The mountain was saturated with glaring sunlight, causing the air to shimmer with heat-induced ripples.

The cicadas chirped noisily, their calls grating.

A round-headed, plump kitten struggled to push a half brick forward. She pressed her short front paws against the brick and, using only her hind legs to walk, pushed ahead with all her might. She barely managed to move the brick, plowing a furrow through the thick layer of dust on the ground.

Push, push...

The path left by the brick was winding, eventually forming a circle before coming back to the gate.

The little one noticed something was amiss and looked up—

"MEOW?"

She had pushed it askew!

Lord Dumpling's expression grew serious. This wouldn't do at all!

So she went around to the other side of the brick and started pushing it toward Zhou Li's location again.

This time, she learned her lesson. After each short push, she released the brick, walked beside it to check its alignment, and only then continued.

Finally, the brick reached Zhou Li's feet.

Lord Dumpling looked up at him, her voice clear and tinged with a kittenish quality, "Zhou Li, Lord Dumpling has brought you a stone!"

Huai Xu glanced over and spoke before Zhou Li could, "Isn't that the discarded half-brick we just threw out? What did you bring this thing back for...?"

Lord Dumpling ignored him, still focusing on Zhou Li.

Seeing this, Huai Xu's mouth twitched involuntarily. "Starting to pretend you don't understand human speech again!"

"HMPH!"

Lord Dumpling glanced sideways at Huai Xu, quickly averted her gaze, and muttered to herself, "You're a nuisance! Lord Dumpling won't talk to you~"

"TCH!"

"Lord Dumpling has worked hard."

Zhou Li picked up Tuanzi's half-brick, carelessly placed it to the side, and added, "I just happened to need one this size."

Not far away, a construction worker laughed. "The cat Master Zhou is raising is so remarkably perceptive!"

Zhou Li also smiled.

Meanwhile, Brother Nan continued to mix cement.

In rural areas, people usually build their own houses, but Zhou Li and the others lacked this skill. Among them, Brother Nan had the most construction experience, having previously worked as a laborer on a construction site. So, she knew a bit more than Zhou Li and the others but was still far from capable of building a house herself. Therefore, Zhou Li had hired two construction masters from outside—two brothers, both surnamed Zou, who were also former clients. These men were more reliable than most; if they happened to witness something beyond current scientific understanding, they were more likely to accept it.

The two masters could handle the technical problems, Brother Nan could assist them, and Zhou Li and Huai Xu were responsible for the manual labor.

Zheng Zhilan was in charge of cooking.

And, of course, there was Lord Dumpling.

Lord Dumpling was also one of the laborers.

It was sweltering, and everyone was drenched in sweat. Even Lord Dumpling panted heavily from the heat, sticking out her tongue like a little dog each time she finished an inconsequential task.

Only the old monster remained at ease.

Soon, Zheng Zhilan entered carrying a small basket, having come to bring them water.

It was a good time for everyone to take a break.

Zheng Zhilan set her basket down in a corner and took out a thermos and a stack of small bowls. Zhou Li was wondering why she had brought bowls when everyone already had cups. Then, from the basket, she took out a basin covered by a white cloth, followed by an enamel pot filled with items like hawthorn berries and raisins, and finally a glass pitcher that seemed to contain brown sugar water.

Zhou Li blinked.

Brother Nan, however, realized what was going on. As she took off her gloves and tossed them aside, she asked, "Did you make ice jelly?"

"Mm."

Zheng Zhilan nodded gently, then inquired, "Is it dusty here?"

"No, it's fine."

"Oh."

And so, Zheng Zhilan pulled off the white cloth, revealing a basin filled with a red gelatinous substance, its color akin to that of fine rubies.

Brother Nan was puzzled. "Is this ice jelly?"

Huai Xu also leaned in, sniffing. "This seems like the old-fashioned kind of ice jelly."

"Yes," Zheng Zhilan said softly.

"Let Lord Dumpling have a look too!" Tuanzi pawed at the edge of the iron basin, trying to straighten up and peer inside.

"How come this ice jelly looks like this?" Brother Nan hoisted Tuanzi up by the scruff of her neck, allowing her to face the ice jelly and see clearly.

"MEOWWW..."

