Chapter 72: Road Construction

“Uncle Jianfang, you really don’t need to keep running back and forth,” Cao Shujie tried to stop him.

But Cao Jianfang insisted on going to check things out, so Cao Shujie didn’t try to stop him anymore.

Mengmeng, being a child, couldn’t sit still. Seeing her dad and the old man still chatting, she sneakily grabbed Erha and ran off ahead.

When Cao Shujie noticed, he quickly said a few words to Cao Jianfang, then took Daha and chased after his daughter.

“Mengmeng, slow down!”

“Daddy, hurry up!”

The father and daughter said completely opposite things, which left Cao Shujie both amused and exasperated.

Other people’s daughters were all so quiet and well-behaved—why was his so mischievous?

Something else surprised Cao Shujie as well. As they continued heading north, they ran into a few villagers. Three of them asked about his father’s injury.

Cao Shujie was baffled. Was this really a case of “bad news travels fast”?

Thinking about it, he quickened his pace and caught up to Mengmeng. Once he reached her, he said, “Mengmeng, why are you running so fast?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Mengmeng turned her head to glance at her dad, then kept running forward with her short little legs, still holding Erha’s leash.

Daha and Erha had been locked in a cage all night, enduring wind, rain, and thunder. They were clearly shaken, and now that they were finally free, the two dog brothers were bursting with energy, eager to run and shake off their pent-up stress.

“Awoo…”

“Ooo… ooo… woof woof!”

The sound of howling echoed around them. Before they knew it, they had reached the northern edge of Cao Family Village. Turning east, they looked toward the mountain. In that moment, only one thought filled Cao Shujie’s mind: get that road fixed.

He and his father had come down that mountain in the pouring rain before dawn, and his father had slipped and fallen. Luckily, there were no broken bones—otherwise, Cao Shujie would’ve felt even more guilty.

“Mengmeng, let’s go check out the foot of the mountain,” he said to his daughter.

He wasn’t expecting a real response, but to his surprise, Mengmeng replied, “Daddy, no! Mommy said we can’t go. Grandfather fell down!”

She pointed at her leg and gestured, “Mommy said if I go, I’ll break my leg!”

Every sentence began with “Mommy said,” and her childish tone left Cao Shujie momentarily speechless.

“Your mom said all that?” he asked.

Seeing his daughter nod so seriously, Cao Shujie couldn’t help but want to give his wife a thumbs-up.

Thinking it over, he quickly pieced it together.

His mother must’ve gone up the mountain that morning to release water from the reservoir. Mengmeng probably saw her leaving and thought Grandma was going out to play, so she insisted on tagging along.

He quickly reassured her, “Mengmeng, it’s okay. We’re just going to look from the bottom of the mountain. We won’t go up.”

“Oh!” Mengmeng didn’t quite understand, her eyes a little confused.

But she still followed her dad obediently.

As they got closer, Cao Shujie saw puddles ahead. He picked up his daughter and carried her over the dry patches to the mountain’s base. Looking up at the sloping path—less than a mile long—he recalled how hard it had been for him and his father to come down that morning.

Cao Shujie didn’t want the same thing to happen again. He found a dry spot and set his daughter down, then pulled out his phone and called Cao Zhenggang to ask about building the road.

Cao Zhenggang worked in construction. Even if he couldn’t do it himself, he could at least recommend someone reliable.

Just as Cao Shujie expected, Cao Zhenggang didn’t have the right equipment for the job, but he did introduce someone who could handle it and promised the price wouldn’t be too high.

“Uncle Zhenggang, once you’re done over there, please come over as soon as you can,” Cao Shujie reminded him.

“Don’t worry,” Cao Zhenggang replied. “Give me three or four days to wrap things up here, then I’ll head over.”

“Daddy, let’s go home and find Mommy,” Mengmeng said, bored with the area. Seeing her dad about to make another call, she was getting impatient.

“Oops,” Cao Shujie chuckled. He’d gotten so caught up in his own business that he forgot about his daughter.

“Alright, let’s go home first!” He put away his phone, scooped up Mengmeng, and headed back, leading Daha and Erha along.

The call could wait a little.

Back home, he handed Mengmeng off to his wife, then redialed the number. When the other end picked up, he asked directly, “Hello, is this Master Tian Xinhua?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Who’s this?” The voice on the other end sounded rough and straightforward.

Cao Shujie smiled and introduced himself, “Hello, Master Tian. I’m calling on the recommendation of Grandpa Zhenggang. I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Oh, Uncle Cao’s friend! Sure, what do you need?” As soon as Tian Xinhua heard the name “Cao Zhenggang,” his tone warmed noticeably.

Cao Shujie thought to himself: this is one great thing about the countryside—there’s always a connection to be found.

“Master Tian, I want to build about 450 meters of sloped mountain road to rural highway standards. Could you give me a quote?”

He added, “Also, there’s a small orchard on the mountain. I’m thinking of building a reinforced platform up there to make it easier for vehicles to turn around.”

This was something Cao Shujie had planned for a while. He figured that no matter what, even if it cost a bit more upfront, it was better to do it right the first time.

Redoing things later would only waste time and money.

“450 meters, plus a turning platform?” Tian Xinhua muttered on the other end, sounding like he was doing some quick math. After about a minute, he said, “A hundred thousand should cover it. But I’ll need to see the site to be sure.”

“Also, building a mountain road isn’t the same as a flat one. There are lots of tricky issues. I’ll have to take a look in person,” he added.

“I understand,” Cao Shujie replied. “Master Tian, I’m in Cao Family Village. Let me know when you’re free to come by, and we can talk face-to-face.”

“I’ll come this afternoon!” Tian Xinhua said.

…

Tian Xinhua was true to his word. He showed up without any delay. After meeting with Cao Shujie, the two of them went straight up the mountain. Looking at the muddy path and the messy footprints all over it, Tian Xinhua frowned.

“Mr. Cao, this place needs to be leveled first, then we’ll need gravel, cement, sand…”

Tian Xinhua suggested building a road 3.5 meters wide and 15 centimeters thick—that would be enough.

Cao Shujie wasn’t familiar with this kind of work, so he asked for all the detailed specs. After going through everything, he asked Tian Xinhua, “What if we make the road 4 meters wide?”

“No point, really. You’re building a turning platform up ahead, and this road doesn’t need to be a two-way lane for large vehicles. For regular cars, 3.5 meters is more than enough for two to pass each other,” Tian Xinhua replied bluntly.

At that moment, Cao Shujie started to believe what Cao Zhenggang had told him—Tian Xinhua’s quote probably wasn’t inflated.

The two of them trudged up the muddy path into the orchard, where Cao Shujie pointed out the general area for the platform.

Tian Xinhua recalculated the cost and finally said, “Mr. Cao, your uncle and I go way back. I’m from Qingshi Town too. A lot of the roads around here were built by me. I won’t lie to you—flat price, 98,000 yuan. If there’s any quality issue with the road later, just come straight to me.”

“If you’re good with it, I can have my crew out here first thing tomorrow.”

“Deal!” Cao Shujie agreed without hesitation. The price was within his budget. Perfect.

(End of this chapter)