mountains. Zhao Wendong did a quick mental calculation.

"We’ll rest one more day, then head into the mountains tomorrow. We’ll come back the day before the Little New Year to celebrate properly. After the New Year passes, we’ll see about going back into the mountains."

Zhao Wenjun looked like he wanted to say something, but held his tongue. He’d wanted to say they didn’t need to rest that long, but then he remembered that after all his time tromping through the woods, it had been a while since he and Song Xiaoyu had been intimate. Plus, his second and third brothers had just gotten their marriage certificates today, so he swallowed his words.

When Chen Yanmei saw the three of them return, she asked a few questions about the mist net, then spoke to Zhao Wendong with some concern.

"My boy, you two got married so suddenly, we haven’t even prepared a proper room for you. How about you go talk to the team headquarters and see if you can borrow one of their houses for a while? And maybe have your Second Brother and his wife stay in your Eldest Brother’s house for now?"