"It's made with wild loquat," Zheng Zhilan said, having already picked up a bowl and started to serve the ice jelly. Her movements were experienced despite her blindness. "It's a traditional method: rub the wild loquats in water until they disintegrate, strain off the residue, and then put it in the refrigerator. It sets naturally without any additives. It's all-natural and tastes great."

"HMM! Sounds delicious!"

Brother Nan gazed eagerly at Zheng Zhilan's hands. A fresh fruit aroma wafted to her nostrils. She felt Zheng Zhilan was serving too slowly; the usually leisurely action now made her quite impatient.

The first bowl was served.

Brother Nan took it from Zheng Zhilan's hands and handed it to one of the masters. "Master Zou, give it a try."

Tuanzi turned her head to look at Zhou Li.

Zhou Li gently patted her head and said, "They are both Master Zou, and I'm Master Zhou. It's different, do you understand?"

Tuanzi seemed a bit confused.

The second bowl, Brother Nan also handed to the other Master Zou.

The third bowl she didn't keep for herself either; instead, she passed it to Huai Xu, and then to Zhou Li. Even Tuanzi received a bowl. Only the final bowl did she keep for herself. This surprised Zhou Li somewhat, as usually, Brother Nan would have claimed the first serving for herself as a matter of course.

"Delicious!" Brother Nan gave her verdict.

"Mm-hmm."

Zhou Li agreed. The texture of this ice jelly was a bit gummier and slightly denser than regular clear ice jelly. While perhaps less sharply cool, it had a faint, natural fruit fragrance. And since it came straight from the refrigerator, its icy temperature was wonderfully soothing against the summer heat.

Brother Nan had another bowl after finishing the first.

By the time they had finished eating, Zheng Zhilan left the thermos of herbal tea and departed with her small basket. As she left, she told them, "Dinner will be ready in about half an hour."

Brother Nan nodded and said cheerfully to Zhou Li, "It was just like this when my family used to do manual labor—some would be out working, and others would be at home cooking. I don't know why, maybe because we were so exhausted, but the food always tasted exceptionally good when we got back."

Zhou Li hummed in agreement.

Brother Nan shrugged her shoulders and got back to work.

Because cement can burn the skin, she was dressed in long pants and long sleeves, also wearing white gloves and a mask, completely covering herself. Yet, her tall figure was still eye-catching. Here was a girl tackling the toughest jobs, not only without complaint but seemingly invigorated by the effort.

For a moment, Zhou Li even had the illusion that 'she really liked doing this tough work.'

But no matter how one looked at it, a girl like Brother Nan was truly rare and uniquely remarkable.

「...」

As Brother Nan said, lunch was exceptionally delicious.

Zhou Li ate an extra bowl of rice, and the nap that followed was particularly deep and blissful.

When he woke, Huai Xu was no longer in the house. He checked the time—

He'd overslept.

He hurriedly got up, put on his shoes, went downstairs, and stepped outside. He could already hear Brother Nan, Huai Xu, and the two masters talking next door.

Zhou Li walked over and saw they had already started working; even Tuanzi had resumed pushing her broken brick.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"Brother Nan said to let you sleep a little longer," Huai Xu explained.

"Is that so..."

After chatting with Master Zou a little longer, Brother Nan turned to Zhou Li and grinned. "We let you dream a bit longer. Maybe you were dreaming about some pretty girl from the village? Waking you up then would've been too cruel. I couldn't bring myself to do such a thing."

Her playful teasing somehow immediately dissipated any embarrassment Zhou Li might have felt.

He scratched the back of his head and stepped forward.

Xing Hui and Ji Bai weren't demanding about their house; it didn't need to be a rural villa. On the contrary, they preferred something simpler, perhaps even just a single story, so the construction was very straightforward. Thanks to the high efficiency and seemingly inexhaustible stamina of the young people working on it, erecting the basic structure didn't take long. As for the subsequent work, Xing Hui and Ji Bai wanted to do it themselves.

Zhou Li could understand their sentiments.

For old monsters who had lived for thousands of years and could expect to live another century or two even in their twilight years, they had plenty of mundane time to fill.

Perhaps for them, felling trees or sculpting stone, slowly transforming their dwelling into what they wanted, was a satisfying process. It wasn't burdensome; instead, they took pleasure in it.

Sometimes Zhou Li really envied their attitude.

Perhaps he could also change his perspective. Then the day's labor could become a novel experience, an enrichment of life, and a foundation for enjoying the cool evening, making his dreams even sweeter.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.