Yun Daman led the horse-drawn carriage forward, then suddenly stopped.
Old Man Yun, following behind, was lost in thought and didn't realize the carriage had stopped. He bumped into the carriage with a "thud," raising a large lump on his forehead.
"Hey, you brat, why didn't you tell me you were stopping?" Old Man Yun cursed, rubbing his forehead.
Yun Daman pointed ahead and stammered, "Dad, our... our bricks are gone!"
They were piled here yesterday after work, so how could they have vanished into thin air?
Yun Erman was also full of surprise and quickly walked forward.
The ground was covered in brick fragments, not a single intact blue brick was visible.
"Oh no, who is this shameless person who stole our bricks? If I catch them, I'll beat the shit out of them..."
Yun Erman cursed indignantly.
Old Man Yun looked around, puzzled. "Could it be that Young Master Xiao helped us transport the bricks?"
Those bricklayers were getting anxious; how could they build houses without bricks?
Although Young Master Xiao hadn't rushed them, the father and sons had already worked very hard.
"Dad, you wait here. I'll go ask Young Master Xiao!"
Yun Daman handed the carriage reins to Old Man Yun and ran towards Old Man Du's house without looking back.
With so many bricks, even transporting them would take an hour or two.
Could Young Master Xiao have sent people to transport the bricks overnight?
He felt that this matter was more likely than not to have been done by Young Master Xiao.
Old Man Du and his wife had gone into the mountains to collect wild goods, leaving only Granny Jin and two maids washing clothes in the yard.
Seeing Yun Daman rush in, Granny Jin was startled. "Isn't this Daman? Why are you running so fast?"
Could his wife be giving birth?
"Granny Jin, is Young Master Xiao here?" Yun Daman asked anxiously, not bothering to wipe his sweat.
"No, my young master has gone to the construction site at the village entrance!"
Yun Daman turned and ran towards the east end of the village.
Now, Xiao Jinheng's own residence was built, with the same scale and layout as before.
The craftsmen were now working hard to build Old Man Yun's house.
"Young master, have a piece of watermelon. It's hot today, don't get heatstroke!"
Kong Xingzhu handed over the cut and chilled watermelon.
Xiao Jinheng sat in the cool shed, took the watermelon, and took a bite. "Have the old bricks from the Yun family been delivered yet?"
The craftsmen were all squatting by the wall waiting.
Kong Xingzhu shook his head. "Not yet. Should I go and urge them?"
"Urge what?" Xiao Jinheng shot him a sideways glance. "Even if they deliver them at the end of the year, we still have to wait!"
He knew that moving bricks was not easy, and Brother Yun and Second Brother Yun were exhausted every day.
Moreover, Uncle Yun was also getting old, and it was natural for him to feel distressed seeing him do such heavy physical labor.
Xiao Jinheng didn't just like the Yun family because he liked the village children.
Instead, he sincerely admired the perseverance and integrity of the Yun family.
Dismantling houses, moving bricks, carrying wood, loading them onto carts, and so on, these tasks were, in his opinion, what slaves did.
But Xiao Jinheng had no contempt in his heart.
"But, but without bricks, how can we build houses!" Kong Xingzhu said urgently.
The young master was also determined not to use new bricks.
The two families were at an impasse.
"Commander Kong, take some time to go to the county town and see who has old houses they don't want anymore, and buy them all!"
"Then, tear down the houses as quickly as possible and transport the old bricks back to the village."
The houses in the county town were almost all built with blue bricks.
Since the Yun family liked to use old bricks, he would go with the flow and help them a little.
Kong Xingzhu: "..."
Why bother?
Wouldn't it be better to buy new bricks directly from the county town?
The same route and distance, the same freight and wages.
Besides, don't you have to spend money to buy old houses?
"Yes, I'll go and see when I have time." Kong Xingzhu replied helplessly.
Just then, Yun Daman rushed over.
He first searched the construction site but couldn't find his bricks.
"It's over, it's over, they're definitely lost!"
Yun Daman frowned and walked quickly into the cool shed, asking Xiao Jinheng, "Young Master Xiao, have you seen my old bricks?"
Xiao Jinheng was slightly stunned upon hearing this.
He was also waiting for the old bricks.
"Haven't seen them!" Xiao Jinheng said lightly.
Yun Daman's face paled, and he sat down on the ground. "Oh no, my bricks are lost!"
Xiao Jinheng exchanged a look with Kong Xingzhu, both full of curiosity.
"When did they get lost?" Xiao Jinheng asked.
"It was last night. There were more than five thousand bricks. I don't know which bastard stole our bricks to build a tomb..."
Yun Daman tended to curse when he was anxious.
But this matter was indeed infuriating.
The old bricks that the three of them had worked so hard to move were stolen overnight, not a single one left.
Anyone would be upset.
Xiao Jinheng put down the half-eaten watermelon and handed another new one to Yun Daman. "Take a break and have some watermelon!"
Yun Daman wiped the sweat from his brow, took the watermelon, and gnawed on it sulkily.
He had run too fast and was indeed very thirsty.
A large watermelon was gone in a few bites.
"Brother Yun, don't worry, I'll have Kong Xingzhu go to the county town to report it, and then we'll search the village first!"
Xiao Jinheng comforted him.
With so many bricks, they couldn't be hidden, so finding them shouldn't be too difficult.
"Okay, I'll go tell Second Brother and Dad!" Yun Daman threw away the watermelon rind and got up from the ground.
"Brother Daman, wait!" Xiao Jinheng handed him the remaining half of the watermelon. "Take it for Uncle Yun and the others to eat!"
Yun Daman was a little overwhelmed.
No one in Dashui Village grew watermelons. Buying them in the county town was very expensive, and his family could only eat them a few times a year.
Yun Daman rubbed his hands on his hem and smiled, "Then thank you, Young Master Xiao!"
He found this young man more and more pleasing to the eye.
Before, Yun Daman had thought Xiao Jinheng was a rich young master from a noble family.
Showing off with a bit of money.
But now it seemed that the temperament and spirit of this young man could not be bought with money alone.
It was a kind of innate nobility.
Old Man Yun and Yun Erman were anxiously running around when they saw Yun Daman running back with half a watermelon.
"Dad, Second Brother, hurry and try it while it's cool. This watermelon is so sweet!"
Old Man Yun slapped the back of his head. "You still have the leisure to eat watermelon? Where are the bricks? Are they with Young Master Xiao?"
Oh dear, his blood pressure was abnormal early in the morning.
"Dad, Young Master Xiao said he didn't take our bricks!" Yun Daman handed the watermelon to his second brother.
Old Man Yun stomped his foot, squatted by the carriage, and lit his pipe. "Then there's nothing we can do. Let's report it to the authorities. We have a thief in our village!"
"Young Master Kong has already gone to the county town to report it!" Yun Daman said.
He had gone at full gallop.
At this moment, Yun Erman pointed to the ground and frowned slightly. "Huh? These cart tracks aren't ours!"