I am the Odd One Out Chapter 17

The exquisite carpentry skills of Leo Lin and Charlie Chen became popular in Xizhen. Some people moved old wooden utensils and watched Leo Lin tidy them up. Passed on to ten, and passed on to hundreds, more dilapidated wooden utensils arrived at Charlie Chen's doorstep. On the most common day, the wardrobes, tables, chairs, tubs, etc. were all lined up as if they were fleeing. The gathering of so many dilapidated wooden objects also brought cockroaches from all corners of Xi Town here. Cockroaches jumped out majestically from the old wooden furniture and disappeared into the houses on both sides of the street.

Cockroaches are everywhere in Charlie Chen's house. They crawl over the walls, fall off the roof, and get out of the quilt. When I open the closet, I see them jumping up and down. When I'm cooking, I see them running rampant on the stove. Late at night, I see them jumping out of the closet. crawling across their faces. Li Meilian became suspicious. When walking around the house, she would tiptoe around and stomp on the cockroaches with her hands and feet. She would often get up quietly in the middle of the night and go to the small kitchen where cockroaches gathered to attack them.

Then someone came to order new furniture. Leo Lin told Charlie Chen that if he opened a woodworking club, the business would be prosperous. Charlie Chen nodded and said it was time to get serious about the woodware business. Li Meilian was happy when she heard the two men talking about making new woodenware. She said the new woodenware was free of cockroaches.

While talking, Li Meilian was sitting in front of the door washing clothes, and two men were sitting in the room. Charlie Chen's two sons were sitting on his legs, and Leo Lin was holding his daughter with both hands. Leo Lin said that there is an open space on the east side of this street, which can be used to build two rows of buildings. The downstairs can be used as a workshop and the upper floor can be used as a residence. The walls on both ends can be used as yards. But I don’t know if that open space can be used? Charlie Chen said that all the vacant land in Xi Town belongs to Gu Yimin. This is not difficult. He will ask Gu Yimin and Gu Yimin will give a fair price. Building a house, which is a two-row building, cannot be completed in a day or two. It will take a year and a half, and the noise will disturb the residents next to it. This is not difficult. They have renovated the doors and windows of the residents on the street, and also Without painting, as long as they pay a few painters to come over and paint their doors and windows for free, they can accept the noise of building a house. Charlie Chen said that the difficulty is where to get the funds to build a house. Although they have made some money, it is still far from enough to build a house.

Leo Lin carefully untied his daughter's clothes, took out a cloth bag from inside, opened the cloth bag, took out twelve silver notes in exchange for mortgaged fields and gold bars, and handed it to Charlie Chen. Charlie Chen looked at the stack of huge banknotes in surprise. He did not expect that this man who had left his hometown would carry such an astonishing wealth. He handed the banknote back, watched Leo Lin carefully put it into his daughter's clothes, and asked Leo Lin why he put the banknote in his daughter's clothes. Leo Lin said that if the banknote was lost, he and his daughter would not be able to survive. Charlie Chen said that if his daughter was lost, wouldn’t the banknote be lost as well? Leo Lin said: