Chapter Forty-Three: A Generous Gift

When Little Pearl saw Ding return, she ran over cheerfully to show him what she was holding in her hand. Ding looked down and saw it was a beaded hairpin, so he asked, “Where did you get that hairpin?”

“Sister Tang gave it to me,” Little Pearl replied in her childish voice. “I gave her the sugar figurine you bought for me, and she gave me this in return.”

“Oh, I see,” Ding said.

“Silly Brother, can you put it in my hair for me and see if it looks nice?” Little Pearl handed him the hairpin.

Ding thought to himself, even such a tiny little girl knows how to show off her beauty! Truly, women are born with a love for beauty, regardless of wealth or age.

He helped Little Pearl fasten the hairpin into her messy hair, and she happily ran off to show it off to the others.

After unloading the donkey cart, he brought the day’s purchases into the thatched cottage and handed the rouge, powders, and jewelry to the women, letting them divide the items among themselves.

The women were nearly beside themselves with joy at the sight of these things, especially Erni and Little E.

Even quiet Little E couldn’t hide her excitement; a happy smile blossomed on her face as she turned to Ding and said, “Big Brother, you’re wonderful!”

Erni’s gaze was full of delight and an affectionate depth. She hadn’t expected that after her husband promised to buy her something last night, he would actually bring it home today. To marry a man like this—even if he sometimes acted foolish—was worth it.

Little Pearl picked up one thing after another, holding each up to her hair, sniffing at the powders, unable to part with any of them.

Madam Li grumbled, “Why buy all this? We’re just poor folk, there’s no use for such things…” Yet, as she spoke, she couldn’t bring herself to put down what she was holding. Her eyes even reddened a little. She’d spent half her life with Tian Dabao, and he’d never bought her a single piece of jewelry or a box of rouge.

Tian Dabao stood there, grinning wordlessly, thinking to himself, How much silver did this all cost? This fool is far too extravagant. In a poor family, every copper must be split in two before spending, no one spends like Ding! Is his foolishness getting worse? He’d never wasted money before… then again, the family never had any money before, either…

Little Fu crowded in with his sisters to join the excitement, but after a while, he realized that everything his brother bought today was for the girls; nothing was for him. He couldn’t help feeling disappointed and quietly slipped to the back, hanging his head.

Ding noticed Little Fu’s downcast look and guessed the reason. He called out, “Fu, are you upset because I didn’t buy anything for you?”

“No, Big Brother. There’s nothing I want,” Fu replied sensibly.

Ding laughed, “Don’t be upset, Fu. In a few days, I’ll give you a great gift—something you’ll benefit from for a lifetime!”

“Really, Big Brother?” Fu’s gloom instantly vanished. Lately, he’d sensed that his ‘foolish’ brother seemed different—sharper, more capable. Everything he promised, he managed to do. Could it be that his foolishness had been cured?

By evening, the sky darkened and a cool wind began to blow—it looked like rain was coming.

Ding hurried to check the shelter where Tang Yunzhi was staying, patching any leaks with more straw. He also hung an extra straw curtain at the entrance. He wasn’t too worried about the thatched cottage or his own shack—they were shabby, but unlikely to leak, since the summer had passed with no trouble. Though Tian Dabao couldn’t do such work, Zhao Laixi could help with repairs.

Still, Ding checked everything, hanging straw curtains at his own door and over the cottage windows as well.

Straw mats and straw curtains were indispensable in the impoverished countryside; every household prepared plenty of them.

Although Tian Dabao’s legs weren’t good, he could do seated work. With nothing else to do, he spent his days weaving mats, curtains, baskets, and hampers. Little Fu often helped out.

As for the wolf and bear pelts, Ding had soaked them in water, and then Tian Dabao took over the processing. Now, the two hides were drying under the bed in the cottage.

During dinner, the rain finally came. Accompanied by strong winds, it fell in torrents.

With nothing else to do, everyone began discussing building a new house.

From Tian Dabao, Ding learned that the local peasants built their houses mostly from adobe, clay, and wood. Winters in the north were cold—unlike the south, where wooden or bamboo houses sufficed. Here, clay walls were necessary for insulation, and ordinary people couldn’t afford bricks or tiles.

Of course, there was no steel-reinforced concrete in this era. Everything was held together with clay or sometimes sticky rice paste. Sticky rice was scarce and expensive; common folk couldn’t afford it.

Ding had heard about cement formulas, but he didn’t know the precise proportions, and besides, he had no idea where to find gypsum—one of the ingredients.

Even so, Ding formed an idea. He would try mixing clay with lime and collect some iron slag from the blacksmith, grind it into powder, and experiment to see if he could make cement.

This, however, would take a lot of time and energy—something to attempt in the future.

For now, with winter fast approaching, what the family needed most was a house that could withstand the cold. Building an ordinary house like those in the village would take at least ten days, plus time for gathering materials, sun-drying bricks, and waiting out rainy weather—in all, about a month. By then, winter would have set in. So building a house for the winter was the most urgent task.

After learning the relevant information from Tian Dabao, Ding stopped consulting with the others.

Tian Dabao and Madam Li were used to hardship; their first thought was always to economize in everything. In Dabao’s mind, simply rebuilding an adobe house in the same spot as the old cottage would be enough.

But Ding didn’t think that way. Now that he had money, he wanted to live better. Especially after seeing the landlord Xue’s estate during the day, he thought a person ought to live like that.

He’d already bought more than thirty acres of land—bigger than three modern football fields. The land was barren, full of stones, weeds, and shrubs; not fit for farming. Ding planned to fence it all in and build a compound even grander than the landlord’s.

Of course, he didn’t intend to fill it all with houses. He would divide it into areas for different purposes, and when it came time to draw up detailed plans, he’d decide exactly what to put where.

For now, it was just a rough idea in his mind. If Tian Dabao knew how grand his ambitions were, he would surely scold him for being wasteful.

After dinner, Ding and Erni braved the rain back to their hut. Though the distance was short, they were drenched through.

Erni fetched dry clothes and they changed out of their wet things.

When Ding saw Erni shyly slip off her soaked undergarments, he suddenly thought of women’s underwear. He said to her, “Erni, remember tomorrow morning—your husband will bring you another great gift!”