The Joy of Being Nowhere

  "Huh, what was I just going to do? Oh! Right, I said we were going to build a grass shed!" Lí Luòér muttered to herself.

  Zhi Quan stared at Li Luo Er with a mixture of trust and doubt, "Is that so? Is this what you meant?"

  "Alright!" He nodded heavily and moved the ladder to the kitchen wall again, looking at the ladder with a sly smile and asked Zhiquan, "Chen Zhiquan, be a hero once more! Help me get up there and bring down some of that grass..."

  Zhi Quan hastily pulled at his clothes to show Luo Er, "Look, look! Just now when I went up to help you get the frame, my clothes almost got dirty. This is a pure wool sweater, if it gets stained with grass, it's hard to clean off. So it's better for you to do it yourself! If my clothes get dirty again, I won't have anything to wear! And there's no one to wash my clothes!"

  "Alright then, I'll help you take care of that dress! I'll go up and get it myself!"

  Looking at Luo Er going up to the rooftop, Zhi Quan finally let out a sigh of relief. Xiao Xuan walked over to him with a gloomy expression and said in a low tone: "Chen Zhi Quan, I've discovered that you're really terrible!"

  Zhi Quan's eyes were misty with tears, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me?"

  "Don't think you have more brains than others, if you don't want to go up and say it directly. How can this coat possibly be made of wool? Let me tell you something... In Xinjiang Hami, there is only one thing that will wear wool in the scorching sun! Do you know what it is?" Shen Xiaoxian said with a sneer in his heart.

  Zhi Quan scratched his head and thought for half a day, "I don't know! What is it?"

  Xiao Xuan whispered to him, "Go take a look outside and you'll know..."

  Zhi Quan inexplicably opened the door and went out to take a look, but still couldn't figure anything out. He simply ran to ask Xiao Xuan what was going on.

  Xiao Xuan furrowed her brow and thought for half a day, finally gritting her teeth to tell Zhi Quan, "Didn't you just see it outside the door? There should be many cows, sheep, donkeys and the like outside the door now. Their abbreviation... is called animals!"

  Haha, Shen Xiaoxuan's silvery laughter filled the entire small courtyard.

  Chen Zhiquan was still confused, taking advantage of his slow reaction, Xiao Xuan quickly ran to help Luo Er, while Chen Zhiquan stood there thinking for a long time, repeating what Xiao Xuan said earlier many times before finally understanding that Xiao Xuan had just scolded him openly!

  "Ugh! How detestable! Shen Xiaoxuan!" Zhiquan muttered under his breath.

  "Be careful, Luo Er..." Xuan Sheng was below helping Luo Er with the ladder. He didn't let go until both of Luo Er's feet were on the ground! Watching this scene made Xiao Xuan feel a pang of jealousy and admiration.

  "Will just using grass be okay?" Xuan Sheng asked Luo Er while helping him carry the grass.

  "Hmm! That's right! And we need to set up a frame too!" said Lí Luòér.

  "What kind of frame?" Lu Xiangsheng was puzzled.

  "Have you taken physics class?" Luo Er asked him with a tilted head.

  "Huh... I've been here before, what's wrong?" Xuan Sheng was suddenly drenched in cold sweat by Luo Er's unexpected sentence, did this girl doubt his intelligence?

  "It's okay if it's just a little higher, build a four-legged frame!" As she spoke, Lì Luòér was already gesturing in mid-air.

  "Is it the one that uses four wooden stakes for support, then adds a top layer, and finally lays grass on top?" Xuan Sheng asked Luo Er based on a method he had read in a book about wilderness survival.

  "Close enough! Hehe!" Lí Luòér narrowed her eyes, seemingly having a soft spot for this guy with exceptional leadership skills.

  "Wow, isn't that too easy? I'll come and help out too!" Zhi Quan exclaimed excitedly.

  Luo Er shook his head, not holding out any hope for him: "You! It's good that you have a kind heart! But it's better if you just sit there and watch us, later Xiao Xuan will give you some grapes to wash, so you won't be bored!"

  Xuan Sheng also nodded in agreement, "Exactly! You can just stay there then! I'm afraid we won't be able to repay your help, as long as you don't make things worse!"

  Zhi Quan looked at the three men in front of him with a sullen expression, threw his head back and shouted, "Heavenly justice! Where is heavenly justice? Finally able to show off for once, but you people, you won't even give me a chance..."

  Luòér looked at Xuàn Shèng, Xuàn Shèng hooked his lips into a smile and said to Luòér, "Uh... you handle it..."

  Li Luoer, with the support of Lu Xiansheng, glared at Chen Zhiquan and said in a very forceful tone, "In my home, listen to me! This is not about heavenly justice, but about territoriality!"

  Zhi Quan looked at Li Luo'er with a gloomy expression, "What about physics?"

  "What's the point of saying all these nonsense? Are there any science students among us? Chen Zhiquan, it's not that I'm saying you're stupid, but I really think you're hopeless..." Li Lu'er was furious and shouted at the top of her lungs, feeling like she was about to collapse in front of this guy.

  Zhi Quan looked at Luo Er and was worried that he had swallowed the grape seeds whole, which got stuck in his throat, causing him to cough for half a day.

  Luo Er and Xuan Sheng quickly moved the four thick and straight wooden pillars to the front yard, and then began preparing to dig holes. However, with four pillars requiring four holes, Luo Er, Xiao Xuan, and Xuan Sheng were struggling to keep up with the pace. Digging in this manner would also be chaotic. Therefore, Luo Er had no choice but to ask Chen Zhiquan, who had been watching them all along, for help. Chen Zhiquan was quite tactful and didn't put on airs, as he knew that if he didn't seize this opportunity to lend a hand, he would never have the chance to do so in the future!

