Chapter 73: This Free and Easy Life

The next day dawned bright and sunny.

A little after five in the morning, Cao Shujie was already up.

Tian Xinhua had just called to say they were about to arrive at Cao Family Village. He’d also taken care of sourcing the gravel, sand, and cement.

In short, Tian Xinhua was handling both labor and materials, which made things a whole lot easier for Cao Shujie.

Cao Shujie genuinely appreciated Tian Xinhua’s straightforward efficiency—he liked that things were moving fast.

Since this was a private road construction project, there were no bureaucratic hurdles or delays like in government projects. They could start work immediately. Plus, the road itself wasn’t even a full mile long, so the construction time wouldn’t be too long either.

Following Tian Xinhua’s suggestion, they would build the sloped mountain road and the turning platform connecting to the orchard road in two phases. This would make it easier to haul equipment up later. Cao Shujie had no objections to that plan.

On the day construction began, two huge rolls of red firecrackers were lit, and eight thunderous firework shells exploded one after another. The loud bangs drew a crowd of curious villagers from Cao Family Village.

This was the first privately built road in the village. Even though most of the villagers wouldn’t use it, they were full of admiration for Cao Shujie.

At that moment, no one dared to say nonsense like “Cao Shujie couldn’t make it out in the world” anymore. Anyone with eyes could see that Cao Shujie was the real deal.

Some curious folks asked the workers about the cost and found out it would take nearly 100,000 yuan to complete the road. That only increased their respect.

Someone even did the math: from the moment Cao Shujie leased the mountain land to plant fruit trees, he had already invested close to half a million yuan.

When people heard that number, they stopped talking. There was no point in discussing it further—they simply couldn’t match that level of commitment.

Others murmured that if you added in the cost of building the house, Cao Shujie must have spent at least seven or eight hundred thousand yuan since coming back from Beijing.

A week later, the weather kept getting hotter, and since the last heavy rain, there hadn’t been a drop. For Cao Shujie and Tian Xinhua, that was great news.

In just one week, the sloped road up the mountain had been paved. Tian Xinhua had his crew cover it with plastic sheeting. Over the next week, they would slowly water it to cure the surface. According to Tian Xinhua, this step was crucial—it would determine the final quality of the road.

Cao Shujie understood this and didn’t pretend to know more than he did. He wasn’t about to play the expert.

Three days ago, after finishing work on another site, Cao Zhenggang brought his crew over to start working on Cao Shujie’s project.

At the same time, the 500 meters of barbed-wire fencing Cao Shujie had ordered from Chen Xingquan, the owner of Chenzheng Protective Fencing, had arrived.

But since the road wasn’t finished, vehicles couldn’t get up there, and the fencing installation had to be postponed.

That didn’t stop Cao Zhenggang’s team from heading up the mountain to dig holes and pour concrete bases using the cement mixed by Tian Xinhua’s crew.

After careful consideration, Cao Shujie decided to section off a corner of the land and had Cao Zhenggang build four rows of pigsties, enough to house around a hundred pigs.

After all, raising too many pigs would create a serious odor problem, and Cao Shujie figured he’d better start small and learn from experience. Any issues that came up later, he’d deal with them then.

As for cows, sheep, and chickens—he planned to raise plenty of those.

“Hm, if I set up a table on the mountain one day and feel like having a barbecue, I could just butcher one on the spot. Would that be too extravagant?” The thought popped into Cao Shujie’s head.

But somehow, this kind of carefree life felt incredibly satisfying.

Amid the flurry of busy days, even the scorching heat of June seemed more bearable. Once the turning platform in the orchard was cured and ready, Cao Shujie glanced at the calendar and realized that more than half of June had already flown by.

It had been over three months since their family of three returned from Beijing.

During this time, Cao Shujie felt truly fulfilled.

Unlike the endless grind in Beijing, where KPI targets constantly pushed him forward and the anxiety of unfinished tasks loomed like a dark cloud—making every meal feel like it might be the last—this new life was different.

Now, even if he only made a little progress each day, he felt content. There was a deep, indescribable sense of accomplishment.

Once the mountain road and the orchard platform were both completed, Cao Shujie settled the bill with Tian Xinhua without hesitation, paying him in full on the spot.

…

“Daddy, let’s go up the mountain!” Mengmeng ran over as soon as she saw her dad come out of the bedroom, her little feet thumping excitedly on the floor.

Unlike the old dirt paths and uneven rocky trails, now that the road was finished, they could ride their electric scooter all the way up to the orchard. No more parking at the foot of the mountain and hiking up.

Mengmeng was already thinking about the fruit trees in the orchard, now heavy with young fruit. She was secretly plotting to sneak a few once they got a little bigger.

“Hee hee!”

She quickly covered her mouth and giggled to herself.

“Mengmeng, what are you laughing at?” Cao Shujie looked at his daughter’s silly grin, puzzled.

But Mengmeng just shook her head and wouldn’t say a word.

Cheng Xiaolin had finally finished applying sunscreen, put on her sun-protective clothing, and topped it off with a wide-brimmed hat. Seeing the two whispering together, she asked curiously, “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing. We’re just waiting on you, woman. Hurry up already,” Cao Shujie said, urging his wife along.

Cheng Xiaolin gave him a light smack on the back. “You asking for a beating? I was just putting on some sunscreen. It didn’t take that long.”

Cao Shujie didn’t bother arguing.

He told his mother they were heading out, then hopped on the tricycle with his wife and daughter and drove up the mountain.

On the way, they stopped by the house to take a look.

Cheng Xiaolin asked, “Honey, how much longer until we can start decorating the house?”

“Another month and a half, probably. Tiemin said he’d bring his crew over in August,” Cao Shujie replied.

Last time he went to the county Forestry Bureau to apply for subsidies, he’d had drinks with a few old friends that evening and confirmed the schedule with Cao Tiemin. He knew Tiemin wouldn’t flake on him.

Hearing that, Cheng Xiaolin didn’t ask any more questions.

After stepping out of the unfinished house, the mother and daughter climbed back onto the tricycle. Cao Shujie twisted the throttle all the way up and slowly pedaled the vehicle up the 400-meter incline, finally reaching the platform on the mountainside.

Once the tricycle was parked, Cheng Xiaolin carried her daughter down from the cargo bed. Looking down toward the foot of the mountain, she sighed with emotion, “This is so much better!”

“Well, of course it is—we paid for it,” Cao Shujie replied.

Thinking about the nearly one hundred thousand yuan they had spent to build the road and the turning platform beneath their feet, Cheng Xiaolin felt a pang of heartache.

But then she remembered the 17,000 yuan forestry subsidy they had just received a couple of days ago, and her mood instantly brightened.

She calculated that if they could keep receiving the subsidy for six years, they’d make back the cost of building the road.

With a touch of greed in her voice, she said, “Honey, wouldn’t it be amazing if they just gave us the full 30-year lease subsidy in one lump sum? We could cover the entire rent up front.”

“Wife, you didn’t used to talk like this. What’s gotten into you?” Cao Shujie teased, prompting Cheng Xiaolin to clench her fist and chase after him playfully.

((End of Chapter))