  Because one person digs a hole, the speed is very fast. When all four holes are dug, Zhi Quan and Xuan Sheng will carry the wooden stakes into the holes, stand them up and insert them in, while Xiao Xuan and Luo Er quickly fill the soil and trample it down. Just like this, one after another, the four wooden stakes were soon erected in the courtyard.

  "What's next?" Zhiquan shook off the mud on his hands and wiped away his sweat, asking Luo'er.

  Luo'er looked at the four newly erected wooden stakes, "It's time to put up the roof! You guys can't do this, so you and Xuan Sheng go take a rest, I'll handle it with Xiao Xuan!"

  "Alright." Xuan Sheng pulled Zhi Quan to sit beside him, watching Luo Er and Xiao Xuan weave together some rattan and papyrus they had somehow gotten hold of, layer by layer, into a large square shape.

  "Look at Li Luo'er, his hands are really clever!" Zhi Quan said with a smile to Xuan Sheng.

  Lu Xiansheng looked at Li Luoye and Shen Xiaoxuan, who were busy with sweat dripping from their brows, and felt a pang of sympathy: "Huh, so now I understand why people used to say that poor children grow up too quickly. Maybe it's because they need to do everything themselves, unlike us, where everything is arranged for us. It's like eating - all we have to do is pick up our chopsticks and put food in our mouths. But Luoye isn't like that. She has to buy groceries, wash them, cook, serve the meal... only then can she eat. So their lives are very focused on the process, whereas ours are different! We usually focus on the results!"

  Zhi Quan listened to Xuan Sheng's words, and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Looking at Xuan Sheng's confused face, Zhi Quan laughed and said, "Do you know what problem I just discovered?"

  "What?"

  "True love makes people more sensitive, so when others say something, one side will reflect on themselves, and this reflective love will deepen, making you cherish it. In fact, thinking about it, sometimes I really feel that choosing to love someone is like Zhu Bajie (Pigsy), he won't ride a colorful cloud to pick up the girl, nor will he steal peaches to please her, he'll just foolishly think of every way to carry the girl across all the rivers she can't cross..."

  Xuan Sheng couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing that, and patted Zhi Quan's shoulder saying, "What you said is really classic! Alright, I'll definitely write it down as a note to myself. To be honest, right now I'm still really willing to be her... Zhu Bajie's lover!"

  Looking at the well-made rattan top, Luo Er and Xiao Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Hehe, finally settled!" Xiaoxuan pinched her own waist and said to Luoke.

  "Uh-huh! You take a break! After I finish climbing to the top, I'll get it up there!" Luo Er also shook her sore and numb arm.

  "What does 'kick the top' mean? Tell me!" Zhi Quan asked Luo Er.

  "Just stand on the top of this rattan stick we've woven now, and trample it hard! After treading it down, its density will decrease, it will be tighter, and after adding more, there won't be a situation where branches fall off!" Luo Er explained to Zhi Quan while trampling the top of the rattan stick.

  "Oh! Such a fun task, just leave it to me, you go rest too! Watch this!" Zhiquan said as he pulled Lu'er to the edge of the short wall and forcibly pressed her down beside Xuan Sheng. "You just sit there and rest! This kind of small thing, watch me!" After saying that, he rushed to the top of the rattan mat and started jumping up and down fiercely. To be honest, how could that be called "stepping"? It was simply stomping.

  Xiao Xuan looked at Zhi Quan's terrifying posture and asked Xuan Sheng, "What's wrong with him today? Is he suffocated now and venting his anger by trampling on the rattan?"

  Xuan Sheng also looked at Zhi Quan with a puzzled expression, habitually smiling and saying: "Uh... this, I'm not very clear either, what's going on, maybe only he himself knows!"

  Luo'er pulled at Xun Sheng, and asked in a low voice, "Do you think Zhi Quan's behavior is a bit too frightening? I and Xiao Xuan don't dare to go over, lest he has an outburst and hurts innocent people. Why don't you go take a look?"

  "Don't bother with him, let him go if he wants to, just ignore him!" Xuan Sheng's mouth corners slightly curved upwards, carrying a familiar radiant smile.

  "How can that be? Actually, it doesn't matter if he ruins his own feet, I'm afraid he'll ruin the hat that Xiaoxuan and I worked so hard to make..." Li Lu'er finally spoke out her true thoughts.

  Xuan Sheng nodded understandingly, "Hehe... got it! I'll go take a look!" He then quietly walked over to Zhi Quan's side.

  As he approached, Xuan Sheng thought of calling out to him or tapping him on the shoulder, but instead, he vaguely sensed that Chen Zhiquan was not only trampling on the rattan mat with all his might, but also muttering something under his breath.

  After observing for half a day, Xuan Sheng finally understood what Chen Zhiquan was doing...

  Zhi Quan would viciously stomp on the rattan mat, and with each step, she would curse something under her breath, muttering non-stop.

  "Monster, big monster, terrible monster, the monster always bullies me! Hit the monster! Kick the monster! Chop the monster! I trample the monster hard! Trample you to death! Trample you to death! See how you dare bully me again..."

  Xuan Sheng was startled by a sentence, he tapped Chen Zhiquan's shoulder in confusion, "Hey, Chen Zhiquan, what are you doing? Reciting scriptures?"

  Zhi Quan was shocked by the sudden appearance of Xuan Sheng, and he fell to the ground in an instant, his face turning pale in a flash, and cold sweat kept flowing down.

  Seeing the two of them in an unnatural state, Luo Er and Xiao Xuan hastily walked over.